Optimization of 3-DOF parallel motion devices for low-cost vehicle simulators

Optimization of 3-DOF parallel motion devices for low-cost vehicle simulators

Blog Article

Motion generation systems are becoming increasingly important in certain Virtual Reality (VR) applications, Serving Tray Liners/Mats such as vehicle simulators.This paper deals with the analysis of the Inverse Kinematics (IK) and the reachable workspace of a three-degrees-of-freedom (3-DOF) parallel manipulator, proposing different transformations and optimizations in order to simplify its use with Motion Cueing Algorithms (MCA) for self-motion generation in VR simulators.The proposed analysis and improvements are performed on a 3-DOF heave-pitch-roll manipulator with rotational motors, commonly used for low-cost motion-based commercial simulators.

The analysis has been empirically validated against a real 3-DOF parallel manipulator in our labs using an optical tracking system.The described approach can be applied to any billy-royal-double-diamond-two-ear-headstall/ kind of 3-DOF parallel manipulator, or even to 6-DOF parallel manipulators.Moreover, the analysis includes objective measures (safe zones) on the workspace volume that can provide a simple but efficient way of comparing the kinematic capabilities of different kinds of motion platforms for this particular application.