SimDesign - Integrated design of flight simulator motion systems

Projects

Integrated design of flight simulator motion systems

A very important part of modern flight simulators is the ability to provide accurate motion cues to the pilot that controls the simulated vehicle. In recent years, a lot of research has been done to investigate the role of motion in the simulation.
This page describes a part of this research as well as the software that was developed and is currently under development to facilitate this research.

Example application

SimDesign worked together with ADSE and Hydraudyne on the design of a hexapod replacement for the last link of the VMS simulator at NASA Ames.

The original configuration consists of a large beam that can move vertically (blue arrow, 60 feet), on which a sledge is mounted that moves horizontally (red arrow, 40 feet).

On top of this sledge, a second sledge is providing movement in the other horizontal direction, while an actuated gimbal joint provides the rotations.

The modernisation consists of replacement of the second sledge and gimbal by a hexapod with merely the same motion capabilities, but with much higher dynamic range and stability (see second image).

Specific software (MPOS = Motion Platform Optimization Software) was developed to find the most optimum configuration of the joint locations, in order to optimise motion freedom in rotation and one horizontal direction.

Publications

Integrated design of flight simulator motion cueing systems
This paper was presented at the Royal Aeronautical Society Conference in London, May 2002. It describes the general steps in the design process. It won the "best paper of the conference" qualification.
PDF format.