ECA Group introduces Off-road Driving Training Module for fire-fighting vehicles

Friday, November 22 2019

To provide access to a wildland fire, firefighter must drive 4x4 platforms on poorly maintained roads or trails and off-road. Even during training, the risk to rollover is significant. Given the danger for drivers & the cost of a fire apparatus, an integrated simulator training solution allows trainers safe practice to be aware of the behaviour of the vehicle with its operating characteristics and limits.

This new module is an EF-EMERGENCY add-on to meet the firefighting units training needs.

Wildfire incidents are particularly challenging for fire fighters that must face several life-threating hazards. In addition to the heat and chemical risk, a common risk is also injuries from vehicle rollovers or crashes as the driving conditions change dramatically at the arrival at the scene. Off-road driving is a completely different type of driving with disturbing effects such as limited visibility of the path, sinkable soft ground, obstacles or slippery surfaces.

Thanks to the high-fidelity of the vehicle dynamic model, the driving simulator is realistic enough to recreate these effects. As dual control vehicle is not used in off-road driving training, the benefits of a simulator are significant to become familiar to rugged environment and develop the driver operating capabilities.

A wide range of scenario and challeging environments

The EF-EMERGENCY Off-road Driving Training Module allows to practice:

Different 4x4 type (change clearance, tyres, engine & suspensions)
Change tire pressure level
Switch from high to low range
Lock differential (front, back or both)

Then the different configurations can be tested to progress in conditions such as:

Climbing, descending or traversing slopes
Overcoming obstacles or ditches
Sand driving without getting stuck
Off-road night driving

Virtual immersion in real-life conditions

Thanks to the software adaptation, the driver will feel the distance variation of it sit from door, the roadway centre further and the driver will feel higher in vehicle. About the driving, clearances and turning radius will appear different and the control of the speed also. Then the student will psychologically get used to these new conditions so as to ease the first handling of real off-road fire apparatus. To go further the instructor will use the simulator to teach to estimate slopes and loss of control, to prevent vehicle bogging down, to anticipate sudden changes effects form terrain and to evaluate the clearances limits of a vehicle.

About EF-Emergency

EF-EMERGENCY is ECA Group standard training solution on driving simulator dedicated to first responders (firefighters, ambulance & police drivers). It can be customized with the integration of customer specific vehicles models but also localised with typical country road signs & marks, left or right-hand drive and language translation.