Showroom Building Journey of "Crate" Racing Cockpit

Edit. 18.2.2015
Here is a tour around my rig, cold start and short drive at the end, all narrated with my very basic finnish english I got my Symprojects Pro-Race SLI and it was the final piece of the puzzle, so there are no updates in sight for some time.

I also counted how much I have actually paid for this rig and got very pleasant figure, under 1400€. Part list is added in the video description.


Edit. 6.2.2015
Latest video with latest addition, DIY H-Shifter:


Edit. 31.10.2014
Started to build a dashboard:


Edit. 18.10.2014
Since I broke my Rift, I returned to normal screens. Dirt 3:

Welcome aboard!

Edit. 14.9.2014
Latest video:


Edit 13.9.2014
It is ready! Images at the page 4:http://www.xsimulator.net/community/threads/2dof-beginner-rig.5446/page-4

Original starting post:
Scratch says hello from Finland! This is my first post to this forum (which seems to be full of awesomely friendly and knowledgeable people) and I've been lurking here about a month gathering all the required information to start to build my very first simrig. This is something I've wanted to do for a very long time, but never got on to it until now. And I did not even know where to start, until I found this great forum. Thank you Bsft, Racingmat, eaorobbie, BlazinH and all the others for doing what you do in here!

I ordered Oculus Rift DK1 couple of months ago and even with its low resolution it still is a VERY impressive hardware and realized that without the weight of the monitors, it would be possible to build much lighter setup with maybe less expenses. Also, I think that with Rift covering your whole vision, less feedback from the platform is needed (but does not need to be limited to ) to create the same illusion of movement. This is only guessing, offcourse. I've never used any motion platform or seat.


What I have so far:
I allready have an Arduino Duemilanove I have used in my previous projects, so I chose that path at this point. I ordered Monster Moto H-bridge and very cheap 12v 400W led strip driver to begin testing with which I'm going to use with 12v car battery. If that psu explodes, I'll search something more suitable.

I went to local scrapyard to find u-joint for pivot, what I bought is not from drive shaft many of you use here, but from the steering column. I still think it is durable enough. Also asked about wiper motors, but did not bought them yet. When I went there asking about this stuff, the old man who keeps the place asked what the heck I was building and when he heard, he was right in for it! He had raced "Jokamiehenluokka" as a younger man, which is sort of Rally with old rear engine cars and almost anyone can participate if you have suitable car built for it (and money).
He started to vision about hydraulics and all kinds of crazy stuff... Definitelly that's the guy and the place to find treasures for this project, you would not really expect to find a place with that kind of atmospehere anymore...

Questions:
1. What is the difference between Arduino Duemilanove and Uno? Uno is newer, but otherwise they look almost identical... Everybody here using Arduino seems to be using Uno or Mega.

2. And the biggest question at this point (oh, sure there will be many others as I progress...). At first I was sure I should go for a full frame with pedal and wheel mounts, but now I'm not so sure anymore. From some sources I've read that actually you get better sensation of g-forces with just seat moving. And what Oculus Rift changes in all this? I gues seat mover would definitelly be easier and cheaper to get working and need less power from the motors, so average wiper motors should do the job here. And even more, I could keep my triple screen setup unchanged and just build seat mover in front of it in case I have the rig ready before consumer Rift is released. But then again, I like the idea of whole system moving, so with Oculus Rift on your face there would be no "reference points" to real world, you would just see what you see through the rift and everything you touch moves with the simulation...

I havent used an oculus so I cannot answer on this.
As for frame with wipers, start with a seat mover yes for simpler build and leave screens static. If you want to go full frame later, you can by adding extra to seat mover frame, re-balance pivot, and off you go. More or less.
Seat movers do tend to give more realism, but people also like a full frame.

I like my seat mover with stationary pedals as I think it allows the seat to react quicker as the seat motors are moving less mass - each to their own though. FYI I first tried a steering knuckle to mount the seat on, which felt fine in the hand, but under load with me in the seat and everything connected it had too much unwanted twist (although maybe your not as fussy as me), only thing that I found that had basically no twist under load was a car drive shaft Universal joint.

@Scratch . I did a document a while ago comparing sims. This is my own point of view and I invite others to comment.

Heres what I came up with, didnt record lap times. No frame made made me faster or slower, so times were about the same.

Comparisons between simulators. Other people will of course differ with this comparison, so please add your thoughts.

First things to consider, angle of actual swing of the frames and the profile written. Also, its a brain trick.
If you want a big swinging frame, go hard, the biggest swing I have had is 14 deg total, but others have frames up to 25 deg. And thats for race, not just flight.
Both frames use same motors and JRK control boards

Seat mover with shoulder mounted motors.
Generally ,a seat mover can give more precise motion detail as it has less over all weight to move than a full frame. However, too much movement can make it hard to hang onto the wheel or mash the juice pedal. And yes, the wheel and pedals are stationary, so proper placement to allow you being pulled away and pushed around has to be taken into consideration. But as said, it does give you the feeling of being moved around in a seat in a vehicle, even with a race seat to hold you in more. You tend to shift your body around to compensate for movement and also what your brain thinks you are moving like. You can still feel pitch and roll of track, but maybe a bit less as legs are still.
Some SCN seat movers on videos have HEAPS of throw. It might look like fun, but can be too much and eventually make it tiring to drive the game.
As mine is DIY and has 70mm travel of motor lever and at 600mm from the pivot , total angle is 6.5 degrees. Not much, but then again, too much may make it too hard. Other people will of course differ with this comparison.
I had a seat mover of 12.5 degrees at one stage, so with a good profile, it was nice, but a harsh profile and WHOA! Fun but hard to hang on.

Full frame with motors mounted near feet
Full frames allow you , wheel and pedals to move with you. You still get sensation of being pulled, pushed around from pedals and wheels. Obviously not as much as a seat mover, but still there. You tend to feel a bit more of the motion of roll and pitch , when your whole body is getting moved around, I find.
Seat mover can lose this a bit, but not really much.
Motors mounted at feet on the frame in question, may take away some of the finer vibration and motion that shoulder mount gives, but then again, shoulder mounting motors would return that finer detail due to higher leverage point. It may lessen a bit due to the fact that a full frame requires a bit more power to move. But hey, just change the profile and increase the motor power a bit more.
Although, I must say, once again, a good profile can give the same sensation in motion, be it from a different spot. Feet or knees instead of shoulders.
Full frame is about 8 deg total swing. May not sound like much considering 4 deg from centre, but again, throw a decent profile in it and you feel like you are moving a lot more.

Summary
After a while I get the same sort of feeling from both my frames, even though they are different in design.
In your choice of motion sim build, It will come down to watching videos of other frames, opportunity to play on sims when they are around to do so. Taking a look at pics, seeing what takes your fancy. Heck, even a seat mover can be converted to full frame later, add the extra bit, move pivot, and off you go. 2 seat movers I have sold, the owners have since converted them to full frames, their choice of course. They enjoy both frames they tell me.
I have only played on a $40,000 VRX dbox with 3 screens, impressive rig, but motion was lousy I though. Although others whom have such rigs wind it up and get great results. Mind you, I dont have that sort of money to get one. I did get the opportunity to play on another dbox unit at full motion, quite good, but probably from experience, I found the motion not quite accurate as compared to Simtools. Also , I can get the same harsh motion out of DC motors and JRKS, and for the fine tactile vibration,a bass shaker would solve that. And that works out 1/8 the cost of a dbox sim.
I have been through 10 different 2DOF designs, starting with joyrider design with about 9-10 deg total swing with screen on it. Good fun, but I found it a bit difficult to focus on a screen moving with you. But thats just me.
Then I moved onto development of more compact designs, with motors under rear, at knees, out the side, shoulder mount, at feet. Still 2DOF. Screen static.
So thats how I go here. Each frame design is a new learn to drive experience I find. Nothing makes me go faster I think. I am slow regardless.
I may have missed something and please add your thoughts as well. Its always good to compare notes.

Wooow if were the editor of
the site '. I would put your comment in a !!! You most read section.' Best regards. Fer

Enviado desde mi TBT-101 mediante Tapatalk

Hi!
between Uno and Duemilanove, there are no real differences for our Simulator use.

The mega has much more In and Out pins.
The Nano works nicely as well!

Thank you all for very thorough answers! Got all the answers I needed.

Ok, project is advancing, steady and slow. I'm still waiting my H-bridge and PSU, but those I actually need much later. Most of my time with project has been just mindstorming and searching all the parts I'll need. I found steel supplier very near to my working place, so that is covered. Pot's I might allready have, must check my drawers when the time comes. Motors I'll get from the scrapyard. Hardest task was trying to find cheap, light and preferably not used racing seat and 4-point harness. Googled all around internet without much luck (with reasonable postages), but then I checked local car part store that sells cheapo spare parts and found a decent racing seat for 99€, that'll do. Harness is still missing.

I found some cheap butkickers and ordered two. I have some old car subwoofer amp I'm planning to use with them, but does Simtools support butkickers? Is Simvibe the only choice?

Nothing is yet built, but I must start to get black on white. When I have some kind of a blueprint and bought the seat, I think I'll do a dummy prototype without motion, so I get the chance to test it thoroughly and get measurements right for the steel rig. And even wooden rig would be a massive improvement, driving iRacing with an office chair with rolls is something noone should be doing...

I'll post some images when ever I have something to post! And I'm sure when I get to the part where I start to put things together, I'll have tons of questions

The developers are working on bass shaker as an add-on program for Simtools. If you are only racing the main stream games (iRacing, etc) than SimVibe is an excellent piece of software but if you want to do flight sims and other non-A list games then you might want to wait a bit for the Simtool guys.

Thanks for the info Historiker, every now and then I do dig up FSX and try to continue my journey around the world with (the default 737-800), using smallest airfields I possibly can . But this rig is meant just for racing games, I can fully enjoy flying without motion or vibes (atleast for now.). It would be cool to feel landingears touching the runway though...

By the way your thread "from enclosed wooden..." is the latest thread I've been reading here, you have a very impressive rig there! I also liked that mech cabinet in the background, looked cool. I would love to use winch motors, but I'm affraid the sound they make...

I've been learning Google Scetch Up this evening and managed to get something done. So I'm going to move just the seat. Here are couple of pictures of the general design I'm looking for. No monitor supports, planning to use this with Oculus Rift, or in front of my desk if Iwant to use monitors. With the first wooden prototype I try to get the seat height and distance to the pedals and to the wheel correct. Wheel support cannot be done like this with wood structure though. Also, I may need to prepare the u-joint and bolt it in so I would get clear picture of how big safetyzone I need around the seat. This will also help to plan surfaces for mouse and keyboard. This scetch is made with 30x30 pipes, may use 25x25 with the real thing instead.

That creepy faceless lady was staring at me the whole time I made this, so I decided tolet her in the pictures





Edit. Uploaded pictures to proper location.

The Moto Monster Shield I ordered is not going to come said the email. I think I will order one or maybe even two of these: http://www.pololu.com/product/2507. Earobbie linked this H-bridge in Historikers thread and Racingmat confirmed that it would work with his code, so that is the way to go at this point.

Again, thank you for making this possible!

Hi Scratch, I do not use those drivers, I use these:

http://www.pololu.com/product/755

I also use the Moto Monsters which work very well and are much much cheaper per motor.

Ah, ok, thanks for the correction. But VNH5019 seems to be interesting board also. I keep that as one option.

Yeah, got the seat. It is lighter I expected and looks pretty good. I haven't sitted in it yet though.
Need to clean my shop to be able to make the wooden frame there, now you can barely find a steady step...


I'm going to weld the final frame at work, much more room there. And ofcourse, a safe place to weld

I started to build the prototype. Im using at this point my current table to mount my wheel, so the height of that table is my reference point in this version. Final solution will be about 10 cm shorter in height.

So it begins... Measuring seat attachment points.

Main parts for the seat- and pedalbase.

And where we got this evening.

Seat is very comfortable and tight to sit. By the way, ordered a cheap 4-point harness from ebay. I've never sitted in a proper racing seat before, so I'm looking forward to be able to feel what it feels like to be tied firmly in this seat with a harness

Plans are made so one can change them! Today I decided to make wheel base as well so I can keep my computer table free for normal computer use. I also lowered and made a little tilt for the seat base and finished the pedalbase. The wooden frame is now completed and ready for testing

Don't mind the ugliness, this is not ment to be pretty, just usable. Made it out of what ever I could find lying around. Very excited to give it a go, even if it's just an unanimated seat.

Lowered and tilted seatbase.


Ready! Added one plate for "floor" and rubber matresses after these pictures.




And ready to race!


Now might follow longer break in this, other more important thing to mind. But definitelly going to race with this as much as possible, I haven't played any sim during this first step of this project...

nice static rig, that will be a good start. You could even build a desk racer 2DOF to suit that easily if needed.

I had to do the same today. Did you ordered the Moto Monster on DealeXtreme too ? I ordered them 2 months ago and still nothing arrived.

Yes I ordered from DX, waiting refunds now. But I tried again from ebay, let's see if that will come...

Thanks! At some point I'll try to fit the U-joint in this and maybe test electronics also.

Buy some JRKS instead, well worth the cost.