A new high-tech truck driver training simulator system just delivered to the Singapore Ministry of Defense could be the model for future training of U.S. drivers.

The 16-vehicle, high fidelity Driver Training Simulation System from Lockheed Martin uses a computer-generated virtual environment with full-motion effects to evaluate driver performance in a computer-generated visual environment that interacts with an actual truck cabin. Similar systems are being evaluated by U.S. fleets and driver training schools.
The system gives trainees a basic introduction to truck driving with several types of vehicle configurations simulated. Trainees also learn necessary driving techniques for correcting malfunctions and for responding to emergency situations that cannot be safely practiced in the real vehicle.
The DTSS consists of four clusters networked together for convoy operation. Each cluster includes four driver stations, a brief-debrief facility and an instructor-operator station. Networking allows up to 16 simulators to participate in convoy operations training.
"We designed the system to enable drivers to develop appropriate skills and undergo varied training opportunities," said Lockheed Martin Information Systems President John Hallal. "The goal was to reduce on-the-road training hours by 30 percent."
Trainees learn fundamental driving techniques and use automated intelligent traffic models that allow for realistic driver-traffic interaction. The system automatically assesses and tracks trainee performance. The DTSS also enables its users to develop defensive, highway, cross-country, adverse-condition, convoy, tactical and advanced driving skills.
Those skills include accident-prevention techniques, effective maneuvering on varied road surfaces, driving at night and in rain, snow and ice. Performance is assessed and tracked automatically, which permits the training to be tailored to meet individual needs. Students receive feedback through recorded playbacks of their performances in a brief-debrief facility.
"The training curriculum also includes a library database that can store up to 500 training exercises," said Rick Brownfield, DTSS Program Manager. "The scenarios are unique in that they present the trainee with a realistic traffic environment in geo-specific databases of various areas of Singapore, and in all weather and daylight conditions."