For many years now, building a motion platform for a recreational flight simulator has been on my mind. Extending a home-built recreational simulator with a motion seat or motion base is nice science project but is also a meaningful extension to the study of the simulators. Three years ago I had built a small servo-based model of a motion platform with 2 degrees of freedom (2DOF).
Three weekends ago, I started down the path of figuring out a design to make a scale version of a motion platform.
There are several parts to the development of a motion platform that can connect to a PC-based simulation engine. I have had very little experience with any of these steps and so it had to be learning by doing.
The overall set of steps are as follows –
- Determining how to communicate with a real servo or motor or actuator
- Determining whether to use motors, servos or actuators
- Validating the hardware cards that could interface between a PC and those motors or actuators
- Writing code to drive those cards that drive those actuators or motors.
- Powering actuators or motors or servos
- identifying the right actuators or motors or servos that will serve the platform build
- Connecting the actuators to the interface cards and then to the PC
- Writing test code that tests the actuators
- Connecting the game to simulation platform engine
- Connecting the platform engine to hardware driver engine
- Acquiring and transmitting telemetry to the chain above so as to be able to get the game’s motion to reflect realistically on the actuators.
Note that none of the above yet even discusses the build of a platform base or seat. This is just the work that is needed to get the concept validated.
For the simple prototype I chose to go with Progressive Automation for actuators. I also chose to go with MultiMoto Motor/Actuator driver. This card would seamlessly integrate with an Arduino chip. I picked up the LA-14P actuator from Progressive because it had built-in feedback. Needed a power supply and used my 10 Amp, 12V power supply that I use to charge my RC airplane batteries.
Until next time…
CJ
