The detection of low-amplitude yawing motion transients in a flight simulator

A perennial problem facing flight simulator designers is how to handle motion system transients generated by washout algorithms intended to restrict the travel of the motion-base hardware. Motion cues in the flight simulator provide opportunities for lead compensation on the part of the pilot and thus one must ensure that other unwanted motion transients generated by the system are not detected. The present study employs typical washout motion transients in an experiment designed to establish the motion levels required to achieve the aforementioned design goals. A set of critical amplitudes for both onset and return motion are determined in a flight simulator environment. It is found that a significant increase in detection levels occurs when the pilot switches from being a pure observer to actively controlling the simulator