VR Simulator Trains the Next Generation of Oil Industry Specialists in Tatarstan

Remote Skills, Real Operations

The product was developed at the Advanced Engineering Petroleum School in the city of Almetyevsk and has already received a state certificate of registration as a computer program. The simulator allows students to practice a full cycle of operational tasks in a safe virtual environment. These include replacing the stuffing box seal on a pumpjack, checking pressure, and starting up the installation. This training format removes the need to travel to a live oil field, reducing both safety risks and training costs.

This case provides a clear example of how VR is being integrated into professional education for the oil industry. It fits squarely into Russia’s broader industrial digital transformation strategy, improving training safety while standardizing workforce qualifications. The project is particularly significant in the context of developing human capital for a sector that is critical to the country’s economy and energy security.

A Global Trend With Export Potential

VR simulators are becoming a global trend in industrial training, opening up export opportunities for similar solutions. In September last year, for example, Yaroslav-the-Wise Novgorod State University developed a VR simulator for industrial workforce training under a grant from Russia’s Ministry of Science and Higher Education. The system has no direct analogues in the country. These simulators fully replicate process physics and integrate deeply with a customer’s industrial systems, including simulations of emergency scenarios. Importantly, the technology provides objective assessments of employee readiness, while visualizing the consequences of mistakes significantly enhances learning outcomes.

The Rosenergoatom Concern, part of the electric power division of Rosatom State Corporation, is also systematically building a VR training ecosystem based on domestic technologies. A simulator currently under development is designed to train personnel in operating complete switchgear at Russia’s most powerful VVER-1200 reactor. Training takes place inside a virtual replica of the workshops at Leningrad Nuclear Power Plant-2, with full simulation of the operational environment. User actions are drilled to the level of automatic response. The project will serve as a prototype for simulators planned for the Kola and Kalinin nuclear power plants. Experts note that transitioning to a domestic technology stack is now a matter of strategic security, long-term project stability, and service quality. Within Rosenergoatom, the Astra Linux operating system is already used by nearly 100% of employees.

One of these digital technologies is virtual simulators, where future oil and gas professionals train to operate complex equipment. These simulators create an immersive sense of presence, much like physical training rigs, while allowing specialists to refine their skills in a safe environment. Large companies are investing significant resources in this type of training, and from an economic standpoint, virtual simulators are also more cost-effective

Alexey Sanin

Head of the Digital Humanities Laboratory

Assembling Robots in Virtual Space

At Innopolis University, several projects place VR technologies at the core of technical education. As early as 2024, reports highlighted the use of a specialized VR headset application by students at the Chusovoy Industrial College. In a virtual environment, they learn to assemble, disassemble, and service robots. The simulator, created by engineers at the Innopolis Robotics Center, supports three 3D models of Fanuc robots. Students insert sealing rings, install motors, attach protective casings, disassemble counterbalances, and assemble robot axis motors using virtual screwdrivers and wrenches. During training, users can move freely around the 3D model, study its structure, and receive contextual task prompts.

In 2024, researchers at South Ural State University completed a five-year project resulting in Russia’s first VR simulator for training interaction with industrial robots. The training software suite, TechnoSIM Pro, built around a virtual reality module, enables users to study robot design and master all key production operations. These include startup, installation of working tools such as robotic arms, configuration, and maintenance tasks like oil changes or welding wire replacement. The simulator can model both routine operations and emergency working conditions.

The software can be adapted to different models of industrial manipulators with varying sets of service operations. According to university specialists, the quality of practical skill development remains consistently high across configurations.

Oil and Gas Keeps Pace

The innovative digital simulator developed in Tatarstan for practicing pumpjack stuffing box seal replacement using virtual reality continues this established trend. It demonstrates that the oil and gas sector is keeping pace with broader industrial adoption of immersive training technologies.

It is increasingly clear that VR-based training in Russia will see wider deployment across specialized universities and corporate learning programs. Over time, it may become part of large-scale initiatives focused on software import substitution and localization for industrial skills training.