Force feedback could save lives

The Cabin Emergency Evacuation Trainer (CEET) made by Oldham company, EDM is able to simulate hydraulic failures or damage to aircraft emergency exit doors on the Airbus A380. It uses Baldor's Ethernet compatible NextMove e100 machine controller and two servo motors to dynamically vary each motor's forward and reverse limits based on the angular position of the door and handle as well as I/O controlling other simulated aircraft functions such as cabin lighting and indicators. This allows simulation of various scenarios such as stiff doors and door and handle jams in an aircraft in trouble. The motion and I/O control software is written in Mint. "Software represents one of the largest elements of our product costs. The high level nature of the Mint language helps us to minimise the engineering cycles for new simulator designs," says EDM's systems manager, Alan Nicholson. "Now that the base software is in place, modifying it to emulate different types of aircraft door can be achieved very quickly." The development tools supplied include a diagnostics capability that gives EDM access to features built into the Ethernet Powerlink hardware, such as data acquisition capabilities, an error log, and a temperature sensor. The user can monitor real-time parameters of the control system, or run test moves and compare them with ones captured at the time of manufacture using a 'software oscilloscope' tool, to see if any mechanical issues have emerged following commissioning. As the tools are free-issue, EDM bundles them onto the control PC provided with each simulator. This helps EDM offer rapid engineering support to airline customers worldwide in the event of a problem, by simply logging into the system over the internet. The first user of EDM's new generation of simulation technology was, "A major European airline", which commissioned a cabin trainer for the Airbus A319. Since this order, EDM has completed a door trainer for the inaugural purchaser of the new double-decker Airbus A380. EDM is additionally employing the real-time torque control facility of Baldor's Ethernet Powerlink motion control modules to emulate brake pedal action on a vehicle simulator project. "The sheer speed of Ethernet Powerlink allows EDM is able to vary torque limits dynamically rather than simply configuring them - a control mechanism that is simply not feasible using a traditional analogue interface, or a general-purpose fieldbus," adds Baldor's David Greensmith. "This new network will allow most machine builders to take a completely fresh look at their control system architecture: our single Ethernet Powerlink controller can handle up to 200 devices on the network for example, including managing up to 16 interpolated axes simultaneously." Baldor EDM