3DOF Racing Simulator

[motiondave]

looks like you are on the right track there.
The screen and wheel mount looks too high, but then again the drawing of the seat may be too low.
As you are using SCN5's i will leave others with experience in them to advise you on that.
otherwise, looking good.

[Hmaia]

You have a keen eye. It was done purposely. Once the rig is built, the uprights for monitor support and steering base can be trimmed for proper height.
The beauty of using extruded profiles is that by using brake handles [http://www.amazon.com/80-20-Inc-L-Handle-Bearing/dp/B006YVZ7TI/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1362253684&sr=8-4&keywords=80%2F20+inc+brake+handles][/url] to lock two matching profiles, the system is totally adjustable. I will be using them to adjust steering wheel base up and down and fore and aft. The monitor can also be lowered or raised in the same way. The pedal base can be adjusted within a range of +/- 2.5" using a windshield wiper motor controlled from the button box.
I really appreciate the great feedback you receive in this forum.

[CorvairNut]

I am very interested in the idea of adding yaw to my motion platform. I drive rear engined cars in real life and the rear end sliding out is something I would definitely miss in games if it wasn't there.

I have two questions, first how many racing games will actually support this? Specifically the most recent two DiRT games will probably be what I drive most. I am lost on the software side of all this.. it's all way over my head. The second is that it seems to me for racing the pivot point for the yaw axis should be considerably forward from center since this is to simulate the rear end sliding out while the front end maintains traction.

Obviously that would come with problems also, and I also intend to fly my platform so it would be less than ideal for that for sure. Am I simply incorrect? Will having the yaw pivot under my butt trick my brain just as well as having it farther forward?

Thanks!

Ray R.

[Hmaia]

Hello Ray,
Sorry it took me so long for answering, I teach at a local college, and we were approaching finals, so it is very busy.

To your first question, I will be using the simulator for Rfactor , Rfactor2 and BTR2. I have seen videos of simulators running Dirt2:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZaHj-6X810
Good for sim racing, not so good for flight sim.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7UfzcNZeUMA
This second video shows a setup that would work for flight sim, but I think that for sim racing, the movement is very unnatural.
Joyrider for flight simulation
This is an amazing project
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QkWnCE7qvdA
Joyrider for sim racing
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gDBQI12n4Zo
Seat mover for sim racing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pl ... qI-QE9l2iY

To the second question, I believe that having the pivot point under your seat would work for flight sim, but not for sim racing. The chair, under this condition would be rotating through a fairly wide arc. It would be very uncomfortable for racing.

[motiondave]

Yes , all those links of commercial built sims are interesting, but I may have missed the question you are asking....
Its a bit hard to incorporate a flight and race sim in one.
You could with a joyrider 2 DOF, but having 2 feedback settings as can be dome in the JRK.
Just have one setting where the feedback goes the full way of the levers, use for flight, and then set a shorter feedback setting for race.
So when you choose flight, you load one feedback setting, for race, you load the other and hey presto! You have 2 different sets of movement.
Short for race,long for flight.

At one stage I had 2 wiper sims and one pair of jrks, I just added plugs so I could swap between therm. I also had 2 sets of feedback so when I changed sims, I loaded the feedback file for that frame.
It saved me $200 in buying 2 more jrks.

[Hmaia]

Hello everybody.

I have made quite a few modifications to this project, and I am now ordering the materials for the build. I have bought the seat
http://www.amazon.com/ProCar-Scat-80-16 ... ar+by+scat

Devantech USB-RS485 (3 units)

Power supply Mean Well LPS 75-24 (one unit, ordered two more)
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss? ... ps%2075-24

19” 5:4 LCD monitor (Samsung 932b) (one unit, searching for two more, or one more and a Dell P1913)

I have one control box for the electronics, all the switches and the contactor to power the SCN5’s, all material for connectors, three small circuit boards to hold the diodes and resistors and make the wiring easier to solder. The power supplies are 24V 3,2A each, and will be cooled by a fan on top of the box.
I have two SCN5’s and I will order the third one.

I have ordered 4 Fresnel lenses for the triple monitor assembly. (one spare)

I am detailing all parts for the structure and will source as soon as all drawings and bill of materials are ready.

Before I started connecting everything electrically, I would greatly appreciate if someone would have a look at these schematics and see if I didn’t miss anything and if they are functionally correct.

I think that the frame is now where I want it, but I am sure some ideas will pop up during fabrication and assembly, but I hope will be minimal. The loss of traction actuator can be moved back and forth to give the best feeling and eliminate excessive loads on the actuator. The U-joint frame can be also adjusted until the proper balance is achieved.
The monitor can be raised or lowered and the distance to the screen can also be adjusted. Seat has fore and aft adjustment as well as the pedals (controlled by a windshield wiper motor).

The steering mount can be lowered and raised as well as tilted. There is also fore and aft adjustment.
The whole build doesn’t need any welding, as is all bolted together.

My gaming computer is currently running WinXP, but I have ordered Win 7 home edition.
I have a laptop running Win 7 to run the converter, and this will be networked with a crossover cable.

I will not be teaching this Summer and my Spring classes are on Monday and Wednesday, so I will be able to start putting things together in April at the latest, and work through the Summer in the software part and fine tuning.

[stevieh]

Hi there, new to forum here and love your design an chance you could let me know where the folder with plan & measurements are posted I might give this ago

Regards,

Ste