Source - Gizmag,
http://www.gizmag.com/ferraris-f1-simulator/13666/
Simulators have long been used to teach new skills that would otherwise involve great expense and/or great risk - like learning to fly a new aeroplane. Now Ferrari has built its own F1 simulator so it can develop its Formula One cars and train its drivers to use new technology and to race on new tracks without breaking F1 rules limiting testing in the real world. The simulator uses ten linked computers, 60 GB of RAM, five giant 3D video screens, a 3500 watt Dolby sound system, and weighs more than 200 tonnes. Even the 130 kW electrical power supply for the machine is a beast.
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The Ferrari simulator, built with the technical support of Moog, consists of an aluminium and composite structure which centres on a 2010 model Ferrari F1 cockpit and the equipment which produces the images and sound. The platform weighs around two tonnes and is fitted with computer-controlled hydraulic actuators that weigh around half a tonne each. The whole structure is fitted on a specially designed and built base, weighing 200 tons.
The whole system is controlled by ten linked computers with a total memory of more than 60 GB of RAM. It features a Dolby Surround 7.1 sound system, putting out 3500 W. The installation required more than ten kilometres of cabling and a power supply of 130 kW. The simulator is housed in a building measuring around 180 square metres, on two floors, which includes the control room.
The platform covers a surface area of around eight metres wide by the same length and is six metres high. The driver is installed in front of five very large video displays, which give a total viewing angle in excess of 180°.
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