6 dof rotary motion platform.....1st try

Hi
Here I will show my progress for a 6 DOF motion platform i'm trying to build......or actually improve. I bought it from another member after he was having problem converting it to sabertooth driver.

Right now I' ve redone some part of the wiring as it had overheated, and tidy it up a bit. I've added resistor to dispel the load when motor is acting as a generator and tested almost every composant.

Now I'm ready to hook it up and fire it and see if I can do something with this. I'm guessing that I will have to change the motor and probably the power supply as they seem too weak for the intended purpose, but I'll try them first and see what can be achieved with those.

I'll probably have a few questions along the way and if some of you guys can help me along the road I'll be thankful to you to share your experience.

I have much experience working with electric motor, drivers and all, and a few years experience as a mecanician so I'm pretty much covered for the working part, but I'm still not sure about motor placement...eg what is the best angle for those motor. So let's begin this adventure

I don't know how often i'm going to be active on this forum as i don't have much spare time having young kids always disturbing me, but if all goes well i'm guessing 6 month time it's gonna be working if I don't go short on cash before . I' ve budgeted about 1000$ CAD for new motor and power supply so we'll see if I can make it happen.

Photos will come soon of where I'm at now

See you soon

Nicolas

Hi guys,
I've now redone part of the wiring, installed the brake resistor, did a first test with the smc3 util, and then configured simtools.
I'm now building my platform to put atop the base metal frame, and after that I will start messing with the PID tuning. Don't have a cable for my phone near me, but I'll post a short video soon.

Think(and hope) it's going to be faster than expected. Pray witth me that I'll be able to resolve POMAN platform oscillation problem.

Without any load I was able to have all 6 motor responding fine to a motion/sine wave/triangle wave command
in smc3 so my hopes are high.

Still think that those motors are underpowered tough

If all goes well I will try to fit all electronic in a ventilated computer case. Hopefully those freaking loud fan from the PSU will be damped. And after that pretty much all wiring is going to be redone to be as neat as possible. Think I will try to fit the case under the platform but sill not sure if it's a good idea. I'm guessing that once everything is setup, I won't have to touch that part much.

A question for you guys. I'm thinking of putting 1 circuit breaker for the 120V circuit of the PSU. 1 per 12V line of the PSU(so 3 more) to protect the sabertooth if power supply goes boom. And 6 for the motor to protect the sabertooth if motor goes boom. So a total of 10 breaker. Am I overkill here?

Thanks for reading
Nicolas

So......wooden platform is almost done.....need to drill hole for my shifter and handbrake.
oscillation problem is a thing of the past. there were a few setting to change in describe software.
but now i think 5 of my gearbox are 25:1 and 1 is 50:1......the 50:1 can do anything it want, with or without me on the platform(i have 40kg strut under each mounting post) and the 25:1 can't bring down the platform if it has no load on it and in certain circumstances can't lift me up(when the angle of the platform are really extreme with this motor alone in smc3). so i've ordered a few more 50:1 motor and i think i'll be fine with those. maybe should have counted the rotation before i order but seeing how it reacted my guess is preetty good me think.

current draw on the motor is fine.....around 6 amp under normal circumstances.....can go to 9 or 10 with a heavy angle on the 50:1 ......on the 25:1 tough, it caps my power supply at 14 amp pretty regularly.

the thing is way more powerful than i expected. I'll see if i can live with the 25:1 under the 2 post where my feet are, and just changed the 4 other.....if not i'll change them all.

I'll have to find which motor goes where in simtool, and while waiting for my motor I'll redo the wiring to the motor, and if i have the time, put the controller in a computer case.

Lets get back to work

I have received my 3 50:1 gearmotors......tested it and.....Excellent......was able to use the 2nd hole on my lever(the farther one) without much change in asked current. But now my gas strut are hitting one of the motor. So I have to change the direction where my output shaft on the gearbox are facing, on 3 of the 6 motor. 1st one is done, 2 to go.

I also ordered 3 more motor, so I'll have the 6 of them able to output equal power at equal speed.......much needed I said to myself. While waiting for those 3 more motor, I'll continue updating my wiring(espacially now that the platform and motor gearbox are not attached to the base).

It's getting there.....I hope soon. In 2 weeks, I think I'll be able to start testing with a game. Can't wait to be there. Hope that it will work fine with VR and that motion sickness won't bring it's ugly head .

Photo's and videos will start appearing soon I guess
See you soon for another post

Damn....was looking at the thing tonight. Found out that my strut will be hitting the frame when going back or forward. Probably from side to side too. Hesitating between modifying the frame.....no$ required but will weaken the base or turning the mount of the strut And putting it up: will need new Rod to support the seat and the whole thing will be higher up the ground. Dont know what to do. Will sleep on that and get back at it later.

Will eat more of my time one way or another.....damn. Hope there won t be too many surprise waiting for me I m starting to get excited about putting it to the test.

had a gas strut die on me....damn it.....anyway they were too short to use with my armn...... called longer one and im waiting for them. finished redoing wiring on my base but haven't started putting the controller in my computer case. next week ill receive the strut. ill have to mountthe motr a bit higher andthen......testing phase begins at last

AAANNNDDDDDD.......IITT WWWOORRKKSS....
my gas strut are not strong enough tough so I had to use the closer hole on my arms so movement is a bit limited. It's going to be enough for now until I've tried a few games to make sure it's pleasent enough to continue investing on the thing.

Pretty happy with the thing. It runs off a single 15 A/120v outlet with rubish power supply. Efficiency is around 50% on those, but all in all my motor run around 5A in average so no breaker tripping and no special outlet.....yeah!!!

Underestimated the load put on the front motor as those are the one where the weight distribution are the fartest but they have almost no load on them as my fat ass sit the fartest from them. Still it's the one that struggle the most. Until I buy new gas strut i will have to be careful where i sit I think.

I haven't figured out how to configure simtools forsway and surge movement. Can't figure it in my head how those two movement are made. Tought about it a bit last night after goind to bed, and my guess is you need only 4 motor for those two movement. Can someone point me in the good direction for this? In the meantime I'll make a few more try.

Now need to put the controllers in a computer case. I've push back on this task as it was not essential but my ears are gonna thank me a lot if I do it fast. Fans on the power supply are freakin loud. POMAN was using 6 of those, don't know how he endured that thing. I have only 3 and they are driving me nuts. I've made the motor wire 20 feet long in case it's too loud and i want to put it in the wardrobe. I hope sound will be dampened enough in a case to put it under the platform. The whole thing take a bit of space, and if I can save on this, I'll do it. Probably will build a cage to put it in,in case something bad happen or probably more for when something bad happen

I'll try to put a few videos of my journey here tonight and at the same time apply for the license for simtools as I play almost exclusively assetto corsa. Tought if it all works ill give MSFS2020 a go for sure. Will porbably require a new computer tough

All in all it cost me under 2000$ cad for a 6dof platform. Was ready to buy a dofreality for 8000$ cad but couldn't do that until a few more years saving. How great is that, i'm really happy. I probably need to invest 100$ for new strut and i guess around 200$ for 3 new dell power supply. Those can output more amp than my chinese one so probably that fans will be quieter too......

Have a nice year guys, right now mine is starting well

congrats!

we would be delighted to see some pics or vids!

nice thanks @noorbeast think you just made it click in my head

nice sway and surge are now working.......
i've worked on the smoothing filter a bit and think i've got the optimal setting.....only the traction loss filter left to do but first i need a licence to test it.

i've applied this morning for a simtools licence, will see if they give to me or if i'll have to pay for it.
Can't wait to try it in a game

need to put the kids to bed and then ill post a few photos and a small vid showing the thing working with smcutil

Hi
here is a few screen from my simulator....first one is how it's made second one is a screenshot from smc3util. it's from one of the motor at the front( so the weakest one.) you can see in it that in big elevation change(going up), there might be a slight delay. that's why I'll probably end up having bigger strut in place.

In simtool i have limited the movement of those 2 motor so that they are always in the sweet spot mechanically wise so they don't end up lagging. if i limit the pitch they stay near 90 degree on the arm so are way stronger.

the 4 motor at the back don't have any problem as they are directly under me and there's no weight beyond in the rear. the gas strut is fine in this situation. the 2 in front end up having my feet(and so the platform)extending about 20 inch beyond the motor. never tought it would have put such a strain on them.

once i have my simtool licence i'll start to play with assetto corsa to see how it fare in real life.
I made pretty much all the simulation possible in simtool and even in the worst case(3 or 4 arm maxed out i think) it can bring me back without any trouble. It gives me some nice angle in almost all the axes but still i want more, especially on traction loss. so bigger strut on all 3 axes are on the plan. hope i'll size them right this time. i have 3 times 45 kg installed, and i plan on 3X 60 instead. hope it'll be enough to go with my 2nd hole on my arm and this way it should have enough throw that i can do whatever i want. story for another time. meanwhile I WANNA TRY IT

see you soon

Holy crap it’s working!!!!
Couldnt do more than a 2 min drive before 1 am rang in. Traction loss will have to be readjusted its too intense. But it s freakin workin....woohoo.... my 5 years old self stare in disbelief. I have dreamed about that for such a long while. For the longest time never even tought it was possible to jave rhat in my house and now.....playin in vr with a motion platform.......can t waot for tomorrow night to try it for real......

was amazed that motion compensation in pitool for the pimax was that good. Had to recalibrate the headset and it was done. Hope that when i add my buttkicker it will stay the same.
Job for another time, now let s enjoy this thing
We cant up’oad videos and i dont have ny account setup, will see what incan do but will try to post something about it

have a nice day to you all

Nicolas

wow that thing is totally awesome, tough it really messed up my lap time . Was expected and the trade off is totally worth it. I still have to tune the simtool parameter a bit. Right now i haven't started playing with the min / max force, only going with the axis profile. At first I want to understand what every setting does so that when I spot a problem i know exactly where to go. Still don't have the surge axis to my liking but it's coming. Was expecting forword backward movement at first, but with the motor/strut i have, I'm too heavy and i can't switch the center of gravity much. My motor start to get hot as soon as I move that. But still I can play for hours on the thing at once and until now(finger crosed) no failure. The thing is not fused yet, and I'm too busy right now putting a smile on my face to bother redoing my control box. Still I'll need to do it sooner than later, it's right next to my computer desk and it bothers me so I'll get to it soon. It's been 6 month that my office is a mess with that thing, my tools and the parts takin up all the place. But at least it's now in a corner takin way less space tha before.


Clamped the thing, and it takes around 6 amp max on my 120v outlet, 8 with my buttkicker in action. Was expecting way more, specially with my shitty power supply. Tought i'd be nearing the 15 amps only with the platform, but I could probably add 2 more buttkicker and still be fine with a single outlet. That was my original plan, to put 2 mini lfe under my feet so that I could use one for each tire, but with everything I feel now, I'm no longer certain I'll go that route. Time will tell, but it's no longer a priority

Right now theres me (240 pounds), 2 buttkicker lfe(10 pounds each), fanatec shifter and fanatec handbrake(10 pounds for both), accuforce wheel(20 pounds), wooden base put atop a metal frame(about 40 pounds total), fanatec v2 pedal(lets say 10 pounds but probably a bit less), a keyboard and vive wand for motion cancellation and my chairs(near 40 pounds) put on that. I guess total weight is between 350 and 400 pounds put on that thing and it works.

There's 2 motor that can go hot, one up front and one in the back each on the same side. The strut on the front is definatly not strong enough, with no power apply the platform goes down in the front, so having a stronger one in front is needed. My platform has 4 motor in the back and two upfront so should have tought of it, but.....life it is, I'm still not perfect . The one in the back was fine until I added my handbrake and shifter, and especially my buttkicker. with those 30 pounds more, I couldn't move the platform backward and still have a good range for the other axis anymore. It's too much for this one.

Ho yeah, I put my 70 pounds son on it and it was strong enough to move him, so weight range is quite good too.

For simracing range of motion is quite good, specially as I'm playing in VR I guess. Could always use more traction loss, there's never enough on that one. I once tought to buy a wrapping machine and put my platform on it .

But for flight sim, it might be restricted. I wanna try MSFS 2020 but computer is getting old. Not sure it would cope with it. I'still running a 2600k after all. It got a 1080ti in it, but it's starting to show it's age. But hey it's in it's 9th year, and all that time at 4.5ghz...I'm kinda attached to it now . Anyway now that the platform is almost done, budget will go toward that new cpu and i hope in a few month to be able to try MSFS2020 and be amazed once more.

If anyone can tell me if I can atleast enjoy the game with that cpu or if it's doomed to fail, I'll be happy to hear it, Could'nt see any review that went as far back with cpu so I'm in the dark.

If anybody want the part list, I can give to him. My guess is the BoM is around 2400$ cad for everything new, but i didn't make a list so might be forgetting(or overestimating) something.

Meanwhile I'll continue to enjoy my new toy

Have a nice day all
Nicolas