Question After some guidance on PSU locations

Hi all, I have been a long-time lurker while I worked out what type of sim I wanted to design and build for my family. I have almost finished the design now, and realised that there was one topic I could not find a definitive answer to. Where does everyone mount their PSU’s? I have seen some integrated into the rig, and some in enclosures adjacent to the rig.

In my instance, I am looking at building a 3.5 DOF sim with traction control. The sim will be for driving and flying. After looking through a lot of the rigs posted on this site (and others) I decided to use linear rails on the seat and the pedal structure to allow easy adjustment for all sizes of people (there is a wide range in my household), and also a linear actuator system to raise and lower the height of the wheel to suit the rider. This should be achievable through driving stepper motors (manually) to get the distance between the pedals and the seat right, then using 50kg load cells positioned under each corner of the pedal structure and the seat support to determine the weight of the rider, which then adjusts the seat and pedals (while maintaining the set distance between them) to minimise (or eliminate) the moment at the universal joint through some code I have been writing. The linear motion of the pedals will also provide surge for braking and acceleration, while there will be a sight rotational movement of the seat through a 24V actuator underneath it at these times. At the moment I am not looking to move the seat laterally for surge (although that may change down the road – all it would require is a slightly larger stepper motor). Theoretically it works, building it will be the next challenge….

However, for now I am still in the design phase, and hence the question about where people mount their PSU’s on their rigs. As I mentioned, I have seen some where they appear to be integrated into the rig, and some where they sit outside of the rig. Ideally, I am thinking about integrating them into the “mid frame” of the rig – it seems that there will be enough space there to accommodate them. My estimates are that I will need a 12V 1500W PSU, a 24V 400W PSU and a 5V 50W PSU (I have selected 12V, 50A motors). Allowing for diversity, the actual peak load will be around 1350W on the 12 V PSU, and when in use the 24V PSU will only be pulling 200W or so.

If I mount the PSU’s in the mid-frame (on a thin – but supported – ply wood base) they will obviously move when the traction loss activates, but otherwise remain static. I am not expecting this to have an impact on the PSU’s, however, thought I should check with more experienced people first – especially those who have experience with the inexpensive “Chinesium” PSU’s.

Any guidance or input you can provide would be greatly appreciated!

For any that are interested, the concept image of the rig I have been tinkering with is attached below.