The human element
Article 8
Virtual reality and training
Rail & Recherche n°35 - April/May/June 2005
The personnel who inspect freight wagons
and their
loads before they roll
onto the rail network
will now be using
a simulator to train
for their job.
The inspector walks along the train, looks under the first wagon, sees that a brake shoe is missing, and puts a warning sticker on the wagon’s side. Meanwhile, an instructor in the Paris La Chapelle freight training unit watches the scene on the two screens of the SimuRAT simulator. This system is a big step forward in inspector training, which has been done until now using two teaching trains rigged with load or equipment anomalies.
“The Freight
Department knew
about our work with
virtual reality and came
to us for a training
solution,” explains
SimuRAT manager
Philippe David. Since
ergonomics and the
student–instructor
relationship were
critical, the project
began with field
observations. A trick
of perspective allows
a five-m-high wagon
to be displayed on two
screens in a room half
as high. The image
changes with the
inspector’s movements,
which are monitored by
an antenna-equipped
position sensor clipped
to his collar. The
inspector also carries
an interactive tactile
screen connected by
Wi-Fi to the simulator.
This device replaces
the stickers he would
normally use to
indicate a problem.
For added realism,
Philippe David and his
team have also put a
position sensor on an
SNCF lamp to simulate
nighttime inspections,
with the lamp’s
movements tracked on
the screen by a virtual
light beam.Ten wagons
have been set up to
present all the basic
actions, and a
database is to be built
up with twisted or
broken objects for use
in the simulations. Like
the FIACRE simulator
for mobile points
on high-speed lines,
SimuRAT has an SNCF
Research simulation
engine. The resolution
quality (1,280 x 1,024
pixels by screen) and
the high-powered
graphics card produce
very realistic
simulations. “SimuRAT
has been validated
with some 40 user tests,
and we’ve been very
satisfied with the
feedback,” comments
David.
Launched in 2003, the project is entering its industrialisation phase now, with several training platforms expected to be in service by the end of the year.