Comparison of Classical and Optimization-Based Motion Cueing for Simulating Aircraft Upset Maneuvers

Abstract

Providing adequate simulator motion cues for simulated upset and stall scenarios remains challenging. This paper evaluates the potential of novel optimization-based motion cueing algorithms for upset and stall simulation. An offline analysis is performed to compare three Model Predictive Control (MPC) algorithms with varying prediction horizon lengths and prediction strategies (i.e., "Oracle", "Perfect", and "Constant") against two baseline classical washout algorithm implementations from literature. The analysis is performed for a symmetric stall scenario flown with TU Delft's Cessna Citation II laboratory aircraft. Overall, the analysis shows that the objective motion cueing quality expressed in terms of the Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) improves by 29.8% (for specific forces) and 18.7% (for rotational velocities) with the "Oracle" and "Perfect" MPC implementations compared to the reference classical washout results. For the "Constant" MPC algorithm, which in fact does not include any explicit prediction across the MPC algorithm's future prediction window, only a marginal improvement in motion quality was found. Overall, these results imply that, assuming a sufficient future reference motion prediction can be achieved, optimization-based motion cueing algorithms have the potential to provide significantly better motion cueing quality compared to classical motion cueing algorithms.