Control architecture of parallel and spherical driving simulators and related human factors

Driving simulators are a powerful tool that enable one to carry out studies in different fields, like human behavior and response to stimuli, control algorithms to simulate vehicle motion with high fidelity, etc. Research on safety factors in land vehicles requires the use of advanced techniques. Thus, the implementation of a simulator motion base drive logic, able to imitate typical vehicle maneuvers, requires a good control architecture, giving the user a complete sensation of reality. In a general way, any land vehicle motion can be simulated by changing and adapting parameters either in the simulator motion base control algorithm or in the vehicle computer model. Thus, the authors developed two types of simulator architectures, based on the classical 6-DOF Stewart platform and on the original 4-DOF spherical platform. The experience gained in the last years with the development and use of such simulators leads to some interesting conclusions related to the general simulator architecture, control algorithms and related human factors