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Virtual reality simulator lets you wander around plants

21 September, 2009

Invensys has announced a virtual reality (VR) training system which uses computer gaming techniques to allow engineers and operators to see and interact safely with plant and processes. Invensys claims that the Eyesim system is the first industrial VR training system based on first-principle simulation and augmented reality.

The system combines VR technologies with process and control simulation, computer-based maintenance and documentation management and other applications, to provide a realistic and safe training environment for improving operating efficiency and skills.

“The increasing complexity of plants, combined with a changing workforce, demands next-generation tools that can safely and interactively train new operators and engineers without putting them, the community or the environment at risk,” says Tobias Scheele, vice president for advanced applications at Invensys Operations Management. “This system provides a stable, realistic environment for practicing routine operational and maintenance functions, as well as rarely-performed volatile tasks such as plant shutdowns. In addition, using computer models of real equipment allows endless experimentation without ever taking the equipment offline, mitigating risk to production as well.”  

By merging virtual plant imagery with screens from asset management or other application software, the system creates a computer-generated representation of either a real or proposed plant. Using a stereoscopic headset, trainees enter an immersive environment in which they can move through the plant. The virtual environment is rendered at 60 frames per second.