Design issues for haptic steering force feedback on an automotive simulator

Abstract

This paper describes the deployment of a torque controlled force feedback steering device for human in the loop automotive simulations. The high bandwidth of the velocity controlled three phase brushless servomotor allows for a realistic representation of the virtual dynamics. The electromagnetic interference produced by the industrial servomotor and the controller made the elaboration stage challenging. To overcome the former issues careful amplification and filtering was ineluctable. The final dynamical model of the steering system used and the corresponding motor controller constitute an efficient haptic device for providing intuitive kinesthetic feedback. The system can feed back torques up to 20NM with accuracy of 0.02NM.

Robot environment for combat vehicle driving simulation

“…A direct drive mechanical configuration, in which the motor axle is directly coupled with the steering wheel axle, can provide higher bandwith of haptic rendering. The torque amplification by gearing reduces dynamics and imposes high inertia and nonlinearities, such as friction and backlash [6]. Although some cost-effective solutions of force feedback steering are available on the market [7], they are not suited for high-fidelity haptic research.…”