COP Security takes off with flight training simulators

Professional trade only CCTV security products distributor COP Security, has begun a long-term contract to supply Dahua cameras and recording equipment to EDM, for use in their advanced flight and procedure trainers.

Based in Manchester, EDM has been trading for over forty years and has a heritage of design proving and modelling. Today, EDM’s operation is split into two specific areas; providing simulated training equipment for commercial aviation, and simulators for military & commercial customers.

Covering most modern aircraft types, EDM has an extensive range of training devices, including evacuation and door trainer simulation systems, with three-axis motion and position control systems, through to cabin service training full-size galley and passenger cabin simulators for both narrow and wide-body aircraft.

EDM procedure trainers are designed to enhance flight operations utilising an aircraft structure that provides full exposure to all procedures performed by aircrew, under controlled conditions.

Procedure trainers allow tasks that would normally be completed on the aircraft to be conducted at a remote training location, thereby reducing cost and releasing the service aircraft for operational use.

Based on the structure of a full-size narrow-body 737/757, the latest Cabin Emergency Evacuation Trainer (CEET), is the first of a range of CEETs to use a standardised Dahua CCTV installation, researched and specified by COP Security.

The 737/757 CEET is used to simulate the real aircraft for training on a host of emergency and operational procedures. This latest variant has been ordered by a major African airline, to be used to train their airline staff in evacuation and safety procedures – whilst totally immersing them in a real world environment.

Cabin staffs are trained in evacuation procedures in an array of simulated environments and conditions, such as total darkness and smoke saturation. These training sessions are designed to comply with the stringent CAA and FAA regulations, where training managers are required to assess the way staff deal with a variety of scenarios. For this, they need high-quality evidential footage of the crew’s actions; to review and discuss in subsequent classroom sessions. Whereas CCTV cameras had been used in previous versions, greater coverage, better image resolution and the ability to download footage quicker for classroom review was now the way forward. To fulfill this, EDM enlisted the support of COP Security to advise on and supply a new CCTV specification for the latest CEET.

After a process review and specification testing, COP recommended cameras and digital recording equipment from the Dahua range, recommending the deployment of eight IPC-HDBW5300 3 Megapixel Full HD Network IR Dome cameras, with images archived via an NVR4416-16P-6TB 16-channel Network Video Recorder.

Cameras are situated within the simulator to cover all aspects of the interior as well as the exit points on the outside of the fuselage.

“Along with the crews being trained, the CCTV system need to perform within massive variations in working conditions, including bright light, emergency lighting, total darkness and a smoke saturated cabin,”

explains Gareth Rhodes, Sales and Marketing Manager for COP Security.

“So we needed to be confident the product we delivered could excel in all of these challenging environments. As the UK’s leading Dahua Technology distribution partner, we were confident that selecting Dahua cameras and recording equipment would ensure perfect performance whatever the conditions. The IPC-HDBW5300 cameras are simple to install and easy to set up, and include a 2.7mm – 12mm variable lens, to make sure the perfect scene coverage is achieved.”

The NVR and control for both the CCTV system and simulator function is situated within a control cabin on-board the CEET, where the real-time HD video and audio are archived. From here, the training manager can direct the training session and subject the crew to a wide range of emergency scenarios. During each session, the trainer can view the aircraft simulator’s interior and exterior exits from multiple angles, adjusting the training scenario to test the actions of the crew.

When observing a specific training incident to be referred to later on when reviewing the footage in the classroom, the trainer can ‘mark’ the recording by pressing an ‘emergency’ button on the control desk. With this feature, when discussing how the cabin crew performed, individual actions and reactions can be found and replayed instantly – for further review of a particular event in the training procedure.

Installed by EDM electrical engineers during the build of the simulators, the cameras are proving their capability during pre-delivery tests, as Howard Gregory, Project Manager at EDM explains: “This system replaces a previous CCTV specification that we found to be too complicated to use effectively within this simulator training application. COP’s new Dahua-based specification however is simple and intuitive to use. For example, it has proved fast and easy to download the real time HD video of the training sessions from the NVR onto a removable drive, for review in the classroom.

Each EDM CEET is a bespoke construction to individual customer requirements. Both Boeing and Airbus supply blueprint aircraft information under license to enable EDM to construct each CEET to precise detail – with some even being made from decommissioned aircraft.

If required, some customers specify the CEET to be mounted onto a motion platform to simulate aircraft motion such as diving and roll. Screens can also be mounted on the exterior of each cabin window to replicate environmental conditions, different areas of the world, and aircraft scenarios such as engine fire etc.

The new CCTV blueprint for this CEET has proved so successful that COP’s Dahua specification will now be used on all future CEET builds at EDM, including the new 787/777 wide-body version.

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