Flight Simulator Whips Trainees Around With 'Gut Wrenching G-Forces

Although this may look like a single-armed version of a carnival scrambler -- nausea factor included -- it is actually a new virtual training simulator for fighter pilots.

The robotic arm of this Universal Motion Simulator, which the creators say is unlike any of its kind, was built at Deakin University in Australia. The press release states it will provide trainee pilots and drivers with a "safer, cheaper and more realistic training environment than currently available elsewhere in the world."

Check it out:

 “This next generation simulator uses its oversized robot arm to spin users at high speeds in any direction,” explained Professor Saeid Nahavandi, the Director of Deakin’s Centre for Intelligent Systems Research, in the press release.

“No other simulator can provide the full experience of flying a military jet with all the gut wrenching G-forces while only seven metres off the ground.

“While suited for training pilots, the UMS is also the perfect platform for simulating land based vehicles including tanks and other armoured vehicles, trucks, race cars and motorbikes. Its training capabilities are endless.”

Nahavandi says that other flight simulators have restricted movement, hampering their flying experience. He says that UMS has a better range of motion and haptics capability -- meaning the pilot can "feel" forces from the virtual reality he or she is seeing. The program also has pilot performance tracking capabilities.

Nahavandi explains more here:

[H/T Popular Science]