The MELIPAL Radar Simulator, developed by INVAP for the Naval University Institute of the Argentine Navy, is operational since 2002 at the National School of Nautics. Its purpose is to give the students both basic and advanced radar-piloting training at low installation and running costs, dealing with groups of up to 15 trainees. MELIPAL meets and exceeds all the normative requirements of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) for simulators.

This system family runs on Microsoft-Windows™ platforms, with units linked by a TCP/IP net. The pertinent software was developed by INVAP with the participation of professionals from several institutions, both academic and organisms of the Argentine Navy.

MELIPAL-R, the basic package of the family, has working stations for one instructor and 15 students. Each station consists of an ARPA/radar simulator, a piloting console simulator and an electronic map display. At the National Nautics School, the radar display - the core of the system - provides the images that a real radar ARPA equipment would show when illuminating any section of the entire Argentine coastal scenarios, under different weather and sea conditions. MELIPAL can run other scenarios at customer’s request

The students´ piloting console displays all the devices needed to steer a ship by instruments, including GPS and VHF simulated communications. It also has a NMEA port to visualize electronic charts, navigators or ECDIS systems.

The instructor’s post can view the radar images of any of the students’ posts, and features a direction module to prepare new exercises, or edit pre-existent ones in the digitalized area image. Once the navigational exercise is under way, the instructor monitors and evaluates the students work, permits the activation and inactivation of contacts, allows for the modification of the initial environmental settings, for the two-way communication with the students, and even for the simulation of system disruptions on their ships.

MELIPAL-R, the original development for the Argentine Navy, has originated a family of civilian applications, such as MELIPAL-P and MELIPAL-M.

MELIPAL-P has been developed for the National Fishery School (ENAP), where it is being used for instruction. Besides the stated general R capacities, the P product allows the students to simulate fishing operations employing net-echosound, vertical echosound, sonar exploration, and monitors of sea-floor trawling and pelagic arrays.

MELIPAL-M enhances the performances of the R product with the visual 3D simulated scenes that may be viewed from the bridge of a ship. It operates on an especially equipped room mimicking the bridge, with screens acting as windows and depicting visual images of the chosen scenarios: open or restricted water navigation, nearby shipping, different coast lines, access channels and their light beacons, all in accordance with IALA A or B standards regarding the peculiarities of different zones and ports and their meteorological conditions. A MELIPAL-M with a very complete image library of Argentine seaports is to be installed at the Military Naval School of the Argentine Navy.

We stress that MELIPAL is now available as an “off-the-shelf” product in Argentina, and a client-customized product when exported, as it has all the needed resources to expand to new charts and geographical areas, plus their corresponding weather and sea conditions and radar imagery. As a simulator, MELIPAL may reproduce any coastline and sea that the customer may find of educational interest for piloting students.

MELIPAL SIMMULATOR Data Sheet.

• Equals or tops all the performance normatives of IMO Resolutions A.422(XI), A.477(XII), A.482(XII), A.483(XII).
• MELIPAL tops IMO Course Models 1.07, 1.08 and 1.09.
• One working station for the instructor, and fifteen for students.
• PC-compatible hardware.
• 21” HD monitors for radar screens, and 17” for other consoles.
• Runs on Microsoft Windows™.