Showroom Newb's compact 2DOF build - Moving from a commercial unit to a DIY under seat mover

And so it begins...
Here's the platform prototype to start building off of.

If it holds up, then I can use it until Spring for tweaking and adjusting for a final steel re-build.
Gotta get my welding chops up first!

Now that the main base fitting is done and I have a good idea where to place things, I may have to put the old seat back in for some racing & flying in my off time as I build this in the workshop over the next week.

On the other hand, I could just leave it out and play a bunch of VR games that I've been neglecting since getting a motion platform a couple of months ago.

Will be assembling the electronics as I wait for the coats of paint to dry on the wood & steel parts.

Finally things are coming together.

I must say that I'm really missing playing with a motion platform, as it's been almost a month since I returned the NLRv3 to Best Buy and began planning this build.

Also, I'm a bit scared to tally up the costs on this when all is said and done...it will be interesting...hopefully nowhere near the $4k CAD that the NLRv3 was.

Lots of progress this weekend...too tired to take pic's at the moment (it's after 3am here), but will update ASAP.

I'm switching the design over to a rear-drive under the seat platform vs the front-drive which I had been envisioning since starting this build (similar to the NLRv3).
That should make for easier adjustment & repairs if need be.

I've decided to use the sliders under the seat rather than under the entire platform, figuring I'll only be using it for micro adjustments.
I think that placing the entire motion rig on them would be too much weight for the rail sliders, plus my pedals are on sliders anyways.
Worst case scenario is that I'll grab another set of sliders and put the wheel base on them for adjusting it fore & aft.

Also, since things are beginning to come together nicely, I've decided to paint everything as I go in case this ends up being a final or long-term build which I'll end up using for a while until switching over to some steel framing.

Even though I could leave it raw (unpainted wood/metal & exposed electronics), there's nothing less inspiring than an unpainted ghetto looking racing rig...even in VR.

Damn...build #2 of ACC with VR is due out in 2 days...I doubt I'll be ready by then, but that is definitely an inspiration to get moving!!!

Motor placement and temp mounting (just screwed in for now, will be bolting them on for motor & software testing).
6" axles + 4" motor levers have been cut and fitted, but I'll have to grab a 12mm drill bit to match the axle diameter, plus drill 3 holes on the rod-end side of the levers for various CTC lengths.



Plenty of clearance for the motor arms in the event of a runaway.






Test fitting the seat post/U-joint (it has an adjustable height during this prototype phase).





As I'm waiting for my aluminum 12mm to 6mm flexible couplings to arrive, I've temporarily 3D printed a few of these, and after a bit of tweaking they're a surprisingly snug fit.
Will add the small bolts/nuts for the couplings, make some temp brackets, and then I may even be able to setup the JRK's to begin testing everything.
There will also be a threaded steel rod between the unused top motor mounts for added rigidity.
Soooo much wood....this is looking like the ISRTV "Death Mobile" of motion simulators.

Motor Levers drilled @ 30mm, 50mm & 70mm for the 3/8"rod ends.

That should be adequate spacing for the testing phase.


Still need to find a 12mm cobalt drill bit for the axle side of the lever (I've drilled a 1/4" guide hole for now).

Living in Canada, and using the metric system since the 1980's, one would think that it's easy to find a 12mm or M12 drill bit....nope!

Might have to settle on a 15/32" drill bit and make do...then weld a 12mm nut to one side of the lever.


These are just 4" prototype levers anyways, I have about 4ft of this steel left over to play with and refine a set for the finished build.

Last night I made another trip to both Home Depot & Princess Auto and grabbed some more stuff...I think I have everything I need now (haven't I said THAT before??? ).

I've permanently mounted both motors with a total of twelve countersunk 1/4" x 2 1/2 " bolts, washers & Acorn nuts through the steel mounts to the base for a more finished look.

They feel incredibly solid now, and along with the bottom washers there shouldn't be any play.

Even if by chance over time they do happen loosen up, since this is designed as a "drop-in/removable" seat mover, I can just un-mount it from the cockpit.

I'll be using 3 bolts down each side (the unused blank area on the outside of each motor) , flip it over and re-tighten things up...theoretically speaking of course.








I'll also be adding a threaded rod between the two unused top motor mounts, and will also add two steel drop-down mounts (similar in style to the motor levers) for the pots.

Test fitting the threaded rod.






Test fitting the power supplies.

As much as I love how they are a perfect fit (a happy accident!) I'm not so sure I want them mounted directly to the platform, what with all the shaking & vibrations a motion sim has by nature.

Perhaps I'm over-thinking it, and using some rubber pads, bushings or grommets underneath each power supply and the JRK housing (to be mounted between the two power supplies) will solve that issue.

It would be really nice to have this be a self contained all-in-one seat mover which can be unbolted for tweaking, service, or to fit into different rigs in the future.







Well, now to get the soldering iron out and start assembling the electronics.

Damn....it's ACC build 2 day.....WITH VR!!!!!!

I may just have to bolt the seat back into the rig while I do this electrical work so I can put a few laps in.

No biggie, as I don't need the seat for ANY of what I'll be doing with this build over the next few days.

I guess that's a side benefit of a self contained seat mover, I can quickly and easily swap between both it or a static rig if need be.

Keep it up! I made more than a few trip to Home Depot thinking I got everything) Free 2 day and in some instances next day amazon shipping here in US was MEGA for weird items that I couldn't source locally.
I would highly recommend using nylon nuts for pretty much all moving/shaking parts. I have made a few re tightening passes on my rig after initial assemble.

Thanks folks.

CQeNS, I've ordered a handful of things from Amazon.ca for this build.
2x Power Supplies, XT60 connectors, 10k wire-wound pots, triple wire harnesses for the feedback loop, 12v12 JRK's (then returned/exchanged for G2's from RobotShop), etc.
I also have a few Amazon things coming from China, hopefully sooner than later (four 12mm to 6mm flexible couplings, extra 10k wire-wound pots for spares, etc.).

noorbeast, I agree about the cross-bar for added rigidity.
I also plan to use it for mounting the pots by using a piece of metal similar to the motor levers and holding it in place sandwiched between two nuts .
That way I can slide it along the axis and make adjustments when setting up the motors (or for when I break a pot ).
I'll probably upgrade to hall effect pots in the future, but I'm having a difficult time sourcing some for a reasonable cost with shipping...but the hunt continues.
I knew which motors (PGSaw 50:1) I was going to use from the beginning, hence the design very similar to your Compact DX Racer sim with the levers facing outwards and also clearing the base so as not to cause issues in the event of a runaway.

I'm hoping to get to the setup, programming & testing phase this weekend.

I haven't fired up Live For Speed (the included testing profile) in a while, so I should probably get reacquainted with it....but....it's ACC VR day....LFS is gonna have to wait a bit.

Unless of course I fire it up when I'm done playing around with ACC tonight.


When I stood back and looked at the design today, I realized that it could also be used as a shoulder-mount seat mover just by mounting the seat in front of the power supplies and adding longer arms + a steel seat frame if I ever felt like it.
That's kind of unexpected and cool!!! Another happy accident!
There's a lot of flexibility by being an all-in-one unit with only a 24" wide x 20" deep footprint.







I'm feeling the itch for some ACC VR tonight.....putting this on hold and going to pop the static seat on for a few laps after dinner.

Here's my seat platform for both the static and (soon to be) motion rig.

I can quick-change between using a Thrustmaster H-pattern TH8A shifter, or a Warthog HOTAS setup in less than a minute.

Both the Warthog Joystick & Throttle are mounted to identical steel mounts which sit at the perfect height on either side of the seat.

They're actually just non-swiveling boat-seat pedestals which were on clearance for $5 each at Princess Auto, and they quick release with hex-keyed bolts through steel grommets.










These are the seat-rails which can also quickly bolt into the sim rig deck in the event I need to use it as a static rig....janky but they work and are solid, almost too solid!





This is the bare sim rig deck where the Next Level Racing V3 once sat , and now eagerly awaits my X-Sim setup.





This is the bottom side of the seat platform with the sliders attached. This is then mounted to another platform which the U-joint will be mounted to.







This is how the static version looks when mounted, along with the TH8A Shifter on the right hand side.
You can now see the smaller secondary platform which the seat-sliders are mounted to.





And this is how it looks when the lights go down and I get into some racing.





Or at least that's what I hear it looks like...I'm usually in VR anyways.

Speaking of which, I'm off to test out the new build #2 of ACC...damn static rig or not, LOL!!!!

nice work

Thank you.

It's been a bit of a slow go this last week as I'm still waiting for some stuff from China which was ordered off of Amazon.

Some spare 10k wire-wound pots did arrive today, which now gives me a total of 8 on hand.

Hopefully that will last me until I source some 180 degree hall effect pots.

Still waiting for the 12mm to 6mm couplers, but I see that they've now cleared Customs so hopefully they'll arrive sooner than later.

While I'm here I may as well post a few update pics, as I've been able to solder up one of the JRK's for testing with a motor.

Tomorrow I'll fabricate a bracket and mount a pot for some testing with feedback.

Heck, I was just glad to see the motor running at different speeds in both fwd & rev with the JRK config utility.


Quick motor test without feedback in order to see if it worked (no sparks or smoke...so THAT's a great sign).




Pololu G2 18v19 JRK mounted in a 3D printed project box, along with a 40mm Noctua fan mounted to the top portion. Being the only line of defense for keeping the JRK's cool, I decided to spend a bit extra on the fans and go with a decent brand. 6 year warranty, came with a ton of optional connectors (I'm connecting directly to the PS), and are extremely quiet for such small fans.

The two halves will then be bolted together with a small spacer in between for even further airflow.




10k Wire-wound pot wired up with a 3-pin connector for the JRK feedback.
From what I've been reading on the forums I may have to switch over to a shielded cable if I experience any interference...this will do for now though.
I think I have it wired correctly, but unfortunately the 3 pot connectors aren't labelled so I'm assuming that the middle tab is the wiper.
It does register analog feedback if I enable it in the JRK config utility and manually twist the (temporary) knob.
Have yet to test it in SimTools with it mounted to a motor.





Ready for further testing tomorrow!!!!
Hopefully with the pot mounted to the motor shaft and I can start using feedback.

Looks great!
Where did you connected the fan to?
I'm planning to add one to my electronic's housing but my psu is 24v and the fans I have laying around are 12v.

Thanks!

I'll be connecting the fans directly to their respective power supplies with the provided +/- pigtails which were included in the box.

I'm using two 12v 40A power supplies (as pictured in the above posts), each of which have three available 12v outputs.

That will be one 12v output per JRK, one per JRK cooling fan, and one spare in case I decided to do something like cooling fans for the motors or some vanity LED's for the platform (or both ).


I could have opted for 5v fans and connected them to each of the JRK's 5v outputs, but I'd rather they be used strictly for motor control and not have any other functions or undue stress.



In your case, trying to power some 12v fans off of your 24v power supplies may be more trouble than it's worth.

Fans are cheap anyways, so maybe opt for some new 24v, or 5v versions in order to use what's available to you power supply wise?

Perhaps in your situation you could use either a 5v USB powered fan (assuming that you are using a USB hub for your electronics), a 5v fan powered by an Arduino or JRK, or even just a wall-outlet powered fan.

Good luck with whatever you choose!

Here's a pic of how the JRK enclosures are configured with the nylon PCB stand-offs in order to allow for airflow under the PCB.

There are side vents on the top portions of the enclosures, and there will also be about 1/2" space all around the sides for additional airflow and cable routing once the two halves are assembled with spacers + screws.

The power leads on the JRK's are labelled "M" for the motors & "P" for the 12v power supplies to avoid any confusion when connecting or for future service/repairs.

I've also attached one of the quick-release pigtails to a fan to show how they will connect to the power supplies.

The enclosures will be mounted onto the motion platform underneath the motors, and also have foam pads on the bottom to reduce any excess vibration.

I've also hot-glued the JRK power/motor connections to help relieve any stress on the leads and avoid any shorts. That is a popular trick used in guitar effect pedals for any stress prone connections.

Ah okay. Thanks! I went with ordering a 24v fan. I theoretically could have used two in series (24v/2=12v) but I only need one. I will power it with the psu. Sound is not really an issue because the Accuforce v2 is louder than anything else anyway, lol.

Well isn't this a nice surprise in my mailbox today, and earlier than expected.
The ETA was originally Oct 31-Nov 15th!
Originally ordered on Oct 4th thru Amazon, but coming from China by a 3rd party seller.
2 weeks to the day for shipping to Canada, impressive!

Upon seeing them in person, I'm glad that I didn't jump the gun and start finalizing my axel & brackets measurements before I had these in hand.
I definitely would have been off, as these aren't a 50/50 ratio for the 6mm and 12mm inner bores, more like a 75% for the 12mm side and 25% for the 6mm side.

Wow...what a day!

First time welding (yup....I suck), but I managed to get my levers done a few hours before it rains here for the next week or so.

Then tonight I sat down and did a very rough assembly of one side in order to test-fit the axle/lever/pot assembly, configure a JRK, setup SimTools (demo version) and if all went well...test out Live For Speed.

I've set up my motor limits and configured a pot for feedback, and I think I've done it correctly....there's some math involved due to having 50:1 gear motors which I cannot backdrive by hand.



Everything works, so I'm going to leave it for now, but will revisit it again when it's time to do the second JRK/Motor setup.


This is how one side is setup for testing, in a very rough form for now just to see if it works, visualize the feedback setup and to plan for the final version.






SimTools is very intuitive, and the documentation + community tips are second to none.

It didn't take long at all to get up and running...first with the JRK setup/config, followed by the SimTools setup/config....then testing the axis movements.

I must admit, when I got to the testing phase I was a bit nervous, but seeing the axis go up and down when moving the sliders in SimTools gave me a **** eating grin.

Not being content ending the night there, I decided to give the Live For Speed demo a quick test using just the keyboard for controls.

When I hit the accelerator and I saw the lever move down my **** eating grin became so massive I could have passed for the Joker....then it doubled in size when I hit the brakes and the lever went up past center!!!



I can't wait to get the other motor side done, lock down the axles with their pins, attach the seat platform and hook up the connecting rods.

That will (hopefully) be a happy day of testing while sitting in the drivers seat.

Congrats, can't wait to see your finished rig in action!