Dynamically orientable seating device
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing motion simulation devices are bulky, complex, and expensive, making them impractical for home use, particularly when used with virtual reality headsets, as they fail to provide a cost-effective and simple means to simulate motion independently of visual and audio aspects.
Innovation Solution
A dynamically orientable seating device that includes a seat mounted on a carriage with a drive wheel, allowing for controlled yaw, pitch, and roll movements, utilizing a rotatable platform and drive mechanisms to simulate motion, along with an orientation sensor to detect and adjust the seat's orientation, enabling use with virtual reality applications.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional motion simulation devices are used, then motion simulation capability is achieved, but device size and complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The motion simulation device is divided into separate functional modules: a base unit with drive mechanisms and a separate seat carriage. This segmentation allows the complex motion simulation functionality to be achieved while keeping each individual component simpler and more manageable, reducing overall device complexity while maintaining simulation capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The seat carriage is received within the base unit structure, with the carriage nested inside the base. This nesting arrangement allows the carriage to move within the confined space of the base, achieving full motion simulation range without increasing the overall footprint of the device, thus reducing device complexity and space requirements.
2Reliability
If traditional motion simulation devices are used, then motion simulation capability is achieved, but manufacturing cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The drive wheel serves multiple functions: it provides propulsion motion, enables rotation about a vertical axis, and works in conjunction with the spherical surface to achieve complex multi-axis motion. This multi-functionality reduces the number of separate components needed, simplifying manufacturing and reducing costs while maintaining full motion simulation capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The device uses dynamic, movable components rather than fixed structures. The carriage can move freely within the base, the drive wheel can rotate and reorient, and the spherical surface allows flexible contact points. This dynamic design enables complex motion simulation with simpler, more manufacturable components compared to rigid fixed-structure alternatives.
3Volume of moving object
If compact design is implemented, then device size is reduced, but motion simulation range may be limited
Solution Approach 1:
The invention introduces a spherical surface geometry instead of traditional planar or linear motion paths. This dimensional change allows the carriage to access motion in multiple directions (yaw, pitch, roll) from a compact base position. The spherical contact surface enables rotation and tilting movements that would be impossible with conventional linear rail systems, achieving full 6-degree-of-freedom motion simulation within a compact footprint.
Solution Approach 2:
The use of a spherical surface for carriage contact enables multi-axis rotation and orientation changes from a single compact base position. The curved geometry allows the carriage to pivot, tilt, and rotate smoothly without requiring large linear travel distances, thus achieving comprehensive motion simulation range within a small device volume.
Data Source
AI summary
An orientable seating device includes a seat, the orientation of which can be controlled to dynamically affect a desired of yaw, pitch and roll. The seating device can be used to reorient and/or to simulate motion for a seated person for use with video games, virtual reality headsets or goggles, land, water, air or space vehicle simulation, or wireless airborne drones, for example. The device includes a seat mounted on a carriage, which is received in a carriage pedestal. Within the pedestal, a drive wheel positioned under the carriage supports and rotates the carriage by driving an outer sphere-shaped surface of the carriage. The drive wheel can be reoriented around a vertical axis such that any combination of pitch and roll can be achieved by rotating the wheel against the sphere-shaped surface. Yaw can be controlled by a rotatable platform upon which the carriage pedestal can be mounted.