Showroom School Project | PS4 | 2DOF

Hey guys,

My name is Lucas. I am 19 years old, come from Germany, am a hobby racer (rallycross) and go to a high school of technology. As a school project, I now set myself the task of building a racing simulator for Playstation4!
For the beginning in Simracing I bought a cheap simulator scaffold and drove with the Logitech G29. Now I want to build a more stable and movable scaffolding. I'll document the progress of the project here in this thread:


The Logitech steering wheel, as well as the pedals, will continue to be used for the time being. I take the seat out of my racing car for now, because due to Corona, car racing is currently rarely possible.
And I opted for an aluminium structure for a lighter, stiffer and more scalable simulator.



First I made a 3D drawing of the moving part of the simulator, then the angles, as well as the seat and pedal mount made of aluminum and assembled everything. Since the steering wheel requires a larger base, I've made a light and stable plastic plate for this.




This is just the beginning! I first need to calculate the force the two motors have to apply and then buy all the accessories.

Submission of the project is 23 March

Thanks! That worked well. I've an option for DC motors with 400 or 500 watts. Need to find a power supply with more than 1000 watts. Are there any or do I have to buy one with 1000? Then I need the motors with 400 watts. I think that they have enough power, but you never know exactly.

Hi Lucas,

I'm Chris (also from Germany) and I am currently doing a similar project than yours. I decided to use HP 1200FP server PSUs as they are able to drive 100Amps at 12V and they are available refurbished for around 30€. Getting everything to work with the PS4 was not that easy, so if you need support, you can also send a PM.

BR
Chris

Hi,
I bought my DC motors. Found some with 30Nm, 220rpm at 24V and 45W. Don't know why, but they looked to be strong enough as I tested them.

Can anybody give me advise on what drivers I should take for them?

I realized my rig with ibt2 drivers. I think sabertooth will also be fine but more expensive.

BR
Chris

Thanks for your help so far!


Here's a cardan joint from an old BMW motorcycle:




With some grinding and welding I repurposed it for the sim:




Now the sim should look like this:




More updates soon...

Hey guys,

I HAVE A PROBLEM!

I work with the Arduino Micro and IBT_2 and use SMC3. When I upload, this error occurs in my code:




This is the entire error code:

Arduino: 1.8.13 (Windows 10), Board: "Arduino Micro"
C:\Users\Lucas\Desktop\SimTools\SMC3 v1.0\SMC3\SMC3.ino: In function 'void setPwmFrequency(int, int)':
SMC3:259:13: error: 'TCCR2B' was not declared in this scope
TCCR2B = TCCR2B & 0b11111000 | mode;
^~~~~~
C:\Users\Lucas\Desktop\SimTools\SMC3 v1.0\SMC3\SMC3.ino:259:13: note: suggested alternative: 'TCCR0B'
TCCR2B = TCCR2B & 0b11111000 | mode;
^~~~~~
TCCR0B
C:\Users\Lucas\Desktop\SimTools\SMC3 v1.0\SMC3\SMC3.ino: In function 'void InitialisePWMTimer2(unsigned int)':
SMC3:296:5: error: 'TCCR2B' was not declared in this scope
TCCR2B = TCCR2B & 0b11111000 | Timer2DivideMode;
^~~~~~
C:\Users\Lucas\Desktop\SimTools\SMC3 v1.0\SMC3\SMC3.ino:296:5: note: suggested alternative: 'TCCR0B'
TCCR2B = TCCR2B & 0b11111000 | Timer2DivideMode;
^~~~~~
TCCR0B
exit status 1
'TCCR2B' was not declared in this scope


I'm not so far with coding of Arduino. But as I understand it correctly, TCCR2B does not exist and I should replace it with TCCR0B. I'm not sure. Can someone help me?

Hi Lukas,

in my trials I started with an Arduino Mega and also got some coding problems. Better to use the Arduino Uno as SMC3 is designed for it. I think coding of Arduino is connected to the Arduino Hardwareadresses and maybe the Micro is different to the Uno, this was the case for the Mega.

BR
Chris

I thought they were the same... I'll be back on weekend!

Thank you Chris, the motors are moving!

Here's a quick look of what the motors are doing:


Now it's time to get SimTools running.

I also think that it will be a bit too large, but I try. The lengths are 100, 120 and 140mm.

I've already construct the gears to match:



They're translating 3 to 1. I will print a mount for the pots with 3d printer in near future.

Great to see your progress. First movement is a Milestone.
I really like your way to mount the gears.
I agree with noorbeast, the Leverkusen may be to long, shorter CTC distance will be more torque for the motors and woth a full frame rig you won't need this large travel distance.

BR
Chris

I think you’re all right, especially because of your experience. Just want to try it myself and test the limits. That's why the sim is fully customizable.

Printed the pot mounts over night and something went wrong...



But for testing it works fine. Looks good and stable:

A really awesome Alternative for these Pot's are this nice Boys here:
https://www.digikey.de/products/de?keywords=480-6128-ND
also needed for this:
1x https://www.digikey.de/products/de?keywords=A105021-ND
3x https://www.digikey.de/products/de?keywords=A105220CT-ND

The advantage is contactless and therefore wear-free use.

Hey guys,

The simulator works with SimTools and PC, now I need your help and tips to connect my ps4 to SimTools.
I installed the PC2 plugin from @vthinsel and now I can't get any further. I would be pleased to receive an answer

BR
Lucas