DIY Pendular Rudder Pedals

So, I wanted a new set of rudder pedals; my Saitek combat pro set were getting on my final nerve.

Then I saw something that made my heart bleep dedey bleep. The new Thrustmaster Pendular Rudder System.



Wow, I really liked the way they look....and then I saw the price. And I gulped, gasped, and coughed. 550.00 USD.....ouch.

So. I made my own







Started with some pictures of the spendy set, and created a solidworks model to see how to make things fit.





Realized that I needed some linear hall effect sensors...so I designed some using a magnet and hall effect IC.



Tossed in yet another Teensy ++ 2.0 and kicked it with a touch of MMJOY2.


This thing is rock solid and smooth. Fully adjustable in both the tension of the rudder as well as position of the brake levers.




Total out of pocket? 20.00 USD

If anyone is interested in the linear (not really linear as you can see) hall effect sensors here are the STL files to make your own.

I used a 1/4" threaded steel rod from the spring to the brass connector at the top, that way there is no force on the 3D printed parts. To get the threaded rod through the printed part I put it in a chuck of one of my cordless drills and just drove it up and through.

The part was printed with 1/4" threads which worked perfectly if a bit tight. You could probably just print it as is and thread a 6mm threaded rod up through it as well and let the rod cut new threads in the plastic. The idea is not to make it strong enough to hold pressure, just enough to make the rack slide along the pinion gear.

I used 1/4"x 1/4" neodymium magnets pressed into the center of the pinion gear. Just make sure that the north and south poles of the magnet are at a right angle to the hall effect sensor. Touch the magnet to the end of the bolt and find the weakest sides (should be four out of six) and put one of those toward the sensor. Or if you have more than one magnet just test them against each other. You want the strongest poles to be pointed side to side from the sensor. This way the sensor can read the change in field position.

I used 4-40 bolts and nuts to tie them together and 1/2"x2" compression springs. Included in the STL files are spring retainers. I am including the deep versions but you can edit these to make them shallow. I found that the shallow ones worked just fine.

The hall effect IC (I used UGN3503U linear hall effect sensors) sticks out of the cap where the legs can be soldered. I stripped the copper out of some 22guage wire and slid the rubber insulator from these short bits over the legs of the IC and then heat shrinked (shrunked? ) them together. And then heat shrink of course over the rest of the wire. If I had thought of it I would have made a short tube as part of the IC cap in order to better protect the legs of the IC from bending in the back and forth movement of the rudder. I doubt I will have problems as is though.

If you do build one of these make sure that the hall effect ICs that you buy are ratiometric linear, meaning that they output an analog voltage proportional to the magnetic field intensity (http://www.bristolwatch.com/hall_effect/ratiometric_hall_effect.htm). Many hall effect ICs are simple on/off switches based on magnetic field proximity.

I printed my parts using PetG which is pretty smooth and allows the parts to easily move without the need for bearings.


The pinion gear



The Rack



The housing, note the raised circular track allowing the pinion gear to rotate on. I doubt this is needed as the housing is pretty snug to the pinions outside diameter.




The backplate, I added an indentation for the pinion gear so it would not be restricted (pinched) when I tightened down the cover.



Spring cup


And the IC cap. I mounted the IC sticking out proud of the back plate (toward the magnet) about 3mm (1/8") to get just the right distance from the magnet to get a full read of the field (as full as I could anyway). Then I hot glued the IC in place to keep it from moving around.

I like your project a lot..
Do you have any drawings or other sketches you could share?
Dimensions of components even approximate really helps me get such a project moving.
Thanks again.
tp

Sure TP, do you have access to a CAD program? I can share my original solidworks files or try to export them for you to other formats.

Ya know what? If you are involved in R/C in Cinci I bet that we know some of the same people

Yes I have a copy of turbo cad around here somewhere. But I can get a viewer online I am sure.
I have been into R/c since I got a World Engines Blue Max 4 channel back in 1971.
Lets see... Michigan/Dr1/Historian/ Cincy ties
Lee McDuffy ??

Might not be able to export them for turbo cad but I can make some dimension drawings for you.

Here are all of the solidworks files to create the Pendular rudder pedals as well as some DXF cad files that are importable into various other cad files. I still need to get around to creating output drawings that give specific easy to read size information but I will get to it. There is one included in the zip file that is specific to the frame that I built for the rudder pedals but to be honest it is way overbuilt so I doubt I would use it again.

Edit: File was too large at 28mb

Sorry, I will look into a google drive perhaps. I could split them into multiple zip files of 5mb or less but that is a hassle right now

HUGE WARNING: various parts listed in these files changed slightly during fabrication. Rods are actually bolts that had to change size due to nuts washers, etc. Some of the hole bores changed to accommodate change in bolt/screw sizes, etc. The model was just a prototype for me, to visualize my idea (or copy their idea rather). Do not try to make parts exactly as they are in this model and then expect them to fit

Use at your own risk.

Forgot that I already have a Dropb0x account so I uploaded it there, here is the link:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/rj5nqsuini2xmc3/DIY Pendular Rudder Pedals Solidworks models and files.zip?dl=0

Thanks, I downloaded the file no problem.
However the free Solidworks viewer is no longer downloadable (not sure why)
It is on their site but unreachable.
I have a SW copy from 2016 and it will not allow me to view files created after 2016
I signed up for a free SolidWorks trial (15 days) but will not import any files.(crippleware)
What a company.. lol

Yeah, they are on top of the heap right now so not hobbyist friendly.

I believe that you can import them into Fusion 360 which is free to hobbyists.

Yes I am able to look at them in Fusion 360. At least for the next 30 days lol.
I was trying out the measuring tool. Is the connecting rod 125mm long?

After the 30 days just change to a 'Startup' license. It is free, but requires a internet connection to work.

You can upgrade to the hobby licence at any time

https://knowledge.autodesk.com/supp...-or-educational-licensing-for-Fusion-360.html

Not sure which rod that you mean TR, the foot pedal axle is 180mm long 12mm diameter

Warning: All sizes in the actual rudder pedals changed slightly or massively (depending on the parts that I could scrounge in my shop) from the solidworks model.

Use at your own risk

WARNING so noted .. lol
Here is the part I measured

The connecting linkage length depends on what hardware you choose.

I just ordered new parts for the connecting rod that you mentioned TR, from McMaster Carr the total for two rods (overkill but thought it would be nice to have extra around the shop) and four right hand ends (didnt want to futz with welding a left and right together for micro adjustment) was 13.62 plus shipping. A very cheap price for those rod ends.


Steel rod ends:
https://www.mcmaster.com/60645K32

1/4" - 28 threaded rods
https://www.mcmaster.com/98791A048

I was trying to ask if my measurements derived from the Fusion360 program were correctly done. lol
If you measure it in your SolidWorks program as 125mm and I measure it at 125mm in Fusion 360 then I would feel confident that I had that piece of the program figured out.....

Thanks for the link on the rod ends and threaded rod.
I am going to order those later tonight..

Oh, sorry. It should be exactly the same as the cad program measures in units and you the operator defines what a unit is. So if Fusion 360 is set up to default to mm and I saved mine in mm it will be the same. What really messes people up is when they open a file that was saved as inches and they use mm. I know a guy who wanted to copy my CNC machine, I saved the files in inches and he couldn't figure out why I would have a Z axis only 19mm tall!!

To be clear; yes your measurements are correct