2DOF Compact Seat Mover Using Winch Motors and Steering Boxes

@Nick Moxley I haven't read about the 20% and tune it method yet. Do you have a link? The search feature is filtering out most of those terms and not turning up much for me. I was just trying to stay conservative for my first test because I was unfamiliar with the software and didn't know what the chair was capable of.

@SilentChill thanks for the feedback! It's pretty exciting to have it moving!

@BlazinH thanks for the input about the USB to TTL serial converters. My biggest motivation for the Kangaroo was to minimize wiring complexity. The idea of having all my motor control packed into one small package with only a few connections was quite appealing. Since I already have the hardware coming, I'd like to at least test the Kangaroo on my chair. However, I may just put the Arduino back in if I have trouble tuning the Kangaroo. Thanks for figuring out the Kangaroo communication for us and writing the tutorial; I think all my problems were hardware related.

It has been a very long time since I posted an update on this project. I ended up going back to school, and I had to significantly downsize. Thus, my simulator project went into a storage unit for a few years shortly after I got it working. Now, I've got a shop set up again, so I've jumped back in to finishing up this project.

I started with an upgrade from the Logitech G27 wheel and pedals to a direct drive wheel package from Fanatec. I mocked up the locations of the components with random items around the shop to get a feel for where everything should be. To make the locations feel familiar, I roughly copied the dimensions from my Volkswagen Jetta.


Next, I built a plywood enclosure to wrap around the base of the unit. The back half of the enclosure will hold the motors, gearboxes, and seat frame. The front half will have a slide out tray with power supplies, Buttkicker amp, motor driver, motor controller, USB hub, and power distribution.


While I was initially planning to build the top portion to hold the steering wheel and shifter out of plywood as well, I couldn't come up with a design that I was excited about. Instead, I decided to build a frame out of 1" black pipe. The size and weight of the pipe is a little excessive for the application. However, that's what fits the bender I have access to, and the material was fairly inexpensive.


One more test fit to make sure the frame will hold the steering wheel in the correct location before cutting notches in the tubing.

Trying to figure out how long to make each of the legs and at what angle to cut them for everything to sit flat and square on the plywood base. This was the toughest part of building the frame, as the bends and angled connections at all four corners didn't give me much to use a reference to measure from. In the end, it was a lot of clamps, fiddling with the level, and cutting one leg at a time to get it to sit well.


The frame all welded together and lined up on the base. I bent the tubing more on the left side near the seat to leave room to climb in and out. The tubing on the right side near the seat was left sweeping farther back, as it will have another mount attached for the shifter and handbrake. I still need to work out a design for the shifter/handbrake mount. I'd like it to be sturdy but easily removable, so the entire simulator will still fit through a standard doorway without much disassembly.


For the next steps, I'm looking into getting a piece of 12ga steel cut on a CNC plasma table or water jet with holes for the steering wheel, display, and E-Stop switch that will match the profile of the bent steel tubing. It will be welded to the face of the tubing, and the steering wheel will bolt to the plate. Then, I'll build a moving platform for the pedals to adjust for different heights of drivers. I still have the slides which came with the seat, and I think they'll be perfect for mounting the pedals. To pretty it all up at the end, I'm planning to paint the steel tubing frame and wrap the plywood in black carpeting.