A Particle Swarm Optimization-based washout filter for improving simulator motion fidelity

Abstract

The washout filter for a driving simulator is able to regenerate high fidelity vehicle translational and rotational motions within the simulator's physical limitations and return the simulator platform back to its initial position. The classical washout filter provides a popular solution that has been broadly utilized in different commercial simulators due to its simplicity, short processing time, and reasonable performance. One limitation of the classical washout filter is its sub-optimal parameter tuning process, which is based on the trial-and-error method. This leads to an inefficient workspace usage and, consequently, generation of false motion cues that lead to simulator sickness. Ignorance of a human sensation model in its design is another drawback of classical washout filters. The purpose of this study is to use Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) to design and tune the washout filter parameters, in order to increase motion fidelity, decrease the human sensation error, and improve efficiency of the workspace usage. The proposed PSO-based washout filter is designed and implemented using the MATLAB/Simulink software package. The results indicate the effectiveness of the PSO-based washout filter in reducing the human sensation error, increasing the capability of reference shape tracking, and improving efficiency of the workspace usage.