Ego's SimForceGT - with DC actuators

Hey Christian,

das war ein langer Weg ... Ich freue mich aufrichtig, dass der Simforce rockt.
:

Hi Jo,

freut mich, mal wieder von dir zu Lesen!

Letztendlich scheint es erfreulicherweise geklappt zu haben.
Vielleicht hast ja irgendwann auch mal wieder Lust und Zeit, dir einen zusammen zu bauen.
:

Hab gerade noch ziemlich viel Arbeit mit dem wheel...
Aber es gibt bald wieder Neuigkeiten.

Btw, du hattest damals Recht. Die Maschinenfüsse die ich bei ebay bestellt hatte, sind zu weich.
Falls du zufälligerweise noch so einen Gummi rumliegen hast, hätte ich Intersse daran.

Gruss
Christian

I had a ride on the SFGT today.

The feeling is really great!
The motors are strong enough in my case (I do have a body wheight of 80kg). The motors are sufficient fast as well, when operating them with 24V.
The first 15-20min test with me, sitting in the seat, was a success. The motors havent gone over 20-25°C (~measured with my bare hand).
I'll make an endurance test when my wheel will be finished. I am working hard on it currently. As well there are some minor things that I have to deal with. For example: I havent figured out how to fix the seat on the actuators bridge, yet. Currently that issue reduces the bumps effect strenght.

At first I thought that the 30cm jacks could be too big for the SFGT. But as this total lenght is splitted for throttle/brake and sideways movements, and a safety area of round about 10mm each actuator end is ensured, I am getting a throttle/brake movement of ~14cm finally, which feels really fantastic.
I have restricted the sideways movements alot, as it feels more realistic, if the L/R movements are short and fast.
Although its good for showing purposes, it's not very immersive while driving, if you lean that much sideways, that you are hardly able to reach your wheel.
But with an x-axis restriction to 50%, its amazing immersive.

I just can tell you from my point of view, that if you'll try such a seat by yourself, you'll never want to race without it again!

It's alot of fun to te able to feel the road bumps, and g-forces.
Cannot wait to make a full setup video with RACE07

Stay tuned...

Regards
Christian

Hallo
das ist doch schon sehr gelungen.ich habe bald auch wieder etwas Zeit um einen neuen sim zu bauen.Habe mein Heimkino umgebaut mit Gerage für einen sim.Also muß ich etwas mit Rädern zum wegschieben bauen.
Mfg
Nima

Hi ego can you make a list of pieces what you use? please^^
Thanks in advance =)
Max

Hey folks,

I havent had time to work neither on the sim nor the wheel past days, and wont have time for the next days even, although I would like to spend all my time for it.

Unfortunatly I have to study alot currently.

Anyway, I have shown you that Thanos interface even works with SimforceGTs, so please dont hold back to try it on your own.
I dont wont to rest alone with with my SFGT!

I hope Yobuddy, Rovor, Ferrari_man and Erich will show us their frames moving soon

Regards
Christian

Hi Ego,

Good work ;-)

I am looking to get some Firgelli actuators for some experiments myself. I notice that you said the ends had to be modified to accept the rod ends.

It looks like they have 6.3mm diameter stubs with clevis holes on the end. Did you just tap this and get a rod end to fit or was it something more elaborate?


Cheers,

Matt

the end machining, that was made to be able to place the eye screws, was made by a friend of mine with an industrial lathe. He cutted a M7 thread into the rod end.

I could imagine that it would be hard to to this manually, as I think that the aluminium rod could be damaged quite easy. And one has just one try. Ok, perhaps 2 (if M7 would fail, then M8).

We should ask Firgelliauto, if they could offer them with suchs threads. I had email contact with them, and they told me that they likely will seperate the pot wires from the motor wires in the next revision. Perhaps they could add this thread as well.

Regards
Christian

Hi Ego,you were talking about u.s. motors being cheap but with shipping and duties etc,they could be rather expensive,heres a tip I dont know about customs in germany,but here if you ask the company youre buying from to mark the goods as replacement parts you dont need to pay duty on them!!!Some companys have no problem doing this and after all it does no harm to ask they can only say no. :yippiee:

Re: SimForceGT - with Firgelliauto actuators

Hallo Ego,

habe deinen SimForceGt gesehen, es ist toll!!! :
Ich bin ein chinesicher Student und zur Zeit studiere an der Uni Stuttgart. Nun schreibe ich meine Diplomarbeit, danach werde ich wieder nach China, ich denke, dass dann ich ein bisschen Freizeit haben kann, und in China man billiger Motor finden kann, deshalb will ich meinen Motion-Simulator entwickeln, aber ich habe Angst davor, dass ich nicht genug Kenntnisse habe. Aber Ich weiß, dass viele Kerle wie du und tronicgr, die in diesem Forum sind, sehr nett und freundlich sind. Ich denke, dass ich 100% Hilfe von euch kriegen kann. Aller Anfang ist schwer, aber ich möchte mal versuchen.

Viele Grüße
Seaschwert

Hallo Seaschwert,

Soweit wir das können, werden wir dich sicher unterstützen.
Im Gegenzug könntest du aber auch ab und an mal ein paar Ideen hier aus chinesischen Foren posten, in denen du die halbe X-Sim HP kopiert hast ;D

In China wirst du mit Sicherheit preisgünstiger an Motoren herankommen, als hier. Vielleicht kannst du uns ja dann mal welche schicken :thbup:

Gruss
Christian

Hallo Christian,

jawohl Chef :yes: .
Was ich in der Zukunft machen kann, mache ich sehr gern!

Gruss
Zhi Hao

Hi guys,

6 weeks left until I have some free time again, during summer semester holidays, to spend on finishing my sim :happy:

regards
Christian

can't wait to see. :clap:

Hi, Ego! and hi everybody..
I'm new at this forum, and at simulators.

The work Thanos, you and the other guys are doing it's great!!
Few weeks ago I've asked Thanos to send me the material to make the AVRcontrol and the H-bridge.
I have just finished to mount the PCB's and I link all together, with 2 wiper motors and the PC with GTR2, and it works fine!!
Than, I've tryed with the rollercoaster simulator, but I can't find the plugin to send telemetric effects to the force profiler. I've also tried to use yoda but it seems to me that there isn't feedback effects displayed.

I'm new at those programs, so I can't use them properly.. where I can find the plugin for the rollercoster simulator?

Thanks a lot guys, I hope you can help me!

Regards,
Stefano

Hi Stefano,

You must use the Force-Injector to retrieve motion data from Nolimits Rollercoaster 1.7.1.

You can find it on the menus of the x-sim FORCE SENDER under the menu Settings. Select the Start Injector plug.

When you see the Force injector window appear, click on the button Online database and on the popup window select search online.

There you can find several versions of the Nolimits Rollercoaster profiles to download. :


Regards, Thanos

Hi Thanos, Thanks! Now it works fine..

:hi: Hi Christian been looking at this thread and the videos and am about to place an order for 2 Firgellia Linear actuators but just wondered what was the latest status of your project using the Firgellia actuators. have you been running your sim still at 24V? have the actuators still been performing well when driver is in the seat? and have you come across any issues with the units that your not happy with maybe... i have been quoted £125.00 for 2 (300mm 16KG 2/sec) actuators and at that price i think it may be worth the gamble ( i realise it will not be the same performace level as the SCN5's But it's a trade off ) .. has any one else used these actuators ? ;D i have a range of other motor's like Wiper and wheelchair motors, but this option appeals because i would be able to get my sim up and running quicker and learn a bit more about x-sim before trying to develop the next model.. my current base design would be easily adapted to suit various options so have not wasted time and money so far :thbup: SCN5 will be my choice for the future but for now i just need something running all the bits are coming cant wait to drive :yippiee:

:hi:
A newbie........hecka green apple. I am learning as I go along and would like to know what's ego's sim status is? I'll touch base once I am ready to jump on board with the hopes of sharing some love from this forum. :clap: :clap: :clap: and much respect to you all.

My background:
Mech Engr
PLC (basic knowledge)
CNC Machines/ Robotics (troubleshoot/ service)
3 babies and a wife
Budget...hecka LOW
Hobbies: Women, BMW, GSXR, Saltwater/Reef, Freshwater, HTheater, and now SIM

Cheers, :
Edwin

Hi Edwin,

the status is, that I am sticking in a rehabilitation of my house, which I wanted to have finished since more than a year.

Off Topic:

As I am no expertise in such issues, It takes a lot of time, and money is an issue as well, for sure. Dont know where to set up the sim currently. The inside seems more a building lot than a finished apartment still.

As well I havent got a torodial core for power supply. A friend of mine promised me to organise one some time ago, but I havent received it yet.

I really would like to go on with it, but it is not possible yet. My studies and as well the admin allegiances here in the forum are quite time consument additionally.
I thought that I would be able to go with my sim in my semester holidays I had recently, but it was not possible unfortunatly.

Ok, back to topic:

However, independently of the SCN5 project, I will try to fiinish the testing procedure with the firgelli actuators as soon as it is possible for me, as those acutators could be a good alternative solution for the small budget . But recently I cannot say when this will be.

@Wannabeaflier
sorry, I am not ignoring your question. Its just, I dont know what I should advise you, as I havent tested them properly in the full setup status.
As well there as some modifications to be made on the firgellis, which require special tools (lathe) to cut a thread into the rod. Wouldnt recommend to cut the thread by hand. As the rod is made of aluminium, one can destroy the rod easily, I guess.
As well the cable has to be splitted, to isolate the potentiometer cable from the power cable. The firgellis arent made for pwm. You have to seperate the cables to prevent EMF on the poti signals (or you make an external pot setup, like robert made).
For a common skilled person this is not issue, but I dont want someone blaming me, if he destroyes the acutoators by following the steps I've made. Especially with the rod end.

I think the firgellis are fast enough for our purpose. Sure, they dont rock like the SCN5, but ok for their price. A compromise betwenn speed and price. I just havent tested them in normal condition for a longer period.
But unfortuntatly they have a plastic ACME nut built-in, and I think this nut may wear out fast, when operating with 24V and fast frequented direction changes.
But in the end, I dont know it for sure. I have to test it.

For all those who dont want to tinker alot, and want to go for a reliable solution, the SCN5 are the better way to go for sure. Thats all I can say for now.

Regards
Christian