Computerized simulators teach students about mining
01.02.2007, 10:39
Coal mining is Eastern Kentucky's top industry and, though many people hear about the rigors of mining, those not in the business rarely get a taste of what it's like to work underground.
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That is changing for more than 200 students attending the Belfry Area Technology Center, who are getting a chance to learn about mining by using simulator programs courtesy of the Success Xpress.
The Success Xpress is a mobile training facility built into a 53-foot truck trailer stationed at the Belfry center. Students from both Belfry and Pike County Central high schools have access to high-quality training in key coal mining skills by using the industry's most advanced technology.
The Success Xpress features a state-of-the art classroom outfitted with a three-dimensional computerized mining simulator and a hands-on lab area featuring electrical training panels exactly like those found on actual mining equipment. It is owned and operated by the Eastern Kentucky Concentrated Employment Program Inc., a non-profit agency that administers work-force development programs in Eastern Kentucky.
David Ruth, coal mining services coordinator with EXCEP, said the purpose of the Success Xpress is to integrate coal mining simulation into the curriculum of Eastern Kentucky technology centers. Ruth said that, besides Belfry, the facility has been to Cumberland, Hazard, Isom and Inez and will travel all over Kentucky's 23 easternmost counties.
"I think this is a really good idea," said Robin May, electrical instructor at the Belfry center. "It should have been done a long time ago. It may have saved at least one life."
The simulator in the Success Xpress classroom includes a virtual reality headset and handheld control panel. A student can wear the headset and experience the sights and sounds of operating a continuous mining machine to cut coal from the walls of an underground mine. Other students in the class can watch the operator's progress on a 40-inch flat-screen display.
Distance-learning technology aboard the Success Xpress allows mining courses to be taught by specially qualified instructors at remote locations and transmitted to students in the mobile classroom. Remote-controlled cameras in the mobile unit allow the class to interact with the remote instructor in real time. Any sessions taught by instructors, whether on board the Success Xpress or from a remote location, can be digitally recorded, saved and replayed on demand.
"I think it's very neat," said Danny Branham, a Belfry High School junior. "It's good to have. It teaches you what you will be doing when you get out of school."
Though Branham does not plan to enter the mining industry after high school, he said he is glad to have the training and that hands-on work is "much better than sitting in a class reading a book."
Center Principal Annette Ward said the center has two simulators on order -- one for operating a shuttle car and the other for a continuous miner. Once the simulators arrive, students participating in the coal academy will be able to get more hands-on training.