The Portal Development Kit is a powered machine.

The rated limits

Maximum total payload: 250 kg. That is everything the platform carries — the rider, the seat, the cockpit, the wheel and pedals, and anything else bolted on. There is no separate rider-weight figure: what matters is the total.

Riders must be at least 18 (7.9).

The remaining rated limits — rider height, clearance envelope, keep-clear zone, floor load and mounting, power supply, session length and operating environment — are stated in the Safety Manual supplied with your kit. Never operate outside them.

7.1 Read first

The Development Kit is a powered machine that moves the Rider in six axes with real force and speed. Misuse, incorrect assembly, poor mounting, modification, or ignoring the Safety Manual can cause serious injury or death to the Rider or bystanders. Before you assemble, install or operate the Development Kit, read the Safety Manual and Installation Guide in full. They form part of the Terms; on a safety matter the Safety Manual prevails. The rated limits — total payload, Rider height, clearance envelope, keep-clear zone, floor load and mounting, power supply, session length and operating environment — are stated in the Safety Manual. Never operate outside them.

7.2 Emergency stop

Before every session confirm it works and keep it within the Rider's reach and, when a second person is present, within that person's reach. Never disable, bypass, relocate out of reach or modify the emergency stop or any safety interlock.

7.3 Before every session

Check that all fasteners, mounts and any floor anchors are tight; cables are secured and undamaged; the keep-clear zone is empty of people, pets and objects; the seat or cockpit is rated for motion use and secured as the Installation Guide requires; the emergency-stop test has passed; and the Rider meets 7.4.

7.3A Riding with a VR headset

Riding with a VR headset is allowed. A headset blocks your view of the room, so before every session make sure nobody, including children and pets, can enter the keep-clear zone or interfere with the platform, and that the mmWave presence radars are enabled.

7.4 Who must not ride

This list is not medical advice and is not complete. If in doubt, ask a doctor. Motion simulation can cause nausea, dizziness, disorientation and loss of balance during and after a session: start with short, low-intensity sessions and do not drive or do anything that needs balance until symptoms have passed.

7.5 Stop immediately

Stop immediately if the Rider feels unwell, dizzy or in pain; on any unusual noise, vibration or movement; if any part loosens; if the Software or Firmware shows a fault code; or if anyone enters the keep-clear zone.

7.6 Never

• modify or re-tune actuators, drives, controllers, wiring, the power supply or any safety interlock, or replace them with anything other than ARK-supplied or ARK-approved parts fitted as the Installation Guide or a Safety Notice instructs;
• modify, re-flash or bypass safety-critical Firmware;
• exceed the rated limits;
• operate with covers, guards or fasteners removed;
• fit a seat, cockpit or peripheral not rated for the loads it will carry;
• operate outdoors, on an unstable or unlevel floor, or in a wet environment;
• leave the Development Kit powered and unattended with a Rider on board;
• let anyone into the keep-clear zone during operation.

7.7 Upkeep

Inspect fasteners, mounts, cables and actuators at the intervals in the Safety Manual and after any transport, impact, fault or unusual event; follow its maintenance schedule and replace wear items when it says so. Keep children, pets and bystanders out of the room or behind a barrier outside the keep-clear zone. Use only the supplied or approved power supply on a properly earthed outlet; do not use damaged cables; provide the ventilation the Installation Guide requires; keep flammable materials away from drives and power electronics.

7.8 Third-party games and platforms

The Development Kit works with third-party sim titles, engines, telemetry APIs, plug-ins and PCs. We do not control them and are not responsible for their availability, compatibility, content, or the motion cues they send; flashing images come from them, and 7.4 applies. The compatibility list is on the support page.

7.9 Age

You must be at least 18, and at least the age of majority where you live, to buy a Development Kit, hold an Account or accept the Terms. Riders must be at least 18. The Development Kit is not supplied for use by children, and a minor may not ride it.

7.10 Your acknowledgment

By buying, assembling, installing or operating a Development Kit, or allowing anyone else to ride, you confirm that: (a) you have read and understood this Section, and that you will read the Safety Manual and Installation Guide in full before you assemble or operate the Development Kit; (b) you understand that motion simulation carries inherent risks of injury that cannot be fully removed even when the Development Kit is used correctly; (c) you will follow the rated limits and the rules in this Section; (d) you will make sure every Rider and Operator you allow also knows and follows them; and (e) you are responsible for supervising the Riders you allow and for making sure they meet 7.4. This does not limit our liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, or by a defective Development Kit, where the law says that liability cannot be limited (Terms, Section 13.1).

7.10A The risks you accept

Motion simulation has inherent risks — sudden movement, forces on the body, motion sickness, falls when getting on or off, and the risks in Section 7.4 — that remain even when the Development Kit works as designed and is used correctly. A Development Kit adds early-access risks: updates may change how it moves, and you assemble, configure and tune it yourself. You acknowledge these risks; when you ride you ride knowing them; and you tell every Rider you allow about them before they ride. This does not cover harm caused by a defect in the Development Kit or by our negligence where the law does not allow that (Terms, Section 13.1).

7.10B Every Rider confirms

Before a new Rider's first session the Software, once it is released and installed on your Development Kit, shows the safety rules and the risks in 7.10A; until then, and whenever you drive the Development Kit without the Software, you show them to the Rider and obtain the Rider's confirmation in writing as Annex B.3 says. Either way the Rider confirms them. Do not let anyone ride who has not. This does not limit our liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence or a defective Development Kit where the law does not allow that.

7.10C USA and Switzerland: release of negligence claims

If your Development Kit is delivered in the USA or Switzerland: to the fullest extent the law allows, you release ARK Dynamics Global and ARKINEMATICS, their officers, employees and contractors from all claims for injury, death or property damage that you suffer while assembling, riding or operating the Development Kit that arise from our negligence. You give this release knowingly, with its own tick box at checkout (Annex B.1(i)), in exchange for buying a Development Kit at its price. It does not cover gross negligence, wilful misconduct or fraud, a claim that the Development Kit was defective under product-liability law, or anything the law of your state or country does not allow to be released, and it does not bind anyone else.

7.11 Safety Notices

If we learn of a safety issue we may issue a Safety Notice by email to your Account or order address, in the Software and on this website. It may require you to stop using the Development Kit, install an update, inspect or replace a part, or return the Development Kit. You must follow it. We supply at our cost the update or replacement parts a Safety Notice requires; you fit them as it instructs, and you pay to return any part or Development Kit it asks you to return, except where product-safety law, a recall order or, in Australia, the consumer guarantees of the Australian Consumer Law require us to pay. If it requires you to stop using the Development Kit, we repair, replace or refund it only where product-safety law, a recall order or, in Australia, the consumer guarantees of the Australian Consumer Law require that, and only as far as they require; where the law allows, a refund of a Development Kit you have had for more than a year may be reduced by a reasonable allowance for use. A Safety Notice supplements the Safety Manual; it does not change the commercial terms of your order.

Current Safety Notices: none issued.

7.12 Incident reporting

Tell us at devsupport@ark-dynamics.com within 7 days of any injury, near-miss, structural or part failure, unexpected movement, fire or electrical event involving the Development Kit, whether or not it was connected to the Software. We need this to meet our product-safety duties and to protect other customers.

Report a safety concern

devsupport@ark-dynamics.com — put "SAFETY" in the subject line. Tell us what happened, your kit's reference number, and whether anyone was hurt.