Digital Twin-based Instructor Support System for Excavator Training

Given the severity and magnitude of accidents caused by excavators all over the world, the training of excavator operators plays an important role in ensuring the safety of construction operations. New training modes, such as Virtual Reality-based (VR) training simulators, have started to transform training in the construction industry. Although these new developments have been proven to be very effective, it is unanimously agreed by instructors that they do not substitute on-equipment training. During the on-equipment training, an instructor needs to monitor several novice trainees and provide feedback to ensure a safe learning environment. However, being outside the cabin, having to focus on multiple trainees at the same time, and having to stay at a safe distance, instructors are very susceptible to missing important details about the performance of the students. This oversight, in the long term, can result in the institutionalization of wrong behavior in the trainees, which is then very difficult to unlearn. In recent years, with the advent of cyber-physical systems and digital twins, it has become possible to support instructors by providing them with a digital replica of trainees’ operations. However, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, there has been no systematic research on the use of digital twin as an education/training support tool in excavation training. To this end, this research proposes a comprehensive instructor support system that utilizes a digital twining approach to help instructors circumvent the limitations of traditional training. A prototype is used in a case study to indicate the potential of the proposed approach. It is shown that the proposed system offers great potential in supporting instructors to provide more in-depth feedback to the trainees.