Emergency services simulator unveiled by Babcock

Traditionally, training for this type of driving has been carried out on public roads, using vehicle sirens at speed to replicate emergency situations. The simulator will be used to support this real-word training, but will enable instruction and assessment with zero safety risk.

During the project’s 18-month development, extensive testing and research was carried out in order to exactly simulate the handling of a fire engine for the initial prototype. However, the simulator can also be adapted for ambulance and police training by swapping in a range of hardware and software to reproduce the driving experience of those vehicles.

“What we’re bringing to the market is a...product that reflects and meets the changing needs of the emergency services, not just in the UK but internationally,” said Alistair Cumming, head of Training, Design and Development at Babcock.

“The R&D and intelligent software built in to the model can be optimised for any vehicle, and that is really exciting.”