A six degree-of-freedom, hydraulic, one person motion simulator

Abstract

This paper describes the design of a one-person hydraulic motion simulator with six degrees of freedom. An inverted, ceiling-mounted Stewart platform design enables the use of narrower hydraulic cylinders than required with floor-mounted designs, and significantly reduces hydraulic flow requirements and hence the cost. The paper details the platform geometry, shows the effectiveness of Newton's method in solving the direct kinematics, and describes a tested hydraulic system design. Issues of control and safety are also addressed. It is expected that this motion simulator will provide 9.8 m/s/sup 2/, 400/spl deg//s/sup 2/ accelerations and 1 m/s, 30/spl deg//s speeds to a 250 kg payload with 1 m, 45/spl deg/ displacements from a nominal center. Preliminary experiments at low-pressure have been encouraging.< <ETX xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">&gt;</ETX>