How it works?
The simulator tries to simulate force on a driver in most situations, like acceleration, deceleration, turns etc. There are many types of simulators using different techniques to reach this goal.
The simplest ones use steering wheel and seat vibrations only.
Simulators with 3 DOF (Degrees Of Freedom) allow roll, yaw and pitch.
Simulators with 4 DOF add heave. These 3DOF or 4DOF simulate acceleration or deceleration by gravity forces as a result of forward or backward tilt of the seat (pitch).
When the seat tilts backwards, gravity pushes you to the seat. It simulates acceleration.
When the seat tilts forwards, gravity pulls you from the seat. It simulates deceleration.
Many simulators have pitch axis under the seat. It's simple and saves place. But it has drawback. When the seat pitches to backward tilt around the axis under seat, you are pulled from the seat for a while. This supresses an acceleration effect. And invokes disbalance of your senses. Deceleration effect simulation has similar problem.
Our 4DOF simulator has pitch axis above the driver. When the seat pitches to backward tilt, you are pushed to the seat. It corresponds with gravity force and supports acceleration perception. All senses are balanced. The higher the pitch axis is, the better.
Thus, simulator can use rotational motions to simulate acceleration and deceleration. And it can look unusual, when you have your legs as high as your had. But you shouldn't care of this. You are pushed into the seat and you have to feel the acceleration force.
Then, you shouldn't see scene around you for better simulation. A VR helmet can help very much.
Come and try our motion simulator !
Why does the simulator tilt so much? Cars don't have that much body roll.
Motion simulators don't only recreate the position of the car in space — they recreate what you feel when you're in the car. Since we sense motion with our inner ears, we can't tell the difference between tilting and accelerating without a visual cue.
When you're in the simulator and you turn to the right, we tilt the machine to the left; because the image on the screen tells you that you're not tilted, your brain interprets the tilt as acceleration.