Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) and Bharat Electronics (BEL) have inaugurated the first prototype model of an indigenously developed Universal Driver Training Simulator for Rolling Stock (i-UDTS).
The two organisations had signed an MoU last year, to jointly develop a Rolling Stock Driver Training System (RSDTS) for use in driver training of metro and railway trains. Prior to development of i-UDTS, driver training simulators were being imported by DMRC from a foreign OEM.
“The training system being developed will have far superior features than those currently available and can be used in all metro rails of India. It will have export potential as well,” a BEL spokesperson told Mobility Outlook.
Designed as a line independent system, the i-UDTS, developed by BEL’s Ghaziabad Unit, is easily configurable and scalable to meet DMRC’s requirements for current and future lines. It is the first indigenously developed universal train driving simulator and will be suitable for use (with modifications) for any metro system or railway.
It will be used for training metro and railway train drivers and also evaluating the driving skills of a working train operator. Such training is usually done periodically to meet safety requirements.
In June this year, DMRC had also inked a MoU with BEL for the indigenous development of Super SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) systems. The development of Super SCADA is being undertaken to meet DMRC’s ambitious plans to digitise its maintenance needs.
DMRC plans to integrate all the standalone solutions available with it at equipment and system level through a digital platform. Three systems at DMRC related to automatic fare collection, lifts & escalators and wheel monitoring system of rolling stock have been covered in Phase-1 of the development.
BEL will also help DMRC with the development of condition based monitoring systems for equipment and assets to rationalise the maintenance periodicity, manpower requirement and spares management. This will result in the creation of a decision support system that will also help DMRC transition towards predictive maintenance regime using Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning from the conventional periodic maintenance regime.