Video: Engineers Turn Giant Robot Arm Into An Awesome F1 Simulator

The hot-pink industrial arm whips you around while you sit in the driver's seat

By Rebecca Boyle Posted 08.06.2010 at 12:05 pm 13 Comments

Ferrari Simulator This image shows the robotic arm Ferrari simulator without a steering wheel attached. The simulator includes a force-feedback steering wheel and pedals. via Cyberneum

Paolo Robuffo Giordano and colleagues at the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics in Tübingen, Germany, must really enjoy their jobs. Their CyberMotion Simulator is intended to realistically replicate the experience of driving a Ferrari without actually having to buy one.

Players sit in a cabin on a robot arm about 7 feet off the ground and drive a Ferrari F2007 car around a projected track. The robot arm, a type usually found in amusement parks, whips the driver around to simulate the Ferrari's motion, according to IEEE Spectrum. You can hear the robot whine as the driver tries to turn at high speed.

The researchers wanted to use a robotic arm as a motion simulator with the goal of understanding how humans experience the sensation of motion. They figured an F1 racing game would be a good way to do it, IEEE Spectrum reports.They presented a paper on their design at the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation this spring.

As we learned earlier this week, video games can contribute plenty to real science. But this might be a case of science making a pretty awesome video game experience.

[IEEE Spectrum]

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13 Comments

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Frosttty

08/06/10 at 2:15 pm

Frikkin' awesome!

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Mathieu.LeBlanc

08/06/10 at 2:45 pm

Where do I sign up!?

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CoolHand032

08/06/10 at 2:54 pm

Holy crap, so cool! I smell the most expensive Dave and Buster's game ever!

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I4Future

08/06/10 at 9:06 pm

I am absolutely in love!!

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shadow104

08/07/10 at 6:53 am

sweet

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drum

08/07/10 at 9:17 am

I realise its for scientific purposes but this would be so much cooler if the graphics were up to modern standards and it was real, recorded F1 sounds rather than simulation sounds.

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yospikydog

08/09/10 at 8:55 am

what if someone rolls over the car?

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silent_fat

08/09/10 at 8:52 pm

This is actually a bit disappointing. I love the arm to simulate the forces, I would love to give that a spin, but the quality of the simulation itself is garbage. Since when have F1 cars had one gear? The sounds remind me of Pole Position, but it at least had two gears. It always seems that these "advanced simulations" have a drawback when it comes to the graphics of the sim. Throw some Forza or Gran Turismo 5 quality graphics to go with the force feedback wheel and arm and you have a deal.

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rrmola

08/12/10 at 3:51 pm

Oh, come on! This could be the eleventh "study" that makes us say "duh"... ONE robotic arm? What about the SIX arms currently moving thousand of aircraft simulators all around the world? They are doing much more that I could see in the movie... since a long time.

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Robert1234

08/14/10 at 9:30 pm

Robert1234: I suspect it will be available shortly at the high-tech game shops. People will pay top dollar to try the "real thing" like this.

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zombie joe

08/16/10 at 4:54 pm

I would put it in my mothers basement, and you would never see me again!!!!!!

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Akdenizli

08/31/10 at 6:15 am

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