Remotely Piloted Aircraft System (RPAS) Training System

An educational tool for teaching Drone Safety and the rules applying to drones in Australia.

Aerospace Australia in partnership with Swinburne University created a series of microcredentials to teach safety basics to students in the Aviation industry. Lightning Rock was contracted to develop a series of VR training simulations to complement students learning in certain subjects of this course.

Despite becoming more and more commonplace in society, the use of drones and understanding of the basic safety guidelines are poorly understood. It is a difficult thing to practically teach as any real world training would place users or the general public at risk if incorrect practices were applied.

“The RPAS training system is a VR simulation that places users in the middle of a small suburban area that was built to scale”

The RPAS training system is a VR simulation that places users in the middle of a small suburban area that was built to scale. The play area has a large number of moving parts such as pedestrians, an airport and even an accident scene. Players then take control of a drone and can freely fly it around the space. They are then penalised based on which/how many of the Civil Aviation Safety Authority guidelines and rules they breach.

Lightning Rock worked closely with experts in drone training and received advice on ensuring that the simulation provided accurate real world penalties, demerits and fines. It is currently being used by students of the MyFlightPath safety microcredential course.