Research Of Washout Algorithm For The Vehicle Simulator Using Stewart Platform

Stewart platform can’t fully reproduce the true state of the vehicle, due to its limitedrange, so it’s necessary to do research on the washout algorithm.The washout algorithm transforms the motion from actual vehicles to simulators. Itspurpose is to provide the motion cues representing realistic human perception, so the washoutalgorithm is very important for the simulator. This study mainly focuses on the design andresearch of the washout algorithm and its simulation.First, the design principles of the classical washout algorithm is described in detail. Theappropriate parameters and filter’s order are selected according to the particularity of thevehicle simulator. A model of the classical washout algorithm is established inMATLAB/Simulink environment. Simulation results show that the classical washoutalgorithm can basically meet the requirements. But the fixed scheme and parameters of theclassical washout algorithm cause inflexibility of the scheme and make the resultingsimulator fail to be adaptive to all circumstances, which leads to low efficiency of the usageof the platform’s workspace.In order to improve the fidelity of the motion, the washout algorithm based on modelpredictive control is proposed. Model predictive control can deal with constraints, so it isvery appropriate for the washout algorithm due to the limited space of Stewart platform. Theobject is to minimize the sensation error between the human vestibular signals about actualvehicle and simulator. The model of washout algorithm based model predictive control isestablished in MATLAB/Simulink environment. Simulation results show that the washoutalgorithm based on model predictive control can improve the dynamic sensation fidelitysignificantly.Real time control simulation platform for the washout algorithm is built based on RT-lab. The improvement and evaluation of the washout algorithm are done using the real timesimulation platform with an actual vehicle in loop.