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Flight simulator analysis software (KADMoS)

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In collaboration with the compagny CAE Electronics Ltd. the Robotics Laboratory developed a software for the visualization, analysis and design of flight simulators. KADMoS (Kinematic Analysis and Design of Motion Systems) allows the user to investigate different types de geometries and select the most promising ones. This investigation is very useful since kinematic and dynamic analysis as well as the design of parallel manipulators is much less intuitive than that of conventional serial manipulators. Thus, the development of new geometries for motion systems of this type is more complex. KADMoS allows the user to freely modify the geometric parameters while the workspace, singularities, as well as other properties, are obtained interactively. Algorithms were developed for the solutions to the geometric, kinematic and dynamic problems.

  

Fig. 1: Typical interface used in KADMoS. The figure on the left illustrates a complete simulator in different views while the figure on the right shows an example of a workspace (in 2 and 3 dimensions) with dexterity curves. Click on the images to view an enlargement.

KADMoS is characterized as follows:

  • Runs on Silicon Graphics and Windows NT workstations and uses the graphic libraries Open Inventor and 3D-MasterSuite;
  • Provides a user-friendly interface in the form of a control panel and/or table, which carries out a verification of the input data by the user and provides help menus;
  • Allows the analysis of 6 DOF platforms of the Gough-Stewart type as well as certain 4 DOF parallel manipulators;
  • An update can easily be conducted to allow the analysis of various mechanisms with various degrees of freedom.

The algorithms which were implemented include the following:

  • Visualization of the motion system and its movements in real time, based on the solutions to the direct and indirect geometric problem and on trajectory planning;
  • Determination and visualization of the workspace (in 2D and 3D) of any point of the platform for a given orientation of the mobile platform;
  • Determination and visualization of the singularity loci in the workspace of constant orientation in 2D;
  • Determination and visualization of the envelope of the motion system using various methods;
  • Determination and visualization of the dexterity and rigidity throughout the workspace;
  • Determination of the maximum Cartesian movements (pure translations and rotations) for any configuration, with or without the mechanical and/or operational limits;
  • Determination of the maximum joint movements with or without the mechanical and/or operational limits;
  • Determination of the maximum Cartesian speeds, accelerations and acceleration derivatives for the given specifications of the actuators;
  • Determination of the maximum joint speeds, accelerations and acceleration derivatives for a given Cartesian trajectory;
  • Determination and visualization of the static and dynamic forces for a given configuration or trajectory.