The Science behind Gravideck MP5

Pitch & Roll Axes Above the User
Our decision to place the pitch and roll rotation axes above the user's head follows the most recent research in motion simulation—including several PhD theses published in the past few years. This choice isn’t arbitrary: it directly addresses a fundamental flaw that affects most of the motion simulation industry. (This video explains the issue particularly well.)

Focused on Pitch, Roll, and Heave Degrees of Freedom
From the beginning, our goal with the MP5 was to deliver the best possible motion sensations for the best value. That meant concentrating on the three degrees of freedom that matter most during flight and racing "cruise" phases: pitch, roll, and heave.

We knew it would be pointless to add surge and sway to a compact simulator, because these DOFs require enormous physical travel to feel realistic. With only 500 mm of stroke, you can barely reproduce anything beyond a brief jolt. Our earlier machine, the Axyom360, used 2 m × 2 m of travel for surge and sway—and even then, the sensations were intense but required a massive footprint. Bringing that scale of motion into a compact form factor simply isn’t feasible, and the MP5 was always intended to be a compact, practical machine.

The same limitation is visible in industrial-grade simulators below: their hexapods cabin cannot generate meaningful surge or sway on their own, so manufacturers must add enormous X and Y linear rails under the hexapod to render those DOFs properly.

These examples clearly illustrate why a compact system should focus on pitch, roll, and heave—the DOFs where it can truly excel.