DIY D-Box style for VR 3-dof

I copied some code from the forum using the accelstepper library and finally I am able to see movements.. So this is not my final code as it will contain my own features, but this is just a test with LFS



The sound is something for later.. Will need to find a way to reduce it..
All movements are pretty direct.. .. cool to see and happy with the progress..

Now a poor mans way to load test it.. ( I am at least 25min drive from any hardware store and eve those are pretty poorly equipped :-( ) It managed at least 35kg.. before it tore apart my luggage scale..

Great job! looking forward to the final rig!

Right now I am going through a redesign.. Make it more simple .. some different parts.. lighter, smaller..

I've ordered me a E3D volcano hotend so I can print faster and stronger with petg..
The trial actuator showed me some flaws.. load noises ..

Met up with rodrigo-baornio and he gave me some good pointers.. Based on this I am redesigning the whole idea.. The basis remains the same.. an actuator where the platform is fixed to a ring. This to reduce the weight of the platform..
So more a slider construction then an actuator..

The hotend I received and installed yesterday.. Parts for all the legs are ordered, except for the motors, so the wait begins again..

can i see a video of your old 6dof ? what power were the motors

You can check my youtube.. at
0.75hp motors were used

am i right to guess you are using ac motors and igbt to control them using high frequency

Yep.. but I don't have the sim anymore.. got sold as I wanted to move and build me a new one..
better suited for my driving..

this one looks like its using ac motors - are they the same as your old 6DOF ?

Could be from another make. mine looked slightly different but all the same idea

It has been a while with updates.. This was due to the fact that the Chinese mail and the Spanish mail aren't the fastest in the world..

But anyhow I managed to get all the hardware parts needed to do my redesign of the actuators I am going to use..

Printed the parts needed for the construction out of PETG with a 0.8 nozzle and 0.6mm layer height. These parts are strong enough for the initial testing and probably will last.. but I've made the parts as easy as possible. Although some parts are recessed, it would be possible to make it without recession.

I haven't tested it yet but just build one of the actuators for test fitting and I think it looks quite promising.. No adjustments needed in the designed parts.. it are just long prints.

the frame will clamp itself with a U-profile on the 2nd stage. This way I loose the weight of the actuator in the full lifting weight. 1 actuator weighs 11.5Kg.. so an easy win of 45 kg..



Based around a 2025 Ballscrew leaving me with 8 cm of travel.. But as I have a F1 style rig this should be enough and I keep the actuator as close together as possible in a square box.. so not 2 all the way at the fron and 2 all the way back but based on the center of gravity of the rig I will square it.. so the throw of 'just' 8cm would be more then enough in a VR setup..

Next up is printing, printing and some more printing.. I will print all parts first, also I need to find me a metalworker here in Spain that can deliver what I want..

Nice work , look forward to seeing it all in motion. Hope you can tame the noise of those steppers.

that is where the 2025 comes in.. I need just 3.5 rotations for the full range.. so it will be less noisy than the 1610 or 1605.. well that is my expectation!!

Cool, its the same way that rodrigo goes with the higer Ball Bearing and stronger stepper
This is done by a friend using 750W Servo with drive from china ... 1605 Ball Bearing .. maybe think about using them ? Only thing you hear ist the bearing ,,
Aliexpress offers them real cheap as sets ... and you dont need a special PSU ..

https://forum.virtualracing.org/showthread.php/109282-DIY-3KW-Motion-Sim-Rig-Coming-Soon

Wow.....you might have just opened up pandoras box for me.

Wow that looks incredible. I can't see any reference to what software your friend is using, is it simtools 2 ? The ride looks very springy, just like D-Box.

This is such a good design

Do you have an estimated cost to build each actuator ?

He said he had around $400 per actuator. Very reasonable considering how quick they are.

Hi Michael
I see youre using a 2025 screw,
They lurned me on school that a screw where the pitch is bigger than shaft size you can only use them horizontaal
I hope it works
regards Ad

Calibration of the axis length ..
the idea is that the legs measure their own length and take the range of the shortest leg as their reference leg..
By entering commands I am able to set the speed and acceleration and have it stored in the EEPROM so that I only have to do the initialization later on and use the init command in simtools as startup line.

Later on I will have either a windows tool or raspberry pi tool to set the values and leveling of the legs..but first wite all the commands so I can call them from the software.

I do run in some problems like some erratic moves of motor 1 like it receives the values of motor 0 |(zero) and the next run it gets it's correct location and switches back.. Added a delay(1) in the loop and it is more quite... not sure what is going on there..
If I leave out all the additional command routines and only do the setup, serialevent and loop it works smooth and no delay(1) in the loop is needed.. So I need to figure out what the hack is going on. So it could be I need to ask one off you Arduino guru's to have a check!!


Finetuning for leveling the platform per leg is up next

Calibration modus:



Init mode with eeprom values

First review of the frame that will be underneath the RSeat F1 frame..
Looks good and a tight fight for the actuator plate...

I just made the drawing.. no welding from my part so not really DIY


Testfit of the axtuator base plate


The frame itself..

Will be all painted black after all is welded up..