Reconfigurable hardware interface for vehicle driving simulators using a field-programmable gate array

• US 6,270,350 B1
• Filed: 03/08/2000
• Issued: 08/07/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 04/28/1999
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: I-Sim LLC
• Original Assignee: I-Sim Corp. (General Electric Company)
• Inventors: Christopher, Charles A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Cheng, Joe H.
• Application Number:
  US09/520,565
• Time in Patent Office: 517 Days
• Field of Search: 434/29, 434/60-65, 434/69-71, 434/307.R, 434/308, 434/365, 703/8, 703/13, 703/23, 463/6, 463/7, 463/35-40, 472/59-61, 472/130, 472/136, 702/42, 700/30, 700/85, 701/54, 379/93.08, 345/145, 345/167, 345/475, 345/509, 348/113, 348/116, 273/148.B, 273/442
• US Class Current: 434/69
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 9/00 Simulators for teaching or training purposes for the use of weapons F41; computing aspects G06; protocols for games, networked simulations or virtual reality H04L67/131
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 9/02 for teaching control of vehicles or other craft
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 9/04 for teaching control of land vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 9/05 the view from a vehicle being simulated G09B9/052, G09B9/058 take precedence

Abstract

A reconfigurable hardware interface for driving simulators that uses a field programmable gate array for interfacing with driving controls and instruments. The field programmable gate array is interposed between the input/output of the computer system of the driving simulator and the vehicle cab of the driving simulator. This provides convenience in quickly adapting a driving simulator to a particular type of cab and controls, as well as other functions.

Claims

1. A vehicle driving simulator comprising:

at least one computer system having at least one input/output port;

a driving simulation software program executable on said computer system, said software program recognizing a set of standard input signals, at least one of which corresponds to a particular operator-initiated control action, said software program also generating a set of standard output signals, at least one of which corresponds to a particular vehicle operational parameter, said standard input signals receivable by said input/output port, and said standard output signals transmittable from said input/output port;

a vehicle cab having electrical circuitry which includes a plurality of controls, at least one of which provides a cab-specific electrical signal in response to an operator-initiated control action, and a plurality of instruments, at least one of which requires a cab-specific electrical input for its operation;

a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) interposed between said input/output port and the electrical circuitry of said vehicle cab, said FPGA converting the cab-specific electrical signals to said set of standard input signals, and also converting said set of standard output signals to said set of cab-specific electrical inputs.

2. The vehicle driving simulator of claim 1, wherein said FPGA includes on-board registers in which may be loaded configuration data unique to said vehicle cab upon initialization of said driving simulation software program by said computer system, said configuration data having a unique set of data values which configure the FPGA so that it will effect the conversion of said set of cab-specific electrical signals and said set of standard output signals to said set of standard input signals and said set of cab-specific electrical inputs, respectively.

3. The vehicle driving simulator of claim 2, wherein said on-board registers retain said configuration data only as long as power is provided to said FPGA.

4. The vehicle driving simulator of claim 2, wherein said computer system comprises a non-volatile memory on which is stored said configuration data.

5. The vehicle driving simulator of claim 1, which further comprises signal conditioning circuitry interposed between said FPGA and said electrical circuitry.

6. The vehicle driving simulator of claim 5, wherein said signal conditioning circuitry comprises isolation means which insulate the FPGA from transient voltages, static discharges, shorts caused by faulty wiring in the cab circuitry and higher than expected voltage levels caused by miswiring of cab circuitry.

7. The vehicle driving simulator of claim 6, wherein said isolation means are selected from the group consisting of optical isolators, transformers and capacitors.

8. The vehicle driving simulator of claim 5, wherein said signal conditioning circuitry includes at least one hysteretic element, which improves signal reliability.

9. The vehicle driving simulator of claim 8, wherein said hysteretic element is a schmitt trigger.

10. The vehicle driving simulator of claim 1, wherein certain cab-specific electrical inputs are latched by internal circuitry of said FPGA until the corresponding standard output signals are updated by said computer system.

11. The vehicle driving simulator of claim 1, wherein certain cab-specific electrical signals are latched by internal circuitry of said FPGA until the corresponding standard input signals are sampled by said computer system.

12. The vehicle driving simulator of claim 1, wherein at least one cab specific electrical signal is converted from an analog to digital format by an analog-to-digital converter prior to its receipt by said computer system.

13. The vehicle driving simulator of claim 1, wherein at least one cab-specific input is converted from digital to analog format prior to its receipt by the cab electrical circuitry.

14. The vehicle driving simulator of claim 1, which further comprises:

a display screen positioned in front of said vehicle cab which provides a simulated view of a driving environment to a simulator driver sitting within said vehicle cab; and

a graphics processor coupled to said at least one computer system, said graphics processor producing real-time graphics images which are displayed on said display screen.

15. The vehicle driving simulator of claim 1, which further comprises:

a display screen positioned in front of said vehicle cab in view of a simulator driver sifting within said vehicle cab;

recorded video sequences representative of a simulated view of a driving environment; and

a video player for reading said recorded video sequences and presenting them to said computer system for display on said display screen.

16. The vehicle driving simulator of claim 15, which further comprises a motion system coupled to the cab which subjects the driver to forces that are consistent with both images displayed on the screen and driver control inputs.

17. The vehicle driving simulator of claim 15, which further comprises a sound system which produces sounds consistent with projected images and the driver control inputs.

18. A driving simulator comprising:

at least one computer system having at least one input port;

a driving simulation software program executable on said computer system, said software program recognizing a set of standard input signals, at least one of which corresponds to a particular operator-initiated control action, said standard input signals receivable by said port;

a vehicle cab having electrical circuitry which includes a plurality of controls, at least one of which provides a cab-specific electrical signal in response to an operator-initiated control action; and

a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) interposed between said port and the electrical circuitry of said vehicle cab, said FPGA converting the cab-specific electrical signals to said set of standard input signals.

19. The vehicle driving simulator of claim 18, wherein:

said input port also functions as an output port said software program also generates a set of standard output signals, at least one of which corresponds to a particular vehicle operational parameter.

said vehicle cab also has a plurality of instruments, at least one of which requires a cab-specific electrical input for its operation; and

said FPGA also converts said set of standard output signals to said set of cab-specific electrical inputs.

20. The vehicle driving simulator of claim 18, wherein said FPGA includes on-board registers in which may be loaded configuration data unique to said vehicle cab upon initialization of said driving simulation software program by said computer system, said configuration data having a unique set of data values which configure the FPGA so that it will effect the conversion of said cab-specific electrical signals and said output signals to said set of input signals and said set of cab-specific electrical inputs, respectively.

21. The vehicle driving simulator of claim 20, wherein said on-board registers retain said configuration data only as long as power is provided to said FPGA.

22. The vehicle driving simulator of claim 20, wherein said computer system comprises a non-volatile memory on which is stored said configuration data.

23. The vehicle driving simulator of claim 18, which further comprises signal conditioning circuitry interposed between said FPGA and the electrical circuitry of said vehicle cab.

24. The vehicle driving simulator of claim 23, wherein said signal conditioning circuitry comprises isolators which insulate the FPGA from transient voltages, static discharges, shorts caused by faulty wiring in the cab circuitry and higher than expected voltage levels caused by miswiring of cab circuitry.

25. The vehicle driving simulator of claim 24, wherein said isolators are selected from the group consisting of optical isolators, transformers and capacitors.

26. The vehicle driving simulator of claim 23, wherein said signal conditioning circuitry includes at least one hysteretic element, which improves signal reliability.

27. The vehicle driving simulator of claim 26, wherein said hysteretic element is a schmitt trigger.

28. The vehicle driving simulator of claim 18, wherein certain cab-specific electrical inputs are latched by internal circuitry of said FPGA until updated by said computer system.

29. The vehicle driving simulator of claim 18, wherein certain cab-specific electrical signals are latched by internal circuitry of said FPGA until sampled by said computer system.

30. The vehicle driving simulator of claim 18, wherein at least one cab specific electrical signal is converted from an analog to digital format by an analog-to-digital converter prior to its receipt by said computer system.

31. The vehicle driving simulator of claim 18, wherein at least cab-specific input is converted from digital to analog format prior to its receipt by the cab electrical circuitry.

32. The vehicle driving simulator of claim 18, which further comprises:

a display screen positioned in front of said vehicle cab which provides a simulated view of a driving environment to a simulator driver sitting within said vehicle cab; and

a graphics processor coupled to said at least one computer system, said graphics processor producing real-time graphics images which are displayed on said display screen.

33. The vehicle driving simulator of claim 32, which further comprises a motion system coupled to the cab which subjects the driver to forces that are consistent with both the images displayed on the screen and driver control inputs.

34. The vehicle driving simulator of claim 32, which further comprises a sound system which produces sounds consistent with the projected images and the driver control inputs.

35. A driving simulator comprising:

at least one computer system having at least one output port;

a driving simulation software program executable on said computer system, said software program generating a set of standard output signals, at least one of which corresponds to a particular vehicle operational parameter, said standard output signals transmittable by said port;

a vehicle cab having electrical circuitry which includes a plurality of instruments, at least one of which requires a cab-specific electrical input for its operation; and

a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) interposed between said port and the electrical circuitry of said vehicle cab, said FPGA converting said set of standard output signals to said wet of cab-specific electrical inputs.

36. The vehicle driving simulator of claim 35, wherein:

said output port also functions as an input port

said software program also recognizes a set of standard input signals, at least one of which corresponds to a particular operator-initiated control action, said standard input signals receivable by said port;

said vehicle cab also has a plurality of controls, at least one of which provides a cab-specific electrical signal in response to an operator-initiated control action; and

said FPGA also converts said cab-specific electrical signals to said set of standard input signals.

37. The vehicle driving simulator of claim 35, wherein said FPGA includes on-board registers in which may be loaded configuration data unique to said vehicle cab upon initialization of said driving simulation software program by said computer system, said configuration data having a unique set of data values which configure the FPGA so that it will effect the conversion of said cab-specific electrical signals and said output signals to said set of input signals and said set of cab-specific electrical inputs, respectively.

38. The vehicle driving simulator of claim 37, wherein said on-board registers retain said configuration data only as long as power is provided to said FPGA.

39. The vehicle driving simulator of claim 37, wherein said computer system comprises a non-volatile memory on which is stored said configuration data.

40. The vehicle driving simulator of claim 35, which further comprises signal conditioning circuitry interposed between said FPGA and the electrical circuitry of said vehicle cab.

41. The vehicle driving simulator of claim 40, wherein said isolators are selected from the group consisting of optical isolators, transformers and capacitors.

42. The vehicle driving simulator of claim 40, wherein said signal conditioning circuitry includes at least one hysteretic element, which improves signal reliability.

43. The vehicle driving simulator of claim 42, wherein said hysteretic element is a schmitt trigger.

44. The vehicle driving simulator of claim 35, wherein certain cab-specific electrical inputs are latched by internal circuitry of said FPGA until updated by said computer system.

45. The vehicle driving simulator of claim 35, wherein certain cab-specific electrical signals are latched by internal circuitry of said FPGA until sampled by said computer system.

46. The vehicle driving simulator of claim 35, wherein at least one cab specific electrical signal is converted from an analog to digital format by an analog-to-digital converter prior to its receipt by said computer system.

47. The vehicle driving simulator of claim 35, wherein at least cab-specific input is converted from digital to analog format prior to its receipt by the cab electrical circuitry.

48. The vehicle driving simulator of claim 35, which further comprises:

a display screen positioned in front of said vehicle cab which provides a simulated view of a driving environment to a simulator driver sitting within said vehicle cab; and

a graphics processor coupled to said at least one computer system, said graphics processor producing real-time graphics images which are displayed on said display screen.

49. The vehicle driving simulator of claim 48, which further comprises a motion system coupled to the cab which subjects the driver to forces that are consistent with both the images displayed on the screen and driver control inputs.

50. The vehicle driving simulator of claim 48, which further comprises a sound system which produces sounds consistent with the projected images and the driver control inputs.