Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Touring a Carnival Cruise Simulator: 210 Degrees of GeForce-Powered Projection

Posted by timothy on from the bring-it-to-the-lan-party dept.

MojoKid writes Recently, Carnival cruise lines gave tours of their CSMART facility in Almere, the Netherlands. This facility is one of a handful in the world that can provide both extensive training and certification on cruise ships as well as a comprehensive simulation of what it's like to command one. Simulating the operation of a Carnival cruise ship is anything but simple. Let's start with a ship that's at least passingly familiar to most people — the RMS Titanic. At roughly 46,000 tons and 882 feet long, she was, briefly, the largest vessel afloat. Compared to a modern cruise ship, however, Titanic was a pipsqueak. As the size and complexity of the ships has grown, the need for complete simulators has grown as well. The C-SMART facility currently sports two full bridge simulators, several partial bridges, and multiple engineering rooms. When the Costa Concordia wrecked off the coast of Italy several years ago, the C-SMART facility was used to simulate the wreck based on the black boxes from the ship itself. When C-SMART moves to its new facilities, it'll pick up an enormous improvement in processing power. The next-gen visual system is going to be powered by104 GeForce Grid systems running banks of GTX 980 GPUs. C-SMART executives claim it will actually substantially reduce their total power consumption thanks to the improved Maxwell GPU. Which solution is currently in place was unclear, but the total number of installed systems is dropping from just over 500 to 100 rackmounted units.

10 of 42 comments (clear)

  1. 882 foot Titanic by mythosaz · · Score: 3, Insightful

    At 882 feet, the modern 1100 foot super cruise ship doesn't kill it.

    In gross tonnes, however, they're 3-4x larger.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L...

    1. Re:882 foot Titanic by unrtst · · Score: 2

      At 882 feet, the modern 1100 foot super cruise ship doesn't kill it.

      You don't have to read the article but, if you just glance at it, one of the first things you'll see is a rendering of one of their cruise ships next to the titanic. I'd agree with the author, "Compared to a modern cruise ship, however, Titanic was a pipsqueak."

    2. Re:882 foot Titanic by mythosaz · · Score: 2

      Gross tonnage is ship volume and is THE measure of ship size.

      The Titanic's GT was 46,000.

      The top two Royal Caribbean ships are 225,000 and most of the rest of the pack weigh in at 140-150.

      The're pretty much 4x or 3x the size (volume), and 20% longer.

      Displacement is a different factor altogether, but even then...

      Gross tonnage normally is a much higher value than displacement. This was not always the case; as the functions, engineering and architecture of ships have changed, the gross tonnage figures of the largest passenger ships have risen substantially, while the displacements of such ships have not. RMS Titanic, with a gross register tonnage of 46,329 GRT, but a displacement reported at over 52,000 tons, was heavier than contemporary 100,000 – 110,000 GT cruise ships which displace only around 50,000 tons.

      Emphasis mine.

    3. Re:882 foot Titanic by matfud · · Score: 2

      You are talking about water level volume and how that affects displacement wrt gross weight. I think the parent was talking about overall volume. As in the stuff above water. Cruse ships have a very shallow draft, they are wide and long. They are not liners. Ocean Liners where longer and much narrower with a deeper draft (and made with thicker skins) to enable high speed through very bad weather (but not ice burgs as it happens). They are built for different things. Cruise liners are a bit like a slightly streamlined barge with a 10 storey building on top. I think the only ocean liner still running is the Queen Mary 2

  2. Diseases? by VorpalRodent · · Score: 5, Funny

    Does it also simulate how viruses propagate amongst passengers? Can you simulate the scenario where all the toilets clog and the decks are awash with filth?

    I demand realism from my simulators!

    --
    Take it to the limit, everybody to the limit, come on, everybody fhqwhgads.
  3. Nautical charts by pigiron · · Score: 2

    The only thing that the captain of the Costa Concordia needed to avoid those rocks was the ability to read a chart!

  4. Titanic by gnasher719 · · Score: 2

    she was, briefly, the largest vessel afloat

    No, she was the largest vessel, briefly afloat :-)

  5. Re:210 degrees of what? by DocSavage64109 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Um, perhaps you are thinking of the AMD R9 series?

  6. 882 foot Titanic by KingMotley · · Score: 2

    Yes, a modern cruise ship does indeed "kill it". In length, volume, speed, height, and weight. You could probably fit 8-10 titanics in the AVERAGE modern cruise ship.

  7. Re:Que the norovirus jokes by TeknoHog · · Score: 2

    I always thought you que the first one, then queue the second one, then queueue the third...

    --
    Escher was the first MC and Giger invented the HR department.