The time has come for some changes! You might have noticed that we’ve been slipping some electric/hybrid vehicle articles in amongst the auto repair titles that we have been focusing on for the last three years. Well, NO MORE!

As much as I enjoy reading about, researching and writing about electric and hybrid cars I also want to keep the focus of Autofix were it should be, with auto repair advice and information.

So as a result we have decided to separate the two and launch The EV Report. Our goal with this site is to report on the happenings in the electric/hybrid car world (you would be surprised at how fast things are progressing) and take a detailed look at the technology involved. The site is only a week old, although we do have some carry over article from this site, but I would be honoured if you could head over and take a look and let us know what you think of the site so far. The link again – http://theevreport.com

I will be dividing my time between the two sites but rest assured that I will still be around to answer your auto repair questions and will still frequent the Advice Forum so please leave any auto repair questions that you have there.

Thanks for stopping by and a big thank you to our regular readers and those who participate and help out in the forum. Champions!!  

Cheers,
Craig

Sure, you can jump into a driving game simulator and get the occasional vibration when you’ve managed to smash you’re opponent into a wall or when you’ve taken a corner that little bit too wide, but how about this for a ’seat of your pants’ driving simulator experience -

What you just watched is The Cybermotion Simulator, a full motion simulator adapted to a racing car game.

Players experience a realistic drive in a Ferrari F2007 car around a recreation of the famed Monza track while sitting in a cabin on a robot arm some 2 metres off the ground.

Although the result looks like all fun and games, there is a serious side to this ‘research’. Paolo Robuffo Giordano from the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics, in Tübingen, Germany says, “A motion simulation system is a fundamental tool to understand how humans experience the sensation of motion,” he says. “By running suitable experiments, one can gain better insights into the cognitive processes of the human brain.”

“The main challenges were related to the adaption or extension of existing motion control algorithms,” says Giordano, who worked on the F1 arm as a control and robotics engineer. “Our system offers a much larger motion envelope [than Stewart platforms], allowing subjects to be freely displaced in six degrees of freedom in space and even be placed upside-down.”

Although there is a delay in the robot’s reaction of less than 1 second, Giordano and his team are satisfied with the results. They believe the Cyber Motion Simulator can be adapted to recreate the experience of being in a plane, helicopter, ship and other vehicles also.

For now the team are working on expanding the range of motion by adding movement to the cabin itself as well as other improvements.

Sure beats sitting on a lounge chair playing Forza Motorsport on Xbox!

Source – IEEE Spectrum