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Real-Time Simulation Documentation

R.E. McFarland
Presenter
NASA Ames Research Center

Motion-based aircraft simulators use washout filters to suppress sustained motion. However, these filters occasionally produce dynamics requiring assistance from limiting algorithms to constrain a simulator to electrical and physical limits. These limiting algorithms should minimally interfere with "normal simulator operations" using washout filters, while ensuring that physical and electrical boundaries are not transcended. In addition, these algorithms should provide an adjustable relationship between efficiency during normal operations and comfort during limiting. Under the assumption that limiting is implemented using linear, second order filters, al coefficients may be determined by the selection of a single normalized parameter per axis, along with the axis' hard limits. The relationships that unify washout and limiting filters are called "Adjustable Limiting Algorithms for Robust Motion Simulation" (ALARMS). These algorithms produce a robust interface while establishing efficiency metrics for motion cues relative to the maximum capacity of a simulator.

Download the full paper in PDF (1.1 Mb).

A hardcopy of this document is available by request from Kathleen Starmer.