Australia's Deakin University has developed a flight simulator that uses tactile feedback, or haptics, technology to improve training by adding a sense of touch and feel through the joystick.
Computer games players will be familiar with simple haptics technology from the "rumble packs" that make hand-held controllers vibrate, for example to simulate the feel of an explosion.
Professor Saeid Nahavandi, director of Deakin's Centre for Intelligent Systems Research, says the Haptically Enabled Universal Motion Simulator (UMS) takes flight simulation to the next level by delivering a safer, cheaper and more realistic training environment for military pilots than currently available. "Standard simulators replicate the flying or driving experience by merely tilting from side to side and providing the real life sensation through visual cues," he says.
"What sets the UMS apart from standard simulators is the integration of haptics technology, which provides a sense of touch and feel to virtual or remote objects, and its ability to move at high speed and in any direction."
Haptics technology has been integrated into a specially constructed robotic system, which is essentially a giant industrial robot arm. The robotic arm has a reach of 7m (23ft), has a seat attached to the end and can exert forces up to 6g.
The UMS also features a high-resolution 3D display mounted inside a headset, which allows the user to be totally immersed in the training environment and delivers a "real" visual and physical experience, according to Deakin. Haptics technology generates forces and vibrations that simulate a realistic sense of touch and feel through the joystick, while the headset provides the real-life visual cues.
The university says the UMS will allow fighter jet pilots to learn intricate manoeuvres, such as disaster recovery following engine failure and continuous aileron rolls, without relying on the use of jets, thereby reducing cost and risk.
The UMS can also be used for remote collaboration, simulating dogfights and other joint flying exercises with pilots who are based elsewhere, for example. The UMS can also be configured to simulate space shuttles, helicopters and land-based vehicles such as tanks.
Deakin has received A$1.8 million ($1.8 million) in Australian Research Council (ARC) funding to establish a facility to house the UMS. It recently received new ARC funding of A$210,000, which will be used for a project in 2012 to use the UMS technology to develop effective pilot-training methods and improve aviation safety.
Source: Flight International
