At the recent SAIMC Gala Dinner, after-dinner speaker Pieter Geldenhuys captivated the audience as he described the impact that the technologies of the future will have on our lives. Star of the show was a virtual reality head-mounted display, which blocks out the real and immerses the user in whatever virtual fantasy world they choose. The 3-D experience is dramatically realistic and it is great fun to watch the player wobble in unbalanced vertigo atop the Empire State Building, or duck in terror as a giant shark bumps up against the goggles during a virtual scuba dive.
Future amusements aside, these virtual environments already offer some very real benefits to the manufacturing industry today. 3-D virtual reality simulation is an immersive, safe and cost-efficient platform to impart hands-on practical experience to the newly employed plant operator. Once a detailed 3-D model of the plant has been created from factory drawings and photographs, the operator training simulator (OTS) can be shared globally across the organisation by means of virtual server technology. This allows the organisation to train its operators before a new facility is even complete; a potent way to minimise start-up time and hit the production sweet spot right from the get-go.
OTS solutions provide control room operators with the look and feel of the plant console, but they can also extend to create a lifelike virtual 3-D experience for field operators and maintenance staff. I experienced this first-hand at a Honeywell User Group Conference some years ago. Our group of journalists was seated in the audio visual room, much like a movie theatre, and each given a pair of 3-D glasses to wear during the performance. When the simulator was switched on, we found ourselves on the ground somewhere in the middle of a spanking new oil refinery. We were then given a guided virtual walk-through by our presenter, who pointed out salient features along the way.
During a real training session, the operator would take the remote control and walk the pathways making left and right turns as required until they are absolutely familiar with the plant layout. Once the layout has been learned, then various drills can be practised. For instance, if during start-up a series of valves must be opened in a specific sequence, this can be performed over and over on the simulator until the operator can accomplish it without even thinking. Emergency procedures can also be practised to the point that the operators could implement them with ease, should a real situation ever arise.
At the same time, control room personnel can learn to optimise the processes using the virtual DCS modelling and simulation functionality. Experimental PID loop tuning can be tried and virtual set-points adjusted without the need for any actual system hardware.
In fact, the best value of simulation comes through an integrated approach that involves not only operator training, but upfront experimentation with control architectures, safety systems, and other related functions as well. To get maximum return on the investment in a simulator, end-users must look beyond just the training aspects of the technology. This is exactly the topic of Rick Rys, ARC Advisory Group senior consultant, in his article ‘Optimising the value of an operator training simulator’.
IBG 2016
This year’s version of the Industrial Buyers’ Guide will be out soon and it is bigger and better than anything we have done before. In order to design complete end-to-end automation solutions, engineers need access to all the latest vendor and product related information, preferably in one place. To achieve this, we have added the tables from the two Technews Industry Guides – Wireless, and Maintenance, Reliability and Asset Optimisation – to the already comprehensive index, all of which has been updated with the latest information for 2016. As always, we have presented the full suite of design and purchasing choices in a logically structured, easy to use format. If you are not already a subscriber, you can sign up at http://technews.co.za/sub/p/ic to ensure you receive a printed copy.
Steven Meyer
Editor: SA Instrumentation & Control
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