Evaluation of motion with washout algorithm for flight simulator using tripod parallel mechanism

A planar type of tripod parallel mechanism as a motion base of a new flight simulator has been proposed and designed. The parallel mechanism has three legs translating on ground. The motion base is controlled through a washout algorithm to approximately display the sensation of vehicle motions. To evaluate the motion with the algorithm by the tripod mechanism, a virtual flight simulator using the mechanism has been developed. The analytical and experimental results show that the planar type of tripod parallel mechanism has a larger motion space and tilt angles, and can display faster sustained accelerations of vehicles than does the conventional Stewart-Gough platform type of parallel mechanism.