AirVR

AirVR makes robotic door trainers and virtual reality systems for cabin crew training. The company is based in Copenhagen, Denmark, and has worked there since 2015. It builds training for airline crews who need to handle aircraft doors, fires and other cabin drills.

The main product is the AirVR Door Trainer. The company measures handle and door forces on the real aircraft through the whole travel of each door and builds a force profile from the data. A collaborative robot holds a real handle behind the door and replays those forces, with a control loop that runs 500 times a second. The trainee sees a digital twin of the airline's own cabin in a VR headset and works to the airline's procedures. Every step, attempt and time is recorded for the instructor.

The company says VR teaches the procedure, but a robot teaches the feel of the door. One unit covers many door types, including galley doors and the Boeing 737 MAX 10 mid-cabin exit. A new aircraft type needs a new force profile and cabin, not a new mock-up. The trainer needs about six square metres at the airline's base.

The trainer can run drills that are hard to stage on a real aircraft. These include armed and disarmed doors, power-assist failure, a jammed door and external fire. Instructor mode guides trainees by audio, so instructors can coach communication, decision making and crew coordination. The robot is built to ISO/TS 15066 and ISO 10218, with an emergency stop within the instructor's reach. Session records are ready for an airline's training system and auditors.

AirVR also offers a Fire Trainer, with the weight of a real extinguisher and radiant heat but no open flame. Its Headset Drills run on a standalone headset and cover cabin visits, fire, doors, security searches, and evacuation and ditching.

Customers named by the company include TUI, Air France, SAS, Transavia, Edelweiss and ITA Airways. It says TUI chose AirVR to train crew on the 737 MAX 10 mid-cabin exit. Its training is in approved use under the Dutch, Italian, Danish and Swedish authorities. A typical rollout takes about twelve weeks, from photos of the aircraft to approval by the authority.

Services

• Robotic door trainer
• VR cabin crew training
• Fire trainer
• Headset drills
• 737 MAX 10 mid-cabin exit training
• Evacuation and ditching drills
• Training records for audits
• Authority approval support