GE Power Innovation Award for Lanner Customer

Celebrating a new award win for the latest research team efforts by GE Power, Cranfield University and Lanner.

We are always excited to partner with customers who are pioneering new ways of working and driving innovation in their businesses through predictive simulation.

One major energy leader currently championing innovation and success through its use of predictive simulation is GE Power. The company has just won an award for the latest stages of an innovative VR-centric simulation project undertaken with Lanner and Cranfield University. Overall the project is over two years and is funded by Innovate UK.

At the heart of the project is new uses of 3D visualisation and 3D sensing coupled with discrete event simulation. Lanner’s WITNESS simulation uses VR technology from Virtalis, a world leader in visualisation and this links well to a wide range of new and exciting options. The new immersion options offered by the latest headsets allow improved opportunities for understanding simulation model behaviours. In addition the information that can be sensed by low cost technology, such as Microsoft Kinect, provides a valuable feed of real time data that can augment simulation models.

This allows decision makers to make better informed design choices for future factory and other facility layouts, driving confidence and reducing costs associated with making physical prototypes.

Discrete event simulation is of course a well proven technique within predictive analytics and has been shown to reduce risk in business decisions. The new range of 3D technologies complement this well, allowing better visualisation, communication and data flows. The new 3D options are allowing even more engagement with change by all stakeholders enabling better decisions. It is the potential of this that led to this award.

With the success of this work being demonstrated by real application within GE Power, the project team were invited to demonstrate the new immersive simulation capability at the Energy Leaders Showcase, an event hosted by GE Power, aimed at highlighting innovation and talent across the group. Following a vote by delegates, the team fended off competition from several peers to win the award for best, most investable project.

According to the organisers, the project stood out for its application of two leading edge technologies in optimising processes, providing a foundation for future improvement and the ability to demonstrate this via a modern, 3D interface and immersive visualisation in order to extend benefits across the group.

As Engineering Tools Specialist at GE Power Neha Prajapat explains, “Not only did we receive an award for the project which we were incredibly proud of, but through demonstrating how predictive simulation and VR can converge to expedite immense value, we captured the interest of many other groups in the business who are keen to extend the benefits into their own areas.”

“Lanner and Cranfield have worked diligently with GE Power to ensure we get the most value out of our deployment and with the insight we have gained from the project, we have a solid foundation from which to move forward in our facility design.”

Find out more about WITNESS Horizon