Using solid modeling techniques to construct three-dimensional icons for a visual simulator

Abstract

Realistic three dimensional (#D) models are an essential part of any battle simulator. They contribute greatly to the quality of the scenarios and the decision making training the system can provide. Commercial programs are available to build and modify these models, also known as icons, but they tend to be very expensive and complicated. They also tend to be very specific as to the file format used to store icons. The developers of the Naval Postgraduate School's battle simulator, NPSNET, need a simple, easy to use, and inexpensive system which allows them to quickly build and modify icons stored in Object File Format (OFF). We present the program NPSICON to meet this need and also discuss some of the issues involved in building 3D icons. NPSICON runs on commercially available Silicon Graphics, Inc. IRIS workstations.