Development of a Mechanical Maintenance Training Simulator in OpenSimulator for F-16 Aircraft Engines

Abstract Mechanical maintenance of F-16 engines is carried out as a team effort involving 3 to 4 skilled engine technicians. This paper presents the development of a mechanical maintenance simulator for their training. This simulator aims to enable technician training to be enhanced with cooperation and context prior to the training phase with actual physical engines. We describe the requirements that were identified with the Portuguese Air Force, the overall software architecture of the system, the current stage of the prototype, and the outcomes of the first field tests with users.

[1]  Ricky Smith,et al.  Pre-Planning for Lean Maintenance , 2004 .

[2]  Ken Hudson,et al.  Canadian Border Simulation at Loyalist College , 2009 .

[3]  Norman I. Badler,et al.  Virtual humans for validating maintenance procedures , 2002, CACM.

[4]  Lance Chun Che Fung,et al.  Distinguishing games and simulation games from simulators , 2006, CIE.

[5]  Fotis Liarokapis,et al.  The use of virtual world platforms for supporting an emergency response training exercise , 2008 .

[6]  Daniel B. Horn,et al.  Are Soldiers Gamers? Videogame Usage among Soldiers and Implications for the Effective Use of Serious Videogames for Military Training , 2010 .

[7]  Hugo Paredes,et al.  A Software Architecture for Collaborative Training in Virtual Worlds: F-16 Airplane Engine Maintenance , 2011, CRIWG.

[9]  Leonel Morgado,et al.  Aplicação de avatares autónomos para desempenhar o papel de membros na execução de trabalhos em equipa , 2012 .

[10]  S. Freitas Serious Virtual Worlds: a Scoping Study , 2008 .

[11]  Paul A. Fishwick,et al.  An introduction to OpenSimulator and virtual environment agent-based M&S applications , 2009, Proceedings of the 2009 Winter Simulation Conference (WSC).

[12]  Norman I. Badler,et al.  CRAM it! A comparison of virtual, live-action and written training systems for preparing personnel to work in hazardous environments , 2011, 2011 IEEE Virtual Reality Conference.

[13]  Stephen Travis Pope,et al.  A cookbook for using the model-view controller user interface paradigm in Smalltalk-80 , 1988 .

[14]  Steve Wheeler,et al.  Second Life: an overview of the potential of 3-D virtual worlds in medical and health education. , 2007, Health information and libraries journal.

[15]  Teresita M Sotomayor Teaching tactical combat casualty care using the TC3 sim game-based simulation: a study to measure training effectiveness. , 2010, Studies in health technology and informatics.

[16]  Maurice Hendrix,et al.  Game engines selection framework for high-fidelity serious applications , 2012 .

[17]  Andreas Holzinger,et al.  Learning performance with interactive simulations in medical education: Lessons learned from results of learning complex physiological models with the HAEMOdynamics SIMulator , 2009, Comput. Educ..

[18]  Roger Smith,et al.  The Long History of Gaming in Military Training , 2010 .

[19]  Tim Marsh,et al.  Serious games continuum: Between games for purpose and experiential environments for purpose , 2011, Entertain. Comput..