While there are other compact motion simulators available on the market today, typically these employ actuators which make direct contact with the ground. The major disadvantage of these systems is the reduced effective movement range (usually less than 1/5th of that presented by the Atomic), resulting in poor sensation of acceleration, braking and cornering inertia.
Similarly, there are other systems which move only the seat while the wheel and pedal set remains static. The 'low-mass inertia' design ideology behind these systems offers the advantage of vastly increased acceleration and movement speed - relying on rapidly transitioning g-forces and smaller, sharper movements to trick the brain into a more realistic and highly perceived racing experience, as well as exceptional track surface detail reproduction. The problem with such systems is a naturally-restricted movement range, frequently resulting in poor lateral inertia (cornering) and acceleration / braking reproduction. As a consequence, they are also regularly deemed inadequate for high G-force applications such as flight or rollercoaster simulation.
While larger, full platform moving systems address the problem of poor inertia reproduction, they typically do so using heavy platforms which carry additional screen equipment, and a brute-force power approach. This usually has a highly detrimental effect on acceleration and maximum speed, decreasing realism for aggressive racing applications, and results in massively increased power requirements unnecessarily.
JoyRide's Atomic motion simulators address all of the above problems to provide the best of both worlds. By combining the low-mass inertia ideology, an ultra-low latency 100Hz motion update*, and a large effective movement-range, a highly dynamic racing experience closely matching seat-moving systems is achieved along with the huge extra benefit of superior inertia reproduction rendering the system perfect for other high G-force applications. Testimonials we have received from racing drivers, pilots and simulation enthusiasts who have experienced all 3 types of systems reflect this, with many users hailing the motion realism offered by the Atomic as groundbreaking. * Beware of manufacturers stating their systems are 'zero latency', this is not physically possible due to signal propogation delay. The Atomic's motion response typically matches or far exceeds that of most competitor products.
The design philosophy of the Atomic is simple, to exceed the aggression and sensation of inertia typically offered by much larger motion simulators by providing exceptional power and performance in an ultra-compact, lightweight and highly-durable package. Developed from the ground up over a two year period by an experienced team of motion simulation experts and engineers, JoyRide extensively assessed the pitfalls exhibited by many other commercially available systems, and carefully designed every aspect of the Atomic to ensure they were addressed. The result is by far the industry's most exciting, aggressive and dynamic motion system in its class.
In order to achieve this, the two most important factors pertaining to motion simulator performance have been extensively addressed - gravity, and inertia. The basic physical principals involved with this are simple:- F=ma (Force = mass x acceleration)... the less mass a body presents, the more acceleration can be achieved for a given force. In other words, the lighter the load presented, the easier it is to accelerate it. With this consideration, gravity and inertia must both be compensated for to achieve high performance while keeping overall size and power requirements to a minimum - enter ForceAssistTM.
How Does ForceAssistTM Work?
Rather than adopting the brute-force approach employed by most of today's large simulators, JoyRide's patent-protected ForceAssistTM technology utilizes a network of mechanical energy transfer components to compensate for the gravity acting on a body when its COG (centre of gravity) is offset from the load-baring pivot. When a motion simulator pitches or rolls, the kinetic energy that would otherwise be wasted is delivered back through the system to assist its return to centre. This ensures the electronic actuators are presented with approximately the same load throughout their entire path of travel, reducing the electrical power requirement with no noticeable sacrifice to overall performance.
In order to maximise the benefits of this system, the Atomic's design ensures the COG of the rider is kept as low (therefore as close to the load-baring pivot) as possible. This further increasing performance while giving the added benefit of reduced overall height, simplifying the use of front-projection screen setups where required.
These two factors combined ensure both the detriment of gravity and the effects of mass inertia acting on the system are minimised, resulting in exceptionally low power requirements while still offering an aggressive ride performance often exceeding that of far bulkier, power-hungry systems.
Real-World Analogy
Consider the differences presented between two high-performance vehicles, for the purposes of this example the standard 2005 Ford Mustang vs. the 2004 Ariel Atom.
The Mustang utilises a 4.0l 210 BHP engine and can achieve a 0-60mph time of 6.9 seconds (approx).
The Ariel Atom on the other hand utilises an engine which is half the size (2.0l), but can achieve a blistering 0-60 time of 3.5 seconds (approx).
Why? The all important power-to-weight ratio. The Atom has a more highly tuned engine (producing 220 BHP) and weighs less than a third of the Mustang. Both are considered sports vehicles and offer just over 200 BHP of performance, however when it comes to the track, the lightweight, performance tuned Atom will win by a mile every time thanks to it's exceptional cornering and acceleration capabilities (and will use a lot less fuel in the process).
The ethos behind the Atomic A2 is exactly the same - it has been designed to never move any more weight than it needs to (by keeping the rider's COG as low as possible, the weight of the upper sled as light as possible, and the display hardware separate), and make best use of the power/actuator force available (via the ForceAssistTM mechanism), wasting as little as possible. This results in superior speed and acceleration, highly detailed motion response throughout it's entire path of travel, exceptionally low running costs, and greatly extended actuator life.
System Comparison
Below is a table of various specifications presented by manufacturers for a range of popular past and present motion simulators. While some larger systems do offer the benefit of marginally increased movement range and heave simulation, it can be seen that they do so at great cost due to the added floor footprint (see diagram below table), height, and power requirements.
Our research has shown the extended range of movement offered by these larger systems is very rarely used in practice, primarily as it actually starts to become detrimental to realism particularly in circumstances where the speed of the simulator cannot respond quickly enough to changes on-screen. Additionally, while heave adds another element to the feeling of motion, it is typically far less perceived by the rider than the sensation of pitch and roll - adding heave also usually requires each of the actuators to bare a large proportion of the total weight of the platform, requiring yet more force and power usually resulting in slower acceleration and maximum velocity on all axes.
The 27 degree total movement range of the Atomic has been defined following extensive practical experimentation into the effective reproduction of the sensation of inertia, while also considering screen positioning, overall floor footprint / clearance, base stability, and force/power requirements. The omission of heave movement permits faster acceleration and greater maximum velocity for the more highly-perceived pitch and roll axis, while our SIMPHYNITY software allows heave motion data received from the source to still be emulated via the pitch axis to ensure none of this feedback is lost.
Click on the table for the full size version.
Why Does The Display Hardware Not Move With The Rider?
Besides the obvious benefit of increased performance (due to there being less weight to move), research has shown that the human brain naturally compensates for any change in visual reference between the rider's orientation with respect to the screen. Despite the large 27 degree dual-axis movement range of the Atomic, having the screen situated separately still feels completely natural, even when using small screens - this presents huge advantages, and applies for all possible applications, including flight, rollercoaster and driving simulation. Large platform manufacturers may tell you this is an unrealistic approach, this is simply not true - almost all of the world's most immersive simulation rides utilise a separate screen for this very reason (IMAX Race for Atlantis, Back to the Future (Universal), Spider-Man (Universal), the list goes on...). Thousands of people have now test-driven our systems and hailed the motion realism provided by the Atomic, which to-date has received excellent reviews worldwide. Don't just take our word for it, if in any doubt please contact us to arrange a test-drive... We're confident you will not find a better performing system in its class!
Other notable benefits include:-
- With large platform movers, display hardware life is typically significantly reduced due to the sheer vibration produced - in order to compensate for this, extra reinforcement and shock absortion hardware frequently needs to be utilized, considerably increasing the overall weight to move.
- By keeping the display hardware separate, the portability and performance of the motion base itself increases dramatically with no additional power being required.
- Existing display equipment can be used where space is at a premium (e.g. home TV / cinema screen / digital signage displays), and there are no restrictions on display size, weight or type - it is commonly accepted that the choice of display hardware can be a critical component of the overall simulation experience, therefore having the ability to choose the best solution according to your budget and available space is a massive advantage. Projectors, immersive curved screens, VR headsets and 3D displays all compliment the Atomic's motion feedback exceptionally well.
- Mutliple Atomic seats can be networked via DMX512 to all move in the same way with a single shared screen, permitting numerous driver / passenger configurations and ride-film suitability.
What About Larger Riders?
Don't be fooled by the small size; the Atomic can accommodate riders up to 140kg, putting it in-line with the maximum permitted loads of much larger systems. This is achieved via a combination of the ultra-rigid base construction and the load-compensating ForceAssistTM system. Where heavier riders are present, the Atomic is able to produce a maximum of 64.4Nm of torque to comfortably move the load - this amount of force is actually greater than some car engines!
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