Driver Training Technology Creates Virtual Reality

By Bruce Lilly, Contributing Writer

This story appears in the Aug. 11 print edition of Transport Topics

If a truck’s wheels start to skid on a patch of ice, the driver’s response in that instant can make all the difference in the world. A skilled driver might know exactly how to avoid a fatal accident, but how do you help all of the drivers in your fleet gain that vital skill? Taking trucks out on icy roads to practice is entirely impractical. Fortunately, there is another option — driving simulators.

Driving simulator technology has reached a point of sophistication that allows drivers to experience an amazing range of real-life situations while sitting safely in the simulator seat. By providing the steering wheel, foot pedals, gear shift, dashboard and controls found in a cab, plus video projections on three screens, the simulator re-creates the driving experience.

“Simulators are excellent tools for enabling drivers to practice in conditions, including skid recovery and adverse weather training, that are not consistently available in a real truck,” said Tiffany Winzell, senior director of strategic business development for L-3 Communications D.P. Associates, based in Alexandria, Va.

L-3 and Virage Simulation, based in Montreal, are companies that provide driving simulators to the transportation industry.

“Simulators allow mistakes to be made as part of the learning process without the risk of physical harm to employees, equipment or the general public,” said Winzell. As a result, drivers can experience a wider range of outcomes than they can out on the road.

“When training on the road, instructors often have to ‘rescue’ students from their mistakes,” Winzell said. “This can sometime prevent the student from truly understanding the impact of the potential consequences associated with their mistakes. The simulator allows such mistakes to play out to their natural ends.”

Each training session with a simulator involves a scenario that depicts particular driving challenges. Almost anything imaginable can be programmed to appear in the simulated world, including potholes, pedestrians and animals, rubbernecking distractions (such as an accident on the opposite side of a highway), vehicles darting in and out of traffic, sharp curves, narrow streets that require wide turns, low-clearance underpasses, freeway ramps, limited visibility, steep inclines and difficult docking procedures.

“The simulator is a tool,” said Rémi Quimper, president of Virage. “A good simulator will give you a realistic replica of the truck and the driving environment. I often compare the simulator to PowerPoint. It’s a good tool, but if you don’t have a good presentation, if you don’t have the material, the tool doesn’t matter.”

Part of the power of simulator technology is its ability to provide feedback that never could be generated in a truck. “The feedback we can arrange by programming scenarios in certain ways is something you could never get in real life,” said Pierro Hirsch, director of road safety research at Virage.

Virage’s “ecodriving” scenarios, which focus on increasing fuel efficiency, provide a good example of specialized feedback. “Our fuel-efficiency training program is based on the physics of the vehicle,” Quimper said. “We provide feedback about each force that is acting on the vehicle — the rolling resistance, the aerodynamic resistance, the inertia of the vehicle.”

The simulator’s forward video screen, which represents the front windshield of a cab, has a section at the top that shows graphical representations of these forces. “When you press on the gas, you see a surge in the acceleration force,” Quimper said. “You release the gas pedal, and you see an increase in the braking force, right on the screen in front of you.”

When drivers can see precisely how fuel economy is affected by such simple things as acceleration and braking, they start developing the driving habits that improve fuel efficiency. “I taught ecodriving in cars for years,” Hirsch said, “and only after I used the simulator program did I become sensitive to the fact that I was losing fuel efficiency every time I took my foot off the gas unnecessarily. Every time you brake with your brake pedal or your engine compression, you’re losing fuel efficiency.”

Simulators are used for novice and experienced drivers, and the most common training goals are improved safety and fuel efficiency. Scenarios may focus on anything from remedial training to specialized vehicles, such as extra-large trailers or tankers.

In fact, tankers present a specific challenge that simulators can address. “Tanker trailers have a high center of gravity, which means that there’s a heightened risk of rollover,” Quimper said. “Greater risk requires better training. The key to preventing rollovers is to anticipate the problems ahead of time. If you feel the truck beginning to roll, it’s too late to prevent it.”

Virage’s approach is to train people to understand physics and why trucks can roll over. “The simulator doesn’t prevent rollovers, because that’s too late,” he said. “We teach them how to avoid getting to that stage.”

Another advantage to simulators can be cost. The price tag of purchasing the equipment can be offset in several ways. Perhaps the most obvious payback is a higher rate of success in achieving the training objectives.

“At the end of the day, the avoidance of operational costs because a driver actually is able to perform the skills far outweighs a cheaper method that does not lead to cost savings,” Winzell said. “A DVD on winter driving does not provide the same skill level as practicing speed control and skid avoidance in a near-real-world environment. Who do you want driving your cargo when the snow falls?”

Simulators also save training time, fuel and the risk of damage to vehicles while keeping assets free to haul freight. “What we can achieve in a simulator in 15 minutes might not be achievable on the road in two hours, simply because the learning conditions can’t be controlled in the same way and the degree of feedback is so limited,” Hirsch said.

The ability to create scenarios that address unique situations gives the technology a high degree of flexibility. “We can create specific settings, such as a difficult loading dock,” Quimper said, “but what is more interesting is to determine the issue with that loading dock and train the drivers to understand why the maneuver is posing problems. What is the problem? Is it visibility? Is it because the space is too narrow? We can analyze the situation, determine the issue and build an exercise to make sure you get that point.”

When the scenario is set, it can be practiced as many times as necessary. “Simulator technology is good for mastering skills,” Hirsch said. “Scenarios are programmed to simulate a variety of hazardous and complicated situations. Drivers can repeat the scenarios and gain experience quickly.”

Although some people experience “simulator sickness” when using the equipment, most drivers embrace the technology. “We find drivers respond very favorably to well-designed and properly delivered simulation-based training programs,” Winzell said. “Most acclimate without any issues, especially as the next ‘gamer generation’ enters the workforce.”