The motion driver configuration settings are held in a .bff configuration file which is selected and opened when the motion driver is run. There are a wide range of parameters that can be configured to affect the basic configuration and motion output by opening and editing the file in a text editor (eg NotePad).

The detailed pitch, roll, heave, surge, sway and yaw parameters and the range utilisation parameters can also be set through the motion driver window using the P, R, H, Y and M "settings" buttons in the main window. These settings windows also provide more detailed pop-up tool tips for each of the parameters.

The Basic, Platform Geometry, Hot Button/Key, Runway Effect and other non cue related settings should be made directly in the .bff file before the motion driver is run.

The configuration parameters are:

BASIC SETTINGS

Rig_Type=4  Platform Type, must be set =4 for 6 DOF hexapod platforms. If you are using a rig with pairs of "handed" crank type actuators then set Rig_Type=5. This will reverse the movement of one actuator in each pair to ensure the linear movement at the crank ends are in the correct direction. 

Mode=BIN  to define motion cue output mode, see Section 5 for the available output formats.

Port=COM*  set the output COM port number, COM1, COM2 etc for modes which use a COM port.

Baud=115200 serial output baud rate. Note for MEM output use with the PID Servo Controller the controller's baud rate is set in the PID26.cfg file.

Nsets=100  Number of data sets to run before sending motion data to output. This setting allows the driver to execute a number of calculation loops to allow the noise and washout filters to stabilise before starting to export data. The main function buttons on the driver will remain disabled until the loops have been executed.

For some versions of the software UDP or TCP comms are used to receive flight/racing sim telemetry. In these versions IP address and port settings must be made to enable the comms. The settings are also used if LAN operation is used (on supporting versions).

PortS=48001 Receiving Port on this PC - set as required.

IPAddress=192.168.1.68 IP address of this PC on the local network - set as required. If the motion software and sim are running on the same PC then a loop-back IP address of 127.0.0.1 can be usually used.

PLATFORM GEOMETRY SETTINGS

Rad_u=475.0 Pitch circle radius of actuator upper end connections in mm.

Rad_b=775.0 Pitch circle radius of actuator lower end connections in mm.

H_mid=500.0 Vertical height of upper connections above lower connections when actuators are at mid stroke position in mm.

Ang_Sub=110.0 Angle subtended by the lower end connections of an actuator pair in degrees.

Act_Stroke=250.0 Actuator working stroke in mm (this is the actual stroke that matches the working electrical feedback range).

Crank_Radius=150 Crank arm radius in mm, if you are using linear actuators and there is no crank then set =0. If present the crank radius must be greater than 0.5 x Act_Stroke. The motion driver will calculate the working crank arm rotation to deliver the specified actuator stroke. When this parameter is active it is assumed that the position feedback is made with reference to crank arm (or drive shaft) rotation (not actuator linear movement) and the driver position demand outputs will be corrected for the trigonometry of the crank/push rod arrangement.

The software will assume that the crank arm is at right angles to the push rod when it is at mid-position and so the +/- linear movement is symmetrical about crank mid position.   

Rot_Height=300.0  Height of pitch and roll center above upper actuator pitch circle - mm

The above platform geometry parameters are used to define the relative relationship between the platform DOF motions and the actuator extensions. The geometry dimensions need not be precise, however major inaccuracies will affect the "orthogonality" of the final motions - ie the extent to which a single DOF cue results in a movement in that DOF alone. Note also that the calculated movement ranges for the platform are written to the Hexapod_Geometry.txt file in the motion driver directory for reference.

FALim1=200 The actuator working stroke length in the position feedback 0-255 scale. For the motion driver's internal calculations this will be mapped to the actuator working stroke specified above.

PitchStart=127 The mid stroke positions of all actuators in the position feedback 0-255 scale.

Example; if your feedback potentiometer voltage output is 0.5 to 4.5V when the actuator moves over it's full working range, assuming your drive hardware uses a max possible 0-5V voltage range to detect actuator position then ..

FALim1 = (4.5 - 0.5) / 5 * 255 = 204, and the min and max positions on the 255 scale are 0.5 / 5 * 255 = 25 and 4.5 / 5 * 255 = 229

And the actuator mid position is,  PitchStart = 25 + 204/2 =  127

Reducing the stroke by 10% or so might also help to prevent platform overshoot from triggering end-of-travel cut-off switches, so adjusting FALim1 down from 204 to 180 might be useful.

VALim1=10 Actuator start/hold position as a percentage of actuator stroke length. This is the position to which the driver will send the motion cue when it first starts and when subsequently sent to "Hold".

The proportion of full scale movement to utilise use for each DOF - in percentage of full range. For example maximum heave range can only be achieved if there is no movement in the other DOF's

FALim2=100 The percentage of available range the Pitch cue can use.

LALim1=100 The percentage of available range the Roll cue can use.

LALim2=50 The percentage of available range the Heave cue can use.

SU_prop=100 The percentage of available range the Surge cue can use.

SW_prop=100 The percentage of available range the Sway cue can use.

Yaw_prop=50 The percentage of available range the Yaw cue can use.

FaScaleg=1.0 Scaling factor to be applied to raw forward accelerations for pitch & surge calcs - when aircraft is on the ground.

FaScalea=1.0 Scaling factor to be applied to raw forward accelerations for pitch & surge calcs - when aircraft is in the air.

TCfg=0.5 Time constant for low frequency isolation filter for forward acceleration tilt cue - when aircraft is on ground - secs/rad.

TCfa=0.5 Time constant for low frequency isolation filter for forward acceleration tilt cue - when aircraft is in air

FaCap=10.0 Cap level for scaled forward acceleration magnitude that will be processed for cue in m/s^2.

TCpa=0.0 Time constant for low pass filter to washout pitch accel part of cue in sec/rad.

RateP=1.0 Proportion of pitch angle to be added for pitch rate contribution.

TCpr=3.0 Time constant for high pass filter to washout pitch rate part of cue in sec/rad.

FAMax=1.0 +/- Pitch angle cue demand that will give full scale rotation of rig in radians.

Pitch_Rev=1 Reverse pitch output sense, =0 No, =1 Yes

TCSUg=2.00 Time constant for high frequency isolation filter for forward accel for surge cue - when aircraft is on ground - secs/rad

TCSUa=2.00 When in air.

SUaCap=3.730 Cap level for scaled forward acceleration magnitude that will be processed for cue in m/s^2.

TCSU1a=0.1 Time constant for low pass filter to smooth surge cue in sec/rad - in-air ops...

TCSU1g=0.1 On ground ops...

SUaMax=3.730 +/- Surge scaled accel demand that will give full scale movement of rig in m/s^2.

Surge_Rev=0 Reverse output sense, =0 No, =1 Yes.

LaScaleg=1.0 Scaling factor to be applied to raw lateral accelerations for roll & sway calcs - when aircraft is on the ground.

LaScalea=1.0 Scaling factor to be applied to raw lateral accelerations for roll & sway calcs- when aircraft is in the air.

TCllg=0.5 Time constant for low frequency isolation filter for lateral acceleration tilt cue - when aircraft is on ground - secs/rad.

TClla=0.5 Time constant for low frequency isolation filter for lateral acceleration tilt cue - when aircraft is in air.

LaCap=10.0 Cap level for lateral acceleration magnitude that will be processed for cue in m/s^2.

TCla=0.0 Time constant for low pass filter to washout roll accel part of cue in sec/rad.

RateF=1.0 Proportion of pitch angle to be added for roll rate contribution.

TCpr=3.0 Time constant for high pass filter to washout roll rate part of cue in sec/rad.

LAMax=1.0 +/- Roll angle cue demand that will give full scale rotation of rig in radians.

Roll_Rev=1 Reverse roll output sense, =0 No, =1 Yes

TCSWg=2.00 Time constant for high frequency isolation filter for lateral accel for sway cue - when aircraft is on ground - secs/rad

TCSWa=2.00 When in air.

SWaCap=3.730 Cap level for scaled lateral acceleration magnitude that will be processed for cue in m/s^2.

TCSW1a=0.1 Time constant for low pass filter to smooth sway cue in sec/rad - in-air ops...

TCSW1g=0.1 On ground ops...

SWaMax=3.730 +/- Sway scaled accel demand that will give full scale movement of rig in m/s^2.

Sway_Rev=0 Reverse output sense, =0 No, =1 Yes.

HEAVE CUE SETTINGS (See the pop-up tool tips in the driver H settings windows for more details)

VaScaleg=1.0 Scaling factor to be applied to raw vertical accelerations for heave calcs - when aircraft is on the ground.

VaScalea=1.0 Scaling factor to be applied to raw vertical accelerations for heave calcs - when aircraft is in the air.

TCva=0.1 Time constant for initial low pass (smoothing) filter of vertical acceleration in sec/rad.

VaPw=1.0 Exponential factor to be applied to accel values above 1.0m/s^2 to exaggerate response.

VaSat=10.0 Cap level for acceleration magnitude that will be processed for cue in m/s^2.

TCvp=5.0 Time constant for high pass filter to washout heave cue in sec/rad.

Turb_Scalea=0.0 Scaling factor to be applied to recorded light-turbulence heave accel in air.

Turb_Scaleg=1.0 Scaling factor to be applied to generated heave accel for runway rumble.

TCvf=0.1 Time constant for final low pass (smoothing) filter of heave cue in sec/rad.

VAMax=10.0 +/- Heave demand that will give full scale heave of rig (in accel units - m/s^2) set this to the same value as VaSat.

Heave_Rev=0 Reverse output sense, =0 No, =1 Yes.

YAW CUE SETTINGS (See the pop-up tool tips in the driver Y settings windows for more details)

YaScaleg=1.0 Scaling factor to be applied to raw yaw accelerations for yaw calcs - when aircraft is on the ground.

YaScalea=1.0 Scaling factor to be applied to raw yaw accelerations for yaw calcs - when aircraft is in the air.

TCya=0.1 Time constant for initial low pass (smoothing) filter of yaw acceleration in sec/rad.

YaPw=1.0 Exponential factor to be applied to accel values above 1.0 rad/s^2 to exaggerate response.

YaSat=10.0 Cap level for acceleration magnitude that will be processed for cue in rad/s^2.

TCyp=5.0 Time constant for high pass filter to washout yaw cue in sec/rad.

TCyf=0.1 Time constant for final low pass (smoothing) filter of yaw cue in sec/rad.

YAMax=10.0 +/- yaw demand that will give full scale yaw of rig (in accel units - rad/s^2) set this to the same value as YaSat.

Yaw_Rev=0 Reverse output sense, =0 No, =1 Yes.

RUNWAY HEAVE EFFECTS SETTINGS

The runway heave motion is generated from two superimposed sine waves. The combination of slow and fast sine waves can be configured using these parameters. The overall effect is scaled using the Turb_Scaleg parameter in the Heave settings section. The notional unit of the wave amplitude is m/s^2 and the resulting value is added to the actual heave acceleration which is used for the heave cue.

RW_Amp_3=0.0 Slow acceleration sine wave amplitude at takeoff speed m/s^2.

RW_CPS_3=0.75 Slow sine wave frequency at takeoff speed - in cycles per second (Hz).

RW_Amp_1=1.0 Fast acceleration sine wave max amplitude m/s^2, set a very small value to effectively disable if platform does not have good high freq response.

RW_Dia=0.5 Wheel Diameter for Fast Wave Frequency - m, set at unrealistically large dia to simulate centerline bumps.

RW_Tos=100.0 Reference take-off speed for calcs - knots.

HOT KEY/BUTTON SETTINGS

MD_Delay=10    Motion Drive data loop sleep time in ms

Key_Kill=Esc     Kill, Prefix, Drive and Hold hot keys. The drive and hold hot keys require the "Prefix" key to be held down
Key_Prefix=\   at the same time to operate
Key_Drive=d
Key_Hold=h

Joy_But=1    Joystick number for driver remote control buttons, =0 to disable, otherwise set to joystick number on system

But_Kill=2    Kill, Drive and Hold joystick buttons, set any =0 to disable it (these are active only if Joy_But is non-zero)
But_Drive=11
But_Hold=10

MISCELLANEOUS SETTINGS