10
The American Simulator has so far
proved a success. Can you tell us how
the opening ceremony went?
«It has been a very simple and essential
event, despite the presence of personalities
like the Governor of Indiana, the dean of
the Purdue School of Engineering and
Technology at the IUPUI, AJ Foyt and Mario
Andretti. The ribbon cutting followed two
speeches one from Giampaolo Dallara and
one from the Governor, that highlighted how
much our company has grown as a part of
the society and economy of Indiana. Then
there was the ribbon cut and we gave a live
demonstration of how the Simulator works
for all the guests and for the local and
national print media or TV journalists».
Can you tell us some numbers in order
to evaluate the dimensions and
functions of the Simulator?
«The numbers related to the Indianapolis
Simulators are actually the same of the one
we have in Varano de Melegari. A work
volume with a radius of 4 meters is paired
to a structure which is strengthened and
lightened compared to the commercial
Simulators, and to high-performance electric
motors that can make the drivers
experiences forces of more than 2 Gs in
every direction. All of that in order to
provide the maximum driving realism. In
addition to that, the virtual environment
can replicate more than 40 circuits around
the world and also public roads so to
reproduce the handling of road and race
cars. In the last 3 years, more than 80
different drivers had the chance to prepare
themselves for racing using our Simulator
both in terms of physical training and car
set-up».
Who manages the day-to-day operations
of the American Simulator?
«The Indianapolis Simulator is managed by
technicians that were all coming from the
the work group that take care of our Varano
Simulator before. Their formation was made
in the field, taking care of the machinery,
its development and the tests made with
customers in Italy. As a matter of fact, we
continue to be a single team that works in
two separate places. It's not easy to
coordinate the collaboration between that
are so far apart and have different
timezones, but the practical advantage you
get from them worths every bit of the
effort».
What have been the cornerstones of the
Simulator's design and construction?
«The path has been relatively short. The
project's approval came in 2013 and the
construction of the dedicated building
started back then. It was build by trusted
partners and under our supervision. In
January 2014 we started setting-up all the
hardware and software infrastructure that
makes the system work, plus the machinery
American Simulator
