Between mining companies and training centres, there has been a noticeable increase in demand for simulation technology in the past year.

Safety, production and cost benefits are being absorbed by more trainers in the industry, and it could not have been realised at a better time.

As market strength rapidly returns to the country, the confidence to invest in simulation is on display.

There is no sign of business slowing down for Immersive Technologies, as its production team faces the challenge of keeping up with relentless demand.

Its research and development department has been just as busy.

Immersive Technologies has customers in 29 countries around the world, and 90% of the

open cut mining market.

The Perth-based company recently released the PRO3 Surface Mining simulator and its first underground mining Advanced Equipment Simulator, the UG360.

"Whenever we look into research and development, we always come back to two key things; we look at increasing safety of the operator and profitability of the operation; so if we can't tick those two boxes, then we don't develop it," Immersive Technologies executive vice-president - business development Paul Davis said.

"So you can have a lot of nice to haves, but they really will not provide a lot of value to the end customer, we always make sure we have that final check before we develop anything."

The PRO3's features include a seamless 180 degree curved display, a more advanced motion base, and real vision. The latter is an application that dynamically changes what happens on the screen depending on where the operator's head is.

Immersive already has sold eight PRO3 model simulator units in the past six months.

"Curved screen, motion base, real view - it all makes a much more immersive environment," Davis said.

"We've increased the accuracy of the motion base, which becomes more important to increasing the realism of the simulator.

"There are fine movements you get when driving. A lot of it is driven by the feel, which enhances the operator's experience."

As opposed to looking at a normal screen where it does not change if observers move their head, the PRO3 operators can look down the side of the "truck" and get a different view as they move their head. Drawn from special effect principles, this is a unique technology to Immersive and new to mining industry simulation.

"As the operator leans forward you suddenly get to see there was a light vehicle down below," Davis said.

"Things like light vehicle and haul truck accidents are probably one of the highest issues on minesites, and so that ability to have a much better look at your proximity is going to increase

safety from that point of view."

Attaching sensors to the operator's head enables this technology to be utilised during training and increases operator awareness at simulation stage.

"We looked for input from a number of different areas," Davis said.

"We obviously used our customer base to provide feedback as we increase the applications in the technology.

"We went to our original equipment manufacturers, and then outside of mining we looked at other technologies out there, including the likes of special effects."

Feedback from Immersive customers also helped it design the underground unit, UG360.

UG360 incorporates a 360 degree visual experience in the operator cabin to allow trainees to see in all directions.

All control design comes directly from the original equipment manufacturers. The simulated training environment can be generated to reflect any individual underground minesite conditions.

Immersing operators into a "real" mining environment requires ongoing improvement and research.

Davis attributed the company's success in this area to its strong relationship and exclusive agreements with the OEMs.

Immersive has a long relationship with Caterpillar and its five-year agreement was recently re-signed for a similar period of time.

Davis said OEMs such as Caterpillar understood the importance of being involved in the design and control process so mining companies got better value for money.

"If their customers are going to get any value from simulation, then it needs to be an accurate replication, and therefore they need to be a part of the solution," he said.

"Mining simulation is what we do, its what our people live and breathe, so early on we realised that the OEM's were important because we were simulating their equipment."

Davis stressed the exclusive partnerships it had with companies such as Caterpillar and Komatsu meant it had access to the technical machine proprietary information that could not be obtained from dealers or the markets.

The other bonus to this arrangement down the track will be the ability for Immersive to release the simulator models at the same time as the OEMs release new models. This gives operators the chance to train right from the start, instead of waiting for the control panel to be emulated.

The simulators come in transportable units or a classroom unit, and have interchangeable modular controls with conversion kits for trucks and excavators.

"A key part of what we have been doing with our customers is working with them to quantify their operator skill and competencies and also see how that is driving real results in pit metrics," Davis said.

"It helps them optimise their operations and improve production and safety."

Immersive has a global database of operators to identify trends, risks and opportunities for improvement, and there are plans for the dominant player to increase its modules next year.

Davis said orders picked up in the second half of 2010.

South African player Thoroughtec Simulation recently targeted Australia, and also was noticing an improvement in demand, with mining activity rising.

"Since setting up the office two years ago [in Perth Western Australia], we were slowed down by the GFC, however, based on activity in the last quarter we see 2011 as very promising, as the market is starting to show a lot of interest in our offering," Thoroughtec regional manager Australia and South East Asia Mark Gregson said.

Thoroughtec has 25 years of simulation experience, with a global presence in both military and mining simulation.

Its international clients include BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto, DeBeers, Atlas Copco, Anglo Platinum and Sandvik, with 500 simulators distributed globally.

Thoroughtec is the largest global supplier of both surface and underground mining simulators and the leading supplier of military simulators in its local market.

Design and technology teams at Thoroughtec can engineer simulation specifics to any machine, a component of the business that Gregson said was one of its key strengths.

"Anything can be simulated," Gregson said.

A range of applications are supported by Thoroughtec technology for surface and underground operations, drill and blast, rock reinforcement and load and haul.

It has created surface mining simulators for haul trucks, dump trucks, articulated dump trucks, drill rigs, excavators, shovels, bulldozers, loaders, draglines, graders, drill rigs, and roof bolters, loaders, locomotives and scalers for underground mining simulation.

The Cybermine 4 base unit is Thoroughtec's latest generation of simulation equipment. It has the option of a full 360-degree panoramic display screen.

Students can use all four screens when operating the equipment, providing increased awareness of surroundings and a more accurate simulation.

"Your awareness levels can save your life and the life of your co-workers" Thoroughtec business development manager Justin Collins said.

The Cybermine instructor station and reporting software also has been upgraded for improved training and operator analysis.

Instructors can view student performance and vehicle diagnostics on two high definition wide-screen displays, allowing for a full "fly-around" view to run simultaneously.

"The software automatically identifies operational violations such as speeding, simultaneous brake and accelerator engagement and incorrect gear selection, to which the instructor can then take corrective action with the student to eliminate these violations and thus save the mine a fortune in unnecessary maintenance bills and prevent hazardous safety situations," Collins said.

The Mining Industry Skills Centre is using a Thoroughtec Cybermine surface simulator base unit to train operators on a Komatsu 830E-AC haul truck cab.

Sandvik Australia has a Cybermine underground simulator base unit with "plug-and-play" cabs for its D420 drill rig, Toro 40D ADT, 007 load haul dump, LH517 LHD, TH660 LHD and the Sandvik Solo 7-7v drill rig.

Sandvik said the simulator encouraged operators, both new and experienced to gain added experience in a true to life, non-destructive environment that could target certain areas if required.

All experiences on the simulator can be tangibly measured through printed reports to show progress.

"The Sandvik Underground Simulator is an extremely useful tool in the training of operators in the correct usage of mining equipment, by the original equipment manufacturer, in a safe, realistic environment allowing us to introduce hazards and faults so we can ensure the operators react in an appropriate manner," Sandvik product support representative and underground mining operator trainer Andy Winspear said.

By training operators correctly and instilling behaviours that least impact wear and tear on the machinery, Sandvik also ensures longevity of its machines, reducing maintenance costs.

Thoroughtec said the military and aerospace industries had defined simulation standards, and the "cross pollination" of skills and technologies used a common architecture and code base to support mining simulation products more effectively.

The other significant South African simulation company providing a wide range of simulators to the mining industry is Fifth Dimension Technologies.

"The global mining simulator market is growing exponentially," 5DT marketing and sales manager Steven Marshall said.

"A few years ago it was the early adopters who were getting simulators.

"Today it is not a question of ‘should we?', but rather ‘when and how?'

"The benefits have been proven in the industry."

Marshall said the 5DT pipeline was strong and growing in all continents.

"MISC has a large number of 5DT simulator units - 17 machine consoles including the world's first grader simulator for the CAT 16H," he said.

"We delivered a number of simulators to Fortescue Metals Group, including the world's first simulator for a surface miner for a Wirtgen machine.

"Another key customer is TAFE, New South Wales, which recently took delivery of a system from us."

Over the past few years, 5DT has produced simulators for some more unusual equipment, such as the Wirtgen surface miner, CAT graders and ARO bolter-miners.

5DT has recorded an upsurge in demand beyond the traditional surface mining market.

It recently received orders for rock drill rigs, bolters, light delivery vehicles and construction equipment simulators.

"There is no piece of equipment big or small that we will not simulate if the customer can gain safety, productivity or maintenance advantage," Marshall said.

"We do custom machinery all the time. It's one of our key strengths."

Light delivery vehicles training was in particular demand at the moment, the company said, as a large proportion of accidents were attributed to the vehicles.

*This article first appeared in the January 2011 edition of Australia's Mining Monthly magazine.