Bleco's 2DOF SCN5 racing simulator

Hey!,

I finally managed to 'finish' my simulator build ... At least it's fonctionnal and I am very impress about the feeling, it rocks SOLID!! The front part where sits my pedals and wheel is very temporary, I assembled it with spare parts and I am still thinking about the final design. I wanted to integrate the playseat parts for it's flexibility. Will also replace the table for another one or fix the monitors to the base frame and rearrange all the wiring to make it clean ...

Special thanks to Bernard for sharing all his knowledge and all others x-sim active forum members for making this project achievable. :hi:

Here are some pics, feel free to comment

EDIT *** Initial built / August 18th, 2010 *** (See latest posts for progression)

Re: Finally my 2DOF SCN5 simulator

Congrats bleco!

It looks nice and clean, not to mention the white seat!

Keep up the good work!

Re: Finally my 2DOF SCN5 racing simulator

Hi,

congrats!

But Imho you should remove the frame between the seat and the pivot. It adds stress to the actuators significantly, due to leverage. As well you will apply more force to the actuators while pressing the brake. Your bottom should be as close to the pivot as possible.
I dont say that it wont work, but the actuators may wear out faster, and you may hear quite often the overstress beeping sound.

regards

Re: Finally my 2DOF SCN5 racing simulator

Hi, thx for your comment.

You mean the Playseat bottom frame ? I did not hear any beeping noise even with very brutal profiles but I could try your recommendation. I will make some additionnal tests with the current setup and see... In my understanding, it was more a question of correct actuators angles to compensate for the higher seat position ...


Bleco

Re: Finally my 2DOF SCN5 racing simulator

I have the same size pivot. I was told that it is too small to weld. Let me know how long it lasts.

I want to do away with the bar that keeps the chair inline because there is a slight flex I get and weld the pivot.

Re: Finally my 2DOF SCN5 racing simulator

I think egoexpress is correct.

It is good that you are not hearing actuator stress, but...

If you remove the Playseat stand from under the seat, then your actuators will have more linear movements at all points in the motion range because they will be under less stress at the extreme movement points due to your lower center of gravity.

Keep at it, this is one of the cleaner looking DIY sims I've seen in a while. :thbup:

Re: Finally my 2DOF SCN5 racing simulator

Very cool setup! :

I am also experimenting with a triple screen setup with some spare LCD's and SoftTH; a 22inch Zalman 3D - Samsung 24inch - 20 Inch Dell.
Have to say that a triple screen setup is very immersive, but i am spoiled by my big full HD beamer... still considering what to do:

- Curved screen with one beamer and NTHUSIM software for correction - A lot of work but cheap (except the NTHUSIM software)
- Stay with the current setup - Cheapest but nog good enough i guess... still in doubt
- 3x 27 inch iiyama screens (252 euro's a pop) 1920x1080 - In budget if i sell the beamer...
- 3 x 32 inch HDtv's more expensive, but the way to go i think...(Chris is planning this no?)
- 2 extra same kind of HD beamers for a triple setup - Very expensive... but ultimately cool...(MasterYoda had this kind of setup a couple of years ago)

Also the softth is a nice budget solution, but if i go triple i need the eye infinity ATI card and adaptor, witch is another big spend...

If any of you guys have more experience with those setups, give your opinion

I know there are topics about this matter, my view on it is: i want a realistic size like i have now, but i also love the (triple screen) side views. Immersion is everything...

BTW: you really should adjust your steering wheel more vertical (straight), The standard logitech mount is too much like a normal car, Race cars have it, and to be honest it drives much more better...just put a filler behind the G25 mount... you will be surprised

CHeers,

Rob

Re: Finally my 2DOF SCN5 racing simulator

@ Frakk : Thx for your encouraging words :

@ Fahim: I don't know about your U-Joint pivot solution but mine is very solid and shoud never break ... There is plenty of room to weld, mine is a Boston Gear U-Joint #17336. You can check the specs here:
http://www.bostongear.com/pdf/product_sections/bearing_pp_127_133.pdf

@ Splendiddd: I am very happy with my triple screens setup. I am using 3x 2ms VW224U Asus lcd's with Ati HD5870 and Eyefinity technology. I personnaly don't recommand softh option if you can spend a little more on a Ati card ... You will have poor performances with Softh and it was not stable enouph for my tastes. Thx for the tip about the wheel position, I will give it a try for sure!

@ Bvillersjr :Thanks for the positive comment! I put a lot of work on it and it's not finish yet.. it will be much more cleaner very soon ... I will also follow egoexpress and your recommendation to remove the bottom seat support ... I only need time!!


Bleco

Re: Finally my 2DOF SCN5 racing simulator

I used the SoftTH solution only for testing... when i decide to go triple screen i will have to buy a ATI 58... card for sure. only problem is my current racerig pc is not very powerfull. it runs great on one screen but if i use a (another higher- now a GTX260) high end card i think it will be on the limit. its only a 2.4 dual core E6600 and 2 gigs of RAM with a crappy motherboard. If i also need to upgrade my pc this will cost a lot more... what are your pc specs?

Problem is that i want a final solution for my rig Still considering the options...

BTW: your butt should be right under the pivot that angels the seat, looks like from the picture it seems your seat is too far forward from the point of the movement of the seat, looks like its at the point of the backrest of the seat. (sorry technical stuff is still difficult for me to explain in english...) Great design though with the rubber joints on the end of the actuators

Oh.. and are that 100 or 150mm actuators?

Regards,

Rob

Re: Finally my 2DOF SCN5 racing simulator

Here are my PC main specs:
Intel Core I7 920 2,66
6gigs/1333 DDR3 ram
Ati 5870
Asus P6T SE motherboard
Antec 750w power supply

I think the position of the seat/pivot is ok but I will double check and make some tests, thx.

These are 150mm actuators 8)


Regards,

Bleco

Re: Finally my 2DOF SCN5 racing simulator

@bleco: Cool work, it's great :thbup: ! As the guys mentioned before, I also would unmount the Playseat stand and mount the seat directly onto the seatbase...

@Rob: Originally I planned to take 3x 32 LG LCD screens, but for some reasons, I ordered now 3x Iiyama screens. I think, that the picture-quality is better on this screen as on a TV-LCD on the one hand, and on the other hand the 27,5 size is by far big enough in a triple screen configuration (and in my room *lol*). At the moment I've got my GTX260, but I'll order a Sapphire 5870 with 1GB or 2GB of RAM inthe next 3-4 weeks.

Cheers,
Chris

Re: Finally my 2DOF SCN5 racing simulator

Great job bleco. I will also echo Bernards comment about the height of the seat. In my first project, I used parts of my Playseat but I mounted the seat much lower and also eventually got rid of the Playseat front end because it interfered with my access to the pedals at times.

I would also recommend changing the seat as a future upgrade to a fiberglass racing seat. You will be amazed at the improvement in motion quality you will get by going to a more ridgid seat


Keep up the good work.

..Mike

Re: Finally my 2DOF SCN5 racing simulator

@ Ledfoot and Schnullerbacke: Thx for your comments!

I think I have some adjustments to do over the next few days... I will post some new pics when I am done... It was an option at the biggining of this project to sell the Playseat and use a real racing seat instead ... But I thought it would be a good addition for it's flexibility so I decided to keep it... However I am also having issues accessing the pedals and I think that mounting the peripherals directly on the frame would be much more solid... so maybe some big changes to come, will see...

Bleco

Re: Finally my 2DOF SCN5 racing simulator

@ Egoexpress: I tried to reply to your PM but It looks like I can't send PM's ... All messages get stuck in the Outbox ... Anyway thx for the avatar ;-)


Bleco

Re: Finally my 2DOF SCN5 racing simulator

You're welcome!

The PMs remain in the outbox until the receipient did read them. I've red your PM, so it should be marked as sent now ;D

Regards

Re: Finally my 2DOF SCN5 racing simulator

In the beginning of my motion sim i also had the playseat, switched to a sparco, believe me its much better ;-)

@Chris, funny that we have the same choice of lcd screens...lol

What model did you order, where and for how much?

Thanks,

Rob

Re: Finally my 2DOF SCN5 racing simulator

Hmm i am sorry to go on about the triple head solution....

But i am also considering to use my current epson 980 with two extra (4:3 800x600) Epson's EB-S72 beamers.

Its a 600 euro investment, BUT i will get a immense screen running the main beamer at 1920x1080 and the side ones on 800x600... have to make a DIY screen though... i still prefer big screens over a little lcd triple setup.

Any opinions?

Re: Finally my 2DOF SCN5 racing simulator

Please keep the thread on topic. Thx

regards

My 2DOF racing sim take 2

... so I removed the Playseat bottom frame as suggested and adjusted the actuator arms and wheel/pedal support ... I like it ...

next step, mounting the monitors on the frame.






Bleco

Re: Finally my 2DOF SCN5 racing simulator

Nice work

Don't forget too change the angle of your g25 :lol:

Regards