Safe, Cost-Effective Training for New and Experienced Operators

Safe crane operation requires skill and advanced training. Now, you can provide both new and experienced operators with more cost-effective training using MPRI’s Crane Simulators. New operators can gain the basic and advanced skills they’ll need to be reliable and productive on the job. Experienced operators can demonstrate their abilities in periodic quality assurance testing. MPRI’s Crane Simulators let you conduct training sessions without taking time away from equipment currently in use. Unlike conventional training, our Crane Simulators let you repeat training scenarios as many times as needed. And, with just a few clicks of a mouse, the instructor can change the parameters of any training exercise to alter weather, equipment faults, and more. MPRI’s Crane Simulators are in use, safely reducing costs for port operators all over the world: Canada, China, Egypt, France, Indonesia, Italy, Jamaica, Singapore, the USA and more.

Hardware and Software Upgrades Make it All Feel Real

With upgrades to the Universal Cab, Graphics System, Sound System, Instructor Station and more, trainees feel as though they’re in a real crane cab. By duplicating the component features, operating characteristics, and environmental conditions of actual operational cranes, these features lend greater accuracy to the training experience.

Universal Crane Cab MPRI’s Crane Simulators feature a universal crane cab, with interchangeable controls (based on current design trends) that let you simulate a wide variety of crane types, without having to purchase additional major hardware components. As training requirements change, you can easily incorporate additional modules into the system.

All MPRI Crane Simulators are available as either fixed installations at your facility, or as mobile installations. Mobile installation configurations are available in 48-foot trailers, or in 40-foot-high cube containers, allowing for training at multiple sites.

Modular Software

Each software module simulates existing real-life crane and stacking machinery models. Parameters like speeds, accelerations, load limits, load curves and even appearance can be modified. And all malfunctions and alarms of real-world makes and models can be simulated. Several different spreaders, and many types of lifting gear, are already implemented for the existing modules and can be used with new makes and models. Our simulators provide the following crane modules for training:

• STS Container Gantry Cranes (ZPMC, Noell)
• Grab Gantry Crane Bulk Unloaders (clamshell/orange peel grabs)
• Jib Cranes (hook, slings, spreaders, grabs and other lifting gear)
• Straddle Carriers (Nelcon HS3/4)
• RTGs (Noell)
• RMGs

Realistic Sights, Sounds and Motion

Our graphics system generates real-time images in response to user input at the crane controls. Trainees see just what an operator would see while running an actual crane. Displayed on a high-gain rear-projection screen, images of the crane structure, lifting mechanism, payloads, cables, and obstacles provide intricate detail and depth cues to give an operator a more complete sense of realism.

MPRI’s Crane Simulators also provide the realistic sounds of a crane’s operating environment – engines, hydraulics, rail bumps, collisions, and others – the sounds normally experienced during crane operation.  Actuators beneath the universal cab provide realistic motion in response to user input. All the bumps and vibrations felt under real-world operating conditions – collisions; forces experienced during hoist, trolley, and gantry movements; wind conditions; wire dynamics; and more – are simulated by the cab’s motion system.

User-Friendly Instructor Stations

We recognize that the instructor is key to providing good training solutions. The simulators use an advanced, but easy-to-use interface, which gives the instructor the best tools for creating realistic exercises that enhance the students’ ability to operate the equipment as effectively as possible. Functionality is the key. With drag-and-drop capability, language translation, and several other tools, instructors have access to almost all parameters and can easily monitor and control exercises as they progress. The station includes a control monitor, keyboard, and mouse; a color monitor that provides the instructor with one of several views of the session; a color printer for generating performance reports; a modem for receiving software maintenance and upgrades; and an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) to provide power to system computers in case of power failure.

A Cost-Effective Way To Instill Absolute Confidence By simulating a wide variety of operating conditions, providing hands-on experience operating a crane in difficult and demanding conditions, and saving port operations time and money, MPRI’s Crane Simulators are the ideal cost-effective way to instill confidence and increase the productivity of your crane operators.