https://www.miningweekly.com

Cat simulator training enhances learning experience

EXCELLENCE IN TRAINING Barloworld Equipment’s Operator Training Academy is using Cat simulators to significantly enhance operators’ learning experience

WILLIE HAASBROEK Cat Simulators are compact and easily portable from the classroom environment to customer sites

7th August 2015

By: Ilan Solomons

Creamer Media Staff Writer

  

Font size: - +

The focus for trainers of earthmoving operators will increasingly be on how operators interact with on-board and remote technologies, including ongoing trends in semi- and full machine automation, says Southern Africa Caterpillar dealer Barloworld Equipment.

The company

’s Operator Training Academy, in Isando, Johannesburg, has incorporated the use of Cat simulators into its training programmes to provide a virtual environment, thereby greatly enhancing operators’ learning experience.

Barloworld Equipment’s Operator Academy is an accredited training provider in terms of the Construction Education and Training Authority and the Mining Qualifications Authority and is currently ranked in the top tier among Cat dealers worldwide.

About 700 operators from industry are trained and certified at the academy each year.

Caterpillar fields a comprehensive simulator training line-up. These include modules for articulated trucks, hydraulic excavators, medium and large mining trucks, M-Series motor graders, scrapers, track-type tractors, small and large wheel loaders and electric rope shovels.

Further developments are under way to introduce Cat simulator training stations for the underground market.
Cat simulators are compact and portable from the classroom environment to customer sites. These units are also available for sale or rental.

“We have found that the use of simulators greatly enhances downstream proficiency and efficiency at a time when the industry is looking for ways to save on operational expenditure and optimise the cost-per-ton use of their existing fleets,” says Barloworld Equipment Operator Training Academy head Willie Haasbroek.

He states that, in addition to proven machine proficiency, Barloworld Equipment will only certify operators if they can demonstrate, through theoretical and practical examination, that they have a comprehensive understanding of the correct techniques required to achieve safe and optimum production.

This includes an understanding of how these techniques can positively impact on machine health and availability.

Cat simulators enable us to set the benchmark at the highest level “as there are no shortcuts or training gaps”.

Once on board a Cat simulator, realistic controls ensure that the operator gains familiarisation and “muscle memory” using the same hardware found in the actual machine. Rich graphics create a virtual world as trainees move through a succession of exercises that test and record their progress.

In addition to correcting bad habits, Cat simulators also prove beneficial when addressing new technologies. An example is the Cat M-Series motor grader simulator that trains operators on a machine class that functions purely on joystick controls, as opposed to the conventional steering wheel and levers on current K Series units.

“Even for experienced K Series operators, this can be a conversion challenge and we have found that it generally takes a minimum of six weeks before they grasp the basics of the new joystick technology,” says Haasbroek.

He adds that younger operators who are accustomed to the virtual world of three dimensional, or 3D, gaming may pick up the techniques slightly faster, but Haasbroek says that, “in the end, the playing field is levelled by the nature of the training programme”.

Core metrics are built into the programme for all Cat simulator machine classes. For the Cat M-Series module, these include controls familiarisation; the number of blade-ground contacts; total blade-ground contact time; total time spent in reverse; average speed; highest gear used; number of collisions; and number of blade-tyre contacts.

Once in the field, Caterpillar has a range of technologies that build on the competences of an expert operator. A prime example is the Cat MineStar system, which consists of a number of configurable capability sets, namely fleet, terrain, detect, health and command.

These can be used individually or in combination to provide the scalability needed to maximise safety, reduce costs and improve profitability.

The ‘fleet’ setting mode provides compre-hensive, real-time machine tracking and assign-ment and productivity management, enabling a comprehensive overview of all operations.

The terrain setting enables high-precision management of drilling, loading, grading and dragline operations through the use of guidance technology. It also increases machine productivity and provides real-time feedback for improved efficiency.

The ‘detect’ setting mode helps keep personnel and assets safe by using satellite, radar and camera technologies to enhance operator awareness of the working environment around manned or remotely controlled mining equipment in both surface and underground applications.

The ‘health’ setting delivers critical event-based machine condition and operating data for the entire fleet. It includes comprehensive equipment health and asset monitoring capabilities, with a wide range of diagnostic, analytic and reporting tools.

The ‘c

ommand’ mode, in turn, enables remote control, semiautonomous and autonomous systems for surface and underground mobile mining equipment.

By integrating the capabilities of fleet, terrain, detect and health, it delivers dramatic improvements in safety, productivity and availability.

Edited by Martin Zhuwakinyu
Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor

Comments

Showroom

Willard
Willard

Rooted in the hearts of South Africans, combining technology and a quest for perfection to bring you a battery of peerless standing. Willard...

VISIT SHOWROOM 
Booyco Electronics
Booyco Electronics

Booyco Electronics, South African pioneer of Proximity Detection Systems, offers safety solutions for underground and surface mining, quarrying,...

VISIT SHOWROOM 

Latest Multimedia

sponsored by

Hyphen, Eva mine, ferrochrome price make headlines
Hyphen, Eva mine, ferrochrome price make headlines
27th March 2024
Resources Watch
Resources Watch
27th March 2024

Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):

Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format

Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):

All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.

Already a subscriber?

Forgotten your password?

MAGAZINE & ONLINE

SUBSCRIBE

RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA

SUBSCRIBE

CORPORATE PACKAGES

CLICK FOR A QUOTATION







sq:0.118 0.15s - 88pq - 2rq
Subscribe Now