Thrills without spills-engineering the personal simulator

The vision of a personal simulator-a one-seat module for entertainment arcades, or even the home-led the author to develop a completely new type of electric motor. The motor is known as the Pemram (pneumatic electromagnetic ram). This is best described by taking the topology of a linear motor (rotary motor with the stator unrolled) one step further and curling the stator back up into a tube, at right angles to the shape of a rotary motor, the motor is transformed. What started as a rotor is now a piston, and the motor becomes a ram: all the magnetic fields are contained within the device, and all the side forces balance out. The magnetic circuit turns out to be very efficient. In the small simulator, the electro-magnetic piston is sealed against the inner surface of the tube, so that the ram rests on a cushion of air. This combines the 'long spring' pneumatic effect with the fast response and fine control necessary for the application.<
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