Students Learn How to Erect Components of a Wind Turbine

The International Union of Operating Engineers Local 139 has teamed with a Utah manufacturer of crane simulators to build a first-ever virtual world where students learn specifically how to erect the components of a wind turbine.

The simulator is owned by the union’s Joseph J. Goetz Jr. Training Center, located in Coloma. Built by GlobalSim, a Kongsberg Maritime Company, in Draper, UT, the machine’s software projects real-world scenarios such as two cranes being operated independently, but together, to lift the components into place.

Designed with a commitment to realism, the simulator lets students get bumped around if they drive their crane over uneven ground, feel the force of the wind blowing against a crane boom and see the shadow of turbine blades pass over other objects. Equipped with a cab and controls identical to those in a Manitowoc Epic Model 2250 MAXER crane, along with a second set of the controls, up to two crane students can train simultaneously along with a third individual learning to be a signal person. With the second set of controls, an instructor has the option of working with one student at a time.

Because the simulator is enclosed within a 26-foot-long, 8-foot-wide trailer, it can be transported to locations off the training center grounds.

Training center staff applied for and received a $275,000 Green Energy Grant from the State of Wisconsin in 2009 to develop the simulator. Following a design and testing period, the center put the simulator into action and began offering wind turbine erection classes in December, 2010.

“We’re pretty proud of what we have accomplished here,” said Local 139 Training Director Daniel Sperberg. “This simulator is the only one of its kind and it’s like being in the real thing.”

Sperberg said the simulator demonstrates Local 139’s commitment to offer its members the best possible training available. “We continually strive to be in a leadership role nationally as far as training is concerned,” he said. “This simulator gives us the bleeding-edge technology to achieve our goal.”

This story began about a decade ago when the training center purchased a state-of-the-art simulator from GlobalSim to teach Local 139 members how to operate a crane. But the machine’s intended purpose as a training tool was not realized because it was not set up to run a class through. Instead, it was used mainly as an interactive promotional device at public events to showcase educational opportunities at the training center.

With the Green Energy Grant available, Sperberg and Crane Instructor Doug Stegeman saw an opportunity to upgrade and repurpose the simulator to train students how to operate a crane for use in a green industry – wind power. Stegeman discussed creating virtual wind turbine erection scenarios with GlobalSim engineers. In August 2010, he drove the simulator back to the ­­­manufacturer and provided photographs he had taken of wind turbine components being hoisted into place on actual jobsites. The engineers incorporated those scenes into the realistic graphics that students now see on the rebuilt simulator’s 90-inch diagonal, curved projection screen.

“We’re working with big cranes in this industry to lift very heavy turbine components hundreds of feet into the air,” Stegeman said. “It is inherently a high-risk situation because of that height. The training center can’t buy a real-life big crane like the Manitowoc 2250. But our students can establish a high degree of confidence with these cranes by using the simulator.”