SimCraft Education and Research

Andy Mahood of PC Gamer reviewed SimCraft in the Simulation column of PC Gamer magazine, August 2010 edition.

"Whether you fancy the DIY option or SimCraft's pricier APEX turnkey system, true full motion simulation has just moved one step closer to univeral accessibility."

-PC Gamer, August 2010

"I recently came across a product that had me salivating and murmuring to myself in tongues (and it does take some effort to make that happen)..."

-PC Gamer, August 2010

Many decades ago, the aviation industry learned that teaching was expensive, dangerous, and time consuming. These unmanageable factors forced the industry to consider alternatives and professional simulation was never the same. Motorsport is facing similar obstacles as aviators did back then although the training of drivers is only a small part of the problem. In fact, driver development types got a bit of a head start on the rest of the industry and turned to simulation based training several years ago. Some veterans here in the US took notice, and so did all of F1 which is now replete with various simulation technologies designed to augment seat time, and more importantly, testing time.

There are some who still question that motion cues enhance simulation. While we will concede that no motion is better than bad motion, this paper investigates three widely used motion algorithms vs. simming static; with no motion.

by Greg Pachman; Sean MacDonald; Sean Yoder

Training with simulation is growing into an accepted, and in some cases required, addition to both driver and team testing regimen. This being the case, why isn't simulation a more widely accepted form of motorsport training?

The authors Nicolas A Pouliot; Clément M Gosselin; and Meyer A Nahon have conducted extensive research and published prolifically in the fields of Robotics and Mechanical Engineering.

If the six-degree-of-freedom Stewart platform is the gold standard; in both performance, complexity and cost; for simulating vehicle movement, then how close can other systems come to this performance level while reducing complexity and cost and still maintain good quality motion simulation?

The author, Phillip Denne, is a very authoritative source for vehicle Simulation research.

Given that good motion cues are essential for reinforcing the link between the occupant and vehicle dynamics, Denne explains what comprises a good motion simulation and reinforces the position that no motion is better than bad motion.

So how do you ensure a motion architecture will provide the correct experience? Denne states that just moving the CAB (seat w/ occupant and controls) about a stationary screen is effective for small movements of ground vehicles only, but large motion requires the screen to be displaced as well. However, he goes on later to state that just moving the seat (without controls moving) "breaks the most fundamental rule of motion simulation".

Glossary of terms used throught the research and educational articles describing SimCraft full motion simulators and Flight Simulators and SimRacing in general.