Showroom New 3DoF built

So .. put it all together for mocking up and verifying clearances and I will need to make some modifications for stabilizing. Likely I will add some larger removable extension arms to the front and back beyond the 4x4 beams I have .. there is lots of metal and weight on this thing. I have better pedals and wheel coming so it's just to try out.



The bottom plate holding the electronics seems to work out after checking clearances.

Got bored tonight while cooking dinner and started working on one of the two button boxes. Still need to do some trimming here and there but it worked out OK. Shop is freezing at the moment unless I get the propane shop blaster going so not place I go to for some quick tinkering this week.

Been a slow time to work on the project, holiday season, a few days away with the family, two storms, two major power outages etc. Had time today to finish the button box as well as get the new pedals tested. Tomorrow time to start installing the hooks for the seatbelts and the motors. I also made two stabilizing legs for the rear and will post the setup tomorrow when the paint is cured.


I am using the wooden blocks to stabilize the thing when sitting in it.

Made progress today. I finalized the bolt on rear stabilizers which help with potential tipping hazards. Might not be needed but I feel better when they are on it. Easy removal as well.



Secondly the frame mount for the shoulder seatbelt, some simple hoops and then using some bungee cords.



Most time was spend getting the arms and everything safely welded to the motors. I painted the arms red for safety. I don't want any chance someone does not see these things when I am playing. It fits with the rest of the color scheme. They can cure overnight and then I can install them tomorrow

Wiring can finally commence. I also realize how many times I will likely still have to take this thing apart and put back together to get access to something I will need to work on. I am gonna try to do some decent cable management on this build. I spend quite a bit of time and effort on making the rest look good so don't want to slack here.



The front motors are now mounted too. I have doubts the threaded rod is strong enough so will likely sleeve it with some 3/8 steel tubing for reinforcement.



All in all I had hoped to be further along but life took some detours the past 2 weeks.

I am just waiting to see what exact length those rods need to be set at before getting the sleeve cut. Just want to do that once and I can finalize the length tweaking during testing with low power.

First of the 3 installed ... it's not too bad to make these brackets. I will though add a 4th to a button box to take advantage of the intensity settings. With some luck I will have movement this weekend.

So .. much .. wiring. At least it will look decent from the start. I started with the control box last night but those little wires are fiddly and were driving me nuts.

Ended up having a little bit extra time tonight and nearly finished the control box wiring. I still need to add the two plugs for the hall effect pots on the side but otherwise she's good to go.

A little bit discouraged tonight. Got things wired up good, even double checked but just not getting the proper reports in simutil. One of the motors moves at least and my main power supply seems to not have any output. Instead of banging my head against the wall .. I am gonna close the shop up tonight and try again tomorrow.

Feeling a lot better tonight. Sometimes walking away is good. Got one of the motors moving and I think the second one is just wired the wrong way. Gotta figure out how to have the mounted traction control motor not clip against the frame while testing. Anyone know how to set movemement restrictions in the monitor utility ? Is it simply using the clip limits?

OMG .. got all 3 working! Now off to put things back together as I tore them apart yesterday.

https://youtube.com/shorts/gOwnOi6qBU4?feature=share

Still fiddling with SMC to get the motor limits sorted but I managed to get the front two ones sorta aligned. The movements highlighted a few weak spots that will need adjustments.

https://youtube.com/shorts/d_jDLJiBoDc?feature=share

About 5 inches is the distance. I have 2 additional holes .. one at 4 ctc and one at about 3 or so ctc.

hey @donottellmywife this project is looking amazing!! I am going to steal some of your ideas here haha. I am rebuilding my project in steal now and going with the motors in the front design like @Halloween2go did as well.

I started out with levers that were a similar length as yours but I ended up going much shorter, and I think shorted is better. You dont want to get tossed around so much that you can't play the game, and the shorter they are the faster the response is which I think it more important to simulating real life movement. Try one of your shorter attachment points and see if it works better for you. I left my arms long incase I changed my mind and just attached my rod ends further up the motor arm.

Thanks! I am still fiddling with the rod length and will test it out with the shorter arms.

No picture updates today .. really spend time fine-tuning things. I did move the push rods closer to the center of the arms and it made a difference. I also wiped my motor configuration and started new .. I found a great thread that made a lot more sense and the end result is a much smoother motor movement. I will dig up the exact thread with the instructions tomorrow that hopefully will help others.

One of the little bolts for the sensors was a little jiggly causing one of the motors to just act really wonky the last two days. I had been scratching my head on why one moved so erratic vs the other as everything seemed to be ok. A little red loctite and it is solid now.

One thing I still need to figure out is the traction loss movement restrictions .. right now it has too much range. Maybe tomorrowI can figure it out.

I hung up my projector screen and tomorrow is time to test ride.

Uploaded a short video testing surge/ pitch and roll. With the updated settings the movements are a lot less jerky now.