Simulation and Implementation of Moving Platform for Flight Simulator

Abstract

Flight simulator is a virtual reality system capable of simulating an environment of a flying machine for a pilot. This work presented a simulation and implementation example of a six degree of freedom moving platform as a part of a flight simulator, most flight simulators adopted the Stewart platform as a moving platform. Therefore, a mathematical model of the Stewart platform is derived by solving inverse kinematics problem, to find the length of all legs for a given desired position and orientation. The mathematical model is verified and simulated using MATLAB software. Low-cost commercially available components are provided for the constructed prototype. Additionally, interfacing between hardware and software components is accomplished by Arduino Uno. Obtained results showed that the range of translational motion is and cm along x, y, and z respectively, as well as, the rotational range is +_5,+-3 and +-10 about the mentioned three axes.