Gamified training of knife gate valve

INTRODUCTION

Heavy industries like oil & natural gas, mining, manufacturing, etc., entail risky and remote working conditions. Gamification of industrial training using game engines like Unity3D can enable training in virtually location independent safer environments. Juego Studios has been working with one of the largest oil & energy companies to gamify their product training modules. In this case study, we will discuss the gamification of the training process for their Knife Gate Valve.

GAMIFIED TRAINING OF KNIFE GATE VALVE

Our team used a Unity3D game engine which allows creating extensive simulated 3D environments and enables users to interact within it. Equipment, large machines, and their parts can be easily virtually simulated to create training modules for their safety instructions, maintenance, assembly or disassembly, operations, etc.

 

For the training involved with Knife Gate Valve,

The following were the key training modules which needed to be gamified:

• Safety Procedures
• Operation
• Assembly
• Disassembly
• Installation
• Service & Maintenance
• Packing & Logistics
• Troubleshooting
• Product Features & Showcase

For this case study, we will be discussing only the gamification of training of the safety procedures to be followed for the Knife Gate Valve.

General Features of the Gamified Training Module:

The gamified training module has the following general features:

• 3D real-life virtually simulated environment
• 3D model of the Knife Gate Valve & its components
• Real-life industrial workbenches virtually simulated
• 3D tools to be used on the Knife Gate Valve
• 3D simulation of larger equipment like forklifts & bridge cranes
• Video or animated instructions for training
• Tracking & monitoring of the users’ performance
• Creation of reports and suggestion of improvements

Safety Procedures Training Gamified:

One of the primary areas of gamification of training was the gamification of safety procedures to be followed.

Safety procedures were categorized as follows:

• Safety procedures to be followed to enter an industrial environment. This was independent of the product or the specific training module.
• Safety procedures to be followed in cleaning the environment during preparation for any specific module. This set of safety procedures is specific to the cleaning process involved in preparation for any specific training module.
• Safety procedures to be followed while checking the correct size of the Knife Gate Valve. This set of safety procedures is specific to asserting the correct size in preparation for any specific training module.
• Safety procedures specific to any training module. This set of safety procedures is specific to the training module to be carried out, like an assembly of the Knife Gate Valve.
• Safety procedures to be followed for operation bridge crane.
• Safety procedures to be followed for the quality check (QC) of the Knife Gate Valve, after the specific training module, for example, QC after assembly of the Knife Gate Valve.

Reporting & Analytics:

The tracking, monitoring & reporting of user’s performance in the gamified training enables real-time analysis of the strength and improvement areas. This also allows the users to train at various locations and to be monitored from any location.

Devices:

Since Unity can be used to create applications for most of the platforms, the gamified training application is accessible on tablets, desktops, web-based browsers & consoles.

As a progression to such gamification of training, the gamified training application can also be used in the same simulated 3D gamified training in a more immersive way by creating a virtual reality application which can run on devices like Oculus Rift, Samsung Gear VR or Google Cardboard, to name a few. Such a virtual reality application can be virtually immersive and provide most of the virtual experiences of a real-life environment.

ABOUT JUEGO STUDIOS

Juego Studios is a Bangalore based game development company. Juego Studios has worked with more than 100 companies, including Fortune 500 companies, in creating more than 300 games. Juego Studios game experts also realized that gaming engines like Unity and Unreal can be utilized to create solutions for non-gaming industries like the heavy industries. Also with the advent of gamification in many of the industry sectors, it makes a natural sense for Juego Studios to offer its expertise, in helping to create such gamified solutions.