Showroom 3DOF (Traction Loss) 50:1 motors

I am at the begining of this project and I'm just working on the wiring of everything first. Working with electronics is something completly new to me, so I am learning as I go. I am getting sort of following the work that @Halloween2go has done on his youtube channel.

I have 3 hall effect pots from here:
https://www.digikey.ca/en/products/...IgTCBcDaIGwEYwHYBqCCCCAcAGAMgHQCsAYgMogC6AvkA

And 3 12v motors I got from ebay. Their specs are:
180 WATTS (.24 HP)
50:1 RATIO
OUTPUT SPEED 75-80 RPM

A 600W 50amp 12v Power Supply


3 - BTS7960 43A Motor Drivers (from amazon)

And the Uno R3

I don't currently own a welder so I am thinking I am going to build out the cockpit in wood to start similar to how this guy did it:

My dad is a retired machinist (but lives in a different provience) and he is halping me out with some of the frabication I can't do here. He has a universal joint from a car to send over to me for my main pivoit point for the 2DOF. And he is going to help with the arms that will attach to the motor shafts as well.

One thing I am not sure about is the power supply. I am hoping this is going to be enough to power all 3 of these motors. I tried to test one motor by plugging in the power supply and touching the live and ground wires from the motors to the DC terminals on the PSU, and the motor started for half a second, and then the power supply rebooted like it was too much for it to handle. But maybe that won't be an issue when the motors are going though the 43A drivers because it will help slowly bring them up to speed instead of sending them 100% power right away? I am not sure.

Hi
can't wait to see your achievement because I'm also on a traction loss project and all good ideas are welcome

I have successfully put together a proof of concept to test out the motors with my electronics and potentiometers. I connected everything to my computer and put it through SMC3 and I have motion!! I am shocked that I didn't screw anything up with the wiring!

My dad is helping me to weld some arms for the motors. I have 12mm threaded rod bought to fit in the holes of the motor shafts. We will weld on some arms to those. Then the next thing I need to buy is tire rod ends to attach to the motor arms and the cockpit.

Nice test platform, looks like I am just a few steps behind you with my setup. I have been keeping an eye on the progress keep it up.

Posting some progress. I had to wait for a package from my dad who is a retired machinist and he helped me by fabricating the 3 arms for the motors, and a universal joint.

I also got a nice light weight seat to mount to the platform. This will be a lot more comfortable the my current seat which is the Next Level Racing F-GT Lite foldable.

Also, for the hinging action i need for the traction loss, I bought a barstool berring plate which I hope will work.

I have 3 wooden platforms constructed. I am doing them in wood as a prototype for now, and sometime this winter I am planning to buy a flux core welder and rebuild the frame in steal.

This is the barstool plate mounted to the bottom of the center platform for the traction loss.



This is my upper platform which I will mount the seat/wheel/pedals. I am going to build the part that the pedals and wheel will mount to this weekend.



I have a length of threaded rod in the upper portion of the back of the upper frame and I have attached some tire rod ends to it. I am using all female rod ends for this project because it seemed a lot easier to just buy threaded rod to go from the upper rod ends to the rod ends on the motor arms. I see a lot of people using male rod ends and a tubbing but I wasn't sure where to get this tubbing from.


I am going to get some work on this on the weekend and hopfully attach all 3 wooden platforms together. It's dark here in Canada now after work so it needs to wait for weekend hours unfortunately since I don't have a proper garage.

More progress on the upper platorm. I know it looks ugly as hell but this wooden cockpit is only temporary until I get a welder. Also I am gonna throw some paint on it too


I need to rethink the pedal deck because with this curent set up I get some flex when I push down on the pedals.


I made a bit of an error here with how I am attaching the rails from the chair to the wood. I should have never cut that notch out becuase not its just weaker.


I added all my gear so I could find the center balence point with all the weight and me sitting on it. And that is where I will attach a cross bar and the universal joint.


Added a spot for my shifter and handbrake too.

This thing is a lot heavier then I was thinking it would be. I hope the motors can handle it.

I put a coat of paint on the rig so my wife will let me take it in the house. I removed my previous set of wheels and beefed it up a lot more with some heavy duty steel. I now have 4 wheels attached. I also attached the traction loss motor, cut the arms and hooked up the tire rod ends. And after testing it out it seems to be working!! I sat on the frame as it was moving and it seems to have no problem moving my weight.

I do have a lot of noise coming from the motor that I can't seem to get rid of no matter what I do in SMC3. I looked around on here and only could find talk about a bad ground but I dont think thats what it is.

I cut some steel plates to be able to mount my pitch and roll motors to the rear frame. I also mounted all my gear on the upper cockpit so I was able to find the center balance point. Next step is to mount the universal joint under the cockpit and to the lower frame. Then determine how long my threaded rod will need to be that will go from the rear motos up to the sholder attachment points on the cockpit.

This thing is a lot taller then I was thinking it would be so I am hoping I don't end up being top heavy and tip over. Also, the cockpit seems very heavy, so I hope the motors will be able to handle all the weight.

If the moving platform is balanced on top of the universal joint, the motors will just need to move it out of balance and back.
If it's tall the main concern could be the moment of inertia when the movement is fast, try to keep the CG as low as you can

thanks @fabrizio1203 ! My motor arms are about 6 inches long, so it gives me a nice bit of distance for pitch and roll. I may have to reduce the amount they rotate so I dont have to go so high.

Have you already found the longitudinal balance point of the cockpit platform, driver included?
The rig seems to be quite complete now.
I'm curious because hopefully I'll find myself at your same stage sooner or later and I'm trying to figure out the best dimensions for the frame of my rig.
I'm going to use aluminum profiles though.

Hmm @fabrizio1203 I didn't even think about getting the balence point from left to right... I should try and do that.
I am going to be rebuilding this in metal, I would love to do it in aluminum but I wasn't sure where you would purcahse that from. Is there a place you are looking online for that?
Thanks!

I'm sorry Nicky, I have not been clear, I meant the Center of Gravity from rear to front
As regards aluminum profile take a look at this site (http://maytec.com.de), they provide a free simple CAD software where you can design your 3D frame in and have a complete Bill of Material (with prices as well) as an output.
You can choose standard profiles that allow you to buy somewhere else if you like.

oh wow thats fantastic @fabrizio1203 ! I will definitely look into that when I rebuild this one.

@fabrizio1203 @noorbeast I actually did find the center point with me sitting in the rig already, I was thinking you meant i need to ALSO find it from side to side. Thanks!
I will just assume the center point side to side will do ok.

@noorbeast ok, i have 3 seperate holes for attachments made in my motor arms, so I have options if I need to reduce the length of the arm for better torque

I did it!! I can't believe I have a working 3DOF motion simulator.
Thanks so much to all the questions answered here on xsimulator. I am sure this is just the begining, but it feels great to have a fully working rig!

Here is a view of it in action with Dirt Rally 2.0 in VR:

The wood is temporary, it's just what I had available. I plan to rebuild the frame in metal sometime after Christmas when I pick up a flux core welder. So it's a little creaky now

I’m in the same process. The more it becomes metal the less it creaks… I’m beginning to miss it.

hehehe @ChuckyP I dont know if that's a sound I could miss! Though it's less noticable with the headphones in my VR