6 DOF from scratch

Good work! How much are you paying for the record and how big is the one in the last photo that lights up a hell of a black blue? I want to dress my frame sooner or later.

The plate in the last picture is 500x500 mm and cost 75$ CAD each. The tubes are about 30$ for a metre if I remember well.

The blue reflect is only because of the protective screen they put on it. It will be removed like the plate in the first picture.

Pretty high price! I have to save a little bit

hey @Pierre Lalancette i like to ask, how many batteries are in your setup?

im trying to build out my power section.. im getting overwhelmed with lead acid, nimh marine deep charge, gel... all the battery terminology...
im trying to figure out what battery to buy, and how many..

Those are my batteries. If you are running on 24v like me, you need 2 of those. They are deep charging boat batteries. I can`t remember the spec, but they are high amperage. I have a friends that works in repairing boat and he has many of use batteries that are still good but have to be replaced as a pack. I got those for a fraction of the price.



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6 DOF from scratch

i thought i had to get (2x) 12v batteries for each with a total of (6) batteries (each battery rated for 35Ah)

so you went with(2) batteries to power your (3) sabertooths? if so, what Ah rating did you go with?

6 batteries! No. You only need 2, but they must be deep charge and I think mine were rated 200 Amps. I have 3 DEL PSU 24v 12.5Amps to drive the rig. I never had any power issue.

basically i was going to build my power setup like the user sixdegreesofflight.

after chatting with dimension engineering (the sabertooth manufactures) they said each driver should have its own battery.
i guess i am going with sixdegreesixofflight.

i would like to do it you way for space and cost savings.. but i like to go what proper operation.

im glad u have no issues with 2 batteries for your whole setup.

at least u have batteries, i see some people not evening using battteries at all with their sabertooth, but they wonder why their motors are heating up...lolol
plus 2x60 is not cheap!

I would say they were in CYA mode, meaning theirs. Its just easier for them that way.

How much heat from regen depends on how much regen current is created. A 2dof or other rig that mostly maintains balance will have little regen. Its all relative. Also the only thing that voids a sabertooth warranty is connecting them to power backwards. Last year I asked them to exchange 4 SyRen 50's that were all broke and that I had for about 8 years with 2 Sabertooth 2x60's and they still did so and at no charge to me other than the shipping cost to send back the SyRens .

Deep cycle batteries should not be necessary when also connected to a power supply since whenever the batteries voltage drop below the supply voltage they will charge. Deep cycle are for instances like running a trolling motor on a boat where the batteries are usually mostly discharged before they are charged back up again. Doing that repeatedly with a standard car battery will ruin it.

hey @BlazinH
what is your suggestion on best route for batteries?
i just ordered (4x) gel mighty max batteries to start...trying to follow dimensionengineering and sixdegreeoflight for (6x) batteries..

Oups, my bad. I though they had to be deep charging. Learning everyday.

I think that batteries for every sabertooth is overkill (depending of their ratings), but, if it buys you peace of mind, I can't blame you. I do overkill most of the time myself.

i think its overkill as well.
my coworker thinks that 7Ah is enough instead of 35Ah..but im just going by manufacturer direction :/

12V batteries are actually pretty unhappy at 12.0v
At 12.0v they are considered as ~20% charged or 80% discharged and 12.6v is considered as minimum happy battery.
Therefore you might want to turn up your power supplies to 12.6v
Better still would be to get away from switch mode power supplies and go old school linear power supply as the batteries are there for absorbing the regen power.
linear power supplies are hard to come by nowadays as transformers are expensive but they can handle regen from motor and wouldn't require batteries to buffer power supply.
If it was me I would go and buy an old school ~160-200A MIG welder (transformer type) and use that as a ~21v power supply, nice and cheapish as you only need 1 and don't need batteries.
Most welders have gone to inverter (switch mode) types and got rid of the old transformer welder and as result a lot of them have been scrapped for the copper in the transformer but they are still around.

this is clear. in fact i might have to have it higher because i am also using the blocking diode. but the question is, "how many batteries in a 6Dof rig with 3 sabertooths...."

For me the answer is clear; start with the minimum then add more if necessary.

And no matter what type of battery used, for health and longivity a float/trickle charger should be used to top off batteries after use.

Today, my friend came over and I wanted him to try my rig. He's good at racing car games and I wanted to have his opinion.
Can you see the smile on his face?



Since I was building my Carbon platform, I had to attache the seat temporary back to the wood platform.
I also change my HD TV for a 4K. It now acts as a monitor. It's nice for people watching the from the outside.



The seat attachment is done, now, I need to attache it to the almost finished platform triangle. I'm trying to do all sort of structure to make it as strong as possible. No real plan. Just trial and errors.
The cat is there for size comparison.



Again, for the platform, I'm trying to make all kinds of structures to make it strong. I'm doing a lot of gluing. Since I'm doing big batch of glue, my balance has enough precision for them. I have almost use all of one of my tubes.



Trying to figure out the way to attache the platform and the seat. I will need more carbon tubes... $$$...



Because I use attachment under and on the side of the seat, my tubes are not straight.



I will need to adjust those queer tubes by inserting another tube in them.



And the platform attachment to the actuators is quite a challenge. I'm doing all kinds of contraptions and crazy ideas. I hope they will hold.



Also, I was trying to get a job near my home and not 150 km away from it.
I failed.
I'm going to teach 3D at a Cegep (school just before university).
It's 600 km from my home.
Fortunately, it has other advantages. Like almost 2 months of vacation in summer.

I take it your going to wrap each joint with some carbon cloth ? Your a brave man to take that on

No, no carbon cloth. I'm doing all sort of structures to make it strong.
Will it be enough? I don't know.
Brave? No. Clueless.

It's been so long since I have done an update here.
Well, it's summer, and summers have never been good seasons for simulators. Too many things to do outside.
But, last week, it was the summer Christmas for me.
What could be inside?



Oh, new carbon tubes! I will be able to finish... to never ending my simulator.
I have smaller one, that used to slide inside the bigger one. But those are a much more tight fit. Lesson learned. Carbon tube are never made exactly the same. I will have to improvise.



This may looks like an old picture about the making of the rig, but its exactly the opposite. This is today, after stripping all the electronics out of the platform.



New orientation, stripping out he platform, easier power up setup, we are deep into changes. Let's hope we'll get things done before the end of summer vacations.



Turning that thing turned out (no pun intended) to be quite a challenge. I made an half life out of myself and got two crowbars to lift it up.
Archimedes' famous principle: "Give me a lever and a place to stand, and I will move the world.

are you back up and running pierre?