An Application Specific Motion Simulator Design Methodology

This paper is part of a research program investigating the systematic, economic optimisation and design of motion simulators, in particular, flight simulators. The research explores reduced actuation motion platforms - primarily three degree of freedom systems (3DOF), as opposed to the traditional six degree of freedom (6DOF) systems. Significant research criteria are cost reduction and reduced actuation mechanism performance optimisation, aimed at eventually realising a more affordable motion simulator solution than those currently available, for commercial application. While reducing cost, the research will attempt to create a performance metric against which proposals can be assessed, leading to a 3DOF solution that maximises performance.