A novel washout filter design for a six degree-of-freedom motion simulator

Abstract

The motion cue performed by a motion simulator is restrained by the workspace of the simulator structure. A typical reasoning is then to build a large motion simulator unless it is for entertainment, which involves in small simulators. This study proposes a novel approach to designing the washout filter of the motion control of a six degree-of-freedom motion simulator for entertainment purposes. Using information obtained from the inverse kinematics of the simulator, the workspace boundary, detected in real-time, is fed into the washout filter as a reference for the motion planning. The main focus of this approach is to make the motion cue feasible for use in a simulator with a restricted workspace, while ensuring the robustness of the driving system. In this paper, different indices are established to specify the performance of the motion cue. A classical linear washout filter was implemented and compared with the proposed washout filter using the performance indices to demonstrate the benefits of the latter.