Showroom 6DOF rally simulator by Grizus :)

Hello everyone !

Probably time to present my plans and projects.

After reading many threads (I still have a lot to read and understand), I decided to try create my own 6DOF simulator.

The construction will work with DIY linear actuators - big thanks to @wannabeaflyer2 !!

Much of the inspiration I get from this projects - big thanks to you guys - @SilentChill @SeatTime @BlazinH and many many other wonderful people !!

The top movable part will be made of aluminum and the bottom part will be wooden.

A few drawings and pictures for start





The first fitting behind me, I also have a few parts that will show in the next post



Any criticism welcome help also

Thank you very much !!

Good luck with your build

As bottom and top mount in actuators I will apply ball joints from Skoda It is cheap (17 zł / 4euro) has the perfect angle, I think it will be perfect. What do you think about this?

Diggin the Rug man, That would be awesome to have under the rig when complete.

Good luck with the build. lots of help round these parts. Just gotta ask.

Last week I asked polish branch of IGUS company ( like some of you ), would they support my project by giving me 6 linear plain bearing drylin® R ?? And guess what

Today the courier delivered me free items !!!

Thank you very much for the support IGUS.PL / IGUS.COM - incredibly high quality of these products and individual approach to the customer - YOU ARE AMAZING !!

Impresive...
This is the quote I got from Igus Argentina for 4 of these items...

I have planned a larger diameter ∅40 (FJUM-02-40) so the price per piece x2 That's why I'm happy twice more for this

The next parts delivered to me

The longest, because 2 months I will be waiting for motors, so I have time to study programming

I hope in october when I finish my simulator , oculus present a new headset model with higher resolution, because buying this hardware is still ahead of me

Because I don't know to much about the electricity I will need your help

I will use 24 V 450W ~ 25A motors

I would like to find a suitable and safe power supply.

I am thinking about buying (2x?) power supply Mean well rsp-3000-24 - 3000W 24VDC 125A - not cheap but should be safe.

Do I need a battery with this mean well ? If yes, what is the connection diagram? Will this power supply not charge the battery too much (to destroy) ??

The second issue in which I need help is installation the security button - where and how?

Thanks!

The 2x60 needs a battery, wiring sabertooth is easiest with a power supply for each one that can handle 2 motors. I am happy with my meanwell. Sabertooth also have a low voltage kill built in.

DIY linear actuators ,nice!
how do you control the travel distance?

Matthew, thanks for the info. Can you please elaborate on this? The particular Meanwell supply that Grizus mentioned (RSP-3000-24) has constant current limiting. Doesn't this mean a battery isn't needed? I'm asking because I'm also interested in Meanwell PS's specifically because they have 24V constant current limiting power supplies. Thank you!

As far as I know a constant current limiting supply will limit the voltage given, not really our problem. It's when the motors are forced and create power like a generator. The switching power supplies are much better at handeling it than other pc supplies but still needs to be addressed in one way or another. That said my rig works with no battery or clamp but motors stay cooler with the clamp and it did trip once without it but rig was out of balance as well.

@Grizus
All the best with the build.

The choice of motors is critical. If you choose 24V DC motors @24A, and you are putting two power supplies in parallel, then you are looking at a 90-100Ah battery or more (according to the recommendation from Dimension Engineering for three 2x60 Sabertooths and six motors. In other words, for 24V motors two batteries in series. If you went with 12V motors you will still need a 90Ah - 100AH battery but you will only need one. DE stated that for a 470W motor you need a 30Ah battery for each pair of motors. DE recommend the battery for 'soaking up' the regenerative current. If you had gone with 2x32, through, a battery is not needed - only resistors.

@SilentChill has successfully connected 6 x 12V LED power supplies in parallel with one 75Ah battery and has happily worked in this mode for 8 months. That is worth pondering.

If you are connecting two power supplies in parallel you will also need blocking diodes. Have a look for diodes in 150A+ range - you might find they are scarce or really expensive.

The choices you make at this point will have ramifications later on, so choose carefully

Thanks for the answers @SixDegreesOfFlight , @matthew loomis

Now please tell me how bad this scheme is ? What is missing here, what is badly connected and how should it be correct?

You need a Isolation switch for the Batteries and also an Emegency Stop button for the full system other than that it looks good to me as long as your pins on the Aduino are ok cant really see but im sure they would be.

Thats pretty much what mine looks like

edit: I added my ES button into my actuator limit switches loom so it cuts them all out.

@Grizus
you have the batteries and power supply in series giving you 48v to the controller.
Consider using a unregulated linear power supply, a 2000w should be able to cater for your needs. Let the voltage sag during the peak current demands and let the caps absorb the regen currents, a linear ps doesn't care if the voltage rises.
Switching power supplies shut down because the regen current raises the voltage and they don't tolerate that.
Capacitor bank would be better than a battery, it won't produce hydrogen gas like a lead acid battery would.

He has the batteries in series and the PSU's parallel unless I'm looking at it wrong ?

Ooops I was looking at your picture lol

Again, you might like to consider 12V motors so you would only need one battery. If you really want to go with 24V then you will need to buy both batteries new so they are in the same condition. In other words, if you buy them used from a car wrecking yard it would be almost impossible to find two batteries exactly the same and in the same condition. Just a thought.

Also, I am unclear why you need such enormous capacity for the power supplies. Can you explain your thinking behind that?

All the best

Directly switching all that current will be interesting under load. Something to be careful about. You might also be able to power the supplies down instead if they have a remote on/off feature but that doesn't help with the batteries, though.

Paralleling switching supplies works in some cases but not in all. Best if you can run with blocking diodes on their outputs as that prevents a dead supply from turning into a short circuit for the other one in case of failure. I don't know but the supplies may have a voltage adjust on them that would let you compensate for the diode forward voltage drop.

Envious of all you 6 dof guys!