PI Engineering:Design Project ProposalRyan BoakDouglas GobeskiJustin KingMike PriebeDan RaphaelMark RogersRebecca WahmhoffBryan WitherspoonIntroductionThe overall objective is to simulate the feel of a boat’s pilot house. To do this a simulatorwill be connected to software to provide realistic feedback to an operator. The operator, in turn, will control a series of gauges and the steering shaft to return input into the software program to allow the simulator a realistic response. This requires a group of different parts working as a whole to simulate the overall response. The steering shaft, the motion platform, the gauges and the compass all must work together with the software program to provide the ambience of a real boat house. In addition, a pilot house must be built to complete the overall feel.The Motion PlatformSpacing of the BellowsOne of the critical factors of the motion platformwill be the spacing of the bellows. Since the cabin of theship simulator is more massive than the airplane simulatorfor which the motion platform is currently set up, it ispossible that the bellows will have to be spaced out relativeto the pivot point in order to accommodate the extraweight. Spacing the bellows will require modification of the motion platform and should only bedone if necessary. However, by doing so, the simulated cabin’s motion will be sacrificed.In order to determine if the bellows need to be further spaced, the distributed mass of the cabin will need to be estimated, and calculations will need to be performed to determine if the bellows in their current configuration will be able to support it. If not, similar calculations will be performed to determine the optimal position of the bellows.Pivot PointThe pivot point of the motion platform is one of the main factors affecting the realism of its motion. To be as realistic as possible, the pivot point should be at the same distance from the cabin in the simulator as the center of gravity of the ship is from the cabin. However, since spaceis a design constraint, this will not be possible. Thus, the motion of the ship simulator will not beexactly like the ship that it’s simulating. Moving the pivot point away from under the position ofthe simulator operator’s feet will give a more realistic feel. The pivot point can be moved by moving the entire motion platform’s location, by modifying the motion platform, or both. Modification of the motion platform should be avoided if possible.Balancing MassesSince most of the weight on the ship simulator will be concentrated at the front, balancingmasses will need to be located in the rear of the simulator. These added masses will allow to motion platform to move in a balanced and stable manner. Calculations will need to be performed to determine the moment (force*distance) that the weight at the front of the cabin creates about the pivot point, and mass will need to added at the back to create an equal and opposite moment. The Gauge and CompassTypically, modern watercraft display thrust, fuel, electrical, and other important information on a display connected to an onboard computer. To recreate a more “vintage” feel, the Soo River Belle, and her simulator, will be outfitted with modern analog gauges. A general purpose analog gauge will be created using a DC gear motor, a position sensor, some LEDs for color effects, and a small microcontroller.Figure A shows the connections that the gaugewill have. A backup, “always-on” Vdd connectionwill be used to keep power to the microcontroller so itcan properly shut down when the gauge is turned off. The signal connection will contain a DC voltagebetween 0 and 5V that will control the needleposition. A light connection will be used to turn on or off the lights.The gauge will be easily customizable. A USB interface will allow the microcontroller tobe reprogrammed, enabling the user to modify light patterns, or the range of motion of the Figure Aneedle. In addition, the faceplate of the gauge will be easy to remove and replace, allowing for customized faceplates.The needle position will be closely monitored using the microcontroller, and a capacitive position sensor, which will be provided by PI Engineering. The sensor will be attached to the shaft of the motor, and will provide a DC voltage to the microcontroller. The microcontroller will then compare the feedback voltage with the external signal voltage, and make adjustments as necessary.The gauge will have several red, green and blue LEDs mounted at the bottom of the casing. The LEDs will be controlled by the microcontroller, which will control each color separately. The microcontroller will also be able to control the LEDs based on the needle’s position.While the Soo River Belle will have as many as 40 different gauges, it is not feasible to create each and every gauge for this simulator, as a lot of miscellaneous data is not even taken into account in Virtual Sailor. We will, however, attempt to build these gauges for the most basicreadings, including a tachometer for each engine, and rudder position. Other gauges may be added if time permits.We will use the actual compass from the Soo River Belle to display the ship’s heading in the simulator. We will accomplish this by using the same hardware as the gauge, but we will attach a strong magnet to the shaft of the motor, then mount the entire assembly directly underneath the compass. As the magnet turns, the compass will follow its magnetic field rather than the earth’s magnetic field. Properly calibrating this device will allow the Virtual Sailor program to accurately display the ships heading on the compass.A digital-to-analog device will be used to send analog signals to the gauges and the compass, using data sent to it from Virtual Sailor. PI Engineering will provide us with the device, or a suitable one will be recommended and purchased.The SteeringThe primary means of input to the simulator will be the steering wheel. Since the user will have almost constant interaction with the steering wheel, it is important that it work properly. The steering wheel has to be free-spinning until it reaches the “locks” at the clockwise and counterclockwise extremes of its rotation. It also has to provide position information to the Virtual Sailor simulation software.To accomplish this, a chain drive will be used to connect the output from the steering shaft to a hydraulic pump. The hydraulic pump
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