Virtual reality applied to a full simulator of electrical sub-stations

This paper presents an application designed to train electrical sub-station operators by means of a virtual reality environment. The application allows full viewing of any of the sub-stations in the power supply network. With the appropriate hardware (HMD, 3D mouse and tracking systems) it is possible to navigate into the virtual world and interact with the elements. Each of the sub-station components has been reproduced in the simulation model, including the behavior laws associated with it, so the complete functionality of the sub-station can be simulated. This module is built into a larger and more complex computer system composed of the actual sub-station control system, the Geographical Information System which defines the topology of the network, and the functional system which simulates the electrical behavior of the sub-station. The application automatically updates in the virtual environment any changes to the sub-station's design and allows access, from this environment, to information on every component. The virtual reality application has been implemented in a hardware configuration and has the same interface as that used in the control system of the real sub-station. In this way, the system developed can be integrated into a replica of the complete power supply network control system emulating a real sub-station, it being able to fully interact with the global system, and allow totally real situations to be simulated

Modelling the Interoperability and the Use of Control Equipment in Electrical Substations

Simulators can be defined as information systems which reliably reproduce specific phenomena and they are mainly used in training, although their field of application has grown to include manufacturing and medicine among others. In electrical engineering, simulation is an indispensable tool when working with complex systems due to the fact that it enables engineers to understand how systems work without actually needing to see them. They can learn how they work in different circumstances and optimize their design with considerably less cost in terms of time and money than if they had to carry out tests on a physical system. By using computer simulation, not only can an electrical system be designed, but it can also be optimized and its behavior examined in-depth more quickly and cheaply than by using prototypes, tests or analytical studies. Therefore, by being able to see the responses produced as the different parameters are varied, a much deeper understanding of the system under study is reached. In order to properly simulate a virtual world, technologies such as realistic graphics and dynamic simulation with real-time calculations must be used. Peripherals must be used for the system to interact with the user and the immersion comes as a result of stimuli to sight, hearing and touch. A critical factor is the possibility to solve the equations in real-time; that is, there should be no delay compared to the normal environment’s response. There is an important amount of effort being directed towards these objectives. This paragraphs deals with the development of an operation simulator for training and the fundamental objective is to develop a simulator for electrical substations. It will present the methodology to model, simulate and optimize the interoperability and the use of control equipment in electrical an substation to train operators by means of a virtual reality environment

Immersive Participation:Futuring, Training Simulation and Dance and Virtual Reality

Dance knowledge can inform the development of scenario design in immersive digital simulation environments by strengthening a participant’s capacity to learn through the body. This study engages with processes of participatory practice that question how the transmission and transfer of dance knowledge/embodied knowledge in immersive digital environments is activated and applied in new contexts. These questions are relevant in both arts and industry and have the potential to add value and knowledge through crossdisciplinary collaboration and exchange. This thesis consists of three different research projects all focused on observation, participation, and interviews with experts on embodiment in digital simulation. The projects were chosen to provide a range of perspectives across dance, industry and futures studies. Theories of embodied cognition, in particular the notions of the extended body, distributed cognition, enactment and mindfulness, offer critical lenses through which to explore the relationship of embodied integration and participation within immersive digital environments. These areas of inquiry lead to the consideration of how language from the field of computer science can assist in describing somatic experience in digital worlds through a discussion of the emerging concepts of mindfulness, wayfinding, guided movement and digital kinship. These terms serve as an example of how the mutability of language became part of the process as terms applied in disparate disciplines were understood within varying contexts. The analytic tools focus on applying a posthuman view, speculation through a futures ethnography, and a cognitive ethnographical approach to my research project. These approaches allowed me to examine an ecology of practices in order to identify methods and processes that can facilitate the transmission and transfer of embodied knowledge within a community of practice. The ecological components include dance, healthcare, transport, education and human/computer interaction. These fields drove the data collection from a range of sources including academic papers, texts, specialists’ reports, scientific papers, interviews and conversations with experts and artists.The aim of my research is to contribute both a theoretical and a speculative understanding of processes, as well as tools applicable in the transmission of embodied knowledge in virtual dance and arts environments as well as digital simulation across industry. Processes were understood theoretically through established studies in embodied cognition applied to workbased training, reinterpreted through my own movement study. Futures methodologies paved the way for speculative processes and analysis. Tools to choreograph scenario design in immersive digital environments were identified through the recognition of cross purpose language such as mindfulness, wayfinding, guided movement and digital kinship. Put together, the major contribution of this research is a greater understanding of the value of dance knowledge applied to simulation developed through theoretical and transformational processes and creative tools