Key Facts:
- Australian simulation technology company MOTUM has completed its Heavy Vehicle Simulation Training Program, funded through Round 9 of the Heavy Vehicle Safety Initiative (HVSI), creating an advanced platform for realistic, measurable and repeatable training across multiple heavy vehicle types.
- The platform incorporates digital vehicle modelling, virtual environments, AI-driven traffic, real-time telemetry, performance analysis and motion technology, covering vehicle configurations including rigid trucks, semi-trailers, B-doubles, cement trucks and oversized vehicles.
- Drivers can train across urban, suburban, rural, freeway and industrial environments, practising scenarios that would be unsafe, expensive or impractical to recreate on the road, with the platform recording data such as speed, braking, steering and near misses.
- MOTUM has secured funding through HVSI Round 10 to develop a Simulated Bus Driver Training Program, focusing on the specific challenges faced by bus drivers, including navigating busy urban and regional environments and interacting with pedestrians, cyclists and other road users.
- MOTUM founder and Managing Director Steve Hoinville highlighted that the programme’s flexibility is essential, as it can support everything from fundamental vehicle control to emergency situations and advanced hazard response, catering to different operators, routes and training standards.
Australian simulation technology company MOTUM has completed its Heavy Vehicle Simulation Training Program and is now applying the technology to one of the most demanding roles on Australian roads: driving a bus.
Delivered through Round 9 of the Heavy Vehicle Safety Initiative, the program created an advanced Australian platform offering realistic, measurable and repeatable training across multiple heavy vehicle types and operating conditions.
The project was funded by the Heavy Vehicle Safety Initiative (HVSI), administered by the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator (NHVR) on behalf of the Australian Government.
MOTUM has since secured support through HVSI Round 10 to develop the MOTUM World Simulated Bus Driver Training Program.
Now in its early stages, the new program will focus on the specific challenges faced by bus drivers, including navigating busy urban and regional environments, carrying passengers and interacting with pedestrians, cyclists and other road users.
MOTUM founder and Managing Director Steve Hoinville said the move into bus driver training demonstrated the lasting value of government-supported innovation.
“The Round 9 funding allowed us to build on our existing MOTUM World technology and develop a genuinely Australian simulation platform for heavy vehicle driver training,” Mr Hoinville said.
The completed Heavy Vehicle platform combines digital vehicle modelling, realistic virtual environments, artificial intelligence-driven traffic, real-time telemetry, performance analysis and motion technology.
“We have successfully delivered and validated that platform, and this next round gives us the opportunity to apply what we have learned to another critical area of the transport industry.
“Once complete, bus drivers will be able to repeatedly practise challenging situations in a safe and controlled environment, without placing the driver, passengers, vehicles or other road users at risk.”
Configurations developed through the program included rigid trucks, semi-trailers, B-doubles, cement trucks, bulk carriers, livestock combinations, vehicle carriers and oversized vehicles.
Drivers can train in urban, suburban, rural, freeway and industrial environments while encountering situations that may be unsafe, expensive or impractical to recreate on the road. Scenarios include negotiating difficult corners and roundabouts, maintaining safe braking distances, controlling load transfer and responding to distractions or hazardous road-user behaviour.
The platform also records data including speed, braking, steering, following distance, vehicle stability, collisions and near misses, allowing instructors to assess performance consistently and identify areas for improvement.
“Heavy vehicle training is not one-size-fits-all,” Mr Hoinville said.
“Operators use different vehicles, routes and training standards, so flexibility was essential. The platform can support everything from fundamental vehicle control and low-speed manoeuvring to emergency situations and advanced hazard response.”
Development of the MOTUM World Simulated Bus Driver Training Program is now underway, with MOTUM expanding its digital vehicle models, operating environments, lesson structures and performance measures for bus driver training.
