Virtual Motion Simulators are electro-mechanical systems that are used to create an immersive environment for virtual reality applications, like gaming platforms for the entertainment industry, flight training simulators, vehicle testing systems, etc. A Gough-Stewart parallel manipulator is one of the most widely used platforms to support these applications’ human handling cockpits, along with its integrated controls. Most of these motion platforms were originally proposed with hydraulic jacks [7], which later on, with advancement in electrical controls, were reported with electrical actuators [8]. Hydraulic actuators find their application in robust and huge load capacity moving platforms, whereas electrical actuators are applied mainly for applications with high stiffness and precision, like telescope mounts [14]. Both hydraulic and electrical actuators pose a trade-off of being expensive for non-critical applications like gaming platforms or training simulators where a high degree of precision is not much of a concern. On the contrary, pneumatic actuators are inexpensive, fast and offer a long linear actuation. Reckoning this, we propose using pneumatic piston linear actuators for all six legs of a Gough-Stewart platform for a Virtual Motion Simulator. However, due to the compressibility of air in the linear cylinder, the actuators are prone to external disturbances in their position due to the dynamically varying load while the platform is moving. The paper proposes to use Continuous Integral Sliding Mode Control for the precise positioning of six pneumatic actuators of the Virtual Motion Simulator. The first part of the paper will discuss the mechanical design, the kinematics and physical assembly of the motion platform. Secondly, the paper will discuss the hardware integration of the electro-pneumatic system, which implements the controller for all the six linear actuators of the Gough-Stewart platform. Next, the paper will discuss the control approaches for precise positioning of the pneumatic actuator, namely, the continuous integral sliding mode control technique. Finally, the hardware integration to the PC-based gaming engine is discussed, and the methods for extracting the data, pose, velocity and acceleration from the gaming engine are discussed. The paper will conclude with results and a discussion on the performance of the motion simulator as a whole.

错误:搜索内容不能为空,请输入英文关键词
错误:关键词超出字数限制,请精简
高级检索

Design and Control of All Pneumatic Virtual Motion Simulator

  • Ashish Siddharth,
  • Arun Dayal Udai,
  • Sourabh Khemka

摘要

Virtual Motion Simulators are electro-mechanical systems that are used to create an immersive environment for virtual reality applications, like gaming platforms for the entertainment industry, flight training simulators, vehicle testing systems, etc. A Gough-Stewart parallel manipulator is one of the most widely used platforms to support these applications’ human handling cockpits, along with its integrated controls. Most of these motion platforms were originally proposed with hydraulic jacks [7], which later on, with advancement in electrical controls, were reported with electrical actuators [8]. Hydraulic actuators find their application in robust and huge load capacity moving platforms, whereas electrical actuators are applied mainly for applications with high stiffness and precision, like telescope mounts [14]. Both hydraulic and electrical actuators pose a trade-off of being expensive for non-critical applications like gaming platforms or training simulators where a high degree of precision is not much of a concern. On the contrary, pneumatic actuators are inexpensive, fast and offer a long linear actuation. Reckoning this, we propose using pneumatic piston linear actuators for all six legs of a Gough-Stewart platform for a Virtual Motion Simulator. However, due to the compressibility of air in the linear cylinder, the actuators are prone to external disturbances in their position due to the dynamically varying load while the platform is moving. The paper proposes to use Continuous Integral Sliding Mode Control for the precise positioning of six pneumatic actuators of the Virtual Motion Simulator. The first part of the paper will discuss the mechanical design, the kinematics and physical assembly of the motion platform. Secondly, the paper will discuss the hardware integration of the electro-pneumatic system, which implements the controller for all the six linear actuators of the Gough-Stewart platform. Next, the paper will discuss the control approaches for precise positioning of the pneumatic actuator, namely, the continuous integral sliding mode control technique. Finally, the hardware integration to the PC-based gaming engine is discussed, and the methods for extracting the data, pose, velocity and acceleration from the gaming engine are discussed. The paper will conclude with results and a discussion on the performance of the motion simulator as a whole.