MOSCOW, October 8. /TASS-DEFENSE/. Russian uniformed agencies have taken delivery of more than 50 Versiya simulators from the Special Engineering Research Institute (NIISM) under the aegis of Bauman State Technical University, designed for training mobile robot operators, NIISM Deputy Director Vladimir Kudryashov told TASS at the Russian Defense Ministry Innovation Day 2015 show.

"Over 50 Versiya simulators have been made for uniformed agencies, including the Russian Defense Ministry," Kudryashov said. "We believe it is way not enough. All operators of our robots should have simulators like that, i.e. about 100 units in total."

The designer explained that small-batch production of NIISM mobile robots was the cause of their high price — in the neighborhood of 7-10 million rubles ($11,000-16,000) apiece. "It would be a gross waste of money to train operators on such expensive hardware, while our Versiya simulators allow training without resorting to real robots," he said.

The Versiya simulator is designed for basic training of mobile robotic system operators and for honing their skills under maximized-realism conditions. The Versiya includes a control console, a personal computer and a software package.

The training process involving the simulator is based on controlling virtual 3D robot models from the control console connected to the PC.