A PC Based Virtual Reality Simulation for Forklift Safety Training, Phase II

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): 6) Project Summary/Abstract The work proposed under this project is the development of a low cost, high fidelity virtual reality forklift safety trainer. There are over 1 million forklifts in operation in the United Sta tes, and an estimated 2 million operators (6 million including part time operators). Annually, in this country, there are over 100,000 injuries involving forklifts and every three days someone is killed in a forklift accident. Further, 1 out of every 6 wor kplace accidents involves a forklift. Forklifts are by far the most dangerous industrial vehicle currently in operation, and the tremendous health and safety impact of their operation is felt by everyone, including operators, floor workers, managers, custo mers in big box retail, and random passers-by. Experts agree that better safety training is the solution to this alarming rate of injury and fatality. This project aims to deliver a low cost, hands-on, active OSHA-compliant virtual reality safety trainer t hat allows trainees to operate a virtual forklift in hazardous conditions. The trainer, which employs an inexpensive video game steering wheel and joysticks to accurately simulate the controls of a forklift, is a revolutionary improvement over current trai ning media, which includes video tapes and workbooks, both passive forms of instruction. The broad goal of this project is to reduce the injury and fatality rate in forklift use by reducing the number of accidents. OSHA already requires forklift safety tra ining for all operators, and this goal can be accomplished by giving them a comprehensive, hands- on experience of operating a forklift in hazardous situations, in the same way the military employs flight simulation to train its pilots. The goal will be ac hieved by employing sophisticated virtual reality and vehicle dynamics algorithms that allow for the scaling of virtual reality technology from expensive supercomputers to commodity office PCs. Tactus has pioneered this effort by taking advantage of the en ormous computing and graphics power available on today's average desktop computer, along with the inexpensive video game hardware currently on the market, driven by the video game industry. The result of this project will be a radically improved forklift s afety training platform that will be the first ever mass marketed virtual reality based simulation. 7) Project Narrative (Relevance) Safe industrial machine operation affects everyone in the United States, and accidents and injuries are not limited to mach ine operators. Forklifts, are by far the most dangerous industrial vehicles in use today, due to their high number (over 1 million) and high accident rate (1 in 6 industrial accidents affects a forklift, and there are over 100,000 injuries and 100-200 fata lities each year in the United States due to forklift accidents). Forklifts injure workers, pedestrians, shoppers, delivery people, and even random passers-by (joggers, for example), and their safe operation directly and indirectly constitutes a major publ ic health issue.