Optimizing the utilization of structural resources of flight simulator motion systems

Abstract

The object of the study is a six degrees-of-freedom motion system of the synergistic type of a flight simulator. The latter is the main technical means for training pilots and means of research and development of aircraft. The task of optimal utilization of its structural resources was solved, which provides an opportunity to improve the quality of motion cueing. The result is the developed method, which ensures optimal use of structural resources of motion systems of flight simulators. This is explained, first of all, by the use of the developed simplified operator for converting the movements of jacks into the movement of a motion system along individual degrees of freedom on the basis of quadratic approximation. Given this, it became possible to describe the coordinates of the centers of the axes of rotation of the motion system by cubic spline functions. Secondly, the solution of the task of estimating the structural resources of the motion system along linear degrees of freedom on the basis of the developed criterion was carried out by an effective modified method of the deformed polyhedron. This method combines the random search method in the first steps of the search and the gradient method in determining the global extremum. Thirdly, the problem of determining the dependence of the coordinates of the pitch and yaw axes along the pitch angle was stated and solved. Owing to the optimal utilization of the structural resources of motion systems, the coordinates of the axis of their rotation along pitch are as close as possible to the coordinate of the axis of the aircraft. Thus, the quality of motion cueing on the flight simulator is significantly increased and it is possible to use motion systems with shorter lengths of jacks, and therefore, to reduce the cost of their manufacture and operation