Ag Industry Incorporating Virtual Simulation Systems

It's a method that's been used by the construction industry for years to train employees to operate trucks and heavy machinery.  Now agrobusiness is beginning to incorporate its own form of virtual simulation systems for training in combine and farm equipment operation.

“So you have a motion seat; it's going to rock you back, forth you're going to feel the engine RPMs rev up, rev down, all the bumps, all the everything in there,” said Eric Wilcox of GrowMark.  “You have to have your seatbelt in on. It's going to jerk you back and forth. We have sudden stops that we want in there.”

Wilcox added these systems also come with surround screens and virtual goggles all designed to give those being trained a sense of not only how to drive and control their equipment but more importantly what to watch out for to avoid an accident in the field or road way.

“We're trying to pull in every sense we can so no matter what you get in, that training from the environment comes back.”

With future virtual training systems potentially incorporating technological advances such as autonomous farm equipment.

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