Industrial Simulators
CKAS Mechatronics is a true pioneer in developing specialised simulators for any industrial application, specific to a customer’s needs. Due to CKAS’ unique in-house skill set and toolkits, simulators can now be utilised in industries which traditionally have not had access to simulation equipment due to cost limitations. The advantages of simulation have been long understood and used in several industries, but the traditional cost limitation of these systems have meant that many industries which could greatly benefit from the use of simulators have gone without. CKAS Mechatronics has changed this precedence by providing simulation equipment based on in-house technology at incredibly cost effective price points.
Generally speaking, some of the well understood benefits of quality high fidelity simulators include:
- Safety - training for any situation is possible in a simulator, without any real world consequences.
- Offline - Simulators allow effective training of operators without the use of the real equipment, meaning there is no "down-time" of the real equipment associated with the training.
- Cost Effective - Training in a simulator is ALWAYS cheaper than training in the real equipment, since there is no fuel use, gas use, or use of ANY consumables in general.
Of course, all of the above is true only if the simulator has a high fidelity or accuracy when compared to the real world application, an area where CKAS Mechatronics' use of true first principles Mathematics and Physics is absolutely crucial.
Oil & Gas, Mining and Plant Simulators
The Oil and Gas and Mining Industries have many applications which are extremely expensive and highly dangerous to train for. In these situations, simulators are an ideal tool for effective training and safety management. Traditionally, simulation has been very costly and technically difficult to achieve effectively. Similarly, many Plant applications (such as Power Plants) require Simulators to effectively train operators offline, when "on-the-job" training is unacceptable from a cost and availabililty perspective.
CKAS Mechatronics has spent many years developing an in-house system called SimCore which can easily be adapted to any industrial simulator, supporting (but not limited to) the following subsystems of a particular application:
- Switch Inputs – all control panel inputs can be simulated
- Digital Outputs – all kinds of lights, relays and actuators
- Variable Inputs – such as valves, volumes, rotary switches and adjustments
- Variable Outputs – such as digital displays, servo outputs, gauges and dials
- Audio and Video Outputs – systems which have voice and video cues to increase the realism of an environment
- Specialised systems – any specialised “system” can be simulated, such as an Oxygen Analyser, Intercom System or even a Sound Powered Phone.
The SimCore system is built on a first principles mathematical foundation which can accurately simulate many real world physics applications, including:
- Gas Flow Equations - All gas flow components including valves, pumps, lines, vessels and specialised systems supporting partial pressures and gas fractions.
- Fluid Flow Equations - Similar to the Gas equations but including some more sophisticated phenomena such as viscosity, and developed flow
- Equations of motion - Including Complex mechanisms, machines, engineered devices and collision mechanics
- Thermal Equations - Including heat flow, forced convection and general thermodynamic gas equations
- Specialised Phenomena - Mathematical equations can be developed to simulate any phenomena which form part of a system to be simulated
The SimCore system is highly customisable, and CKAS or the Client can develop specialised training scenarios (with the open system architecture) which can be fully automatic or semi automatic, to train and check operators effectively.
Diving Supervisor Simulator for the Australian Divers Accreditation Scheme.
An example of an industrial simulator associated with the Diving Industry is the CKAS DSS-100 Diving Supervisor Simulator which was developed for the Australian Diver Accreditation Scheme (ADAS). This simulator is used to effectively train Diving Supervisors for offshore operations both in Air Diving and Closed Bell Diving. More information about this project can be sourced here and a press release can be sourced here.
Ultimately, CKAS can draw on a vast amount of experience and in-house tools to develop and manufacture any Industrial Simulator to suit the specific needs of a customer, creating the MOST realistic simulated environment for true positive learning.
For more answers and information please contact us with your query.