A new electronic, portable version of a brake board is aimed at instructors teaching advanced air-brake service technicians in component operation and system diagnostics.


The "AirBrake Interactive e-Board" was developed and produced by Bryan Duross of Technical Training Services in Cambridge, Ontario, with input from brake guru and former Bendix Canada chief, Ron Gervais. It's available through Gervais's company, FreinMeister Group Inc.

The e-Board flows out of the Air Brake Interactive Classroom Edition Level 1 CD-based instruction program introduced a couple of years back, about as comprehensive as brake training can get. It consists of a detailed, full-color, 12-module, 350-page Instructor's Reference and Presentation Guide supporting a very effective multimedia presentation on CD. The latter contains 44 narrated technical/mechanical animations and more than 75 additional static technical visuals detailing the operation of a typical modern heavy-vehicle air-brake system.

Conventional air boards are obviously cumbersome, but with the e-Board all you need is the presentation program on a CD, a computer, and a multimedia projector. A key part of the presentation is a bunch of animations, which no conventional board can match.

The e-Board is aimed at instructors teaching advanced air-brake service technicians in component operation and system diagnostics. It comes in modules, all of which include an instructor's guide and multimedia presentation. Each e-Board module addresses a specific vehicle type, specific systems, and/or a specific group of air brake components. E-Board Truck and Bus Edition No.1 includes a 55-page instructor's guide, complete with student exercise drawings, supported by 32 detailed component and system animations.

The modules are available individually as add-ons, each one specifically designed to expand on the fundamental knowledge provided by Air Brake Interactive Classroom Edition Level 1 by providing advanced technical, diagnostic and failure scenario information on a wide variety of air brake components and circuits.

E-Board's animation sequences provide students with a full and complete view of how air flows through a typical air brake system and demonstrates exactly how specific components function. And you don't need actual disassembled or cutaway components to explain the function of various valves and control devices. E-Board includes full cross-sectional cutaway animations that graphically demonstrate the design and function of the most common air-brake components.

Maybe the best feature here is e-Board's system failure animations that clearly demonstrate how various component failures influence brake system function and performance. Can't do that with a conventional brake board.