X-Plane 11 6DOF motion platform

@mariano68
Thank you for your vote of confidence I made the videos as a general introduction for someone thinking of building one. There are lots of details missing so I would think it would be a challenge to build one without the help from this community. I am referring especially to the detailed drawings from @wannabeaflyer2. You might notice that at times my voice is staccato - that's because I cut out most of the ummms which would have added several minutes to each video

I agree that it is impossible for most of us to build a 6dof without the community support, I just think that your videos are a great introduction.

I am just uploading Part 5 which gives an overview of the software from the Arduino all the way to the simulator.

Seriously @SixDegreesOfFlight im at a loss for words to cover just how much effort and the informative quality of presentation you have put on you tube , add to the your very nicely done platform and WOW kicks in .. the suggestion that this should be stickyfied ( made up word but ya'll get the drift ) would be an understatement ...my current setup has yet to utilise Simtools, but i did a number of trials early days with SMC but I note that things have picked up the pace big time with Simtools / SMC and DE motor Controllers and that's something that i'll change in my system setup further down the road , Always knew Simtools was more flexible in terms of Added Game profiles , than my current software, but for now im in if it aint broke don't fix it YET mode LOL :-0 (Ok the sim is down but the control side is still OK ) I was always gonna change to Simtools at some point but your presentation has certainly Swung the pendulum that way .........Can I Shout out "GREAT STUFF THAT MAN " Consider those Videos Saved eagerly awaiting next chapter This forum seems to bring out guys that push things to the next level and so everyone benefits .. been here years now and never ceases to amaze how inventive the members are .. the many ways to skin a cat rules this place big time Ok no more post Hogging but had to say impressive stuff all the way ..

@wannabeaflyer2
Thank you so much for your encouragement and kind words. Without your build, I would not have started. In some cases I studied your videos frame by frame (some frames were even enhanced in photoshop) to see how you built it. Like good King Wenceslas you put your feet in the snow first and I followed.

@noorbeast
Thank you. What an honour! I thought I should give something back to this community that has given me so much

Well Done mate, simply awesome!.. that is a lot of effort making those videos and spending the time explaining things to us all, very much appreciated. I especially liked the actuator walk though (as you know I will be building some soon).. so I'm getting the jist on how that works now..quick question, I cant seem to find the files for the 3D printed parts for the actuator on your thread to download.. have I missed them some where?

Cheers

@John458
I haven't uploaded them. I will try and remember tonight and put them on the first page post along with the parcel arrival photos and links to parts. I will upload the Fusion 360 native files so you can modify / combine them. The rod holder assembly should be one solid piece and should be at least 1-2mm narrower than the ones I will upload so it doesn't rub on the V-slot.

I have just uploaded the Fusion 360 native files to the first page of the thread so you can modify / combine them. You will find it with the parts URL links. The rod holder assembly should be combined into one solid piece and should be at least 1-2mm narrower than the ones in the zip file so it doesn't rub on the V-slot. So consider them prototypes. I would suggest printing them at 10% to see what they are like first, then modify them to suit your own actuator.

LOL the lead honor must go to @SeatTime we just indeed followed but look where its taken us ...to a very good place

A small update...
1. The solution to the angle of my foot to the helicopter pedals was solved with a simple section of M8 thread and some nuts.
2. Preparing for the VR motion cancellation software using 50mm PVC pipe, a short length of anti-slip mat with double sided tape and a cable tie. I'll wait to see if it shifts

I am still tuning the SimTools settings. So far I have found that reducing the PWM down from 220 to 150 has brought the feeling of flight into the ball park. Helicopter movements are rarely rapid. I have also increased the values in the Tuning Center to further smooth out the reactions. However, I am finding that I can't have large amounts of roll & pitch while at the same time getting a smooth fluid sensation with the VR headset on. This is going to take some time.

This contagious forum shall be closed and you guys arrested for spreading this...
I was just a normal guy, happy with my OSW and 5 ButtKicker static seat, looking for a 2DOF... maybe a 3DOF...
And now here I am, ordering parts for a 6DOF.
LOL

Thank you all for sharing the experience and the knowledge.
(well, I already have much to thank as my OSW is actually the Son of OpenSimWheel from RufusDufus).

@llluis
As @wannabeaflyer2 has said before we have @SeatTime to blame for all this madness

Still having fun testing Last night I had one of the 'doh' moments. The motion has been everything but 'realisitic' and it has taken a few hours for the 'penny' to finally drop. In the SimTools axis allocation, I had roll, pitch, yaw and heave all set at 80%. In other words each actuator had a total allocation of 4x80 = 320% It seems so obvious now but after setting roll and pitch to 30% and yaw and heave to 20% each it all started to come together. However, there were two other 'gotchas'.

I updated X-Plane to 11.10b7 and deleted my preference file and couldn't figure out why I wasn't getting any motion - I had to re-patch the new version AND go to the data output window and put the data I wanted sent to SimTools back in again.

The second one was little more tricky. While I was testing last night, actuator #1, seemed to be falling asleep It would gradually sink about 100mm then quickly shoot up to where it was supposed to be. It was almost as if it was loosing power or the PWM was like 10. After a bit of thinking the most efficient test would be to swap the motor outputs on the Sabertooth and the two inputs on the Arduino. It took about 5 mins. At switch on - both actuators #1 and #2 shot off towards the ceiling going right through the limit switches. No damage was done principally because it was still in the 'soft start' period. Grrr - I had to switch the pot pos and neg as well. After doing that actuator #1 was still exhibiting the same behaviour. That left one thing - the motor.

I got out my variable power supply and attached it directly to the motor wires and sure enough it looked at times like an open circuit. OMG I am going to have to replace the motor. OK lets have a look a the brushes maybe one of them is cracked or worn. The first one I unscrewed - the plastic case was tight. The brush sloped a little but otherwise seemed OK. The plastic case of the second brush was loose and the brush had quite a lot of dust (graphite?) on it which I rubbed off with my thumb. Once I had put it back in - hey presto - it was fixed. The image shows after I rubbed most of it off. The red arrow shows a little that was still left. It still leaves the possibility that it simply needed to be tightened up so that the connecting plate (at the end of the spring) made better contact.

@noorbeast
Yes I am intending to make that one - very soon. For you guys who have been using it for some years, the operation must seem so logical and straight forward. But for beginners, like me, there is so much to get your head around I can understand the multitude of questions and problems raised by inexperience and misunderstanding. I hope the video will help to at least get newcomers into the ball park.

@SixDegreesOfFlight , I couldn't find in your shopping list the latching button you used for activating the system as you mention in your video. Could you point me which one is it, please?

@llluis
The push button I used is called "waterproof metal 16mm push button..." - the ebay link is on the first page of the thread. It is simply a push button - any type of normally open push button could be used. The latching is done by the horn relay. You will have to study the circuit diagram to see how it works and have a look a comment I made a few posts ago describing the behaviour.

Just uploaded the first of three videos explaining how SimTools works

Part 1
What is SimTools and how does it work?
Where you get SimTools from?
How much does it cost?
How do you install SimTools?

Part 2 (not yet complete)
Setting up communications between SimTools and the game
Setting up communications between SimTools and the driver
Setting axis limits
Assigning degrees of freedom to each axis

Part 3 (not yet complete)
Testing axis assignments
Using the Tuning Center
Using the Game Manager and creating profiles

Part 1