MoogController is software used to control a MOOG 6DOF2000E motion platform. It offers a number of features that the default MOOG software does not, the main one being the ability to play a set of motions from a CSV file rather than MOOG's joystick file format.

This is the primary user interface for MoogController. A typical workflow is:

1. Click "Select File" and choose the CSV file with the desired motion profile sampled at 60 Hz.
2. Click "Start" in the "Platform Command Sequence" box. This will automatically run the platform through its startup phases PowerUp->Idle->Engaged and the platform will rise to the 'home' position (0,0,-0.18) m.
3. Click "Data is 60Hz" and "Start" in the "Playback" box.
4. Motion profile will run until it reaches its end or until the "Stop" button is clicked.
5. The "Home" button is clicked to return the platform to (0,0,-0.18) m.
6. The "End" button is clicked to park the platform.
7. Program is quit and restarted to run a different CSV motion profile.

The program has some other useful features. For example, data logging:

Commanded platform positions are the desired positions that the program sends to the motion platform. The received platform positions are the data that the platform sends back which are the actual platform positions. The "Start Log" button must be pressed before a motion profile CSV is started. Save separate/combined logs is for saving commanded and received positions together or separately.

There is also the option to transmit the commanded/received states over a UDP connection to another computer. This feature was developed for an experiment that included other hardware components that required knowledge of the platform's orientation. This feature would also be useful for time-synchronization of other instruments to the platform's motions.

The program also allows a user to manually send individual control commands to the platform. One common use for them is to deal with platform faults. The manual input controls can also be used once the platform is engaged to move the platform to a specific location. This feature is useful for platform demonstrations.

If the Details button is clicked the following window is shown:

This window is used to monitor the current status and states of the motion platform.

• The current platform position and rotation is displayed in the specified units.
• The Windows thread priority of the motion platform program can be set, although this is not normally needed or recommended.
• The message communication rate between the computer and the motion base computer can be monitored. The ideal rate is between 60 Hz and 61 Hz with platform communications in reverse mode.
• Software motion limits can be specified. These are loaded from XML files when the program loads. Temporary changes can be made in the program user interface while permanent changes require a user to manually edit the XML files.
  • Motion Multipliers - the state is multiplied by this value before it is sent to the platform. The "home" Z-axis position can also be specified.
  • Increment Limits - the maximum amount the platform can move in a single time step.
  • Minimum Limits - the minimum positions/angles the platform can be commanded to.
  • Maximum Limits - the maximum positions/angles the platform can be commanded to.

In the past this program was also used to provide real-time control of the motion platform from a dynamics simulation software called the Real-Time Virtual Flight Deck.