Geko GS105

Anyone know of the status of Geko Systems. http://www.gekosystems.com/ I think it is a company founded by Julien Regnard in Krakow, Poland. Nice site and GS105 is an interesting product with a slightly "different" concept. I entered an order inquiry to get price with freight but no answer for more than a week.

I figured they must be out of business, but they are still advertising on the Net as I get popups that link me to their site.

Hi!
Maybe a problem with the html inquiry... try by email!
I can confirm you that they still in business

Thank you. There is no email address or tel # on the site. I did send email to Mr. Regnard with email from an old forum on FFB but no answer on that.

Found info@gekosystems.com in their legal section and sent email there. We will see.

Thank you. email to info@gekosystems.com generated a reply from Julien Regnard. I think I will buy one and give it a try.

It's based on force rather than movements
it's the best for long forces (long curb)
it's very compact
it helps to abdominal training: you have to involve your muscles in order counteract the forces
and it's very very silent...

I'm not yet fully accustomed but I can already say that it's a good product!

Interesting @RacingMat , but would not a current seat mover sim or full frame do all that now?
Does that mean my "desk racer" is incorrect design?
I get quite a lot of "abdominal training" playing on mine.

@bsft
Here is what I felt between 2DOF full frame and Geko:

- 2DOF full frame: just seat and fasten the seatbelt, and go for a ride being jolted. Fun and immersive! and yes, physical engagement.

- Geko: seat and fasten the seat belt but try keeping yourself steady. You have to stay "vertical" and forces are exerted on you. All the muscles (abdominals and higher in the chest) are working. It's completely different feeling. Need time to accustomate but definitly worth it.

"Desk racer" or "Frex" are in between the two designs
but probably much closer to full frame in terms of feeling I would bet.
Geko is radically different from 2DOF, 3DOF, 6DOF... (sims that moves versus sim that exerts a force on you without travel)

To me, this is similar to debate of joyride vs seatmover. Since we are not moving very far in either, the only force other than the first "shake" is gravity and our muscles isometrically trying to keep us "aligned". The joyrider provides maybe 0.3 g force and is slow in transition. The seat mover is fast in transition and adds "alignment" muscle forces in legs and arms. The Geko GS105 adds one more force from abdominal muscles trying to align the body. One more motion cue.
This concept can be taken further and has with military fighter pilot and Apache helicopter G seats by Moog..they add servos that pull on belts and harnesses.

IMHO the goal is to fool the brain into thinking the body is being accelerated even though it is not. This requires motion cues and isometric muscle contactions.

As crazy as it looks and seems, motion cues to the head may prove to be very productive. It is the least constrained body part in "real" racing and I have experienced real forces above 2G on my neck.

Can Sim Tools control more than one servo from the Roll command in the API of the game?

Once the Roll value is extracted from the game by Simtools, it is send to a USB ComPort for example.
Then you can do what you want from this point.

You can use an arduino to drive many motors from this single value

Thank you! Here us a link to a technical paper on G seats. I will be trying to see how I can add addition servo controlled motion cues probably pulling on elastic belts.

http://www.acme-worldwide.com/PDFs/Application_of_Dynamic_Motion_Seats_IITSEC_2010.pdf

My problem is I have no idea how to even find data in the USB ComPort let alone what to do with it and how to make the Arduino drive a motor. Where does one go to learn such things?

motion cues to the head have been tried with a helmet attached to actuators, and it throws your head around. Thats the opposite of what your head does. Your head is there to counteract forces, not have forces applied to it and expect your body and neck to fix it.
I spoke at length to several doctors and chiropractors and they all say it looks good in the videos and is good business for them in neck injuries, so they welcome the idea, but they all say what I have already stated.

@RacingMat , thanks for pointing that out. I admit it would be a different system having belts tension against you at certain times with certain motion. So it would be interesting , but unfortunately, in this sun burnt country, there is bugger all in commercial sims here.
So unless I build one, I will take your word for it on how it works.
i started with full frames in the beginning and I wrote an article comparing between seat mover and full frame. So I admit a seat mover tends to give me more a realistic feeling in some sense, but a full frame in other sense. Id say to have both on one would be the go.
I recall someone was doing that.
Dave.

Yes, you're right!
In the same idea, I wish to finish my gSeat next year in order to have both!

I have seen the Frex videos moving the head. Large movements are not necessary or appropriate for simulation. Applying motion cues and force is more important. The GS4 seat by Pat Dotson now sold by simxperience (B Villers) as well as simulators used by military supports this view. An applied force in one direction resisted by another muscular force in opposite direction results in no movement but does create a simulation. F1 drivers at US Grand Prix are seeing 3g in corners...huge force on their neck but their heads to not move much. It is that sensation we are trying to duplicate IMHO.

You'll find more information about gSeat here
http://www.xsimulator.net/community/marketplace/g-seat-patent.69/

WOW.! Thank you!!!!! This is fantastic. Now the time to learn it all and build something.

@RacingMat , did you buy a sim from them?

Yes, last month
(I have postponed my DIY gSeat project until next year)