Two New Starship Simulators Under Construction at Lakeview Academy. See the First Pictures. The Imaginarium.

Construction Update on Two New Starship Simulators at Lakeview Academy 

     Spoiled Utah County is the worldwide capital of starship simulators. Nine are located at schools, two are inside trailers, and three simulators are under construction: Renaissance Academy's USS Voyager is scheduled to open in May and Lakeview Academy's two new ships (called A and B for now) will be open for the upcoming school year.  That brings the county's simulator count to 14. 
     Brandon Wright invited me out to Lakeview to see his school's three ships.  The UCS Leo has been operating for a couple years. Lakeview's ship A and B will come on line in August. "We're ready to bring the Troubadours up to date on our project," he said. "Framing has started and there's something to see." 
     Lakeview Academy is partnered with InfiniD. Ship's A and B will operate on InfiniD software, and tactical visuals. The missions are STEM focused.  Brandon is a co-owner of InfiniD and employed by Lakeview as the school's Space Center director.  Rick Veasey is the school's principal. He is a champion, lobbyist, and evangelist for simulator based experiential education. Rick and Brandon are the chief imagineers for this project.  
     It would not be appropriate to post the simulators' blueprints and schematics; however, Mr. Veasey gave me permission to draw the simulators' basic design to help you understand the photographs. Forgive the crudeness of the artwork.

Lakeview Academy's Ship A and B    

     The ships will hold up to 15 students each. With the Leo, Lakeview will be able to fly up to 40-45 students at the same time. With that capacity, Lakeview could operate a school field trip program as a fully functioning Space Center.  Ships A and B sit side by side sharing a wall with the school's new gym. 

Ship A's entrance on the left. Control Rooms in the center. Ship B's entrance on the right.

      True to tradition, both ship's will sport dark room revolving doors.  Campers will spin through into an airlock chamber.  Automatic sliding doors (like in the grocery stores) on the other end of the chamber will open. From the airlock, campers will walk into a double sided (partitioned) hallway. Construction plans call for panels of dials and switches and / or other activities for the double hallway.  
   

double hallway

double hallway

Working stations will be housed on the platform. The bridges' walls taper inwards at the front. 

      A quick walk through the double hallways takes you to the bridges.  With 15 foot high ceilings, A and B's bridges will be truly impressive. "We're planning a dropped domed ceiling over both bridges with backlit stars," Brandon explained. 

The bridges have tall ceilings!

     "Do you have plans to differentiate the simulators in any way?" I asked.  Mr. Veasey replied that while the ship's have the same floor plan, they'll be decorated differently, giving each ship a feel of its own. 
     The back walls of the two bridges will house the small sick bays and engineering rooms. Security will be located above the sick bay in a small loft compartment accessible by ladder.  The engineering section will be two stories with the upper story also reaching by ladder.    

Mr. Veasey and Brandon discussing their thoughts on the upper security and engineering sections of the bridge.

     Each ship will have its own science room just off the bridges. "We can have the kids run experiments in these rooms," Brandon explained.  

The science rooms.

     I spent nearly an hour examining the simulators, asking questions, and taking pictures. Sadly, pictures of framed walls don't really give a feel for the scope of the project.  I walked away feeling feeling grateful for what Lakeview was doing. As the founder of the CMSEC and primary imagineer for this type of simulator based learning, seeing these two ships under construction, knowing the precious resources the school is using to build them, gives our program validation.  
     I want to thank Mr. Veasey, Lakeview's Board of Directors, Brandon Wright, and my friends at InfiniD for their hard work and dedication to this program.  I also want to thank Lakeview for the standing invitation to document the building of Ships A and B for you Voyagers and Troubadours. Keep reading the blog to see real imagineering at work! 

Mr. Williamson

InfiniD's New Tactical Software

Brandon Wright in front of the UCS Leo's Tactical Screen

      Brandon Wright, Director of the Lakeview Academy Space Center and co-owner of InfiniD, demonstrated InfiniD's new tactical software during my recent visit to tour Ship's A and B.  This software gives flight directors maximum flexibility when flying. They can populate their ship's tactical screens from a large library of pre-programmed images. If a crew choses to go there, instead of here, flight directors can pull the necessary tactical images to illustrate the mission.  
     The artwork and programming was done in house with InfiniD's own staff and interns.  
     Congratulations on a job well done.  

   

The Imaginarium