The NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC) Cockpit Motion Facility (CMF) motion base has provided many design and analysis challenges. In the process of addressing these challenges, a comprehensive suite of software tools was developed. These tools simulate the end to end operation of the motion base system and provide facilities for software-in-theloop testing, mechanical geometry and sensor data visualizations, and function generator setup and evaluation. This paper describes these tools and the system architecture to which they interface. The tool suite consists of five key elements. The first is the Data Visualization System (DVS) which is used to collect and graphically visualize motion base sensor data, electronically store collected data to file, provide a user interface to program function generators for creating repetitive drive signals and trajectories, and to optionally provide a permanent strip chart record. Secondly, the geometric visualization module provides an accurately scaled, shaded, three dimensional representation of the motion base structure permitting intuitive human visualization of the system's motions and geometric component clearances and interactions. Thirdly, a detailed model used to study dynamic performance and perform load analysis can also be interfaced into the architecture, providing the ability to generate complex final leg and platform trajectories while simulating closed loop operations. This same model also contains the closed loop compensator algorithms from which the embedded control law code is directly generated. Fourthly, a file replay module is included to allow the review of recoded data files using the DVS or the geometric visualization module. Finally, these elements are interfaced to one another through shared memory which also emulates the actual reflective memory hardware used to interface DVS to the embedded Digital Control Unit (DCU) during real world motion base operation.
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