Haptic Device Embedded in Rotorcraft Seats to Provide Motion Onset Cues in Flight Simulator

This paper describes development and testing of a low-cost device mounted on in the pilot seat of a rotorcraft simulator with the aim of improving the perceived realism of the flight. The device acting vertically from the bottom of the seat is used to communicate changes of acceleration in the vertical direction corresponding to heave movement of the simulated aircraft. A bespoke flight simulator system was developed, featuring modular design and virtual reality (VR) visualisation to enable comparative testing with a full motion system. Objective analyses have shown similarities between the two motion cueing configurations when contrasted with only using visual cues.