DTEK uses Teslasuit — a smart suit with a haptic feedback system that provides users with a sense of touch in virtual and augmented reality — to provide trainings to the company’s power engineers. This technology improves the learning experience by increasing immersion in a production process while avoiding exposure to danger. Even trainee students can hone their skills on this simulator without unnecessary risks to their lives.
“DTEK Energy applies innovative simulators to train our workers. Nobody will allow a novice or a trainee to train on an operating production line. On the contrary, VR simulators are useful when specialists regardless of their qualifications need to sharpen their skills. We cannot expose our people to risks. Safety is our priority,” noted Ildar Salieiev, DTEK Energy CEO.
DTEK Energy is a responsible employer, which means that the safety of personnel and efficient production processes are the company’s key priorities. A suit with a haptic feedback system helps workers remember an algorithm of repair operations and avoid making mistakes when tackling demanding tasks. Errors made by a power engineer during a training session are immediately captured by the software. Simultaneously, Teslasuit will respond with an electric discharge, which serves as some kind of reminder about one's responsibility for their safety.
Power engineers of DTEK Kurakhivska Thermal Power Plant and DTEK Luhanska Thermal Power Plant were the first to test Teslasuit during their training sessions. Their task was to perform repairs to a cell of 6 kV switchgear that transformed and distributed electricity to consumers. Currently, the training is in progress at Zaporizhzhya Power Plant, and subsequently all DTEK Energy TPPs’ workers will get an opportunity to master their skills using a smart suit.
“We at Innovation DTEK use an Open innovation approach. Thus, we are constantly looking for new solutions and products for our businesses. Teslasuit is one of the first startups with which DTEK began cooperation within the company's innovative activities. I am very glad that people find this technology interesting and, what is more important, useful to increase the level of labor safety,” — commented Emanuele Volpe, DTEK Chief Innovation Officer.