Download Fig 2. Physical size comparison of human and mining truck The

Surface Mine Truck Safety Training
Design And Implementation of a Multi-user VR Driving Simulator
Yan W. Ha, Jeremy Murray, and Dr. Frederick C. Harris, Jr.
Department of Computer Science, University of Nevada, Reno
Abstract
In the surface mine industry, particularly on
maneuvering off-highway mining vehicles, the cost
of workplace accidents is high, and the traditional
safety training methods for drivers are costly, time
consuming, and generally ineffective. The purpose of
this project is to outline the motivation for and
development of a virtual reality based driving
simulator, which can cut costs and improve mining
safety. Specifically, the project considers the use of a
high level Application Programming Interface (API),
with conclusions and possible future work being
summarized.
Introduction
Accidents are a major concern in day-to-day
mining operations, where they can be expensive in
terms of both costs (considering the fact that a new
haul truck costs over $500,000) and employee morale
(industrial trucks are the second leading cause of
fatality as stated in OSHA, 1995).
Worker training is an effective way to prevent
workplace accidents. However, the cost of attempting
to provide a realistic representation of risks
associated with mining vehicle operation (the size of
these vehicles can be seen in Figures 1 and 2), and to
demonstrate the proper techniques to manage those
risks is high under traditional training methods.
Goals
Conclusions
The goals of this research project are three-fold:
1. to implement a mining vehicle driving simulator
with a realistic physics model, including
mechanical properties (e.g., acceleration, gearshift, lateral force, etc.) and environmental
effects (e.g., different weather conditions)
2. to enhance the driving simulator in distributed
architecture and thus multi-user and
3. to utilize a steering wheel for maneuvering
inside the 3D scene.
Although virtual reality simulators are not new,
employing such simulators to reduce training costs
and reduce accident rates is relatively new to the
mining industry. Our experience in utilizing the
Torque Engine to create a realistic mining vehicle
simulator has proven such approach is feasible. With
future improvements, it is reasonable to imagine
such a simulator can train new hires in the correct
and safe operation of mining vehicles effectively.
Fig 2. Physical size comparison of human and mining truck
The Torque Engine
Future Work
Normally, using a low level API to develop graphically intensive software would require a substantial amount
of effort. To simplify the development, we choose to utilize the Torque Engine, which emphasizes more on user
interaction and scene management rather than drawing objects. The Torque Engine was developed in order to
implement the first-person action game Tribes 2. The engine consists of about 500,000 lines of code, which is
written in C++ and Assembly language, and provides developers with networking (UDP and TCP) capability. One
thing that helped us in our development was the C++ like scripting language provided in the engine that handles
interior design and object creation. Thus, by importing object models in an appropriate format (i.e., dts, dif), we can
build our driving simulator much more rapidly than would have been possible otherwise.
•To display a reasonably detailed dashboard at the
bottom of the screen. e.g., speedometer, gearing
indicator, etc.
•To import more mining vehicles and open-pit mine
models into the simulator - for more variations
throughout the training
•To provide a better networked simulation - for better
interactivity between trainees on the same scene
simultaneously
•To create a better physics model for the imported
vehicles. e.g., user-controllable gearing shift
•To provide score-keeping capability. e.g., generate a
file indicating the number of times the user violates
safety rules and a corresponding performance score
•To incorporate a variety of hazards inside the
simulator - for a more realistic training experience
•And many other ideas too numerous to mention.
What We Have Done
We have successfully done several things this
summer in our research.
1. Converted an open-pit mine layout file from
AutoCAD to dif format and incorporated it to the
engine. This is shown in Figure 3.
2. Taken mining truck models from 3D Studio max
format and converted them into a format our
program can use. One such vehicle is shown in
Figure 4.
3. We then modified the source code for making driving
with a steering wheel possible. Figure 5 shows one
of the steering wheels we used.
4. We tested networking of two drivers in the same
simulation.
Fig 3. open-pit mine layout
Information
For more information about this and other VR
projects, please visit our web page at:
http://www.cs.unr.edu/~vrpad
Fig 1. Physical size comparison of mining truck and a Suburban
Virtual reality (VR) technology based training
tools have proven to be an excellent approach to
reducing both accidents and the high cost of training.
It becomes our implementation approach, as it
provides an opportunity for our simulator to be
flexible and realistic.
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank NSF-EPSCoR and NIHBRIN for their financial support.
Fig 4. Example of a mining truck model for our program
Fig 5. Driving with a steering wheel inside the 3D scene