ForgeFX on Simulators and Real-time 3D Application Development: JLG Industries Aerial Work Platform Training Simulators by ForgeFX

Friday, July 31, 2015

JLG Industries Aerial Work Platform Training Simulators by ForgeFX

ForgeFX is proud to be a simulator development partner of JLG Industries, Inc., the world's leading designer and manufacturer of aerial work platforms, telehandlers and other access equipment. The huge success JLG has achieved presents them with a challenge, how to provide training for such a large number of new operators. An interactive training simulator, which is widely deployable, is precisely what JLG needed in order to meet this challenge.

JLG Industries Aerial Work Platform Training Simulators

JLG Industries Aerial Work Platform Training Simulators by ForgeFX

Certain equipment and processes are the best candidates for interactive 3D simulation-based training. The first criteria is high-value machinery. Simulation-based training makes the most sense when the relative cost to develop the simulation is low in comparison to the cost of the equipment itself. The next criteria relates to spatial relations. 3D interactive simulations make the most sense for equipment which operates in the context of its surrounding environment, and are themselves complex in their layout and difficult to represent with flat paper-based training materials. JLG's aerial work platforms meets all of these criteria, allowing simulation-based training to yield a large return on investment.

JLG Adds Custom Simulator to its Training Tools
JLG Industries has added a lift and access equipment simulator to its arsenal of teaching tools at its recently expanded training center in McConnellsburg, PA. The simulator employs advanced gamification learning to familiarize operators with the controls and operation of the JLG 800S telescopic boom lift. The equipment simulator virtually replicates JLG’s proving grounds at its customer training center, a four-acre tract of land that includes obstacle courses designed to train participants in the operation of JLG equipment.

JLG Simulator Starts Training at the Safest Height
At their facility in McConnellsburg, PA, JLG has created a testing and training facility that duplicates many aspects of a typical real-world job site. To train on site with experts at the proving grounds is an invaluable experience. However, the real-world proving grounds can’t handle the volume, nor can everyone handle the expense of on-site travel and training. In the JLG Equipment Simulator, ForgeFX has created a true-to-life replica of the Proving Grounds, allowing an unlimited number of students to gain much of what is gained in the real-world experience.

Training for boom lift operation presented controls familiarization and spatial awareness challenges. ForgeFX met these challenges for JLG by developing the JLG Equipment Training Simulator allowing operators to learn and practice both safety and productivity in a virtual environment.