Gforcefactory Edge 6d

Hello everyone!

I was wondering if anyone of you care to share your thoughts on this motion sim:

https://www.gforcefactory.com/

I have not been able to find any user reviews even though is been out for a while, but it might be some of you have been able to try it at an event or something like that. Anyone?

I have a problem understanding the specs and translate that into something I can relate to. Or perhaps the better question is do any of you see any apparent problems with the given specs?

6DOF stewart platform

200 Hz

UDP 100 Mbit bi-directional

0.78 x 0.94 x 0.34 m (incl. floor stand)
80 kg
150 kg
Tx: +- 0.13 m, +- 0.5 m/s, 6 m/s2 (0.6 G)

Ty: +- 0.10 m, +- 0.5 m/s, 6 m/s2 (0.6 G)

Tz: +- 0.07 m, +- 0.3 m/s, 5 m/s2 (0.5 G)

Rx: +- 15 deg, +- 35 deg/s, 600 deg/s2

Ry: +- 15 deg, +- 35 deg/s, 600 deg/s2

Rz: +- 15 deg, +- 40 deg/s, 600 deg/s2

230 V - 3.5 A / 115 V - 7 A (800 W)
200 W

Not cheap

Well, it’s all relative isn’t it? Except from DIY I’ve haven been able to find a cheaper commercial Stewart platform. Still cheaper than many other solutions top model offerings as well.

Totally agree. The G Force platform also has the best stats I’ve seen — twice the velocity of D-BOX, and published acceleration figures, which is much more important than velocity. D-BOX doesn’t even publish acceleration.

My Lotus 18 simulator is sitting on one - will post photos and a review when it’s complete.

Looking forward to a review on this! Haven't seen any since the edge 6d released.

D-BOX vs EDGE Specs:
- I got the D-BOX specs from Sim Racing Garage’s review on YouTube. D-BOX DOES NOT PUBLISH specs (which should tell you something right there)!

Movement:
D-BOX = .0345 m
EDGE = .07 - .13 m (depending on axis) = 2X - 4X better than D-BOX

Velocity:
D-BOX = .1 m/s
EDGE = 0.3-0.5 m/s = 3X - 5X better than D-BOX

Acceleration (arguably the most important, as it gives you the sensation of G-forces):
D-BOX = ??? (They do not publish. I have asked them 2-3 times and they never replied!)
EDGE = 5-6 m/s2 (0.5 - 0.6 G)

Degrees of Freedom:
D-BOX = 3DOF (4 actuators)
EDGE = 6DOF

D-BOX alone doesn’t give you yaw, which is critical.

Price:
D-BOX = 10,000 EUR
EDGE = 8,000 EUR

Yikes! I would not want to be D-BOX. The word is getting out about the EDGE...

I've gone down the rabbit hole with them on pricing, specing it out, and am just about to buy it. (The price is right and a DIY system isn't in the cards at the moment)

I asked them about how to pay and they said wire transfer is the only way they'll accept payment. This has me worried a bit. I literally have no recourse if they take the money (wire transfer) and don't send the unit other than flying to the Netherlands and raising cane there. I'd like some sort of buyer protection.

Anyway, a bit off topic from your original post but thought it was relevant enough to add.

Is this typical of a company to not accept credit card as payment? Anybody else buy from them? They trustworthy?

Hi, my sim builder has purchased many platforms from EDGE. It's normal for European companies to not accept credit cards, especially for high dollar value items. So there's nothing suspicious about requiring wire transfers only. However, I do understand your apprehension. The other option is to use an ESCROW service, and agree to split the fees equally. Or try to get them to pay the fees in full as a first step?

Hi. Any sign of a review on this.

Hello everyone!
I own an Edge6d 6 dof!
I am from the netherlands where this company is also. I am very happy with the edge 6d and it does everything i hoped for. I am not that technical and building a diy system i can not, or i would not try. What i can say is that the base platform looks very good and cost around 8000 euro but you have to buy other stuf like the monitor stand , monitors etc etc... it cost me in total around 17k euro but then you got it all!!
About the motion , i can not talk about figures because i do not really understand what the difference is between other systems but it works very good for me. A lot of games you can play directly, so plug and play but there are a few games you need simtools for it , but with the developement of the system you need simtools less and less.( i did bot use simtools for a year now) I got my system for around almost 2 years now and in the beginning i needed simtools for iracing but not anymore. Assetto corsa, f1, project cars, dirt, iracing and some flight games like x-plane, il2 sturmovik and some others, but i only race myself. all work without simtools, the customer support is very good and they answer mostly the same day when you email them. The guy from the gforce-edge6d company who owns the company installed the whole rig at my place, but with every rig i think you have to learn the system just to work with it. Benefit from living in the netherlands is that he installed the rig at my place , but i think they would not do that in a foreign country. The send it and you have to install it yourself, but if i saw him doing mine, i can tell it is not that difficult. The platform is allready completely installed and you only have to install the monitor stand, chair , wheel etc. There warrenty is also good but i had never a problem with the system. Yes it costs still a lot of money but i am very happy that i bought it, for me the benefit of a company who is from my own country and solves problems if i had any instantly , and if needed to come to my home and solve it , was and is the best for me. (mostly with simtools or let it work with VR , but i never had a problem and everything went true email)

Price : to compare with other company systems very good.
Motion : very good
Customer care : very good

I can afford it otherwise i would build my own diy system it is much cheaper, but if you don't want the headache and have two left hands like me, i would say go for it. ✌
If you have a specific question , maybe i can answer it, and if you are from belgium, germany luxembourg or netherlands and you are curious about the edge 6d i invite you here at my place so you can try it before buying it!

Cheers!!

Dirk.

I recently bought the G force factory platform and I love it ! Absolutely worth the asking price . I use it mostly for flight simulator and movements are accurate, you can feel small turbulence quite well for instance. The best about this platform is its acceleration figures which you can feel: flying in an aerobatics aircraft is a joy with the platform. Finally the owner of the company delivers top notch customer service. You can try the simulator in the netherlands, at the company headquarter before buying, that is what i did

And I should add that he hardware on this platform is top quality with brushless motors and planetary gearboxes which should provide very long lifetime.

First of all, I'd like to thank Dirk for the invitation. We had a great time testing the Edge.
You can't compare this Hexapod to classical 6DOF with 4 vertical actuators, with 3 horizontal actuators, 1 for Surge and 2 for traction loss - yaw & sway.

The Hexapod tries to simulate G-forces as far as possible (up to 0.5G) , and it succeeds quite well.
Check the replays in Project Cars 2 with the G-Force meter, and most corners don't exceed 0.5G,
except with the speed of Formula A and alike.

But to achieve G-Force simulation, it moves a lot and excessively.
You are supposed to feel the movements, the shift of your gravity point, but not see the movements.
Walls around tilting is disorienting, motion sickness for sure, don't try to adapt, because it's can be avoided.
There promotion videos are not well chosen.

Any vertical or horizontal wall edges around and above the screens have to be surrounded by black cloth in 180°, to feel like you really sitting in a cockpit. At this point it is easy to adapt.

Classic Racing simulators only simulate the first impulse of a G-Force, and sometimes they do it wrong!
They roll and pitch less, which is why they don't need the monitors mounted on the platform.
But they are not able to keep the G-Force, when turning or braking.
I remember very well in a long fast turn to the right, I felt pushed to the left, my bone of my hip pressed against the left side of the seat, all the way through the turn. Same for braking, as long as you brake hard, you feel lifted from the seat. No Seatmover or D-Box system can do that, and I tried some expensive ones like the Elektra X.

However I did not feel heave. That was strange, because the heave movement when the Edge6D goes up into his neutral central position is impressive. On the other hand traction loss is great, but road or engine vibrations were not really present. But they can be cheaply added with transducers under the seat and the pedals.

I'm not yet sure if the Edge6D masters first (inverted) impulses which is very well explained by Niels Heusinkveld in this video

I haven't tried the Edge6D in VR yet, but in theory, if correctly done (and I'm confident it is), it should be awesome. I soon intend to visit their demo location to find answers to my final questions.

Compare the Edge to the Next Level Racing motion system, upgradable to 5DOF, no surge, then its almost cheap. I particularly like the compact size and the security. No open risky moving parts.

The Edge6D may not be suitable for simracers who don't care about G-Forces and only want driving effects of the car on the road surface, but it's a great compromise to be as good at racing ... as at flying.
And at the price of more than 12k, it's good to have something more versatile.

I had my Edge6D arrive a few weeks ago in North Carolina. Did a test flight this August in the Netherlands. Took only a few days to get it from the Netherlands. Transportation cost have gone up so budget for that. Great platform for flightsim use. I’m running X-Plane 11 at 25% with a three monitor setup. For Il2 and DCS I’m using VR and I’ve dialed it back to 20%. The thing is very powerfull. Shooting an ILS to minimums with turbulence dialed in gives a nice workout. Been experimenting with different monitor setups. First used three LGC2 42inch tv’s but couldn’t keep them from sagging. Switched them out for a single Samsung 49 inch widescreen monitor. Nice and compact but I missed the peripheral cues when flying X-Plane 11. Found the Samsung u32j59 on sale this Black Friday. Very light so no issues with the monitor stand sagging. Not as good a quality as the Oleds of course but good enough and a footprint I can live with.

Well, that looks really good!
Is there any reason why the angle between the middle and side monitors is that wide?
I guess it's not far from 150° while I'd have expected something closer to 90°

what does the sim look like with the cover removed ? is it 6x gear motors ?

It gives a wider field of view for games other than X-Plane that have no adjustable offset per monitor. If I had used the bigger, 43 screens, I would have increased the angle to safe space. As is, with the 32 inch, this angle covers my peripheral vision. When I look 45 degrees to either side I’m still covered with monitors. They do indicate a view of 90 degrees in X-Plane. Still contemplating if I should use the actual offset angle of the monitors or stick with the 90 degree offset I have dialed in now. It feels realistic as is when sitting in the seat but looks off when standing behind the sim.

Another practical aspect of not going with a 90 degree angle is ingress, egress into the seat and closeness to the monitors. It gets pretty warm if those monitors are very close to your face.

It’s six electric motors. The motors drive rods that rotate 360 degrees with an arm attached to it that connects to the platform. Allows for a good range of motion.

I haven’t reached the limits of it yet and got some scary angles at times. The big thing is speed of position change. I’m just using doing flight simulation and the default setting of 35% moves too fast for me. In X-Plane 11, that I use the monitors for, I’ve dialed it down to 25% and in Il2 and DCS, where I use VR, it’s dialed down to 20%. Making a hard landing or crash landing becomes bone jarring even at these lower settings. I make it a point to prevent either of those. First time I got into an unintended inverted spin in Il2 using VR, at 35% motion, I got thrown around to the point I hit the emergency stop button. Bit too realistic so I dialed it down.

I understand, that makes a lot of sense.
I'm sure that when sitting in the simulator it looks much more natural than when you are looking from another point of view.