Adding 2DOF (Seat Shaker) to Aluminum Rig

Yes they come in pretty handy i must say. I Run spacers on all my older wheels (F1 and BMW), But Now with an adjustable wheel deck, i can tailor the back spacing on the fly.

@Hoddem - This is a beautiful build and so much information for people looking to do similar things! Thank you for documenting everything like this. This thread is a gold mine of ideas and how-to information. I was already working out just a straight platform with only wind and transducers using 80/20 strut but your build pushed me over the edge. 2 dof it is.

I have a couple of questions if you have the time - in a post you made on Feb. 2nd (1st page) - you show a photo of one of the gearmotors you used and it has a square C-clamp on the output shaft that you attach your 3D printed arm to. I tried to tell from the photo but it looks aluminum and not 3D printed. Where did you get those? I just ordered the same motors (thanks for the info on where you got them) and that looks like a perfect way to attach arms securely.

Also, I'm curious your reason to go with clear anodized if you don't mind me asking? I was specifying out with the black anodizing knowing that it will show scuffs and scratches. Is it just personal preference or is there something like parts availability and such?

And very impressed with your switch panel. It's gorgeous the way you filled in the letters with red paint! No 3D printer here yet, but with all the cool stuff you are doing with embedded nuts, switch plates, pot mounts, etc, it's getting extremely tempting.

Thanks again!

That is so cool with the explode function and full parts list! I've never seen that before but it's amazing.

Thanks for the kind words. I'm trying to keep forward progress, but life is really slowing me down right now.

The mounting clamp is indeed aluminum. It's a custom designed bracket that both clamps the shaft and has a bolt that goes through the shaft. As you can see from my pictures I have a lot of custom aluminum parts, I work with a local machine shop to get most of my stuff made. They use my projects as filler and give me a good rate. I can get you a drawing of the part if you want. There are other more cost effective solutions too though. I chose this design so I could experiment with arm lengths easily.



As far as clear vs black anodizing. It was strictly an availability and cost decision. I can get the clear parts cheaper from multiple sources and I work with a fair amount of the stuff at work so I can always get leftovers in clear. Also I knew I would have a fair amount of custom aluminum which matches the clear pretty well.

If your wallet can swing the black extrusion then by all means go for it. I probably have 2k in extrusion alone right now. If I were to build a second identical rig and I knew exactly what I needed I would probably go with the black because it does look amazing. Just make sure you can get everything in black. It would really suck to need an odd bracket that only comes in clear.

I started using all 8020 which is by far one of the most expensive options. Now I source everything except extrusions from other sources. A good place to look is www.tnutz.com. Make sure to email them what you want, they don't list everything on their website. I've dealt with them a lot and they usually ship custom cut extrusions in a couple of days at a fraction of the cost of 8020.

Just be careful mixing and matching extrusions, some are smooth and some are grooved.

Put up a link to your build and I'll follow it.

Thanks for the replies, Hoddem! I have priced out different builds in 80/20 (and unfortunately they erase your cart fairly quickly), the prices do add up. I'm hoping to just build once (yeah, right) to get past that to some extent. I don't have the proper tools to cut/weld/drill beyond hand tools and don't know of good machine shops in my area but will need to explore. Looks like it will be a necessity. That's why I was going 80/20 since I could get everything cut to length and just bolt together. Also not going with cut ends black anodized and just using caps to hide the bare.

Since you had those clamps machined, I'll just draw up my full arms and explore the resources here. I do like the modularity, though. Are you still using the PLA arms or do you think you will eventually get aluminum ones machined for strength?

Again, kudos on the build. I blame you for me deciding to go motion. ;-)

I'm still using the PLA arms right now, but I already have a new set of machined aluminum arms ready to bolt on.

Word of advice, even with my build being designed in CAD I still found myself changing things after the fact. I would at least look at having a saw to cut extrusions as needed. I have cut a lot of extrusion with a sub $100 chop saw. The key is to treat the extrusions just like wood and cut it with a coarse blade, carbide tipped if possible (go slow until you get a feel for it). You can grab a chop saw from harbor freight for $94 before 20% coupon. I personally believe quality tools are worth their weight in gold, but every situation and budget is different.

I also would buy a good 5/16 tap (if your using the 1.5" extrusion) and do all the taps yourself. 8020 charges about $2.00 a hole to tap extrusions so if you have a hand drill and a good tap you can really save some money. Make sure you are using a good coating of lubricant like wd40 or a taping fluid to do the cutting. Dry tapping aluminum is a nightmare.

Extrusion is a dream to work with, especially for an unproven design.

Are you designing your rig in CAD?

Side note for anyone that gets a chance to visit the Mall Of America, there is a feature called FlyOver-America. I highly suggest anyone that is into simulators to give it a try.
I just had the pleasure of trying it out and it is an extremely well done commercial simulation. They are using what feels like 3 DOF, Wind, Mist and smell to really get the immersion going. The display is a giant sphere that feels like it covers every inch of your vision. There are moments where you soar just over the peak of mountains and out of instinct you lift your legs like they are going to clip the top of the mountains. Its hard to explain what it is so take a look at the video.

http://www.flyover-america.com/
https://www.facebook.com/flyover.moa/videos/1782945005300059/


Anyone that is interested, do a google search for FlyOver America. I believe there are other versions in different states too.

I am not affiliated with this company, just sharing an experience I had.

@Hoddem - I'm not designing in CAD at least for now. It's all simple enough that I'm just laying it out isometric and plan view on paper to build out the parts list. I've done lots of CAD layout before though but it's been a while. Definitely agree on the tools and if I had a shop space I'd probably go nuts. It's not the cost for me. Just the space. I might see about redoing the storage in the garage but my wife has bins and storage for everything out there. I'm just lucky to have my office and play room. But I am going to have to find a shop to get some things custom fabricated. We'll see how it goes and thanks for the inspiration and tapping tips!

Still way to busy with family, work and everything else to get much done. I did get some time to finish designing and printing my control box panels.

I had shown this design in an earlier post, but I didn't have the correct dimensions for most of the parts. so after some test printing I was able to dial everything in to fit nice and snug.



Here are the printed parts. Not including the USB hub, that was shown in an earlier post. I added 4 120mm fan grilles, I will add 2 fans on each side of the control box. One of which will blow directly on the argon servo controller. I printed all parts in PLA using .3mm layer height and solid fill. I'm not going for looks here as all but the fan grills will be hidden when installed into my rig. I did add some labels to simplify connections later.



Here is the mock-up of the OSW connection plate, (servo, encoder and fuses)



The USB Plate (One connection for a hub inside the box and one mounted for outside access)



The Motion Plate (PC power/feedback, Wind Generator, Chair Motion and my two Ethernet connections for the switch box)
Each of the connectors on the right are audio twist lock with 4 poles.
For the fan/wind generator I only need two poles, but since I will have two fans I will use all four poles.
for the motion motors I will use all four contacts 1 pos and 1 neg per motor
for the pot I will share a positive contact and share a negative contact and then have a dedicated feedback contact for each pot.

The PC 3.5mm jack is a 4 pole jack as well. I will have a control and feedback loop from the pc to a micro-controller so the micro-controller can turn the pc on and off and then verify the status of the pc. This will let me flip the switch on and the micro controller will simulate a power button press. If I just connected my switch to the pc power button I would need to change the switch to a momentary switch. I actually designed a small relay board for inside the pc, when I get to that step I will go through it in more detail.


The Power Distribution plate. 8 Power outputs and two power inputs. the majority of the outputs are controlled by the switch box.
PC - always on
M1-M3 - Switched by panel, controls each of the three monitors
Tab - Switched by panel, turns power onto the three dashboard tablets.
Vibe - Switched by panel, turns power on to transducer amplifier
Aux 1 & 2 - Switched by panel, Future expansion points.



The fan grill from thingiverse. http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:298648. I'm using cheap coolermaster fans off amazon that come in a 4 pack.





I need to find some time to start cutting the box to fit the panels, but in the near term I'm still figuring out how to fit everything inside. I am going to be 3d printing a ton of custom mounts and stacking things to save on space. Ive got a really cool solution for the bulky server power supplies that I will share soon.

Quick update on the racing wheel situation. I finally got my computer back close to the rig and for the heck of it I made a quick video of the two different wheels.
Notice I rotate the wheel a billion times, that's to show off the slip ring which eliminates the need for a whip.



again the two wheels are the fanatec BMW GT and Formula
the slip ring was purchased from Senring.com and is designed for USB connections.
the QD is the Accuforce from SimExperience
and I'm using the bodnar conversion board.

OK, so I have been burning the candle at both ends tonight and I was committed to getting my control box cutout and all of my printed panels mounted.

I have built a number of control boxes for work and I will share my method for cutting out control boxes without destroying everything.

First thing I do is completely tape the entire box using blue painters tape. This will help prevent scratches during all of the cutting and re-positioning. It seems like a lot of wasted tape, but if it prevents that one scratch it is worth it.


Next I print out and mount 1:1 templates of my holes and cut-outs. I always design my control boxes in auto-cad and if needed I print the templates on multiple sheets. These templates were printed on two pieces of 11x17 paper and taped together. I bought this box from mcmaster carr, which is handy because they have 2d and 3d cad files available to download.







Next I use a spring loaded center punch to mark every hole, usually I strike each hole 2-3 times to be sure I have a good mark. Then for my cutout portions I use a razor blade to cut the paper template and blue masking tape away. I do this because in my experience the paper template doesn't survive and without transferring the locations its easy to lose the location of the cuts.



Next I remove the paper template and discard it. I then trace the cutout locations with a black sharpy ensuring that I have marker on the blue tape and the painted box. This is another safety in case the tape is removed during the drilling or cutting operation. I also circle all of my drill locations to ensure that I don't miss any, the marks can be hard to see through the tape.



Now the box is ready to start cutting, so here are the tools that I use for my boxes.
Cordless drill, cordless jig saw with a good metal cutting blade, hole saw for the large fan holes, good eye protection and good hearing protection. Not show is a shop vac and a Dremel or rotary tool.
notice on the drill I have a good quality step or indexing bit. These are awesome for drilling holes in sheet, typically its very difficult to make a nice close tolerance hole in sheet steel with a regular drill bit. The step bit allows the hole to be gradually increased until you reach the final size and it doesn't get all oblong like a regular drill bit.




I started with the sides of the box, drilling the fan mounting holes first followed by the large 4.5" holes for the fans. Drilling a large hole with a hole saw can be a challenge. I have had the most success by drilling a pilot hole with the step-bit that is the same size as the hole saw guide drill bit, then when I drill with the hole saw I tilt the saw a few degrees off axis and rotate it around the center axis of the hole. This seems to give me the best results without using a drill press. Also, I try not to use cutting fluid on my boxes because the cutting fluid causes the masking tape to fall off and exposes the box to scratches. I just go slow with the drill bit and check it often for overheating.



I am doing all of my work on top of a cardboard box and I am very careful not to slide the control box around while cutting. Chips will be flying everywhere and the more movement the more opportunity for scratches. I also vacuum the control box frequently and the work surface prior to rotating the box.

Next I switch to the front of the box and drill all of the mounting holes and then two holes in each cutout to fit my jigsaw blade into. this was a long process, but its better to go slow and check the drill bit for heat then going fast and destroying the bit in the middle of a project. I don't usually put much effort in getting my jigsaw blade holes perfectly in the corners, its easier to cut in with the jig saw then fix a hole drilled outside of the lines.

I do all of my mounting holes before my cutouts because the structure can change significantly after the cut-outs are made. I have made the mistake of drill holes last and actually bent the box because I was putting too much pressure in areas that were weakened by cutouts.



Next I cut everything out with the jigsaw. I start from each hole and go both directions, this will remove most of the material and then I go back and clean up the corners where the starter holes were located. Eye protection is a must here, tiny shards of very hot metal will be flying all over the place and you can't replace eyes. I prefer the jigsaw vs a cutting wheel because I feel that cutting wheels are harder to control and much easier to accidentally make dummy marks with.



The last thing I do before pulling the tape off is clean up all of the edges. This can be done with a hand file, but I like to use my Dremel with a sanding drum to carefully hit all of the edges in the inside and outside of the control box. A word of caution, this is where I typically make a dummy mark because I'm so close to being done I stop concentrating. Also, all of the drilled holes will have nasty metal burrs on the inside of the control box. I just use the same step-bit and drill the holes again from the inside. The step on the step bit acts as a chamfer and deburr's the holes nicely. A good cleaning with the shop vac and the box is almost done.



Finally I pull the tape of carefully and ensure that while rotating the control box I am setting it on a nice clean surface. Also, its a good idea to do test fits prior to removing any protective tape. One last cleaning with the shop vac and its ready for assembly.



That's how I do all of my control boxes. There are plenty of other ways, but this is what works best for me after doing it a handful of times.

Here is the final result.

Thanks for sharing this, @Hoddem! That's very clean and professional.

Awesome pics and descriptions. Love this style forum posting. Keep it up Hoddem.

So I have a lot to fit in the control box and space is definitely at a premium so I have to get creative with all of my parts.

I have 3 server power supplies, 1 for each motion motor and 1 for the wind generator fans. I also need to add a couple of additional power supplies (5v for arduino stuff, 12v for everything else, 24v for the argon servo driver) and a bunch of terminal blocks.

The first thing I did was design a couple of mounting brackets for the 3 power supplies, I had to print them in two parts because if the size. I also added a few mounting holes for din rail to mount my other power supplies and terminal blocks.




The assembly is joined with an 8-32 screw and recessed hex nut. As a side note I use a cordless soldering iron to rework and fix 3d printed parts, in this case I used it to melt the print and secure the hex nuts.



Here is the iron I am using, I don't remember when or where I picked it up but it works great for manipulating 3d printed parts.




Here is an assembled mounting bracket, I ended up printing 3 sets total.



Then I did a quick test fit with the three power supplies, all looked good.



Next I added the din rail with a couple more 8-32 screws.



I then did a test fit inside the control box and marked out the location of each mounting hole on the control box panel. I drilled and tapped the six 8-23 holes mounting holes.



And mounted inside the control box with the power supplies. The two outside power supplies are locked down, but the middle one can still move a little. I will probably throw some double sided tape between the power supplies to keep the middle one from sliding around.




I also worked on mounting the OSW servo driver, I'm using the argon servo drive so I first printed a mounting bracket for the discovery board and mounted it to the argon case.



Then I mounted the discovery board.



Next I marked out the location for the large servo resistor and mounted it with self tapping screws. I also marked out the location of the argon drive mounting points and tapped additional 8-32 holes.

Continued....

I put a couple of 2" spacers under the argon drive and raised it up enough to clear the resistor.



Here is the control box as it sits right now, I still have to fit the Sabertooth/Arduino for the motion, the MonsterMoto/Arduino for the Wind Generator and the battery and relay bank for all the switches.

I might have to put the project on hold for a while, It's looking like I might be purchasing a new house in the near future and If so I won't be able to keep going with the sim build until after the move.
That being said, I will still watch the forums and try to stay as active as possible.

The good news is, if the deal goes through the new house will have more space and a 6DOF actuator rig is almost a lock.

Well, the house deal fell through. The owner decided to keep it so it was out of my control. bad news for a 6DOF, good news for the build.

I was playing around with locating the remaining components in the box and this is what I came up with.



I was going to start mounting everything, but I realized I need to print a bunch more parts.
I found some arduino mounts on thingiverse, they worked perfectly.

This is the Arduino Mega mount for the seat motion.



I was lucky enough to find some 2-56 screws in my stuff along with a tap.



this is the Uno Mount for the wind generator.





I also needed to print up a couple of mounts for the battery and a lid for the USB holder.







That's about all the further I got, I am hoping in my next post I will have everything mounted and ready to be wired.

Looks amazing! I guess congrats on the house deal falling through? Or condolences? But glad you are back on the sim!

That's one professional looking panel. I'm guessing you must have a panel building background? Watching with interest

Yes and no, I have built a fair amount of panels for work over the years. Usually I size the box to the guts, but here I had a limited amount of space to fit the box so I just have to wing it. I use wire duct in my work panels, it's really slick and allows the wires to be run much easier then free running them everywhere. also once you finish up and pop the covers on everything is clean as can be. the downfall is it usually takes a bit more space and requires everything to be laid out is straight lines. IE not how I'm doing this panel.


Here's a random internet picture of a panel with wire duct.



we'll see how good I am once I start wiring, the sad part is once I seal it up nobody will ever see my work.