“Until now, there has been no training solution on the market which fully addresses the unique training requirements for underground coal equipment operators. These new products highlight our ongoing approach to invest in driving customer safety and profitability though our industry leading technology and extensive mining experience,” said Richard Beesley, Underground Coal Business unit manager, Immersive Technologies.
The simulators provide an authentic and comprehensive recreation of an underground coal mining work environment and support the following models with plans to continually develop new machines:
- Joy 14CM15 continuous miner with wireless TX2 or TX3 remote
- Joy 10SC32 shuttle car
- Fletcher CHDDR roof bolter
- Caterpillar EL3000 shearer
- Joy 12CM30 miner bolter
“The ability to train operators to react correctly during potentially life-threatening situations is invaluable in underground mining. Many dangerous situations rarely take place so training operators to understand proper protocol in a safe environment is essential for underground operations,” Beesley said.
The new machines operate on the CM360 Advanced Equipment Simulator. This platform was built upon the proven design and configuration of the Immersive Technologies UG360 Advanced Equipment Simulator. The CM360 uses the full 360° visual experience recognizing the distinct operating conditions of the underground mining environment. It features an entirely removable motion platform to permit both seated and remote operated simulation from within the one platform. Particular care and attention to detail has been put into the visuals for these machines, setting new standards in 3-D graphical machine models for mining simulations.
