AU2003204243B2 - Motion simulator - Google Patents

Description

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION STANDARD PATENT MOTION SIMULATOR The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to me: MOTION SIMULATOR This invention relates to an advance in motion simulation with special emphasis on flight simulation.

The development of flight motion simulators has continued for the last 60 years as aviators and enthusiasts have attempted to provide a pilot training environment free of the considerable danger of death and loss of aircraft, as well as affording considerable savings in fuel, maintenance and overhauls. Despite these efforts the archaic arrangement of cockpit resting on a platform engaged by a servohyraulic arrangement that affords limited motion simulation degrees bank, yaw and pitch) persists as the system of choice even for fast jet simulators.

At least three notable efforts at high fidelity fight motion simulation are US patent specification 4,856,771 disclosing a video game machine, US patent specification 5,685,718 disclosing a flight motion simulator and US patent specification 4,710,128 disclosing a spatial disorientation trainer and flight simulator.

US patent specification 4,856,771 discloses a unit that employs two spheres and two master rings that allow simultaneous 360 degree rotation in all three axes of bank, pitch and yaw.The specification also discloses a heave mechanism as well as a display mechanism and pilot controls as would be seen in a real aircraft. However by employing a permanently vertical master ring responsible for banking motions of the cockpit erroneous movements are unavoidably made when the cockpit banks significantly whilst the "nose" of the cockpit is significantly above or below level. For faithful banking motion simulation banking must suitably be constantly perpendicular to the anterior-posterior axis of the cockpit even if it is well above or below the level position.

US patent specification 5,685,718 discloses a flight motion simulator employing a cockpit arrangement rotatably positioned at the end of a boom arm to provide 360 degree reversible banking. The boom itself is rotatable by high torque electric motor at its centre of gravity to provide 360 degree reversible pitch of the cockpit. The whole arragement rests upon a platform which itself can be rotated through 360 degrees by a high torque electric motor, located beneath its central point, to provide reversible yawing or heading change movements through 360 degrees.

Controls are as would be employed in a real aircraft and modified by computer algorithms. Display can be head mounted means or by screen in front of the pilot.

Whilst the specification claims to offer six degrees of freedom, the translational movements of heave, surge and sway are only afforded by situating the occupant of the cockpit forward of the two axes through which the rotatory movements of bank, pitch and yaw occur.

Therefore the invention actually offers three degrees of freedom. The simulator cannot, for example, purely surge forwards to simulate the thrust a pilot feels when accelerating rapidly due to maximum throttle.

US patent specification 4,710,128 discloses a complex spatial disorientation trainer and flight simulator which also provides signifcant G force training. The specification employs brackets for cockpit suspension and three high torque electric motors to bank, pitch and yaw the cockpit through 360 degrees, reversibly and simultaneously if necessary. A fourth degree of freedom, surge, as well as G force training is provided by a planetary arm that suspends the whole arragement.

The main disadvantage of this specification is the need for a separate control room with two additional joystick controllers in addition to the trainee aircraft controls in the cockpit. Furthermore, as with the "video game machine" above, the banking axis does not remain perpendicular to the anterior-posterior axis of the cockpit. It is fixed in the horizontal plane with regard to the ground. The following example outlines a consequence of this; in real flight a pilot facing 45 degrees above level who then banks through 180 degrees to be inverted should still be facing essentially about 45 degrees above level without enduring any significant translational movements. In this specification the pilot, after banking through 180 degrees, would unavoidably be facing 45 degrees below level, after enduring a semicircular translational movement, due to the permanently horizontal frame of the banking axis.

The present invention attempts to provide a flight motion simulator with six independent degrees of freedom, namely: banking (rotation to the pilots' right or left along the cockpits' anterior-posterior axis), pitching (rotation upwards or downwards of the anterior point of the cockpit), yawing or heading change (rotation of the anterior point of the cockpit to alter its heading as measured by compass), heave (level elevation or descent in relation to the earth), surge (level forward or rearward motion), and sway (level lateral motion of the cockpit). Furthermore the present invention attempts to be a single operator unit requiring no additional personnel.

The motion simulator is driven by servomotor or stepper motor systems in all six axes commanded by computer algorithms in the motion driving computer 57 that respond to inputs by the pilot controls (control column or flight yoke, throttle and rudder pedals with toe brakes) as well as to inputs by an on board 3-axis inclinometer, serialy attached to the computer, as manufactured by companies such as Microstrain. This is necessary because aircraft respond differently to pilot controls according to the attitude or position of the aircraft. The motion driving computer is networked to the display computer responsible for the flight simulation display. The motion algorithms are vehicle specific. Vehicle identity is entered manually by the trainee via keyboard 87 before the simulation begins.

The computers' mathematical processor receives the inputs and processes them using the motion driving formulae and program to 100 command the six axes via a PCI multiaxis servocontroller as offered by companies such as Galil and Oregon Motion Systems. Up to eight axes can be controlled by one PCI servocontroller. These commands are amplified by driver boxes and consist of one of three commands: 1. stop 2. rotate right at rate X/sec or 3. rotate left at rate X/sec.

105 Encoders within the servomotors provide feedback to the computer and servocontroller regarding whether the correct rate of rotation has occurred. Brakes within the servomotors allow for prompt and responsive cessation of rotation as commanded by the motion driving 110 formulae.

The present invention offers all six degrees of freedom whilst providing simultaneous and reversible rotation through 360 degrees of the bank, pitch and yaw (heading change) axes. The rate of bank, pitch and yaw 115 can be in real time to any flight simulation by employing the largest available servomotors to give a rotation rate of 1-300 degrees per second.

Each of the said degrees of freedom may act singly, or in unison from two, up to all six acting together.

120 The simulator is comprised of a transparent spherical member 89 of hard polycarbonate housing an internal cockpit arrangement 90. The said sphere rests rotatably on ball bearings 7 housed on the concave surface of the supporting cylinder 8. The said supporting cylinder 8 rotatably houses a central cylinder 39 with pitch servomotor 25 that engages the 125 vertical pitch pinion 2 via the racked gearwheel 26 to impart pitch through 360 degrees to the simulator in a dedicated way.

The internal cockpit arrangement 90 is rotatably attached to, and supported by, the spherical member via anterior and posterior stubs. The 130 said internal cockpit arrangement houses the banking servomotor 6 which engages the lateral internal pinion 1 to provide banking motion to the simulator through 360 degrees to the pilot's left or right. For complex reasons, when the "nose" of the simulator (represented by the anterior stub 4) is pointing perpendicular to level, either skyward or earthward, 135 within ten degrees of vertical as measured by the on board inclinometer 88, yawing servomotor 29 takes over from the banking servomotor 6 to bank the cockpit 90 left or right through 360 degrees. The computer 57 algorithms control this sharing of the banking action with a view to maintaining the pitch pinion 2 and pitch servomotor 25 in position to 140 perform their function when the cockpit banks 90 degrees in the vertical position.

The yawing heading change servomotors 29 engage the pinion at the base of central cy linder 39 via gearwheel 27 to impart heading change 145 to the simulator.

The torque of the heading change servomotors 29 is transferred via the body of the central cylinder 39 to the strong and inflexible annular member that rests in the vertical recess in the outer sphere 3 and hence to the 150 outer sphere 89 itself. The central cylinder 39 is rotatably supported, via its curved member 59, on ball bearings 94 situated in the superior part of the inner wall of the supporting cylinder 8. When the anterior posterior axis of the simulator 4 is vertical, within ten degrees as measured by on board inclinometer 88, the heading change servomotors 29 are only 155 responsive to the banking formula until that vertical position is changed by pitch or rudder inputs.

The hinged brackets 14, the spongy rubber protective girdle 15 and the slot 12 which ties the supporting cylinder 8 to the heave cylinder 10 serve 160 to counteract the reactive rotational forces exerted by the heading change servomotors 29.

By employing computer algorithms to drive the motion of the simulator all known aerobatic manouevres can potentially be simulated in real time 165 with high fidelity and a platform is provided for display software writers to take the next step and add involuntary movements to the simulator such as would be experienced in turbulence, stalling, impact (eg. landing) and autopilot engagement.

170 This would rely on a technique whereby the motion technology is driven by inputs from the display software environment such as vertical speed and heading change etc. A small U.S.A. company, Inmotion Simulation, already offers a data extraction software program that can potentially achieve this aim.

175 The supporting cylinder 8 is housed within the heave cylinder.

Heave actuators 9 and servomotors 11 within the supporting cylinder 8 impart heave (either up or down) to the cockpit 90 by acting on the base of the heave cylinder 10 via actuator arm 13 and footplate 54. The said heave motion is only active as a set 180 response to "triggers" in the inputs to the motion program. The base cylinder 16 houses the surge actuators 20, servomotors and surge actuator arm 18. This surge apparatus is attched to the central hub19. Hence upon action of the servomotor 45 in response to triggers in the control environment it transmits a 185 forward or rear surge to the cockpit 90 via the central hub 19, central cylinder 39 and hence the supporting cylinder 8 and spherical member 89. Sway occurs by an identical physical method as the said surge mechanism but in an essentially perpendicular direction. All translational movements are 190 followed by a slow return to a median position.

Attachment of the surge and sway apparatus to the central hub and hence indirectly to the central cylinder ensures that the surge apparatus is constantly in the anterior posterior plane whilst the 195 sway apparatus is constantly in a left right lateral plane in relation to the cockpit.

The control column 49 employs a hat switch, operated by the pilot's thumb, which serves as a secondary control column to adjust 200 the position of the simulator if some incongruity occurs between the attitude of the displayed aircraft and the simulator cockpit 90. This technique is colloquially known in the art as "stick chasing" and could only be rendered unnecessary in the event that the display software writers simultaneously wrote code for the motion 205 technology. For example, if a series of aerobatic manouevres ends with the simulator display indicating the virtual cockpit was level with regard to nose-tail and wing position but the motion simulator cockpit felt level nose-tail but 30 degrees to the left in regard to lateral (ie wing) position the pilot could simply push the hat switch slightly to the right 210 until the level "wing" position of the cockpit was achieved. The hat switch has no effect, in this application, on the display software programs.

Display for the simulator is provided by a head mounted display 43 215 comprised of a concave, oval, TFT monitor 84 attached to the pilot's helmet 83 within a comfortable focal distance and essentially capturing his/her entire field of vision. Such monitors have been demonstrated by companies including Philips Research Laboratories.

No claims of invention are to be made for the display system.

220 The helmet 83 itself is suspended from a housing in the head panning apparatus 56 in order to absorb the weight of the helmet and monitor. The scene on the monitor 43 is panned by movements of the pilot's helmet 46 acting upon a fibre-optic visual panning apparatus 38 which employs identical technology to that of the 225 common optical mouse. This technology involves high speed digital photographic surface detection and translation into panning of the displayed image. It is termed "active mouse" in flight simulator display software that employs it. The apparatus 38 detects head motion (not hand motion) and translates it into panning of the displayed image.

230 Unlike the common optical mouse, however, the controlling chip 80 of the head panning apparatus is programmed to detect and respond to rotational movements as well as translational movements.

Power is provided to the simulator directly from mains power point via 235 reinforced protected cable in the case of areas that are not rotating, such as the heave and heading change apparatus. Those areas that rotate, such as the spherical member, receive power through slip rings at the base of the base cylinder 58, left lateral position 67 and posterior stub 4. Cables are in flexible but strong conduits for safety.

240 Data is supplied directly to apparatus within the spherical member, such as the banking servomotor 6. For the regions external to the spherical member 89 data is supplied via slip rings at the posterior stub 4, left lateral position 67 and at the base of the base cylinder 58.

245 The pilot is afforded a safety harness (not shown) fitted to the frame to which the seat 48 is attached. The harness must be attached before the motion program will engage.

In the event of power failure, small batteries in the cockpit and central cylinder 47 are released by integrated circuit to provide 250 adequate power for the motion system to be stopped upright by the pilot controls. The display computer 50 has no backup power so the pilot is thereby informed of the power failure and obliged to stop the motion simulation.

255 Personnel still need to be present to assist the pilot in the event of motor or control failure in an unusual position. As with real flight such eventualities are minimised by employing dual motor and control systems however Murphy's Law still applies.

260 Two seater versions of the invention are clearly possible, either side by side or front and rear and versions with actual cockpit recreations employing a projected display on the curved surface of the sphere and networked displays for the cockpit instruments are also possible but with far greater complexity and therefore expense.

265 Projection onto curved surfaces, including spheres, either from within or from without has recently been perfected by corporations dedicated to this art, especially SEOS in the UK and the USA.

Versions of the present invention can include a four degree of freedom 270 unit, lacking the base cylinder and its surge and sway apparatus, and a three degree of freedom unit, lacking both the base cylinder and the heave cylinder without altering claims 1, 2, 3, 5, 6 and DRAWING DESCRIPTIONS In the drawings: Figure 1 is a left side on view of the motion simulator at its active median level with regard to heave; Figure 2 is a front on view of the motion simulator at its lowest heave level which is also its resting "switched off" position; Figure 3 is a magnified view of the supporting cylinder and its relation to the spherical member; Figure 4 is a plan view of the base cylinder which houses the central hub together with the surge and sway apparatus Figure 5 is a plan view of the central cylinder which houses the pitch servomotor together with the backup battery and a driver amplifier; Figure 6 is a plan view of the supporting cylinder and heave cylinder illustrating the supporting bearings ,the heave and heading change apparatus, the housing for the central cylinder and the substantially open base of the heave cylinder; Figure 7 is a front on view of the visual hardware setup Figure 8 is a left side on view of the visual hardware setup Figure 9 is an enlarged view of the rotatable support afforded to the central cylinder by the inner wall of the supporting cylinder; Figure 10 is an enlarged view of the distal end of the surge and sway actuator arms at the point where they engage the wall of the base cylinder.

Referring to FIG 1 one can see the spherical member 89 rotatably supported on the concave surface of the supporting cylinder 8 by ball bearings 7.

Within the sphere one can see the annular frame of the internal cockpit arrangement 90 rotatably supported by anterior and posterior stubs 4 to the spher e and housing the banking servomotor 6, the seat support, the computers 57, the servomotor amplification unit 69, pilot controls 44 ,42 ,41 the visual display apparatus 43 46, and 56, the keyboard 87 and the 3 axis inclinometer 88.

Within the spherical member 89 the internal pinion 1 imparts banking motions to the cockpit 90 when engaged by the gearwheel of the banking servomotor 6. In a longitudinal external recess 3 in the outer sphere 89 the external pinion 2 is engaged by the pitch gearwheel 26 of the pitch servomotor 25 to impart pitch motions to the sphere 89 and hence to the cockpit The supporting cylinder 8 can be seen to contain the centra cylinder 39 with its pitch servomotor 25, battery 47 and command amplification unit 64. The central cylinder has an external pinion that is engaged by the gearwheel 27 of heading change servomotors 29 to impart heading change or yaw torque to the cockpit 90 via the body of the central cylinder 39 to the inflexible annular member 35 that is firmly fixed to the central cylinder 39 cy connecting apparatus 34.

The supporting cylinder 8 is housed within heave cylinder 10 and cannot rotate in relation to said heave cylinder by virtue of a slot 12 in the body of said heave cylinder and a vertical rib 28 in the body of the supporting cylinder 8. Heave actuators 9 (see FIG 2 within the supporting cylinder 8 impart heave forces to the base of the heave cylinder 10 to impart independent heave to the trainee within The heave forces are transmitted to the surface of the base cylinder 16 via a plurality of ball bearings and hence to the earth.

Central hub 19 is fixed to the central cylinder 39 and can concertina to allow for transmission of surge and sway to the cockpit independent of the heave level The central hub also serves to house the amplifiers for the surge and sway apparatus as well as the amplifier 64 for the pitch servomotor 25. At full downward heave the central hub 19 can accept the base of the pitch servomotor The base cylinder 16 is immobile and houses the central hub 19 which serves as the recipient of the forces transmitted by the surge servomotor the surge actuator 20 and the surge actuator arm 18. The base cylinder 16 also houses the sway servomotor 91, the sway actuator 92 and the sway actuator arm 93 in an orthogonally perpendicular position to the surge apparatus. Bearing wheels 36 support the surge and sway apparatus and together with the anchor wheels 17 allow the surge and sway apparatus to remain in the appropriate position anterior posterior) and left right lateral respectively during and following the action of the heading change servomotors 29.

Data and power slip rings at the base of the base cylinder 58, at the pilots' left lateral position 67 and in the anterior stub 4 not shown allow mains power to be used and permits the free flow of data from the computer 57 to the amplifiers and servomotors together with feed back from encoders in the motors back to the computer 57.

Hinged brackets 14 within the rubberised protective girdle 15 maintain a loose attachment between the base cylinder 16 and the heave cylinder This arrangement tends to inhibit the reactive rotational movements of the heave and supporting cylinders upon the base cylinder 16 during the action of the heading change servomotors 29.

At rest the top of the supporting cylinder is almost level with the heave cylinder so the pilot steps on the surface of the base cylinder 16, then the hinged bracket 14 opens the oval door 33 and steps onto the small platform and sits down. The appropriate controllers have been installed by virtue of the alternative control pod 41. The power is turned on and the keyboard is used to enter the vehicle identity together with data involving weight and wind drag. The display program is started and the motion driving program prompts the pilot to engage the harness.

Networking between the display computer 50 and the motion driving computer 57 facilitates simultaneous control of the motion and display programs.

The 3 axis inclinometer 88 beneath the keyboard 87 is serially connected to the motion driving computer 57 and streams data into into the motion program with regard to" nose" position anterior stub 4 wing position" pilots' 3 o'clock and 9 o'clock position) and heading change per second. These values serve to modify the commands by the computer 57 to the motion hardware.

Referring to FIG 2 one sees the simulator at its resting" power off" position from the anterior aspect. The motion driving computer 57 is networked to the display computer 50 but they are physically separate.

The control column is to the pilots' right, the throttle to the left and the alternative control pod 41 at the base of the seat between the pilots' legs. The rudder pedals 42 with attached toe brakes provide additional input to the motion program and the 3 axis inclinometer 88 can be seen positioned virtually in the centre of the simulator.

The heave actuators 9 and servomotors 11 together with the amplifiers 53 can be seen housed within the supporting cylinder 8 The heave actuator arm 13 and footplate 54 can be seen engaging the base portion of the heave cylinder 10 to impart independent heave to the cockpit The central hub 19 is depicted at its lowest, most compact position without losing its relation to the surge or sway apparatus. The pitch servomotor 25 can be seen entering the base cylinder 16 at the simulators' lowest heave position.

The weight of the spherical member and cockpit 90 is transferred by ball bearings 7 into the surface of the supporting cylinder 8 and hence into its walls, the attached heave actuators 9 heave footplate 54, heave cylinder 10 hence into a plurality of ball bearings 22 in the base of the heave cylinder, into the body of the base cylinder and hence to the earth.

The backup battery 47 in the central cylinder is prompted by integrated circuit, in the event of power failure, to provide adequate power to render the simulator upright under pilot control.

The gearwheel of banking servomotor 6 in the base of the cockpit 100 engages the internal pinion 1 via a circular cutout in the base of the cockpit. The torque of gearwheel 6 cannot be translated into motion of the sphere 89 due to the inflexible curved member 35 that rests in the vertical recess 3 anterior to the external pinion 2 The said curved member 35 is fixed to the superior rim of the central cylinder 39 105 and hence will not be moved unless by rotation of the central cylinder 39 by heading change servomotors 29. In that event the curved member 35 will impart yaw or heading change to the sphere 89 and hence to the cockpit 90. Therefore the banking servomotors' action is to impart banking motion to the internal cockpit arrangement 90 in 110 all attitudes but the vertical in which case the yaw servomotors 29 take over that function.

Referring to FIG 3 one sees a lateral view of the supporting cylinder 8 and its relation to both the sphere 89 and the central cylinder 39. The ball bearings 7 that rotatably support the sphere are retained in place 115 by retaining wall 31 and are 2 deep along the whole circumference of the supporting cylinder 8.

The central cylinder 39 is retained in apposition to the internal wall of the supporting cylinder 8 by curved apparatus 59 and the hemisherical housing at its base of the power data slip ring 58 The central 120 cylinder 39 houses the pitch servomotor 25 and its gearwheel 26 together with the reserve battery 47 and amplifier 64. The pitch servomotor gearwheel 26 can be seen engaging the vertical pitch pinion 2 that is located in the vertical recess 3 in the body of the sphere 89. Within the said vertical recess 3 is positioned the annular 125 curved member 35 flush with the surface of the sphere 89. The said annular member 35 is composed of strong inflexible material eg tungsten carbide and serves a triple role. Firstly it protects bystanders from the dangers of the moving pinion 2. Secondly it prevents the banking servomotor 6 from imparting lateral rotation to 130 the sphere thereby inducing a reactive banking motion of the cockpit.

Thirdly it serves to impart yaw or heading change to the simulator by engaging the sphere via its vertical recess 3 under the action of the heading change servomotor 29.

Within the body of the supporting cylinder 8 can be seen the heading 135 change servomotors 29 with their gearwheels 27 gearheads power cables 62 63 and amplifiers 53.

Referring to FIG 4 one sees a plan view of the base cylinder 16 which houses the surge and sway apparatus together with the central hub 19 to which the said surge and sway apparatus are fixed. The power data 140 slip ring 58 is located at the central base area and permits data to enter the non rotating apparatus of the simulator, such as the contents of the supporting cylinder 8 The slip ring 58 also permits power and data to enter the rotating apparatus of the simulator such as the central cylinder.

The surge servomotor 45 actuator 20 and actuator arm 18 are at the rear 145 of the central hub 19 and impart anterior posterior forces to the cockpit when cued by the motion computer to do so and then return to a median level. The sway servomotor 91 actuator 92 and actuator arm 93 are at the left of the central hub 19 and impart lateral forces to the cockpit when cued by the computer 57 and then return to a median level.

150 A wheel 17 at the distal end of the surge and sway arms, 18 and 93 respectively, engage the outer wall of the base clinder 16 to permit the surge and sway apparatus to rotate in unison with the cockpit 90 and the central hub 19 in order that the said surge and sway apparatus remains constantly in the anterior posterior plane and left right 155 lateral plane with respect to the cockpit The close ,fixed relation between the central cylinder 39 and the central hub 19 can be seen as well as the insertion of the rubber girdle 15 into the surface of the base cylinder 16.

Referring to FIG 5 one sees a plan view of the central cylinder 39. From 160 the outer regions one sees the curved rim 59 that is rotatably supported by the inner wall of the supporting cylinder 8 The curved rim 59 is fixed to the superior rim of the central cylinder 39 and further reinforced by internal support 34. A plurality of bearings 94 rotatably embedded in the superior rim of the inner wall of the supporting cylinder rotatably support 165 the curved rim 59 and hence the central cylinder 39 with its contents.

The central cylinder 39 houses the pitch servomotor 25 with its gear wheel 26, internal brake and encoder not shown The backup battery 47 is prompted to provide adequate power to the simulator in the event of power failure. The driver amplifier 64 serves to amplify 170 the commands from the motion computer 57 to the pitch servomotor and advice has it that each servomotor needs its own amplifier.

Near the centre can be seen the power data slip ring 58 that provides mains power to the pitch servomotor 25 and its amplifier 54 as well as computer data to the amplifier 64 and from the encoder in the pitch 175 servomotor 25 back to the computer 57 for comparison of the actual and commanded rates of rotation.

Referring to FIG 6 one sees a plan view of the heave cylinder 10 housing the supporting cylinder 8 A rib 28 in the supporting cylinder 8 fits into a vertical slot 12 in the heave cylinder 10 to prevent one rotating in 180 relation to the other. The surface of the supporting cylinder 8 is curved in a concave fashion and rotatably supports a plurality of ball bearings 7 retained in place by a retaining wall 31. A plurality of ball bearings 94 can be seen in the superior rim of the internal wall of the supporting cylinder 8. The said internal wall extends to the base of the supporting 185 cylinder and has suitable apertures to permit the yaw servomotors 29 to engage the pinion on the external surface of the central cylinder 39.

Suitable apertures in the base of the supporting cylinder 8 permit the heave actuator arms 13 and footplates 54 to engage the base of the heave cylinder 10 The said heave cylinder base is comprised of a strong 190 flat section that ends briefly thereby permitting the surge and sway of the central hub 19 that traverses it.

At the centre of the unit is positioned the power data slip ring 58 A plurality of power and data cables 62 convey the power and data in an appropriate fashion. The heave servomotors 11, actuators 9 and 200 actuator arms 13 are housed within the supporting cylinder 8 together with the amplification units 53. The heading change servomotors 29, gearwheels 27 and amplifiers 66 are also housed within the supporting cylinder 8 Although dual apparatus is depicted for heave and heading change it is feasible that single units may be adequate.

205 Referring to FIG 7 and FIG 8 one sees a front and left side view of the visual display hardware. The pilots' helmet 83 forms an integral part of the setup since the concave oval display monitor 84 is indirectly mounted to the helmet. Motion of the pilots' head is limited to four degrees of freedom bank left right lateral rotation pitch up 210 down vertical rotation yaw (left right horizontal rotation and zoom level anterior posterior This limitation is caused by the limited housing 77 for the head panning apparatus 71 and the zoom apparatus The hemispherical apparatus 72 to which the stub 74 from the pilots' 215 helmet 83 attaches serves to house the zoom apparatus 70. Fibreoptic cables 75 within the head panning apparatus 71 and the zoom apparatus photographically detect head movements in the four degrees of freedom and processes the information within the zoom chip 81 and the rotational chip 80 The resultant information is transmitted to the visual 220 display computer 50, via data cables 73, which translates the inputs into appropriate panning of the visual image on the display monitor 84 to approximate a real time alteration of the pilots' field of view.

Power and data enters the monitor 84 via conduit 73 from the power source and display computer 50 respectively. Spring mechanisms 225 within the housing 77 for the visual panning apparatus 71 encourage a return to the median central position after any head movement.

The helmet level can be adjusted as required by a rack and pinion mechanism that is controlled by a small wheel 82. A visor serves to provide a three dimensional aspect to the display if required.

230 The housing 77 for the visual display apparatus is securely fixed to the supporting frame 79 for the internal cockpit arrangement 90 therefore the head motion undertaken by the pilot is always in relation to the said cockpit as would occur in real flight.

Referring to FIG 9 one sees a close up view of the internal wall of the 235 supporting cylinder 8 which houses a plurality of ball bearings 94.

These bearings 94 rotatably support the weight of the central cylinder 39 and its contents via the curved member 59 and connecting apparatus 34 which are fixed to the superior rim of said central cylinder 39.

Referring to FIG 10 one sees the hooked distal end of the actuator arm 240 18 of the surge apparatus which engages the outer wall of the base cylinder 16 vire a strong wheel mechanism 17. This arrangement is identical but perpendicular to the sway apparatus and allows the said surge and sway apparatus to function simultaneously with each other even during the 245 heading change rotating action of servomotor 29.

Claims (4)

1. A six degree of freedom flight motion simulator with 360 degree bank, pitch and yaw employing a spherical member and a vertical, recessed pinion dedicated to pitching of the cockpit and an orthogonally perpendicular lateral, internal pinion protruding into the cavity of the sphere and dedicated to banking of the cockpit.

2. A six degree of freedom flight motion simulator with 360 dgree bank,pitch and yaw employing a distinctive supporting cylinder with a concave surface and ball bearings to rotatably support the spherical member.

3. A six degree of freedom flight motion simulator with 360 degree bank pitch and yaw employing a distinctive heave cylinder housing the supporting cylinder with its heave actuators thereby affording heave motions, up or down, to the cockpit independently of the five degrees of freedom.

4. A six degree of freedom flight motion simulator with 360 degree bankpitc and yaw employing a distinctive base cylinder housing surge and sway actuators dedicated to imparting surge and sway forces to the cockpit independent of the other degrees of freedom. A six degree of freedom flight motion simulator with 360degrees of bank, pitch, and yaw employing a unique annular member positioned in the vertical external recess of the spherical member to enact the dual roles of protection of personnel from the dangers of the vertical pinion and imparting rotational forces to the spherical member and hence the cockpit in response to the action of the heading change servomotor. Th~c; QL21 ~n~3 iy~~ I y3