Table of Contents
Introduction
The purpose of this project is to design a motion simulator using a gantry currently not being used in the lab. The simulator should provide the user with movement that could correlate to some type of media such as a virtual reality game. The gantry needs to be able to safely support an adult, however, it is currently prone to being displaced from horizontal forces which makes it unsuitable for use right now. The project should also include the use of pneumatic cylinders. The cylinders would have a hard time supporting that much of a moment force and so a method will be designed by which to suspend the user so the cylinder only has to worry about displacement from the place of rest, not support. This means that the project will consist of three primary components: stabilizing the gantry, designing a system to suspend person from the gantry, and then the motion simulation components.
[Pictures of gantry to be included] [Pictures of solidworks depiction of gantry to be included]
Part 1: Stabilizing the Gantry
As it stand right now the gantry is not secure enough to comfortably support a person and their motion. This is mostly due to a few reasons. The first reason, is that there is only a small amount of surface area touching the ground. The gantry rests on four casters which each have a lock, however most of the locks are old and don't hold the wheels securely in place. The top I-beam is also missing a few bolts so secure it to it's supports.
To stabilize the gantry, I will first acquire the proper bolts to replace any currently missing ones. From here, two parts will be put together to hold the gantry in place and keep it from tipping over. Because we want the gantry to be moveable in the future, we do not want to take off the wheels. Instead we will insert a long steel bar inserted through the hole in the base beams.These bars will extend several feet from each opening of the base beam and then turn 90 degrees downward toward the ground. This will act as a lever to prevent any major tipping. These bars will be fastened to the gantry by drilling holes through both them and the base beams and inserting bolts.
[Pictures of solidworks design of plan soon to come]
Part 2: Supporting a Person
To support a person we will use some type of elastic part that can support a heavy load. Right now it looks like either a system of springs will be used, or high strength bungee cord. More info to come…
[Pictures of solidworks design of plan soon to come]