VR Training for Railway Wagons Maintenance: architecture and implementation

The problems of supporting the required professional skills of railway wagons maintenance workers are regarded in this article. It is proposed to design a simulator based on virtual reality to test the skills of a car inspector in accordance with the instructions. The requirements for the simulator, its architecture and the architecture of the software simulator, platforms and implementation tools are considered. The paper provides features of the implemented prototype of the simulator based on HTC Vive and Unity platform for training skills of car inspection by the inspector and their further verification by the instructor in accordance with the regulations illustrated by a 3D model of the wagon with the fault and the tools of the inspector. Analysis of the simulator prototype’s feasibility showed its sufficient ergonomic adequacy to the actual process of wagons maintenance and identified a number of implementation problems that will be taken into account in further research and development.