Assignment 1 COMP 243

COM/054/17 Owen Wanjohi Wacira

Question: Areas Of Application of Simulation
1. Medical: The medical field uses simulations to train practitioners in a multitude of skills and
environments. While many of the simulations focus on medical procedures, simulations also afford
students the opportunity to develop communication and teamwork skills. Research studies show the use
of simulations increases improvement in multiple medical areas from surgery to procedural skills
(Okuda, 2009).

2. Education: While not traditionally associated with simulations the educational arena is utilizing
simulations as a means of providing experience. Simulations, from an educational standpoint, allows
students the opportunity to gain real world experience while in the classroom. Children can use
simulations to be creative, innovative, and limitless. Within the classroom, students can simulate being a
pilot, an engineer, a computer programmer, an astronaut, an animator, a stylist, and an electrician. These
opportunities and skills will afford students the opportunity to excel in non-traditional core classroom
disciplines. Educational leaders also benefit from the use of simulations which allow leadership and
team building skills to be cultivated in a variety of socio-economic environments, allowing for low-risk
development of transferable experiences.

3. Military: Military simulations, also known informally as war games, are models in which theories of
warfare can be tested and refined without the need for actual hostilities. They exist in many different
forms, with varying degrees of realism. In recent times, their scope has widened to include not only
military but also political and social factors (for example, the NationLab series of strategic exercises in
Latin America).[86] While many governments make use of simulation, both individually and
collaboratively, little is known about the model's specifics outside professional circles.

4. Law Enforcement: From weapons instruction to interpersonal skills, simulations play an important role
in the training of law enforcement. The ability of simulations to provide the quickest scenario setting
ensures an entire spectrum of training environments. The development of automatic responses under a
variety of scenarios enables law enforcement to cultivate the ability to react quickly and competently.
For Example, the popular series Call of Duty and in particular Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 provides
a glimpse of an immersive environment which parallels many real world scenarios of law enforcement
as well as military.

5. Manufacturing: Manufacturing represents one of the most important applications of simulation. This
technique represents a valuable tool used by engineers when evaluating the effect of capital investment
in equipment and physical facilities like factory plants, warehouses, and distribution centers. Simulation
can be used to predict the performance of an existing or planned system and to compare alternative
solutions for a particular design problem. Another important goal of Simulation in Manufacturing
Systems is to quantify system performance.

6. Automobiles: An automobile simulator provides an opportunity to reproduce the characteristics of real

vehicles in a virtual environment. It replicates the external factors and conditions with which a vehicle
interacts enabling a driver to feel as if they are sitting in the cab of their own vehicle. Scenarios and
 events are replicated with sufficient reality to ensure that drivers become fully immersed in the
experience rather than simply viewing it as an educational experience.

7. City and Urban: A city simulator can be a city-building game but can also be a tool used by urban
planners to understand how cities are likely to evolve in response to various policy
decisions. AnyLogic is an example of modern, large-scale urban simulators designed for use by urban
planners. City simulators are generally agent-based simulations with explicit representations for land
use and transportation. UrbanSim and LEAM are examples of large-scale urban simulation models that
are used by metropolitan planning agencies and military bases for land use and transportation planning.

8. Disaster Preparedness: Simulation training has become a method for preparing people for disasters.
Simulations can replicate emergency situations and track how learners respond thanks to a lifelike
experience. Disaster preparedness simulations can involve training on how to handle terrorism attacks,
natural disasters, pandemic outbreaks, or other life-threatening emergencies.

9. Network and Distributed Systems: Network and distributed systems have been extensively simulated
in other to understand the impact of new protocols and algorithms before their deployment in the actual
systems. The simulation can focus on different levels (physical layer, network layer, application layer),
and evaluate different metrics (network bandwidth, resource consumption, service time, dropped
packets, system availability)

10. Robotics: A robotics simulator is used to create embedded applications for a specific (or not) robot
without being dependent on the 'real' robot. In some cases, these applications can be transferred to the
real robot (or rebuilt) without modifications. Robotics simulators allow reproducing situations that
cannot be 'created' in the real world because of cost, time, or the 'uniqueness' of a resource. A simulator
also allows fast robot prototyping. Many robot simulators feature physics engines to simulate a robot's
dynamics.

References

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simulation
http://etec.ctlt.ubc.ca/510wiki/Real-world_Applications_of_Simulations