John Deere - Virtual harvester to be displayed in Rotorua

For those who always wanted to work in the forest, here is the ultimate toy - the virtual harvester. Would-be lumberjacks can see this serious video game on display at the PF Olsen Forest Industries Expo from 2 September in Rotorua.

The John Deere simulator fells virtual trees, strips the branches and cuts the stems to length just like a real million-dollar E-series harvester, using a complex array of joy-sticks, switches and buttons. Then at the flick of a switch it transforms into a virtual forwarder, loading and towing the cut logs.

The simulator uses all the software and controls of a real harvester to manoeuvre into position, extend a boom to set the cutting head at the base of a tree, grasp the trunk, activate the saw and control the direction in which the tree falls.

It can then pick up the cut tree, strip the branches and cut the stem into preset, measured lengths to suit the needs of a sawmill. The simulator records the number and size of trees cut, measuring productivity as it goes - just like the real harvester.

Operators who get it wrong, for example by extending the boom too far for the weight of a tree, can get a graphic picture of the harvester tipping over or damaging the equipment. Felling a tree the wrong way can even produce a picture of it falling on the virtual cab.

The simulator, provided to Waiariki Institute of Technology’s School of Forestry and Primary Industries by John Deere at no cost, will be used for training and for promotional purposes at career days. John Deere is treating the arrangement with Waiariki as a world-first pilot project.

The sophisticated software can be programmed to provide action that matches real terrain and forest conditions, then used to plan cutting patterns in the forest for maximum production.

Waiariki School of Forestry head Jeremy Christmas said the first public outing for the simulator would be the opening of the school’s new building and gasification plant on 5 September, after which it would go to the Forest Industries Expo until 7 September.

To complement the hands-on display at the Expo, a number of the one-hour technology clinics on Monday 5 and Tuesday 6 September will be detailing information on the very latest in harvest optimisation technologies, automated structural log segregation, steep slope harvesting systems and innovations in processor heads and log making. Full details on the PF Olsen Forest Industries Expo and BNZ Forest Industries Tech Clinics can be found on http://www.fi2011.co.nz/