i '

FULL-INTEGRATION SIMULATION USING BOTH

ENGINE ROOM AND BRIDGE SIMULATORS, DESIGN
AND EXPERIENCES

Maanen-Jan van der- Marti MSc, Maarten Harms, Rene Teekema Msc, ****. Hanno B Smits
MSc, Cees Muijskens BSc. Director Development and Supply of Nautical Simulator Systems
MSCN*,"Director MSTC?, ***Project Manager-MSCN,****Director Consultancy & Training
MSCN, ***** Instructor MSTC

ABSTRACT
A large full mission engine room simulator is in operation at the nautical college of
Terschelling, in its simulation centre MSTC (Maritime Simulator Training Centre).. This
engine room simulator consists of an electrical switch board, a control room console and
large touch screens for the engineer engine room actions. The MSTC engine room
simulator can be coupled with the full-mission bridge simulator.. Consequently a true full-
integiation mode is realized.. In addition to this a cargo handling simulator is part of the
system.

For training efficiency all full-mission simulators are preceded with part-task simulation
of all processes.. This ensures familiarity with the system and knowledge of the processes.
The training on the full-mission simulators will prepare the students for the fully
integrated simulation and for reality. The modelling of all engine room processes is very
realistic/detailed. Consequently in addition to procedural training, engine specific training
can be given. The instructor can fail all elements of the simulator either totally or
gradually, The complete modelling of the engine room means that when a student does
not adequately respond to a failure, the problems will propagate through ihe whole
system. In the full-integration mode even to the bridge This adds the possibility of team
training of all ship officers, an essential element.

This paper will discuss the training goals in the design stage, the technical simulator
aspects, the training aspects and die training experiences with the various simulation types
(part-task, full-mission and full-integration) With most components a year's experience
with a large throughput of students will allow a full assessment of the simulator design,
the training design, and the training efficiency

MSCN of Wageningen the Netherlands, trains professional seamen on its bridge

simulators and its Vessel Traffic Services simulator, it is a nautical consultant and MSCN
builds advanced nautical simulators.

MSTC of Terschelling the Netherlands trains all Dutch students of the nautical
polytechnics of the Netherlands, on the bridge simulator, the engine-room simulator and
the cargo-handling simulators (stand-alone, full-integration). MSTC is the largest
simulation training centre in the Netherlands..

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 Figure 2 - Lay-out of the main engine summary

The power supply switch board is still a mechanical / electrical approach controlled by software The
inner engine room is controlled by four huge touch screens. Software is based on the Unix operating
system running on different platforms e.g. HP 9000 series and SG indigo series The SG's are
dedicated for touch screen generation. Eadi HP controls an operating position e g Instructor, Man
Console and auxiliary position (ATJX) One HP 735 is dedicated to run the engine room models on
Manual controls and indications are interfaced to A/D converter boxes (MANCON), which again are
connected to the HP platforms via a SRS 232 cable The engine room models are coded using ADA
The mimics are coded in C and C++ and generated using dvdraw. The user interface part uses a Motif
based Teleuse package Seefigure3 for the ardntecture overview

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 Figure 4 - The engine room control touch screens

These touch screens are fitted with a sound system The image on the touch screens is built up from
computer drawings and photographic textures. On this it is possible to push buttons, to pull levers, to
turn valves, to add oil to beaiings etc. in an almost realistic feshion The toudi screens are put beside
each other, creatingawall of almost 4 metres long and 1,5 metres lii^ with images of an engine room
The complete engine room system is quite complex with a lot of possibilities which are not always
available in a normal engine room. This approach was chosen, to be able to show the students many
different possibilities of propulsion Figure 5 gives a presentation of the engineer control position

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modularity of both the bridge, the engine room and the cargo handling simulator aiables future changes
in the systems in an easy way Addition of functional elements, addition of computers, displays etc is
easily accomplished, enabling a constant upgrading of the tjaining sessions In the next chapter we will
discuss the way in which this type of simulator has been used at the MSTC training centre.

ENGINE ROOM SIMULATOR TRAINING

The Maritime Simulator Training Centre (MSTC) TerscheLling comprises a bridge simulator, a cargo
handling simulator and an engine room simulator Since August 1994 the engine room simulator has
been operational, enabling students of secondary and higher nautical colleges to practise engine room
Iraining besides bridge procedures training Jh November 1994,fecilitieswere extended with the
installation of a cargo handlirig simulator. The MSTC now provides training for as many as 1000
nautical students per annum The year is divided into four blocks corresponding with four nautical
education levds i..e. 4 HBO, 3 MBO, 2 HBO and 2 MBO (H for Higher and M for Secondary
Vocational Education) The size of the block depeids on the number of stadents per' grade. Jh the
course of his nautical education a student is to receive 2 weeks of simulator training In common
practice one week of simulator training has 24 to 28 students training on the engine room simulator, the
bridge simulator and the cargo handling simulator, divided as follows:

bridge 7 exerdses cf 2 5 hours each

cargo handling 1 exerdse of 4 hours
engine room 7 exerdses comprising a total of 10 5 hours

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Ihe resulting engine room simulator encompasses to total of the above objectives and training given
aims at achieving them Actual training scenarios reflect the practical applications of the various
objectives and some 17 scenarios are listed bdow:

1 Preparing engine room plant for departure, manoeuvring and sea operations
2 Carrying our standard weekly jobs
3 Preparing engine room plant for switch-over from sea operations to port operations
4 Starting oilfiredboiler and standing harbour watches
5 Bunkering procedures
6 Standing sea watches
7, Remedying a black-out at sea
8 Remedying a fault in cabin alarm situation
9 Purging engine room bilges
10 Carrying our emergency stop
11 Svnchronising diesd generator andfinetuning heat generating systems
12 Staring and stopping shaft generator and turbo generator
13 Correcting boiler failure
14 Correcting thermal overload of main engine.
15 Executing Performance Rqiort
16 Removing oil residue
17 Calculating indicated power.

In devising the various engine room simulator exercises, the teacher-instructors focused on those of the
overall training goals immediately feasible with the engine room simulator in its present configuration
It appears that as regards dynamic performance control and pertinent calculations practical
applications remain limited yet So training scenarios focus on:

1 Preparing engine room plant for departure

2 Manual parallel switching of auxiliary diesd driven generator
3, Removing oil residue
4 Purging engine room bilges
5 Standing watches at sea.
6. Starting and stopping shaft generator.
7 Calculating indicated power of main engine.

Apartfromsome fimctionality problems in thefirstfew simulator training weeks, educational problems

also arose, calling for some adjustments in the duration and degree of difficulty of the exerdses
These problems can be summarized as follows:

variety in levd of theoretical knowledge of the students, leadingto some "steam course lecturing"
during briefings
poor or non-existing preparation for simulator training of students on the part of their own
college Students are not able to antidpate and more or less passivdy "undergo" the training
personal motivation and enthusiasm are cf vital importance for a successful training

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training the student will use his best endeavours to carry out the assignment unaidedly In order to
optimize thetraining process, some parts of thetask are actually performed first by theinstructor to set
an example and to predude time consuming, system disrupting errors: eg manual synchronization of a
generator Should one of the students go wrong, all dght students would be hampered by its effects
During the training students are aided by extensive checklists, besides the assistance oftheinstructor
The answe r' to the question "why" is amply provided for Figure 6 gi ves an example of one of the
mimic screens, the salt water cooling system

J
o;=;BB';B:^B::'i''u'BBr E ^ - B B B V - J ' ^ ' ^ ^ " " ^ * - : ' ' ■."BBB,-:\. ->..- -.
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Figure 6 - Mimic screen, the salt water cooling system

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