Abstract:
The invention is a vehicle simulator operator environment. The vehicle simulator operator environment has a plurality of ports, which plurality of ports are adapted to engage with simulator control devices and/or displays that corresponds to a vehicle to be simulated. By engaging a predetermined set of control devices and/or displays that correspond to a particular vehicle to be simulated with a predetermined set of ports, the vehicle simulator will be operable as a vehicle simulator for the particular simulated vehicle.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S)  
       [0001]     This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/736,743, entitled “Vehicle Simulator”, filed on Nov. 14, 2005. 
     
    
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     Vehicle Motion Simulators have been available for many decades and are used for a variety of purposes including for training of operators of military and commercial motor vehicles, heavy machinery and aircraft. For example, there are variety of flight simulators for helicopters, jets and propeller aircraft, as well as driver training simulators for trucks, boats, tanks and trains, gunnery training simulators for tanks, wheeled vehicles and boats, mission training simulators for rescue crew and drivers, and industrial simulators and material handling equipment training simulators. In addition to these uses, simulators are used in the entertainment field for a variety of amusement park rides, in museums, in video arcades, etc.  
         [0003]     Regardless of their applications, most simulators rely on a motion base to create the various motions that are responsive to operator input or some pre-programmed input, which simulators translate these inputs into various motions, including tilting, shaking, thrusting, etc. A common type of motion base includes a floor mounted base unit, a floating platform, and a number of hydraulic or electric cylinders connecting the base of the floating platform. By adjusting the motions of the plurality of cylinders, different degrees of motion can be achieved. For example, Moog Inc. of East Aurora, N.Y., manufactures a variety of motion bases which utilize six hydraulic or electric cylinders arranged in a multiple V-formation. Due to the complicated nature of the various motions required by the cylinders to achieve a desired effect, a considerable degree of programming with tight tolerances is required for effective operation. Moreover, these types of motion bases are very heavy, and must be mounted to a very secure foundation, such as a six-foot thick reinforced concrete base due to the shaking forces created by the motion base. The simulator environment (such as with a simulated cockpit of an aircraft, a lunar lander, a spacecraft, or other types of vehicles) will be located on top of the motion base. Typically, it is difficult to swap between the use of a simulator for one purpose (e.g., helicopter simulator) with another purpose (e.g., tank simulator), since it requires a substantial amount of reprogramming and customization. For this reason, vehicle simulators are usually set up to represent one type of vehicle.  
         [0004]     Moreover, most simulators operate either in a limited number of degrees of freedom of motion, i.e., translational motion in the x, y and/or z planes, and rotational motion along x, y or z axes, and/or their range of translational motions or rotational motions are limited.  
         [0005]     There accordingly remains a need for lower cost simulators that are easier and less expensive to use and operate and also more versatile for a variety of applications, and also for simulators that have greater number and degrees of freedom of motion.  
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION  
       [0006]     The invention comprises a vehicle simulator and vehicle operator environment which provides for up to six degrees of freedom of motion, which simulator may be portable.  
         [0007]     The vehicle simulator and vehicle operator environment may optionally provide for adaptability to various simulator environments, e.g., helicopters, tanks, fixed wing aircraft, trucks, motorcycles, spacecraft, etc., without requiring complex reprogramming or replacement of the entire operator environment. The vehicle simulator provides for up to six degrees of freedom of motion, which comprise rotational motion of the operator environment around the x, y and z axis, plus translational motion of the vehicle operator environment in lateral x, lateral y, and lateral z directions, to provide for full range of motions including full spins, rolls, and other motions which are not possible with present day vehicle simulators based on a motion base consisting of a plurality of cylinders connected between the base and a floating platform.  
         [0008]     The vehicle simulator of the invention can move in the six degrees of freedom based on a relatively simple design that uses groups of actuating cylinders, motors, or other motion control devices to move the operator environment along the desired axes of rotation and longitudinal motion, and can thus obviate the need for complex mechanical structure or difficult to program software and firmware. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0009]      FIG. 1  is a diagrammatic perspective view of a prior art motion base for a vehicle simulator.  
         [0010]      FIG. 2  is a side view of an exemplary vehicle simulator of the invention.  
         [0011]      FIG. 3  is a top view of the exemplary vehicle simulator of  FIG. 2 .  
         [0012]      FIG. 4  is a diagrammatic front right isometric view showing the exemplary simulator of  FIG. 2  showing its six degrees of freedom of motion.  
         [0013]      FIG. 5  is a front right isometric view of another exemplary vehicle simulator operator environment.  
         [0014]      FIG. 6  is a diagrammatic isometric view of an embodiment of a vehicle operator environment with swappable controls. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0015]     Referring to  FIG. 1 , there is shown a prior art motion base  10 , which has a base portion  12  with three lower anchors,  14 A,  14 B and  14 C, a floating platform portion  16  with upper anchors  18 A,  18 B and  18 C. Six hydraulic or electric cylinders  20 A through  20 F connected between the lower anchors  14 A,  14 B and  14 C to the upper anchors  18 A,  18 B and  18 C of the floating platform  16 . Cylinder  20 A connects at its bottom via a universal joint to anchor  14 C and at its top to the anchor  18 C, also with a universal joint or other pivot. Cylinder  20 B connects at its bottom portion to anchor  14 C and at its top to anchor  18 A by a universal joint or other pivot. The other cylinders are similarly connected. Cylinder  20 C connects at its bottom portion to anchor  14 A and at its top to anchor  18 C. Cylinder  20 D connects at its bottom portion to anchor  14 A and to its top to anchor  18 B. Cylinder  20 E connects at its bottom portion to anchor  14 B and connects to anchor  18 A at its top. Lastly, cylinder  20 F connects at its bottom to corner  14 B and at anchor position  18 B at its top. Thus, by manipulating the position, thrusts, speeds, etc. of cylinders  20 A through  20 F, the floating platform  16  can be moved as desired. Not shown, a cockpit or cabin will be mounted to the floating platform  16  where an operator, passengers, etc., will be situated during motion. Motion of the floating base  16  relative to the stationary base  12  requires extremely precise movement of all the cylinders relative to each other, otherwise, the cylinders will actually work against each other and can cause premature wear and breakage. Of course, while the prior art motion bases can establish six degrees of freedom of motion to a limited degree, but these designs restrict the extent of the motions, e.g. full rolls and spins cannot be fully replicated.  
         [0016]     Turning now to  FIGS. 2 and 3 , there are shown a right side view and a top view of an exemplary embodiment of a vehicle simulator  30  of the invention. The vehicle simulator  30  includes an operator environment  32  which includes a seat  34  with various operator controls, such as a joystick  36 , foot peddles  38  and  40  and a control panel  42 . As will be explained below, other operator environments can be provided. The operator environment  32  is connected to a boom  50  via an operator environment carriage  52 . The operator environment  32  includes a cabin frame  54  which is attached to the operator environment carriage  52  via a pivot  48 . The cabin frame  54  and the operator environment  32  can be rotated relative to the operator environment carriage  52  via a yaw adjustor  56 , which can for example comprise a rotation drive motion actuating device and mechanism, such as motor. This will effect movement of the operator environment on a “Y” axis. The operator environment carriage  52  can be pivotally moved relative to the axis of the boom  50  by incorporating, for example, a clevis joint  60  between the operator environment carriage  52  and the boom  50 . For example, a tang  62  can extend from the operator environment carriage  52  and a clevis  64  can be attached to the boom  50 . In order to affect incline control of the operator environment and the operator environment carriage  52  relative to the boom  50 , a pivot drive motion actuating device and mechanism, such as one or more incline controllers  68 A,  68 B may span between the clevis  64  and the operator environment carriage  52 . For example, the incline controllers  68 A and  68 B can comprise a cylinder (such a pneumatic hydraulic or electric cylinder) which is pivotally connected at one end  70  to the operator environment carriage and at its other end  72  to the clevis  64 . The tang  62  is connected to the clevis by a pivot  74 . Other known mechanisms can be used instead if desired. The pivot  48  between the cabin frame  54  and the operator environment carriage  52 , along with its yaw adjuster (e.g., a motor  56 ) will affect a rotational movement along the pivot  48  which is generally along a Y axis when in an upright position. Again, the movement of the operator environment  32  relative to the incline adjuster established by the clevis joint  60  will affect movement of the operator environment along an axis of rotation of the Z axis which passes through the pivot  74  of the clevis joint  60 . The operator environment  32  will also be rotatable along the X axis which runs through a longitudinal axis of the boom  50 . The boom  50  passes through a boom housing  78  and is turned relative thereto by a spin drive motion actuating device and mechanism, for example, a motor  80 , which rotates the boom  50  relative to the boom housing  78 . Alternately, the operator environment  32  can rotate on its X axis relative to an unrotating boom  50  (e.g. by a motor placed between the boom and the operator environment  32 .) Thus, the operator environment  32  can rotate on its X axis (via the pivots  48 , along the Z axis along a clevis pivot  74 ), and along the X axis rotation of the boom  50  relative to the housing  78 . The translational motions of the operating environment can also be established by the vehicle simulator  30 . The boom  50  will longitudinally move through the boom housing  78  along the X axis by virtue of an X-axis drive motion actuating device and mechanism, such as a motor, a hydraulic or pneumatic cylinder, or another mechanisms (not shown) which shifts the boom  50  to the left or right through the boom housing  78 . The boom housing  78  is in turn connected along a Y axis through a vertical housing pivot  81 , which connects the boom housing  78  to a housing frame  82 . Rotation along the vertical housing pivot  81  can be effectuated by a Z-axis drive motion actuating device and mechanism, such as a motor  84  or another mechanism. Thus, the operator environment  32  can be shifted from side to side relative to the Z axis. The housing frame  82  in turn is pivotably mounted on a horizontal pivot  86 , which connects to housing frame support  88 , which is carried by a simulator base  90 . In order to effect movement of the housing frame  82  and its carried housing frame  78 , boom  50  and operator environment  32  up and down, a Y-axis drive motion actuating device and mechanism to establish tilting up and down of the boom is provided. It can conveniently comprise, for example, hydraulic, pneumatic or electromechanical cylinders  92  connected between the simulator base  90  and the housing frame  82 . However, other devices and mechanism can be used. The drive mechanism  92  is connected at an upper end to a pivot  94  connected to the housing frame  82  and at a bottom end  96  to the simulator base  90 . The simulator base can optionally incorporate wheels  98  to permit the simulator to be moved. These wheels  98  can be locked in place or retracted into the simulator base  90  to lower the base onto complete contact with the floor surface.  
         [0017]     By operating the tilt mechanism, the housing frame  82  and its carried housing  78 , boom  50  and operator environment  32  can be swung up and down on the Z axis passing through the horizontal pivot  86 . Thus, by virtue of these articulations, translational movement of the operator environment  32  can be made along the X axis when the boom  50  telescopically moves relative to the boom housing  78 ; translational movement relative to the Z axis can be made by swinging the boom housing  78  along the vertical housing pivot  81 ; and translational movements along the Y axis can be made by pivoting the boom housing  78  along the horizontal pivot  86 . Accordingly, the vehicle simulator  30  of the invention provides for six degrees of freedom, namely, three degrees of rotational freedom and three degrees of translational freedom. Moreover, unlike the prior art motion bases, much fuller motions can be achieved, such as full rolling motions and spinning motions. Furthermore, depending on the degree of incline of the operator environment  32  relative to the boom  50 , much sharper inclines can be achieved than are possible with traditional motion bases. Also, these greater degrees of motion can be had with greater mechanical simplicity and much simpler software design since the geometry of the inventive design is much simpler as calculations of movement are made around single axis of movement, whereas with prior motion basis, there is a complex relationship of the plurality of cylinder, i.e., six cylinders that must work in coordination in order to move the floating platform relative to a stationary base.  
         [0018]     Turning now to  FIG. 4 , there is shown a diagrammatic, top right isometric view of the exemplary vehicle simulator  30  of  FIGS. 2 and 3 , not showing the various motors and cylinders to effect motion. The axis of rotational motion are indicated as X R , Y R  and Z R . The translational axis of motion are shown by arrows X T , Y T  and Z T . The seat  34 , boom  50 , cabin frame  54  which is attached to the operator environment carriage  52  via the pivot  48 . The boom housing  78 , the vertical housing pivot  81 , which connects the boom housing  78  to a housing frame  82  are shown. The housing frame  82  pivotable on the horizontal pivot  86 , which connects to housing frame support  88 , which in turn are carried by the simulator base  90  are also shown.  
         [0019]      FIG. 5  is a diagrammatic isometric use showing another exemplary operator environment  110  which provides for 360 degrees of rotational motion about each of its x axis, y axis and z axis. This is accomplished by providing the plurality of concentrically connected frames which connect each frame relative to a next frame so that each frame will perpendicularly rotate relative to its next frame. The frames will rotate about the x, y and z axis. They can be connected to the boom  50  in the same manner as the operator environment  32  shown in  FIGS. 2 and 3 . An inner frame  112  contains the same componentry as would be present in the user environment of  FIGS. 2 and 3  and will not be discussed further. The inner frame  112  is pivotally connected via pivots  114  on a Y axis to an intermediate frame  116 . The intermediate frame  116  in turn is connected to an outer frame  120  by X axis pivots  118 . The outer frame  120  is affixed to a perpendicular frame  122 . The perpendicular frame  122  is connected via pivot  126  to an exterior frame  124 . The exterior frame  124  will be connected to a boom  50 . If the boom  50  is rotatable, the frame that is provided to permit rotation around the x-axis can be eliminated. The motors to turn the frames relative to each other to establish the rotational motors are not shown. Although the various frames are shown as being generally circular, they may have other shapes if desired.  
         [0020]      FIG. 6  is a front isometric diagrammatic view of an exemplary operator environment  140 . It includes an occupant seat  142  and an occupant floor surface  144 . Placed on the floor surface  144  are a plurality of ports  146 A through  146 G and port  148 . These ports are adapted to receive various control inputs such as the pedals  38  and  40  (as shown on  FIG. 3 ), a joy stick  36 , an airplane type steering wheel assembly  150  and/or other control inputs which are not shown, and which will depend on the vehicle being simulated. The number, pattern, spacing and type of ports  146   a  through  146   g  can be placed in the appropriate locations to receive input devices as required to simulate the desired vehicle operating environment. The individual ports  146 A through  146 G and/or devices that engage therewith can include electrical and electronic connections, electromechanical motion sensing and driving mechanisms, stress sensors and other drives and sensors which simulate the controls of the vehicle that is being simulated. By way of example, the joystick port  146 B may include a motorized module to provide the appropriate resistance that would be experienced by a helicopter pilot when operating the joystick, pending on the operation being performed. For example, when in a simulated helicopter, while recovering from a fast and steep dive, more force will be required compared to moving the joystick than during more subtle changes to the simulated helicopter&#39;s direction. The same would apply to the airplane steering wheels control  150  and its port  148 . Accordingly, the operating environment  140  can remain in the place, but depending on what vehicle is to be simulated, different control devices can be inserted into the various ports. Optional control panel  42  on a control panel shaft  152  can be placed in a port  154  and by selecting the desired vehicle to be simulated, the control panel can instruct the user which ports to use and what controls to insert in which port, if desired. Other ways to control what type of vehicle is being simulated can be used. For example, the operator environment and its controls and components can be set up to recognize that a certain combination of components engaged with certain ports equates to a certain vehicle, e.g., a tank, a helicopter, a fixed wing airplane, etc. Hardware and software communication will be established between the ports and the controllers, and will be communicated to the various control devices so that appropriate movement of the operator environment is established by the user operating the simulated vehicle. For example, in the case of the joystick, by pushing forward on the joystick, this will communicate via port  146 B and cause the operator environment to be inclined downwardly. As noted above, since the operator environment will move on distinct axis of rotation and translation, the programming would be much simpler than with prior art devices.  
         [0021]     The system can be programmed to run an operator through various scenarios, such as sudden lose of power, lose of a rotor, rough weather, etc., and the operator will need to respond to same. The system can collect and/or rate the operator&#39;s response for training and feedback purposes.  
         [0022]     Also, the ability to customize and save various operator environments can be included in the software and firmware that directs the motion control cylinders, motors and control. For example, the operator or others may be able to change setting to more closely reflect how a certain vehicle responds to certain conditions in real life conditions. Different models of helicopters may include the same controls, but may respond differently to flying conditions.  
         [0023]     One or more computers can be used to for communications and control between the operator controls in the vehicle operator environment and the motion actuating devices and mechanisms that actually are responsible for the degrees of motion. These computer(s) will translate movement and/or other actuating of the operator controls in the vehicle operator environment to the motion actuating devices and mechanisms that actually are responsible for the six degrees of motion. Moreover, theses computer(s) can be programmed to establish the desired responses.  
         [0024]     Although preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described, it should not be construed to limit the scope of the invention. In addition, those skilled in the art will understand that various modifications may be made to the described embodiments. Moreover, to those skilled in the various arts, the invention itself herein will suggest solutions to other tasks and adaptations for other applications. It is therefore desired that the present embodiments be considered in all respects as illustrated and not restrictive.