Flight simulator pedal testing device and method

Abstract

The invention discloses a flight simulator pedal testing device and method, and belongs to the field of flight simulator pedals. The testing device for the flight simulator pedal comprises four force sensors, a displacement sensor, two groups of force sensor fixing parts and a group of displacement sensor fixing parts, each group of force sensor fixing parts fixes two force sensors on a pedal plate to measure tiptoe force and heel force through a quick-release front and back clamping assembly composed of two groups of bolts and nuts and a left and right stop block assembly composed of a trapezoidal slide block, a positioning pin and an adjusting bolt. The displacement sensor fixing part fixes the displacement sensor at a proper position through the supporting seat to measure the displacement of the pedal, and a pull rope of the displacement sensor is always kept in a linear state in the displacement process of the pedal through the damping rotating shaft structure and the knuckle bearing, so that the normal measurement of the displacement sensor is not influenced. The testing device provided by the invention gets rid of the disadvantage that a person manually fixes a tool for measurement, greatly improves the accuracy and stability of the displacement and force measurement of the pedal of the flight simulator, meets the testing requirements of the dynamic and static characteristics of the pedal, and provides a foundation for the calibration and test of a high-grade control load system.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the field of flight simulator pedals, and particularly to a test device and method for a flight simulator pedal. Background Art

[0002] A test device and method for a flight simulator pedal are used for measuring the pedal displacement and pedal force.

[0003] In the cockpit of a flight simulator, the pedal is connected to a control load motor through a joystick system. The control load subsystem provides the same load feeling for the driver as operating the real aircraft pedal, simulating the yaw of the real aircraft and the braking and turning actions during ground movement. Whether the force feeling at the human-machine interaction part of the pedal and the simulation of the pedal movement amplitude are similar to those of the real aircraft greatly affect the training effect of the flight simulator and the control comfort of the pilot. Therefore, measuring the displacement and force feeling at the human-machine interaction part of the pedal is an important task in the test of the control load subsystem of the flight simulator.

[0004] In the cockpit of a flight simulator, the traditional method for measuring pedal displacement and force is to measure the pedal by manually fixing a general measurement device. The defect of this measurement method is that it can only measure discrete position points. At the extreme positions, due to the excessive pedal force required, it is difficult to measure, resulting in poor measurement accuracy. In addition, this measurement method is easily affected by the measurement starting point and the placement angle of the measurement tool, resulting in a large difference between the two measurement results of the same pedal position, greatly affecting the measurement accuracy and causing trouble to the calibration and test work of the flight simulator pedal.

[0005] After retrieving the existing relevant patents, it is found that

[0006] Chinese Patent (Application No. 201210147899.0): Comprehensive test device and method for rudder pedal force and angle in the cockpit. This patent provides a test fixture installed on the upper part of the rudder pedal column, and integrates an angle sensor and a force sensor on this fixture. However, this test device does not directly measure the toe force or heel force at the position where the human steps on the pedal, and cannot meet the requirements for measuring the displacement and force at the human-machine interaction part of the flight simulator pedal.

[0007] Chinese Patent (Application No. 201710215930.2): Test device and method for aircraft pedals. This patent provides a motor-driven pedal displacement and force measurement device. The device has a complex structure and requires a specific installation environment, and is applicable to the test of aircraft pedals during the aircraft manufacturing acceptance process, but is not applicable to the test scenario of flight simulator pedals.

[0008] Therefore, it is necessary to design a test device and method for flight simulator pedals, which can meet the test requirements of flight simulator pedals while getting rid of the disadvantages of manually fixing tools for measurement, and provide a basis for the calibration and testing of high-level control load systems. Summary of the Invention

[0009] The purpose of the present invention is to provide a test device and method for flight simulator pedals, which can fix a force sensor on the pedals to measure the pedal force at the human-machine interaction part, and fix a displacement sensor at a suitable position to measure the pedal displacement.

[0010] The purpose of the present invention is achieved through the following technical solutions: based on the usage scenario, two force sensors are fixed on the pedal plate through the front and rear clamping assemblies and the left and right block assemblies to measure the toe force and heel force, the displacement sensor is fixed in a suitable position through the support seat to measure the displacement of the pedal, and the influence of the angle change during the pedal displacement on the displacement sensor is eliminated through the damping shaft structure and the joint bearing, thereby meeting the calibration and testing requirements of the flight simulator pedal.

[0011] Specifically, the test device for the flight simulator pedal mainly includes four force sensors, one displacement sensor, two groups of force sensor fixing components and one group of displacement sensor fixing components.

[0012] Specifically, each set of force sensor fixing components fixes two force sensors at the front and rear ends of the pedal, respectively, for measuring toe force and heel force, each force sensor is fixed to the base plate through two sheet metal structures, and the base plate is fixed to the pedal through four front and rear clamping assemblies and four left and right block assemblies.

[0013] Specifically, each of the front and rear clamping assemblies consists of two groups of bolts and nuts, an adapter plate, and a clamping pad, which are used to fix the base plate and the footrest plate front and back; the fixing position of the first group of bolts and nuts and the base plate is a through hole, which can realize the quick installation and disassembly of the assembly; adjusting the front and rear positions of the first group of bolts and nuts relative to the base plate can prevent the assembly from interfering with the extension structure on both sides of the footrest plate; after fixing the first group of bolts and nuts, tightening the second group of bolts and nuts can clamp and fix the base plate and the footrest plate front and back through the clamping pad; in addition, the clamping pad can be made of plastic material to reduce damage to the footrest plate.

[0014] Specifically, each of the left and right stop block assemblies is composed of an adjusting bolt, a trapezoidal slider, and a positioning pin, which is used to fix the base plate and the footrest plate on the left and right sides; there are trapezoidal groove structures on the left and right sides of the base plate, and the trapezoidal slider can slide in the trapezoidal groove. The positioning pins and adjusting bolts are fastened to the trapezoidal slider through threaded connections. The position of the trapezoidal slider is adjusted so that the positioning pin is close to the extension structure on both sides of the footrest plate, thereby fixing the left and right positions of the base plate and the footrest plate.

[0015] Specifically, the displacement sensor fixing component mainly consists of a bracket, a cross beam, a damping rotating shaft, a support seat, a fixing sheet metal, a spherical plain bearing, and a dowel bolt; the displacement sensor is fixed on the cross beam between the brackets through the fixing sheet metal and the support seat; the pulling rope of the sensor is connected to the spherical plain bearing and fixed on the bottom plate through the dowel bolt; the support seat contains a damping rotating shaft structure, which can make the displacement sensor rotate relative to the bracket cross beam and stay at any position; the pedal movement is not a standard linear displacement. Through the damping rotating shaft structure of the displacement sensor and the bracket cross beam, and the rotating pair of the spherical plain bearing and the dowel bolt, the pulling rope of the displacement sensor always remains in a straight state during the pedal movement, thus not affecting the normal measurement of the displacement sensor.

[0016] Specifically, the test method for the flight simulator pedal of this device is as follows: Fix the test device to the flight simulator pedal and the floor. The tester steps on the four force sensors with both feet to push the pedal forward and backward, and measure its dynamic and static characteristics; for the static force-displacement characteristic test of the pedal, the tester steps on the pedal from the neutral position - forward limit - neutral position - rear limit - neutral position for full-stroke operation. By subtracting the resultant force of the left toe force and heel force from the resultant force of the right toe force and heel force, the static force-displacement curve of the pedal can be obtained; for the damping characteristic test of the pedal, the tester steps on the pedal from the neutral position - specific stroke point for operation, and then releases the pedal after reaching the position. By collecting the data of the displacement sensor, the displacement-time curve of the pedal can be obtained, and then the damping characteristic parameters of the pedal can be analyzed.

[0017] The above description is only an overview of the technical solution of the present invention. In order to make the technical means of the present invention clearer and reach the level that those skilled in the art can implement according to the content of the specification, and in order to make the above and other purposes, features, and advantages of the present invention more obvious and understandable, the following describes the specific implementation manners of the present invention in detail. Description of the Drawings

[0018] The drawings in the specification are only for the purpose of showing the embodiments and are not considered as a limitation to the present invention. Obviously, the drawings described below are only the embodiments of the present invention. For those of ordinary skill in the art, without creative efforts, other drawings can also be obtained based on these drawings.

[0019] Figure 1 Shows the test device for the flight simulator pedal according to the embodiment of the present invention.

[0020] Figure 2 Shows the installation method of the pedal type force sensor and its fixing component on the pedal according to the embodiment of the present invention.

[0021] Figure 3 Shows the front and rear clamping components according to the embodiment of the present invention.

[0022] Figure 4 The left and right stop blocks assembly of the embodiment of the present invention is shown.

[0023] Figure 5 The wire-pulling displacement sensor of the embodiment of the present invention and its fixing components are shown.

[0024] Figure 6 The connection mode between the displacement sensor wire rope and the bottom plate of the embodiment of the present invention is shown.

[0025] Description of the drawings: 1 - footrest, 2 - fixing components of the force sensor, 3 - pedal type force sensor, 4 - wire-pulling displacement sensor, 5 - fixing components of the displacement sensor; 21 - front and rear clamping assembly, 22 - left and right stop blocks assembly, 23 - sensor fixing sheet metal, 24 - bottom plate; 211 - clamping pad, 212 - adapter plate, 213 - second set of bolt and nut, 214 - first set of bolt and nut; 221 - trapezoidal slider, 222 - adjusting bolt, 223 - positioning pin; 41 - displacement sensor body, 42 - wire rope; 51 - bracket, 52 - support seat, 53 - damping rotating shaft, 54 - cross beam, 55 - fixing sheet metal, 56 - spherical plain bearing, 57 - dowel bolt. Detailed implementation manners

[0026] In order to make the purpose, technical solution and implementation method of the present invention clearer, the following describes the implementation manners in conjunction with the drawings. It should be noted that the specific embodiments described herein are only used to explain the present invention and are not used to limit the present invention. All other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art based on the embodiments of the present invention without creative efforts belong to the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0027] It should be noted that certain terms are used in the specification and claims to refer to specific components. Those skilled in the art should understand that hardware manufacturers may use different terms to refer to the same component. The specification and claims do not use the difference in terms as a way to distinguish components, but use the difference in functions of components as the criterion for distinction.

[0028] Embodiment: A test device and method for a footrest of a flight simulator.

[0029] Refer to Figure 1 As shown, the test device for the footrest of the flight simulator includes four pedal type force sensors (3), one wire-pulling displacement sensor (4), two sets of fixing components of the force sensor (2) and one set of fixing components of the displacement sensor (5).

[0030] Refer to Figure 2As shown, each set of force sensor fixing components (2) fixes two pedal force sensors (3) at the front and rear ends of the footrest plate (1) respectively, which are used to measure the toe force and the heel force. Each pedal force sensor (3) is fixed on the bottom plate (24) through two sheet metal structures (23), and the bottom plate (24) is fixed on the footrest (1) through four front and rear clamping components (21) and four left and right stopper components (22).

[0031] Reference Figure 3 As shown, each front and rear clamping component (21) consists of two sets of bolts and nuts (214&213), a transfer plate (212), and a clamping pad (211), and is used for the front and rear fixation of the bottom plate (24) and the footrest plate (1); the fixing position of the first set of bolts and nuts (214) and the bottom plate (24) is a through hole, which can realize the quick installation and disassembly of this component; by adjusting the front and rear positions of the first set of bolts and nuts (214) relative to the bottom plate (24), this component can be prevented from interfering with the extended structures on both sides of the footrest plate (1); after fixing the first set of bolts and nuts (214), tightening the second set of bolts and nuts (213) can clamp and fix the bottom plate (24) and the footrest plate (1) through the clamping pad (211); in addition, the clamping pad (211) can be made of plastic materials such as rubber and plastic to reduce the damage to the footrest plate (1) during the clamping process.

[0032] Reference Figure 4 As shown, each left and right stopper component (22) consists of an adjusting bolt (222), a trapezoidal slider (221), and a positioning pin (223), and is used for the left and right fixation of the bottom plate (24) and the footrest plate (1); there are trapezoidal groove structures on the left and right sides of the bottom plate (24), and the trapezoidal slider (221) can slide in the trapezoidal groove. The positioning pin (223) and the adjusting bolt (222) are both fastened to the trapezoidal slider (221) through threaded connections; by adjusting the position of the trapezoidal slider (221) so that the positioning pin (223) closely adheres to the extended structures on both sides of the footrest plate, the left and right positions of the bottom plate (24) and the footrest plate (1) can be fixed.

[0033] Reference Figure 5 、 Figure 6As shown in the figure, the displacement sensor fixing part (5) mainly consists of a bracket (51), a cross beam (54), a damping rotating shaft (53), a support seat (52), a fixing sheet metal (55), a spherical plain bearing (56), and a dowel bolt (57); the displacement sensor body (41) is fixed on the cross beam (54) between the brackets (51) through the fixing sheet metal (55) and the support seat (52); the pull rope (42) of the sensor is connected to the spherical plain bearing (56) and fixed on the bottom plate (24) through the dowel bolt (57); the support seat (52) contains a damping rotating shaft (53) structure, which can enable the displacement sensor (4) to rotate relative to the cross beam (54) of the bracket and stay at any position; the movement of the footrest (1) is not a standard linear displacement. Through the damping rotating shaft (53) structure between the displacement sensor (4) and the cross beam (54) of the bracket and the rotating pair of the spherical plain bearing (56) and the dowel bolt (57), the pull rope (42) of the displacement sensor (4) is always kept in a straight state during the movement of the footrest (1), so as not to affect the normal measurement of the displacement sensor (4).

[0034] The test method of this device for the footrest of the flight simulator is as follows: Fix the test device to the footrest (1) and the floor of the flight simulator. The tester steps on the four pedal - type force sensors (3) with both feet to push the footrest (1) to move back and forth, and measure its dynamic and static characteristics; for the static force - displacement characteristic test of the footrest, the tester steps on the footrest (1) to perform a full - stroke operation from the neutral position - forward limit - neutral position - rear limit - neutral position. By subtracting the resultant force of the left - foot toe force and heel force from the resultant force of the right - foot toe force and heel force, the static force - displacement curve of the footrest can be obtained; for the damping characteristic test of the footrest, the tester steps on the footrest (1) to perform an operation from the neutral position to a specific stroke point, and then releases the footrest (1). By collecting the data of the displacement sensor, the displacement - time curve of the footrest is obtained, and then the damping characteristic parameters of the footrest are analyzed.

Claims

1. A test device and method for the foot pedals of a flight simulator, characterized in that It mainly includes four force sensors (3), a displacement sensor (4), two groups of force sensor fixing components (2) and a group of displacement sensor fixing components (5). Each group of force sensor fixing components (2) fixes two force sensors (3) on a pedal board (1) through four front-back clamping components (21) and four left-right stop components (22) to measure the toe force and heel force. The displacement sensor fixing component (5) fixes the displacement sensor body (41) at a suitable position through a support base (52) to measure the displacement of the pedal (1), and enables the pulling rope (42) of the displacement sensor (4) to always remain in a straight state during the displacement of the pedal (1) through the damping rotating shaft (53) structure and the spherical plain bearing (56), so as not to affect the normal measurement of the displacement sensor (4).

2. The test device and method for the foot pedal of a flight simulator according to claim 1, characterized in that Each of the front-back clamping components (21) is composed of two groups of bolts and nuts (214&213), a transfer plate (212), and a clamping pad (211), and is used for the front-back fixation of the bottom plate (24) and the pedal board (1); the fixing position of the first group of bolts and nuts (214) on the bottom plate (24) is a through hole, which can realize the quick installation and disassembly of this component; by adjusting the front-back position of the first group of bolts and nuts (214) relative to the bottom plate (24), this component can be prevented from interfering with the extension structures on both sides of the pedal board (1); after the first group of bolts and nuts (214) are fixed, by tightening the second group of bolts and nuts (213), the bottom plate (24) and the pedal board (1) can be clamped and fixed front and back through the clamping pad (211).

3. The test device and method for a flight simulator foot pedal according to claim 2, characterized in that The clamping pad (211) can be made of plastic materials such as rubber and plastic to reduce the damage to the pedal board (1) during the clamping process.

4. The test device and method for a flight simulator foot pedal according to claim 1, characterized in that Each of the left-right stop components (22) is composed of an adjusting bolt (222), a trapezoidal slider (221), and a positioning pin (223), and is used for the left-right fixation of the bottom plate (24) and the pedal board (1); there are trapezoidal groove structures on the left and right sides of the bottom plate (24), and the trapezoidal slider (221) can slide in the trapezoidal groove. The positioning pin (223) and the adjusting bolt (222) are both fastened to the trapezoidal slider (221) through threaded connections; by adjusting the position of the trapezoidal slider (221) so that the positioning pin (223) closely adheres to the extension structures on both sides of the pedal board, the left and right positions of the bottom plate (24) and the pedal board (1) can be fixed.

5. The test device and method for a flight simulator foot pedal according to claim 1, characterized in that, The displacement sensor fixing component (5) mainly consists of a bracket (51), a cross beam (54), a damping rotating shaft (53), a support base (52), a fixing sheet metal (55), a spherical plain bearing (56), and a dowel bolt (57); the displacement sensor body (41) is fixed on the cross beam (54) between the brackets (51) through the fixing sheet metal (55) and the support base (52); the pulling rope (42) of the sensor is connected to the spherical plain bearing (56) and fixed to the bottom plate (24) through the dowel bolt (57); the support base (52) contains a damping rotating shaft (53) structure, which can enable the displacement sensor (4) to rotate relative to the bracket cross beam (54) and stay at any position.

6. A test method for the foot pedals of a flight simulator, characterized in that Fix the test device described in Claims 1 to 5 to the flight simulator pedal (1) and the floor. The tester steps on the four force sensors (3) with both feet to push the pedal (1) to move back and forth, and measure its dynamic and static characteristics. For the static force-displacement characteristic test of the pedal, the tester steps on the pedal (1) with both feet and performs a full stroke operation from the neutral position - forward limit - neutral position - rear limit - neutral position. By subtracting the resultant force of the left toe force and heel force from the resultant force of the right toe force and heel force, the static force-displacement curve of the pedal can be obtained. For the damping characteristic test of the pedal, the tester steps on the pedal (1) and operates it from the neutral position to a specific stroke point, and then releases the pedal (1) after reaching the position. By collecting the data of the displacement sensor, the displacement-time curve of the pedal is obtained, and then the damping characteristic parameters of the pedal are analyzed.

Images