Development of a Six Degrees of Freedom Simulator for Desert Driving Training

A century ago, the Wright Brothers developed the first plane. It was not very safe at first. Throughout the world many engineers developed solutions for making flying safer. Key component of that was to train the pilots. Very sophisticated flight simulators are essential in pilot training now. From its very unsafe start, flying is now often the safest mode of transport. In road safety we have seen many developments as well. Several features make vehicles safer in case of incidents. Some of these new features help to avoid accidents. However, almost always the driver remains essential in preventing accidents. Therefore, drivers have a major responsibility for people and equipment. We trust our lives in the driver's hands when we are a passenger. For decades driver training has played an important role in preventing incidents. Current "on the road" driver training remains essential for road safety. However, like in the airline industry, adding risk-free realistic simulator training is expected help making a step-change for driving safety. This paper describes a recently developed desert driving simulator. It is new for the oil and gas industry and signifies a major step forward in the ongoing journey to zero road accidents. The simulator offers hands-on training. It uses no written language. This is of importance for drivers from all cultural backgrounds and native languages. The simulator can be used for many driving conditions or moving equipment. For now it was specifically tailored to provide training to drivers who drive on graded desert roads. This is a high risk activity for those who work at remote desert installations.