To help companies fill the millions of skilled jobs that will continue to open up in industry over the next several years, Emerson has released Mimic Field 3D, an immersive virtual reality (VR) training experience designed to help new and incoming workers understand how changes in the field impact industrial plant processes.
Training operators in the field on physical equipment puts those operators at risk due to their lack of familiarity with the equipment and the way a plant normally operates, as well as how a plant goes through startups, shutdowns, turnarounds, and outages. Using this virtual reality-based software, workforce personnel can get hands-on experience to help them make better decisions regarding operating changes and practice proper procedures before entering potentially hazardous areas.
The Mimic Field 3D software uses existing industrial 3D CAD models of a facility and its equipment to create a VR training experience. If those models are not available, Emerson creates them via surveys or through its library of ready-to-use industrial components. Connected to the Mimic Simulation software, Mimic Field 3D can be used to create specific simulation scenarios using the software’s logic and modeling tools. The resulting simulations can be run on any device to provide field operators with an immersive training experience.
This VR software contains two components:
- A Module Editor, which provides configuration and engineering functionality that allows the user to modify existing 3D simulations and configure training and maintenance scenarios; and a
- Run-Time Client, which provides run-time functionality for a single workstation. It allows the 3D simulation to be viewed through different configurations, such as a large screen with game pad, VR headset, touch-enabled tablet/screen, or stereoscopic display.
As part of Emerson’s Plantweb digital ecosystem, Emerson views the Mimic Field 3D software as a key part of its digital transformation initiative to provide software, data analytics, automation technologies, smart sensor, and consulting services to help customers achieve top quartile performance, i.e., meeting performance metrics within the top 25% of peer companies.
