TRAX Training Simulator Revival

Training new staff during periods of rapid growth can pose a significant challenge to any company. TRAX is currently supporting an international client with the revival of an unused power plant simulator and pressing training needs.

Simulator Updates

Constructed in 2010, the example simulator modeled a 450 MW combined cycle unit with virtual GE controls.  The combined cycle simulator was actively used for several years, but was abandoned when staffing reductions made maintenance and use unfeasible for the client. Today, with a new generation of staff onboarding, TRAX’s client is interested in reviving the simulator for training.

The initial simulator revival effort is focused on simply restoring the simulator to working order. With systems and software a decade out of date, a discovery process was the obvious first step in this restoration. To accomplish this initial phase, TRAX is using remote features to access the simulator from a continent away. This method is cost-effective, secure, and accommodates differences in working hours between the client’s location and TRAX’s offices. With remote access, anyone who has been granted clearance can access the simulator at any time during the upgrade process.

Once the initial phase of work is complete, TRAX will work with the client to determine the best path forward to update the simulator.

Training a New Generation

TRAX offers courses to “train the trainer” to support clients in precisely these sorts of economy-driven major staffing changes. New instructors need to be taught teaching techniques that promote good design, development, and testing in training scenarios. A trainer must have a firm grasp on facility and simulator information, but also be able to present that information well. TRAX’s ProTRAX software has built-in tools to support the development of a variety of training scenarios, so the combined cycle client already has the means available to build simulator training scenarios with the ability to invoke malfunctions, trend and plot variables, and monitor and record student performance.

TRAX simulators also come with remote training options. Remote Manager is a small utility designed to run on simulator computers to give the trainee control of simulator operations without the need to login at the physical Instructor Station. Trainees can use the Remote Manager to perform basic functions such as running and freezing the simulator as well as restoring initial conditions and taking temporary snapshots for later review.  In addition to the basic simulation functions, Remote Manager offers trainees access to existing training scenarios and local operations screens.  The results from a remote trainee’s session are available to the instructor on the Instructor Station.