Showroom DIY 3dof Dbox Style Rig with 4 x 750 Watt Linear Actuators 100 mm

I think also that there are so many cool and innovative elements to this design that it's gets people thinking about potential implementation and future possibilities and they are bound to ask "Can it do this..? Can it do that?" It's the way that hobbies like this are perpetuated and new ideas developed and evolved...

This project has been offered to the public... and thank you so much... so you're always going to get a million opinions, questions, and what if's!

I am really looking forward to starting my build for this and I think it could develop into the leading bang for buck motion system currently available.. commercial or otherwise...

Nice to be here!

@Ringorumble for me, it's a project I've been waiting for a couple of years.Many people were waiting for this project.
thank you again.

I am shocked!

Coming back to this thread I could hardly believe what I am reading.

yobuddy:
" ... I guess we could do some serial port sniffing to figure out the control protocol in order to build a interface should we really need to. ... "

I want you to respect my intellectual property.
Do not ask someone to sniff the protocol or use other reverse engineering techniques.
This is an illegal act!

SimFeedback is in early stage, many things will likely change.
Obviously this is not the time to define external interfaces for others.

SimFeedback is not open source or public domain.

The SFX-100 actuator design is open source.
https://github.com/SimFeedback/SimFeedback-AC-Servo/wiki/License

The motor used are industrial motors, used in many thousand installations.
On the market there are numerous control options, one was mentioned in this thread too.
So go with them if you want to support this.


What a shame
Instead of commenting about the open source design you are promoting other commercial actuators.



This SFX-100 design is a high performance actuator design

750 Watt AC powered motor
7.2 NM of torque (peak)
10,000 CPR resolution
Ballscrew drive
245 mm/s max speed

And the price is outstanding and not expansive for the value. In my country you can build one for under 400 € inkl. tax.
We designed it for everyone!
It uses of the shelf parts only, so if you have the skills (3d printing mainly) and money to build one, than this is the best choice at the moment.

It comes in a complete package:
* optimized Software
* optimized Controller
* ... and tested and proven by well known SimRacers and German Engineers
like Martin Ascher, Florentin v. Schmidt-Pauli and Ringorumble

I think what's being said for the most part is that if people can use Simtools with its current vast library of plugins then more would be interested in building your actuators. But I understand you are wanting to develop your own software with its own plugins and I think that's great too and what this site is supposed to be about.

However there may be a solution that can please everyone and that would be allowing your software to input Simtools telemetry too. All that's needed is a network port. You can even create your own protocol for the data. This would help you gain users more quickly and in turn you would likely get more help with making native plugins for your software.

What's your opinion @saxxon66?

Sounds good for me.

No network port needed.
Both interfaces are available, so it would be a simple task to write a layer in between. Like a small wrapper or proxy.

Quick question regarding safety issues...

Do you plan adding limit switches for proper calibration on power up?

I have noticed that the system is completely open loop, and requires the users to literally step on the actuators before power them up.
What will happen if someone forgets that "step"?

In any case Simtools needs a port number to transfer the information in a packet. And you need to tell us what packet format you require so you will be able to decipher the data so you can then import it into your motion software. We also need to know what bit range and output type you will use.

My quess is they won't forget again.

@saxxon66

I just found out about this project of yours a few days ago in the iRacing forums. I'd just like to say what you've done here is incredible. I find the entire project from start to finish to be nothing less than amazing. I'm just hoping it is possible to run the system with 110v as US houses all run on 110. If it can, then I'll be like a little kid in a candy shop because I am building this!

Now, time to go back and start reading the entire thread. Thanks again for sharing this project!

Great project amazing work, Does anyone know of any parts suppliers in the uk.

If i where you i would just follow the shopping list in the Wiki Steve. The UK is not that far away from Germany and shipping from those companies is reasonable.

Thanks HoiHman, only one that doesn’t seem to post to uk is, the ball screw and fixed bearing. I take it these are just standard parts and not specific to that company

Has anyone from the US or another country that is on 110c AC built one of the actuators yet and tested it? I have found the driver controller in a 110v configuration, which will still drive the motor, but I don't know how much power the motor uses. If, for example, it only uses 90v then everything would work just perfect with a 110v controller. But if the motor draws 190v, then the 110v controller wouldn't put out enough for the motor so performance would suffer greatly.

I was wondering the same thing I've been searching and found a 5000watt up/down converter that may work but I would rather have direct plug into 110v I'll keep an eye on this thread. I just purchased a 3D printer so I can start my build but I surely need to know if I'll be able to use the motor being that it's the most important part of the build.

You can call any electrician and he can add an outlet for 220v (230v actually) on any house in USA. 1phase 220v is available anywhere, just not standard in US as all the house appliances keep following 110v standard. If you have washer and dryer you bet they use 220v circuit (unless they are gas type).

And no, 220v servo drive wont work on 110v... even if you manage to get the panel powered, i bet it will give you power error messages... if you want a servo that can replace the AC servos mentioned here that works with 110v 1phase, see this one here, has same step direction inputs:
https://www.teknic.com/model-info/CPM-SDHP-N0561P-ELN/?model_voltage=230VAC3ph
(Select the 110v model from the drop down menu)

Step up inverters from 110v to 220v could work. It would draw more current than using straight 220v though + power losses to heat. Dont forget to attach external ground. These step up inverters dont use ground reference. All 220v devices in USA have to be grounded on their metal surfaces by law!

Educate me. Why isn't the built in ground for the converter unit enough? There's nothing listed in the manual about having to ground the chassis externally. If I have to, I'll just run a 220 line to the basement. My neighbor is an electrician, so it should be easy enough.

For whatever reason I can't get the amazon link to embed in my post. Google simran 5000 watt stepup converter.

Please bear with me in a complete novice at this but I have a question about connecting the servos to a power source, do you plug them into a wall socket and daisy chain all 4 or, does it need something else, also is there a neutral connection on the servo, as the diagram doesn’t show it, I like in the uk with single phase supply.

Having requested the Ali Seller to track down a 110v Driver for the motor's....I feel like an Complete Idiot for not thinking how simple this solution truly is ( at least for myself being less than 6' from my Breaker panel )

Question for you electical guru's. Can i just cut the Power cables from Drivers and custom make 4x into 1x 220v plug ? Rather not have to bring in a 220v power bar if i dont have to.

@Nick Moxley, yes you can combine the power cables so you have just one plug. The beta tester in de 2 hour german video (Florentin) did the same.

Got my 4 servos today



I made a quick video on how to do the first test