2DOF Joyrider Flight/Race Sim Build

thanks @cgodwin, I think you meant to connect power supplies in parallel

Yes - PARALLEL! That is the second time in the last week I've messed that up, but fortunately just in posts and not real life! Someone is going to take away my electric engineer license...

I've finally gotten the major parts painted up and I'm starting the final assembly. I'm getting very close to having this thing really running! Putting it together is proving more of a task that I thought, as the parts are big and awkward, and I'm having to remember what bolts go where. I ended up putting roll frame in backwards relative to the base frame, which I only discovered after an hour of getting everything aligned properly. Here is the early progress. The roll (inner) frame is sitting upside down here, since that is how it naturally balances until the other parts are in place.

Oh gunnna be a fast one , its red !!!!.

Cool looking good.

Made a little more progress with the assembly. The ladder serves two purposes. The first is obviously to get in and out of the simulator. The other is to lock the gimbal frames in place. The gear motors won't stop the thing from moving when the power is off, so without a mechanical way to lock the thing down, it was rather difficult and dangerous to get in and out without it. Basically the gimbals form a giant pair of scissors, so a good chance for someone to lose a finger. Once the driver is in a buckled up, the ladder rocks backwards away from the simulator and the motor drives can be powered up.

I like your dedication to details, looks really nice.
And about the difficulty to get in and out, I prefer some of the newest incarnations, like the Cloud flyer or similar setups:

@mariano68 That is a real nice Cloud Flyer. Is that yours?

I very seriously considered a Cloud Flyer kind of setup. I made a number of sketches trying to get the CG right without adding counterbalance weights. Another complication was my desire for a desktop type area for a race wheel, keyboard, mouse etc., not just for racing, but also being able to use the computer for non-sim activities. Ultimately the pros and cons leaned slightly toward the design I have. If I was going to build a second one, I would probably go for a seat mover instead. Or if the budget allowed, a 6DOF Stewart platform.

You're right
I didn't considered that you wanted to use it as a desktop.
And no, it is not mine, I have (had, already gone) a foot mount sim, I really like the Joyriders kind of sim, but after my experience with the foot mounted, I now want heave, and it would be difficult to add heave in a joyrider.

I wasn't even considering heave or traction loss as an option when I started my build. My design was mostly geared towards flight sim, since that is what my kids wanted. My wife was also encouraging me to do a fully enclosed sim, so that impacted the design also. What little testing I've done so far shows by 2DOF gimbal design works better than I would expect with racing, and I haven't tested flight sim at all yet. Probably the main downside is the shear size. 7 feet long, 4 1/2 feet wide, and 6 feet tall once the motion is considered.

Do agree on the gimbals becoming scissors capable of doing some harm, this one of the reasons I shelved my joyrider for a future Air Ram build ( Just to test out the tech I have developed for this kind of controller) , other than that I couldn't match the 500-750 mm/sec I wanted to maintain for the immersion of racing. But the Joyrider made a unreal flight deck , being able to roll over and back at 45 deg, but if you limit is total movement and used a fairly fast motor the racing results in motion aint half bad at all.

Like the ladder idea, mine was a bit of a death trap getting in and out. Do agree.

That is also part of the motivation for making mine enclosed. Once you manage to get inside in one piece, actually running it can be risky. No problem if you keep both hands on the wheel, but when running flight sim or a roller coaster it is awfully temping to put your hands on the side frames. Enclosing it keeps arms and legs out of harms way, and should add to the immersion. I'm hoping the added immersion makes up for the limited screen size.

I've been super busy, so only a small amount of additional progress. I need to move the sim to a different location, and then I'll do all the wiring before putting on the side panels so the access will be easier.

Looking good . Excellent to see you are also considering safety aspects especially if Kids are going to use it. Maybe also look into fitting a fan for ventilation.

That is a great idea. I had forgotten until you mentioned this that the static spaceship simulator for the kids (really just a fancy playhouse) got unbearably hot rather quickly. I could stick a a couple fans in the front down by the drivers feet, and I already have a great spot for a vent in the back.

If I got really fancy, I could make it vary the airflow based on driving/flying/riding speed. And here I thought my sim was almost done!

The SIM is essentially done. I thought it would take about a month, and it took more like 6 months. There are a few more bits I still would like to add, like some vinyl graphics and something to keep the sliding cover from opening with extreme motion. The cover doesn't fit as well as I would like, so maybe I'll rebuild that eventually. Also I need to add a fan or two, and once the cover is closed it get hot inside really quickly.

I've got mixed feelings about my decision to make this fully enclosed. It is safer and provides a lot more immersion. But there is also a much higher level of motion sickness than with the cover off, and the cover limits the size of the screen. Still, I'm very happy with the end result. Not too bad for my first one.

I really like the way this turned out. top shelf work and attention to detail. What is the material used for the enclosure panels? You know whats next tho right?

VIDEO?

Very Nice work. looking forward to seeing it running

The panels are made out of corrugated plastic. This roughly a plastic version of corrugated cardboard. This is the material that many yard signs are made out of. It is light, cheap, and relatively solid. Easy to cut with a utility knife. The light weight was critical for what I was doing with it. It is semi opaque, so it lets through enough light to see with the cover closed, but cuts down the light level enough to add to the immersion effect.

I've weighed the beast. 327 pounds or 148 kg! That includes everything attached to the frame, so it includes the motors. Not included are the power supplies, electronics, and the computer, which all sit separately on the ground. Of course that weight also doesn't include the rider.

Unfortunately I didn't weigh the individual pieces before I put it together. But it is safe to say that with a person in it, the roll axis is probably moving something in excess of 400 lbs / 180 kg. The only reason this thing works at all is the weight balance is very good. With the seat adjusted properly it can be moved easily with one finger, but that is still an awful lot of weight to accelerate quickly. But so far the motors seem to have zero problem with it. My 10 amp current limiters on each motor haven't tripped at all, and my JRK heat sinks feel like they are staying at room temperature even after some hard running.

Video coming soon...