Hi-Tech Sims Prep Plow Drivers For Winter

Last Wednesday afternoon, Bobby Sickal, a 20 year veteran snowplow driver for the Virginia Department of Transportation, got behind the wheel of a plow near Fredericksburg and set off into a snowy, windy night time terrain. His mission was simple: enter the highway and begin clearing a layer of snow which had built up throughout the evening.

Sickal almost immediately encountered problems. In the low visibility he had trouble making out the curves of the road ahead and the traffic around him. Within minutes he was spinning his wheels after having accidentally ended up plowing several hundred yards of the highway median. He was stuck now up against a fence as heavy snow was falling around his vehicle.

Help, though, was on the way. Sickal was suddenly back where he started. It was daylight, too, the visibility much improved. Sickal laughed and began his run again, a bit more cautiously this time.

Sickal had been rescued from his quandry with a few clicks of a mouse by an instructor standing at a laptop computer. Sickal himself was never in any danger, nor were any motorists or expensive VDOT snowplows. He was participating in an advanced simulator training session designed to teach VDOT plow operators how to react in different situations.

"I just got ahold of some ice," said Sickal, explaining his early troubles. "Expect the unexpected, you have to be aware at all times."

The training is being run from a mobile simulator classroom by Salt Lake City based consulting, training and simulation company L-3 MPRI This is the company's fifth year working with VDOT. After last week's sessions in Fredericksburg, they then headed off to the VDOT office in Culpeper to train plow drivers there.

"We've had sim with pilots and astronauts, we spend hours and hours with pilots in simulation before we release them to the real aircraft," said George Perez, senior training manager for L-3 MPRI. "Here, we can develop their confidence and their skills. When the real snow comes they know what to do and how to react…if it's so good for them, then it's good enough for drivers, all types of drivers."

All types indeed. Through the click of a button, the simulation terminal can be switched so that the driver is at the wheel of anything from an interstate bus to a heavy duty pickup truck. The terminal has more than 50 different vehicles loaded onto the software along with custom maps and scenarios designed to teach each operator the rules and risks of the road. A touch-screen dashboard near the steering column updates with each switch to represent the standard layouts of different types of utility and commercial vehicles.

The terminal has evolved through five different versions. The first version was just a single monitor plugged into a single computer and a feedback wheel and pedal set. The latest version features three large flat-screen monitors, a force feedback chair, along with a wheel and pedal set which can shudder and shimmy from the stresses of the road. The monitors are arranged so that they almost fully immerse the operator. One only needs to glance left or right, one normally does in a car, to check the rear view mirrors and blind spots.

In many ways, it's the ultimate video game system turned to a higher purpose.

The terminals themselves are hooked into a central controller station. From there, the instructor can change weather conditions and traffic patterns across a swath of variable toggles. The instructor, if feeling particularly devious, can also opt to throw in mechanical variables, raising or lowering the oil pressure or making the radiator overheat. If a driver finds himself stuck on the side of the road, it is only a few mouse clicks from the controller station to get the scenario restarted and the training resumed.

This training session is part of VDOT's annual winter equipment shakedown, too. By honing the driver's skills in the simulator, they aim to have them prepared for whatever winter throws at the commonwealth.

Sickal eventually got the hang of the controls and went on to drive his simulated route without much issue. With winter around the corner, Sickal says he sees the value of gaining experience in a simulator without having to risk life, limb and equipment. It's training that he hopes pays off, but not too quickly.

"Hopefully we won't have to use it," said Sickal, wishing for a mild winter. "Hopefully it'll be dry."