Customer's background

RASU Corporation is an integrator company in the field of Automated Process Control Systems (APCS).

Task

To demonstrate at ATOMEXPO 2018 the NPP-2 Power Unit Automated Control System in VR to IAEA members and Ministers of Energy, and introduce them to the Main Control Room operation (MCU) at the NPP.

Solution

The Ariseum team has developed a VR software and hardware complex. ITC Jet Corporation has provided a mathematical model of the Novovoronezh NPP-2 MCU, which we integrated into the game environment. Our developers have recreated the BPU and all the equipment in it, designed a guide character named Alva and animated it. Marina Gladkaya, who dubbed Daenerys in legendary Game of Thrones, and Steph Elmore, who works for the BBC, has voiced virtual character. 

Each button on the Main Control Room has been programmed to work out any script, but to ensure the flow of visitors to the exhibition, we have decided to limit ourselves to three resources: A reactor protection system, checking the APC, and de-energizing reactor sections. We adjusted the operation of the VR Project and accompanied it at the exhibition in Sochi. The Ariseum representatives communicated with the visitors of the stand in English, helped them navigate the game and successfully pass each script.

How it works

The user puts on a VR helmet and dives into the NPP-2 MCU location. The virtual character Alva, which tells about the principles of the MCU and shows the controls, meets them. It reports that operators are sitting in this room, monitoring the work of the entire plant. The staff assesses the condition of the equipment and all technological systems and sensors.

After a sightseeing tour, the "girl" offers the user to try it self as an operator.
The user has 3 game script options. The first is the reactor protection system. If the automatic protection is triggered, the player should check all the instrument readings. The guide tells the user which numbers correspond to the normal reactor operation and if the instruction is completed successfully; the system operation will be restored.

The second script is to check the Automatic Power Controller operation (APC). Following the guide's instructions, the user reduces the reactor power from 100 to 95%. In the third script, it is required to de-energize the reactor, after which the first scenario, protection system,  is triggered, allowing going through this stage again or logging out of the system.

Equipment

HTC Vive VR helmet, and VR station.

Result

6000 participants visited the ATOMEXPO exhibition from 65 countries. To visit the virtual block control center, a queue of people was lined up at the stand. Guests of the exhibition put on a helmet with curiosity, looked at Alva, pressed virtual buttons while controlling the reactor and thanked the Arisium team for a unique opportunity to visit the nuclear power plant with a tour.