Showroom DIY 2DOF simulator

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Aluminum structure for a lighter, stiffer and more scalable simulator.



To make the structure dynamic, I mainly use :
ZYT90-155 DC motors (12 V / 3200 RPM / 0.6 Nm) coupled to
60:1 MCP4 gearboxes (54 RPM / 36 Nm) powered by
powerful power supplies (12 V - 50 A) drived by
Pololu JRK 12V12 with
PPC27 10 kohms potentiometers
​

I build unique and custom pieces to give a professional look to the simulator.





Older versions of the simulators :




In-process...​

I play only with Project CARS and I use only 3 effects : Surge, Heave and Sway which are effects 25, 26 and 27.

My pCARS_MaxMin.cfg (in the .zip plugin)

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?>
<GameMaxMin xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema">
<_GameName>pCARS</_GameName>
<_RollMax>10</_RollMax>
<_RollMin>-10</_RollMin>
<_PitchMax>10</_PitchMax>
<_PitchMin>-10</_PitchMin>
<_HeaveMax>15</_HeaveMax>
<_HeaveMin>-15</_HeaveMin>
<_YawMax>180</_YawMax>
<_YawMin>-180</_YawMin>
<_SwayMax>19</_SwayMax>
<_SwayMin>-19</_SwayMin>
<_SurgeMax>12</_SurgeMax>
<_SurgeMin>-17</_SurgeMin>
<_Extra1Max>0</_Extra1Max>
<_Extra1Min>0</_Extra1Min>
<_Extra2Max>0</_Extra2Max>
<_Extra2Min>0</_Extra2Min>
<_Extra3Max>0</_Extra3Max>
<_Extra3Min>0</_Extra3Min>
</GameMaxMin>

Nice sim. Not sure what settings you have on jrks , but those motors can snap and move a lot faster. Can you post pics of the tabs in JRK utility ?

Thanks man, ok
Only suggestions, but it may really make the sim come alive
Feedback tab, did you set the numbers manually? Or did you do a maximum and minimum position setting?

PID, weird to me, but hey. Perhaps P 3/3 I 0/3 D 2/2 may work well, this is a BASE setting and seems to work well.
Intergral limit, move up to 5000
Feedback deadzone, down to 3 from 50.

Motor, max current 0 ( unlimited) I hope you have heatsinks on the big chips and a fan to cool the JRKS.
Only thing I suggest in motor tab is Max acceleration, try moving number down to 400 and if it feels less powerful, move it up in increments of 50. 600 is flat out. Not really needed. but I used it in the beginning trying these motors out.
When motor is off, coast , not brake.

My settings are similar to what I have recommended, in fact, the same. I set profiles to suit and have good motion, a nice vibration for bumps, snappy , but not too nasty motion for everything else. I survive 2-3 hours no problem.


Everything else looks good, just remember, once you change the settings, the profiles may be way out, so you will have to redo them.
Any problems, just holler.
Cheers, David.

I made adjustments that allowed me to have faster and larger movements. But this configuration suits me well and I can run for several hours without getting tired too.

I made what you said. Now my sim is as you said : "more alive"
- braking is instantaneous
- the change of direction is more dynamic
- accelerations are more frank

For the feedback tab, I did a maximum and minimum position setting and after that I made minor changes.
For the PID I took your values.
For the motor, I pu 450 for max acceleration.

May still be a few changes to make, but the result is much better. Thank you!

oh thats good, that should really make you wake up

Thanks for posting that, it will make setting up my own JrKs much easier. Something I need to get around to eventually as I want to use my Arduino on my next project.

No worries. Rob is the founder and pioneer of the JRKS, so I learnt off him. I just have base settings to work off, especially when it comes to the big motors, as I was , as far as i know, the first to trial such a motor, being big worm gears. Rob was the first to trial the winches, so he may have a base setting for winches. But my settings should be fine.

That's what these communities are all about, passing info from one person to the next and helping each other out! What's better is your's wasn't a response to a call for help, it was an open offer to provide info to improve an already working design!

Ok after some refining I my values have evolved to this.

Now this results in a better graph showing as little as 5% error in changing position at different speed, the key in setting the Jrk's up correctly to give you a better feel for motion movements as per video below, due not the upload is a little blury but you can see the scaledback value in red and the target in blue.

Updated images. Thank you!

New toy installed to further enhance immersion and realism :


Next project: moving to a triple screen solution like this (not mine) with a PLP (portrait landscape portrait) structure :


I already have a 46 inchesscreen in central position at 1920x1080 :


I would like to add two 27-inch screens in portrait mode on the sides :



But for the moment there is no solution for a 3 screens system with different resolutions in dx11. But on http://www.softth.net the author provide to remedy. The project is underway !

the side screens is a good idea as I am also restricted for room, but that would make a decent 3 screen setup.
Nice shifter, where did ya get it?

The gear stick is a cool, cool attachment, and yes 3 screens are a must for a serious sim racer. One screen is like driving with blinkers on.
Have them on the side like that is a good way of reducing the cg of the sim as having them spread too far accross will not help the roll motion of the simulator, causing the motors to work way too hard to right the sim back to its centre.
A good idea indeed , Well done.

The shifter comes from Fanatec : http://eu.fanatec.com/Shifters?product_id=676 (ClubSport Shifter SQ EU)





For me the value of a PLP solution is to take advantage of side mirrors and an enlarged view without using a huge space for display. I can't wait to test it!

The side screens like side mirrors has got my attention, I may have to buy 2 suitable size monitors for my 32" telly.
And thanks for the shifter link, looks good and reasonable price.

Zolder - BMW Z4 GT3 (Project CARS)


Nürburgring Nordschleife - Ruf CTR3 (Project CARS)