PROJECTS
We have created hundreds of innovative projects for dozens of clients over the last
10 years. Below are just a few examples to demonstrate the breadth and depth of our knowledge, skills, and abilities.
AFSOC Virtual C-130J
Pre/Post-Flight Checklist Training
While the latest C-130J Super Hercules aircraft were coming off Lockheed Martin's assembly line, the US Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) was in need of pilot refresher/differences training for the new digital "glass" cockpit. Previous C-130's had analog gauges and instrumentation, the latest "J" model replaced most of that with the interactive touch screen and digital menus.
However the ability to train the existing pilots (who already knew how to fly the plane, but needed to learn the new digital instrumentation panels and relevant procedures) was limited to a handful of flight simulators ($1,000 / Hour) and the parked aircraft themselves ($10,000 / hour), not including the lost opportunity cost of not getting the aircraft deployed to the middle east.
Our solution (while working with Lockheed Martin) was to develop a laptop based cockpit simulator for the pre and post flight checklists, including the integration of the navigation planning system. This allowed countless pilots to train simultaneously for as long as they wanted, anywhere and any time. This allowed Lockheed not only to catch up on the delivery of not just the aircraft but the certified pilots by months. This effort cost less than $200,000, was completed in just a few weeks, and saved Lockheed and AFSOC millions of dollars in just that first year.
BP am/pm Staff Training
As many franchise locations experience, the typical staff turnover rate is 100% per year, creating a great deal of overhead expense for their training (since they area hourly employees). To help expedite and improve the overall training effectiveness for BP am/pm staff, while at 3Dsolve, we developed a series of Simulation-based training courses. The resulting benefits was so great, that 100% of the trainees passed the training in less than half of the previous time, with almost no wasted products during the training period. This simple series of distributed simulation training courses saved BP millions of dollars in just the first year, and building the entire Virtual am/pm location (including all products and equipment in the backrooms) as well as the instructional design and final training content cost less than $200,000. That year, the resulting development won one of CIO’s Top 100 awards:
CIO Project Description
When BP wanted to shift from its BP Connect retail convenience stores to its newer a.m/p.m. mini-markets, the company launched a 3-D virtual training system for store personnel to use both in the classroom and remotely. The system uses computer gaming software to create a real-life experience for the trainee along with a hands-on, individualized approach to understanding mini-mart operation. Store operations include food preparation, and the system eliminates the need to crowding trainees into a tight kitchen for lessons. In an effectiveness evaluation, those who used the 3-D program compared to in-person training were rated with 100 percent consistency versus 40 percent consistency in producing baked goods according to specifications.
Bechtel Bettis Virtual Submarine Engine Room
When it comes to Nuclear Control Room Simulators, their focus is purely limited to the instruments and controls within the control room, they indirectly include the actual equipment throughout the power plant (pumps, valves, gauges, etc.). Our efforts, while at 3Dsolve and Lockheed Martin, included creating an interactive, dynamic, and immersive 3D Virtual environment of a Los Angeles Class Submarine’s Auxiliary Machine Room including all equipment, generators, valves, gauges, annunciators, alarms, etc.).
In our game-based Virtual Machine Room, multiple watch standers and an instructor could interact with any of the instruments and controls. For example, if a watch stander turned on a pump and opened its valve in the Machine Room, the application sent a message to the then 20 year old FORTRAN simulation model that ran the training facility’s Fleet Interactive Display Equipment (or FIDE), also known as a Control Room Simulator. The backend logic system then responded in milliseconds with the real-time changes in pressure, temperature, and flow rates not only to those standing in the physical Control Room Simulator, but also those on laptops in the Virtual Engineering Space. This proved to the nuclear navy that an interactive, immersive, and dynamic Virtual Environment could be integrated with any existing simulation model, without creating any latency or negative training effects.
This allowed the benefit of the Control Room Simulators to be extended to the engineering spaces of any ships. This pioneering effort led the way for others to create the Virtual Littoral Combat Ship (LCS), including all compartments, systems, sensors, weaponry and machinery to be simulated in a comprehensive virtual environment, as well as the Engineering spaces on some US Nimitz Class Aircraft Carriers.