Simtable demonstration

At the Large Fire Conference in Missoula, Montana today we were intrigued by the Simtable in the exhibits area. The technology uses a projector connected to a computer to place an image on a sand table, resulting in an amazing three dimensional simulation of the spread of fires. We first wrote about the system in 2010.

It is the software that takes it to the next level. Fire modeling algorithms simulate the spread of fire through the vegetation and across the topography while also taking weather and fuel conditions into account. You can simulate the spread of a fire at your choice of location. Or, you can view the spread of historic fires. So far the company has collected wildfire perimeter mapping data for dozens of actual fires over the last two years. Using linear interpolation it can produce videos showing the fire spread from beginning to end, or at least to the extent that mapping data is available.

It can all be yours at a starting price in the mid-$20,000s.

Below is a video that we shot today, showing Stephen Guerin demonstrating the system.

Typos, let us know HERE, and specify which article. Please read the commenting rules before you post a comment.

Author: Bill Gabbert

After working full time in wildland fire for 33 years, he continues to learn, and strives to be a Student of Fire.

5 thoughts on “Simtable demonstration”

  1. Bill, thank you for nice writeup and posting of a video. It has been an exciting Large Fire Conference and meeting you and all the fire researcher here in Missoula that have a big impact on the field.

    0
    0
  2. We invested in one, can’t say that I have been impressed . Facilitation is difficult, unless you are willing to invest a lot of time in learning to use the controls. The simulation does not accurately predict fire behavior in some eastern fuel types. Most disappointing has been the lack of customer service from the vendor and their unwillingness to address the issues that we have encountered.

    0
    0
    1. Hello Mike,

      I am the inventor of the Simtable. Please contact me at stephen.guerin@simtable.com or mobile (505)577-5828. Or, let me know where your table is installed and I will call. I hope I can address any of the issues you’re having.

      This last 18 months we have been hard at work at doing a large rewrite of Simtable to run with a more modern HTML5 codebase. This rewrite has definitely taken longer than we planned. That said, I am very excited by the new developments. This version has many of the features requested by users and now is in beta release for testing over the web. I would welcome a chance to show you what we’ve been working on via a remote screen share and let you test the new software on your own. The new version will be a free upgrade to existing users.

      With respect to facilitation and ease of use, it’s a balancing act between keeping the interface simple and exposing a large feature set. Dan Cather, one of our expert users, can help with a one day “train the trainer” refresher if that would help. I think it’s very useful to see how he exercises the table in a full sandtable training context.

      With respect to eastern spread rates, the current version of the Simtable uses Landfire.gov fuel models by default which, to my knowledge, are the only freely available models that cover the US. You are very right that they do not do well in the eastern regions. To address this with the current version of Simtable you are able edit the Rates of Spread if your Fuels Specialist has custom estimates. We can walk you through this process via a remote login. If you do not have your own ROS models, we can work from historical progressions to tune the models for you. If you forward me some perimeters to work from, I’d be happy to create those and remotely install an update fuel model on your table.

      -Stephen

      0
      0
  3. Thanks to the Wyoming State Forestry we have had the opportunity to train with this tool several times during different S course training’s. While nothing compares to a true incident, this table comes about as close as I believe we can. Three dimensional, real time, accurate fuel models and fire growth based on those models. Great tool.

    0
    0
  4. Very impressive simulator at a very competitive price! The developer should look towards Australia as a potential market.

    0
    0

Comments are closed.