The million dollar camera mounted on the helicopter. It is able to zoom in close enough to see the face of the glider pilot while flying over a kilometre away.
TELEMETRY Real Time Virtual Animation by Virtual Eye brought the Grand Prix racing an international audience. The telemetry systems used in this year’s Grand Prix final are much advanced on what was put together for last year’s trial. In 2006 Virtual Eye, a division of Animation Research from Dunedin used what technology was already available – cell phones, large heavy GPS tracking systems and with a heavy 12 volt battery to run it all. Since then they have purpose built tracking units. This year the Grand Prix gliders carried one integrated unit in a box a little smaller than a ground based radio, see photo. The unit transmitted continuously over the vodaphone network with the iridium satellite
Cup Yachting. Many other sailing events are now contracting to
picking up the slack when the cell phone was out of range.
use the equipment. Virtual Eye are hoping that their equipment
The technology has potential for other uses, safety being a
becomes standard in all yachting regattas. Cricket and golf are
major one for pilots. It proved to be very successful at pinpointing
both having equipment designed for them, with complex optical ball
the location of the fatal accident on day three of the Grand Prix in
tracking needed to give real time graphics. The recent Michael Hill
the mountainous country near the Siberia turn point. The wreck was
Golf Open successfully used the techniques.
found exactly where the trace had stopped. It was a dreadful way
Real Time Virtual Animation turned the Americas Cup into a
to test the equipment but was invaluable to the search and rescue
major spectator sport and it is hoped it will do the same for gliding.
team. Brent Russell of Virtual Eye says the company is developing
Allowing a viewing audience to see what the pilots are doing shows
a pared down version of the device which will be used for track-
the sport to be as complex as a chess game and as fast moving
ing only by transmitting intermittently through the user’s cell phone.
as auto racing. People viewing start trying to work out what will
Ground crews can keep tabs on hang gliders, paragliders and other
happen next and where a pilot will go. This was seen with the spec-
air sport participants. The draw back is that it will only work when
tators on the ground at Omarama and on the internet around the
in cell phone range.
world as the Grand Prix races were fought in the skies. The paying
The full version has the potential to be used in all gliding and
public watching the gliding and hang glider racing on the big screen
hang gliding contests, as we have seen. The technology has grown
at the Air Sports in Wanaka became equally engrossed. For the
out of that also developed by Animation Research for the Americas
Virtual Eye team who put it all together, that is what it is all about.
18
December 2007
