About this project
$7,001
61
Hi Kickstarter!! Thanks for checking out our project!
We're a group of three senior mechanical engineers working at the University of Maine and the Virtual Environment and Multimodal Interaction (VEMI) lab and we're making a full motion platform for use with virtual reality! Woah!
Here's a snap of our solidworks assembly:
One of the reasons we're building a full scale 6DOF platform is so that our project can be used to run extensive research trials on the optimum kinetic inputs for a VR experience. Ultimately, the results of these experiments will lead to a second iteration of design and get us all one step closer to the complete VR experience!
In the meantime, we will be making all of our designs open source and available for you our backers to replicate or build off of!
So far we have been funded by the Mechanical Engineering Department, the VEMI lab, and the Center for Undergraduate Research all at the University of Maine and we can afford almost everything we need to build this project! We just need your help!!
Here's some technical writeup stuff from our grant proposal for all you interested in the research aspects of what we're up to.
Virtual reality enables experimenters to simulate multitudes of environmental research scenarios. This research potential is limited by the equipment available; with tethered head mounted displays and bulky haptic feedback devices, simulation of motion related phenomena is not yet available at the VEMI lab.
A practical example of this application would be augmentation of the driving simulator, creating kinematic acceleration and inertial input during experiments. Feedback has been frequently received regarding the lack of physical sensation during driving simulations and the proposed motion platform would likely increase the realism of user perceptions and the quality of data collected in the future.
Ultimately, this project enhances our research capabilities providing higher quality results and further research opportunities at UMaine.
The general concept of this project proposal is to design and create a platform which can be incorporated into the research conducted at the VEMI lab by providing additional inputs and research parameters for simulated and augmented environments. The platform will enable a user to experience the physical sensations of acceleration, deceleration, roll, pitch and many other sensations commonly associated with physical movement through space. Not only will this capability expand the potential research opportunities at the VEMI lab, but it will also add to the research practices already in place.
As a whole, the project has been approved by the Mechanical Engineering department for the capstone project as it encompasses many aspects of the mechanical engineering curriculum such as computer and microcontroller programming, statics, dynamics, and strength of materials to basic design processes, considerations and theories will be used to construct the platform. The project will benefit the design team immensely by providing hands on experience taking an engineering project from concept to realization. The platform will also benefit the work done specifically at the VEMI lab as well as the overall research environment and capabilities here at the University of Maine.
We've got a ton of pics and information about our project, timeline and general sciencey stuff on our design team's website: UMaine Senior Project Site Also check out the VEMI Lab at the Lab site
If you have any questions please reach out to us through this page or one linked above.
Risks and challenges
The biggest challenge for our team had been raising money for this enormous endeavor. We've received two grants, funding from our department and our research lab. That being said, the biggest risk associated with our project is that we fail to generate enough funding to purchase all the necessary parts needed to complete the project.
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Funding period
- (30 days)