2021 was a huge year for many national events, after COVID-19 wiped out best-laid plans last year. Fieldays was no exception and saw the return of our Side x Side simulator to the WorkSafe NZ stand. Our CEO delivered the simulator personally to our partners in this forward thinking project, and reflected on our success:
“Probably the most difficult project we’ve taken on! We turned a New Zealand farm into a realistic driving game with lessons around off-road vehicle operation, pre-drive checks, seat belt use, and more. A donor Honda SxS was mounted onto a robotics platform so that the machine would match the angle of the hills in the experience and the real controls are used in the simulation. We got it packaged up into a compact trailer suitable for traveling around the country to use at farming events and demonstrations. This was especially challenging to build last year with the logistics and financial difficulties created by COVID-19. Many thanks to our amazing team and other helpers who got stuck in drilling, welding, soldering, painting, coding, and beyond to get this crazy idea built within an intense time-frame.
Also a huge thanks to WorkSafe NZ who partnered with us on the project as a way to explore new tools to help the farming industry, which is hugely progressive. Very pleased to have over 550 people drive the machine at Mystery Creek Field Days a few weeks ago and everything held together well!
Plenty of stories to share about the build process and people involved still to come!”
Rhys Gardner
CEO – Gfactor
