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Question What’s the standard these days?

Discussion in 'DIY Motion Simulator Building Q&A / FAQ' started by rundmg, Feb 3, 2026 at 04:43.

  1. rundmg

    rundmg Member

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    My Motion Simulator:
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    Hi all,
    It’s been nearly 10 years since I’ve been in the DIY sim racing space and I’ve been feeling the urge to come back for a while now. I imagine there has been changes in the space from the hardware I was using on my original build

    What hardware should I be digging into and researching? Any threads on here you consider must reads for someone that’s been out of the loop for so long?
    rundmg, Feb 3, 2026 at 04:43
    #1
  2. noorbeast

    noorbeast VR Tassie Devil Staff Member Moderator Race Director

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    I guess the first clarification questions are what is your budget and personal experiential priorities?
    noorbeast, Feb 3, 2026 at 05:19
    #2
  3. rundmg

    rundmg Member

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    My Motion Simulator:
    2DOF, DC motor, JRK
    Don't really have a budget at the moment. Looking at 3->6 DOF setup. At this point I am trying to deduce where the rate of returns start to drop in my mind and then go from there.

    Previous build was JRKs with stepper motors, potentiometers etc. Really curious if there have been advances in other tech that make new builds possible that weren't before
    rundmg, Feb 3, 2026 at 21:34
    #3
  4. noorbeast

    noorbeast VR Tassie Devil Staff Member Moderator Race Director

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    My Motion Simulator:
    3DOF, DC motor, JRK
    As you are considering 3->6 DOF I would suggest you research AMC-AASD15A servo controllers, which make using those servos almost plug and play for either a rotary or linear actuator rig: https://www.xsimulator.net/community/faq/amc-aasd15a-servo-controller.351/

    You can build or buy AMC-AASD15A powered linear actuators, please do research recent DIY actuator designs and builds if you are contemplating that pathway, as there has been considerable actuator refinement by members over recent years.
    noorbeast, Feb 3, 2026 at 22:06
    #4
  5. Joe Cortexian

    Joe Cortexian Active Member Gold Contributor

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    I would add that the AC servos are a lot less expensive now. You don’t need name brand $400 AC servos. Generic servos are available like RATTMOTOR on Amazon or HLTNC on Ali. These may not have a “compatible” 25 pin D connector but they do have compatible inputs and functionality. These are pulse controlled aka you send 1000 pulses and they go 1000 “steps”.
    Joe Cortexian, Feb 4, 2026 at 14:14
    #5
  6. cfischer

    cfischer Active Member Gold Contributor

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    Yeah but the new hotness is about to be stepperonline ethercat servos and motion4sim ethercat controller.
    Cheaper and better than anything else.

    Also for the love of God look into force based gear (gseat gbelt ghelmet).

    :D
    cfischer, Feb 4, 2026 at 23:10
    #6
  7. Joe Cortexian

    Joe Cortexian Active Member Gold Contributor

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    Wow those drives really have come down in price. I am a DIY controller guy and 2 signals to control the standard AC drive are not so bad for DIY. EtherCat means special hardware (aka BeagleBoard) and Linux.
    Joe Cortexian, Feb 5, 2026 at 00:34
    #7