SUNDAY, JUNE 27, 2010
To provide any motion cues, the platform has to move. To accomplish this, multiple linear actuators are driven by a networked 3-axis digital servo drive. The actuator motors provide 3hp peak and 500lbs of peak thrust each; each actuator has 18" of travel. The trapezoidal strut shape, provides bracing, bridge-style, against the large lateral loads experienced during fast moves, allowing the machine to move faster and more reliably over time than comparable machines with standard tubular struts.
In the 401, the transfer of information is direct, and much closer to what you'd feel in a real car. And the large range of rotation, something you won't find even in extremely expensive 6DOF platforms, lets that rotation get closer to the amount you'd feel if you were actually driving, and by extension lets you feel problems even sooner.
The additional range also means a slower 'wash out' - the gradual return to center that keeps the machine from winding up like a tether ball - and so you're far less likely than in machines with 30 degrees or less of yaw to feel like you're spinning while heading down the straight.
So far so go, but what Force Dynamics found when they started testing the 401 was this: Not only is it important to feel the rotation of the car when you've broken the rear end loose, or in a four-wheel drift, but it makes an incredible difference even when the car's glued down to the road. The ability to feel the rotation of the car through the corner means that you know where you are in space; that sense of turning tells you even more than your eyes how close you are to the apex.
And what's it like to drive? See for yourself below.
You know you want one, I know I do!
For more information, please visit www.force-dynamics.com
Force Dynamics 401 - the ultimate car simulator!
Force Dynamics 401 uses motion simulation techniques that have been well-known for many years, but delivers forces with incredible performance and realism.To provide any motion cues, the platform has to move. To accomplish this, multiple linear actuators are driven by a networked 3-axis digital servo drive. The actuator motors provide 3hp peak and 500lbs of peak thrust each; each actuator has 18" of travel. The trapezoidal strut shape, provides bracing, bridge-style, against the large lateral loads experienced during fast moves, allowing the machine to move faster and more reliably over time than comparable machines with standard tubular struts.
In the 401, the transfer of information is direct, and much closer to what you'd feel in a real car. And the large range of rotation, something you won't find even in extremely expensive 6DOF platforms, lets that rotation get closer to the amount you'd feel if you were actually driving, and by extension lets you feel problems even sooner.
The additional range also means a slower 'wash out' - the gradual return to center that keeps the machine from winding up like a tether ball - and so you're far less likely than in machines with 30 degrees or less of yaw to feel like you're spinning while heading down the straight.
So far so go, but what Force Dynamics found when they started testing the 401 was this: Not only is it important to feel the rotation of the car when you've broken the rear end loose, or in a four-wheel drift, but it makes an incredible difference even when the car's glued down to the road. The ability to feel the rotation of the car through the corner means that you know where you are in space; that sense of turning tells you even more than your eyes how close you are to the apex.
And what's it like to drive? See for yourself below.
You know you want one, I know I do!
For more information, please visit www.force-dynamics.com
