Development of a 3D Interactive Training Platform for Assembly of Bogie Unit in the Railcar Learning Factory

Abstract

In South Africa rail commuting remains affordable than other means of transport. However, about 2.3 million rail commuters often complain about the inefficiency and unreliability of rail transport. In response to this, the rail car manufacturing industry and its value chain is attaining notable investments geared towards localizing production of train components. The challenge for learning institutions is to supply the concerned industry with ready to work graduates, hence the realisation of the Rail Car Learning Factory. This paper presents the development of a 3D interactive training platform for graduate engineers employed in rail manufacturing without prior industry experience. The first section is a literature review defining various simulation-based training platforms; the second section illustrates human-centred design approach for designing and developing the proposed desktop-based application due to its affordability, scalability and ease of development; the last section highlights the most significant phase in developing a training environment and prescribes future work.