A model predictive control-based motion cueing algorithm using an optimized nonlinear scaling for driving simulators

Driving motion simulators are widely used for their reliable, safe and cost-effective abilities to replicate real vehicle driving experience for simulator drivers in virtual environment. As all motion simulators have physical limitations, Motion Cueing Algorithm (MCA) is the most necessary algorithm for transformation of the real vehicle's linear and rotational motions to motion platform aiming to regenerate realistic driving sensation. Model Predictive Control (MPC)-based MCA has recently become one of the most popular MCAs. Scaling and limiting is an important unit of MPC-based MCA to reduce the amplitude of motion signal uniformly aiming to improve the realism of produced motion within the physical limitations of workspace. The current implementations of MPC use a basic form of scaling. In this paper, a novel MPC-based MCA is developed using an optimised nonlinear scaling unit and Genetic Algorithm (GA). The goal is to reproduce accurate motion sensation for the motion simulator drivers as close as possible to real vehicle within the platform's physical constraints. This is achieved via a polynomial scaling unit which is optimized by GA. The aim is to overcome the disadvantages associated with the tuning based on trial-and-error for MPC-based MCA scaling unit which is the main cause of inefficient platform workspace usage and motion sensation error between real vehicle driver and motion simulator driver. The proposed optimization-based method enhances the function of the nonlinear scaling units by considering some important factors such as the motion simulator's physical constraints and motion sensation error between the drivers in a real vehicle and a motion simulator platform. The proposed method is verified via simulation results which show the superiority of the optimised nonlinear scaling compared with the current trial and error based scaling method for MPC-based MCA as it is able to reduce the sensation error between the motion simulator and real vehicle drivers, enhance motion fidelity, and use the platform workspace more wisely to reduce sensation error while respecting the platform's physical boundaries.