Anyone learn on a simulator?

thegooseisloose · May 12, 2011

I learned how to use machinery by just getting on the darn piece of equipment and figuring it out. I don't know about most of you out there, but my father and grandfather just let me get after it to learn. i came across this pretty neat article about simulators and how they are being used quite a bit today. it would have been nice to learn on one of these machines (would have saved a lot of money and save me from some butt whoopings) anybody out there learn on these simulators? im curious to know. here is that article too http://blog.machinefinder.com/4305/virtual-construction

oldtanker · May 13, 2011

Interesting. I can see where you can sit a person on that get em familiar and then get em on the real thing. Anyone who has operated as opposed to riding a piece of equipment develops a feeling for machines. You get more feed back than just images on a screen and sound. Each point of contact, feet, butt and hands pick up vibes and tells you something.

Looks like a good training tool but you are not going to train someone on that Sim and the next day have them operational in the field.

Rick

thegooseisloose · May 13, 2011

Totally agree with you oldtanker. yeah, it may be a good starter trainingn program, but you aren't going to learn a machine or get a good feel on it until you actually get out there and play with it.

M Diesel · May 13, 2011

I would think that for construction equipment it is a very strong tool. It may seem silly in a way, but at least you don't have to waste experienced operator time supervising a newbie practicing slot work or doing repetition to assimilate the controls into instinct.

For the experienced people it is a way to pass knowledge or even to experiment with technique for productivity. That is something you don't generally get to do on the really big rigs.

Of course nothing excels better than butt time. :lol:

I have to add that for some work it would be better to have the operator off the machine, running it remotely. I can see the day where the cab is not actually on the machine.

farmboyWI · May 13, 2011

Yeah, does it teach you how much of a bite you can take, or pulling rocks, or the limits of your machine and how to "feel" them? I'd love to have something like that for the Wii, just for fun, but just like the Wii is supposed to teach you balance and coordination, in the end it just teaches you computer games. I suppose it would be a big help to someone with absolutly no experience, but I didn't have any either when we bought a used, sloppy old four stick backhoe a few years ago and in a few hours I was doing pretty darn good I thought. Would like a job running something a little newer with the joysticks someday.

scotc · May 13, 2011

The big trucking companies that have their own training schools are starting to use simulators. I wouldn't want to learn on one, though. Maybe basic control layouts. There is a lot you can tell about a machine by the sound of the motor, the creaks and groans it makes, the vibrations through your feet, seat, and hands, and even feedback from the controls.

In a highway vehicle, how it feels can tell a lot about what it's doing, before you can see it. How can they make a simulator give you that feeling that things aren't quite as good as they look? Like the night before last, on my way back to the yard with my fertilizer truck, I knew things were a little slick because it rained and I was on a gravel road. But I knew it had rained a lot more on the road I turned onto because of the way the truck felt.If I hadn't been able to feel what the truck was doing, I would have been in a ditch, instead of dropping it back down a gear from where it started feeling funny.

Anonymous-0 · May 14, 2011

It all depends on how good the simulator is. Astronauts didn't get to try out the Saturn V rockets before heading to the moon. They trained in super high tech simulators. I knew the guy that invented the Jaycopter for training helicoptor pilots because too many people were getting killed trying to learn in the actual helicopters. He designed a computer controlled model worth $1,000,000 and had a contract for 15 of them with the US air force. The contract was cancelled only because the Vietnam war was ending. The first million dollar trainer ended up at NASA. He also had a 16 passenger model at the 1964 New York worlds fair. Simulators are an extremely important tool in a lot of industries.

scotc · May 25, 2011

Yes, that's true. But when you have a steering wheel, two pedals, and a "shift" lever, with three below-Walmart's-bottom-end-model TV screens around you, and some really crappy sound piped in, for someone who can't figure out how to shift an unsynchronized transmission, or pull the right lever, it would help. For most, it would be a waste of time.

Anyone learn on a simulator?

thegooseisloose

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oldtanker

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thegooseisloose

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M Diesel

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farmboyWI

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scotc

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Anonymous-0

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scotc

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