First Footage of the Cruden B306-HMD Motorcycle Simulator

Racing simulator have come a long way since the early days of the arcade racing game console. These days, we regard the high-spec racing simulator hardware and software as serious training tools for the real-world racing driver. However, most of the innovation and the specialized hardware that became available is geared towards the car racing enthusiast and professional.

These days we have also a good amount of motorcycle simulation titles on the market. However, when it comes to dedicated hardware to control these motorbike simulations, there is as good as no gear available. The reason is pretty simple. Simulating the physics of a motorcycle and its rider is a lot harder than the average car simulation. The same can be said of developing dedicated hardware for a motorcycle simulation. This makes the design, development, and commercial strategy very different from today’s car simulation efforts, resulting in only a few marketable products. Nevertheless, there are some specialized companies out there, who are hard at work to change the numbers.

The multinational Cruden company, who is one of the world’s leading designer, manufacturer, and integrator of professional open architecture driving simulators for the automotive, motorsport and marine industries, are developing the world’s first professional-grade motorcycle simulator called the B306-HMD.

The full motion motorbike simulator has been in development since 2005 and is aimed at professionals, manufacturers, race teams, universities, research institutions and road safety organizations. The B306-HMD package is built on a 6-DOF motion system in hexapod configuration.

Cruden’s sophisticated simulation system uses depth-map sensors to continuously detect exactly how the rider is positioned on the bike and uses this information to alter vehicle behavior accordingly while a very stiff steering actuator generating 50Nm of steer torque allows for realistic counter-steering capabilities. Because riding a motorcycle requires a very large field of view, Cruden decided to use a Head Mounted Display (VR) which responds to the user’s head movements, and not to the movements of the motion platform.

The B306-HMD motorcycle simulator is available now. We agree that professional and expensive solutions like these are not for the home user or even a small company, but its a start. Not so long ago, high-end car racing simulators where exclusive products for the professionals and the super rich. We now all know how fast that has changed. So it is clear that in the not so far future we will be able to enjoy a full motion motorcycle simulation in the comfort of our homes.

Official Webpage – www.cruden.com