1. Do not share user accounts! Any account that is shared by another person will be blocked and closed. This means: we will close not only the account that is shared, but also the main account of the user who uses another person's account. We have the ability to detect account sharing, so please do not try to cheat the system. This action will take place on 04/18/2023. Read all forum rules.
    Dismiss Notice
  2. For downloading SimTools plugins you need a Download Package. Get it with virtual coins that you receive for forum activity or Buy Download Package - We have a zero Spam tolerance so read our forum rules first.

    Buy Now a Download Plan!
  3. Do not try to cheat our system and do not post an unnecessary amount of useless posts only to earn credits here. We have a zero spam tolerance policy and this will cause a ban of your user account. Otherwise we wish you a pleasant stay here! Read the forum rules
  4. We have a few rules which you need to read and accept before posting anything here! Following these rules will keep the forum clean and your stay pleasant. Do not follow these rules can lead to permanent exclusion from this website: Read the forum rules.
    Are you a company? Read our company rules

Show me your Universal Joints

Discussion in 'DIY Motion Simulator Building Q&A / FAQ' started by Psionic001, Feb 9, 2019.

?

Do you make your own Joints or buy after market

  1. Designed and Built my own joints

    28.6%
  2. Purchased after market

    61.9%
  3. Found another way to use joints

    4.8%
  4. I don't use joints

    4.8%
  1. Olivier beaujoin

    Olivier beaujoin New Member

    Joined:
    Aug 22, 2019
    Messages:
    21
    Location:
    France - Roquefort-les-Pins (06330)
    Balance:
    197Coins
    Ratings:
    +4 / 0 / -0
    My Motion Simulator:
    AC motor, 6DOF
    Have tried and no improvement :(.

    Yes I have contacted Mike in PM. He experimented similar issue but at much lower level. Adding Dupont Teflon spray helped a lot. He is doing that regularly. Have tried with similar product WD40 but it did not worked for me. He told me that only Dupont spray worked on his platform but actually not possible to order that spray in Europe (out of stock every where). Might give a try as soon as available.

    OK thanks for your proposal, I will PM you my email.

    Cheers,
    Olivier
  2. Gadget999

    Gadget999 Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Dec 27, 2015
    Messages:
    1,886
    Location:
    London
    Balance:
    11,543Coins
    Ratings:
    +453 / 9 / -0
    My Motion Simulator:
    2DOF, DC motor, Arduino, 6DOF
  3. Psionic001

    Psionic001 Active Member Gold Contributor

    Joined:
    Mar 5, 2017
    Messages:
    138
    Location:
    Sydney
    Balance:
    1,002Coins
    Ratings:
    +59 / 1 / -0
    My Motion Simulator:
    Motion platform, 6DOF
    hi Oliver
    I don’t know if heim joints were ever designed for constant high pressure use like that from your example video. It’s like a worn knee joint and nothing will fix that. You should be running on a ball bearing surface.
    The first post above you can see the U-Joints I made from 7075 Aircraft aluminium. They are very strong.
    I can make more but I would make your ones bigger and stronger. if you really want to over beginner them for safety, then make them from machined steel.
    I’d probably start by making just one set for you to test to its limits and see if it’s strong enough. I imagine it only needs to hold 150kg-200kg max?
    PM me if you want to discuss manufacturing some of these.
    Also I wonder if there’s a bearing based rose joint or heim style pushrod that you can get that is higher rated so you can just plug and play.
    cheers
    Matt


  4. Olivier beaujoin

    Olivier beaujoin New Member

    Joined:
    Aug 22, 2019
    Messages:
    21
    Location:
    France - Roquefort-les-Pins (06330)
    Balance:
    197Coins
    Ratings:
    +4 / 0 / -0
    My Motion Simulator:
    AC motor, 6DOF
    Hello Matt thank you very much for your help,

    In fact even if the platform is 700kg, I think the weigh/force could be much more than 200kg but looking at professional 6gof that use U joint at the top, they look not so big compare to yours. What is the diameter of your needle bearing? do you have the spec of it ?
    Looking at the professional platform I see that the needle bearing diameter are approximatively the same diameter of the visible part of the rod end diameter, so for my platform should be around 3/4" diameter.

    I need to check how I could adapt my platform to replace rod end by U joint.

    My biggest constrain is the height of my garage where the platform is installed, ideally I should not extend the length of the current arm. So will have to shorten then as U Joint are longer that rod ends to keep the same total length.
    I do not have professional software for the design, I have I made all the design with sketchup from which I can import 3d model (or sketchup model) only .

    Can yo provide me a 3D model of your U Joint to see how I could build that on my current platform ? (I will send you a PM for this)

    Thanks Olivier
  5. Psionic001

    Psionic001 Active Member Gold Contributor

    Joined:
    Mar 5, 2017
    Messages:
    138
    Location:
    Sydney
    Balance:
    1,002Coins
    Ratings:
    +59 / 1 / -0
    My Motion Simulator:
    Motion platform, 6DOF
    Needle bearings. 20x55
    ie 20mm diameter and 55mm from tip to tip.

    AU $9.73 | 1piece 20X55 MOCHU miniature U-joints UNIVERSAL JOINTS BEARING Universal Joints Crucetas Joints de cardan
    https://a.aliexpress.com/_mNjdQ8P
  6. Olivier beaujoin

    Olivier beaujoin New Member

    Joined:
    Aug 22, 2019
    Messages:
    21
    Location:
    France - Roquefort-les-Pins (06330)
    Balance:
    197Coins
    Ratings:
    +4 / 0 / -0
    My Motion Simulator:
    AC motor, 6DOF
    Hello Matt,

    Have few other questions:

    1)Do you know how much radial charge 20x55 U-Joint can handle ? Have tried to find this info into catalog but could not find spec for it.

    2) Choosing bigger U-Joint (eg 28x69), will that change a lot in term of total price ?

    3) I think there should be as well 2 x 360 bearing as in your picture here upload_2021-7-19_21-7-9.png
    So I need to consider that for the integration on the top of the arm on one side and on the bottom of my platform for the other side. Can you export a 3D model from your Solidworks project so I can import it on my sketchup project (to see what are the size of the full U=Joint and how I could integrate it)

    Thanks Olivier
  7. Psionic001

    Psionic001 Active Member Gold Contributor

    Joined:
    Mar 5, 2017
    Messages:
    138
    Location:
    Sydney
    Balance:
    1,002Coins
    Ratings:
    +59 / 1 / -0
    My Motion Simulator:
    Motion platform, 6DOF
    Hi Oliver.
    I’m not sure what radial charge is. You can probably find most specs on the supplier websites.
    Changing the trunnion size affects the UJoint size a lot which affects material size and machining time.
    No, I won’t be sharing my SolidWorks Model sorry. You should try making one in CAD. It’s fairly easy but takes time to test and think about collision points.
    a 3D printer is a must for prototyping too.
    Also my piston part of the actuator is able to rotate, so I don’t need 360 bearings on top or bottom. The image you show was the old top and bottom joint I used and I didn’t like it because it allowed the whole actuator to possibly spin at very obtuse angles.
    For any price info, perhaps you should PM me.
  8. hexpod

    hexpod http://heXpod.xyz

    Joined:
    Apr 18, 2016
    Messages:
    1,094
    Location:
    berlin
    Balance:
    7,097Coins
    Ratings:
    +336 / 5 / -0
    My Motion Simulator:
    DC motor, 6DOF
    What is your joint angle of attack at the starting point ? When you are in the “drive position”. Did you designed your rig so the bottom and upper joint have same position at start ?
  9. Olivier beaujoin

    Olivier beaujoin New Member

    Joined:
    Aug 22, 2019
    Messages:
    21
    Location:
    France - Roquefort-les-Pins (06330)
    Balance:
    197Coins
    Ratings:
    +4 / 0 / -0
    My Motion Simulator:
    AC motor, 6DOF
    Sorry I don't know what you mean for 'joint angle of attack'.
    When I'm on drive position, both top and bottom joints are aligned at the same angle compare their respective ball.
    Joints with Misalignment Spacers allow 60° angle (compare to 17 without spacers) so at drive position it could be any where within this 60° (I can rotate the arm anywhere from 0 to 60°). I probably don't need 60° (even on extreme platform angle) but thought it was safer to have large angle.

    Do you see any issue with this ?
  10. Dirty

    Dirty Well-Known Member Gold Contributor

    Joined:
    Oct 15, 2017
    Messages:
    736
    Occupation:
    All the way up front.
    Location:
    Germany
    Balance:
    7,826Coins
    Ratings:
    +859 / 2 / -0
    Could it be that those high angle spacers cause the squeeking noise?

    When the joints run without those spacers, they have two very smooth and perfectly matching surfaces rubbing against each other. That shoud be fairly smooth and thereby quiet.

    But when you utilise those large angles that the high angle spacers give you, the smooth inner surface of the joint body will rub over the gap between the "ball" and the spacer.

    Could that be the cause?
    • Like Like x 1
  11. hexpod

    hexpod http://heXpod.xyz

    Joined:
    Apr 18, 2016
    Messages:
    1,094
    Location:
    berlin
    Balance:
    7,097Coins
    Ratings:
    +336 / 5 / -0
    My Motion Simulator:
    DC motor, 6DOF
    I just asked if you don’t hit the limits but I believe you that with such spacers it’s not the case. I designed bend legs to have them all aligned (90deg. to the horizontal plane) in “starting drive” position in order to maximize their range.

    I would explore @Dirty ’s idea. Maybe those spacers are responsible of noise. Anyway, painful investigation. - good luck
  12. Psionic001

    Psionic001 Active Member Gold Contributor

    Joined:
    Mar 5, 2017
    Messages:
    138
    Location:
    Sydney
    Balance:
    1,002Coins
    Ratings:
    +59 / 1 / -0
    My Motion Simulator:
    Motion platform, 6DOF
    @Olivier beaujoin maybe you can put your rig in a small/slow loop mode then put your hand on the joint. Or attach a vibration sensor like an iPhone to it to diagnose the exact location. I will try and video the movement of my standard U-Joint. Regarding angle of attack, I attempt to mount my joints so they are in the middle zero degree mode so they have the best chance at full flexibility in all directions.
    • Agree Agree x 1
  13. Psionic001

    Psionic001 Active Member Gold Contributor

    Joined:
    Mar 5, 2017
    Messages:
    138
    Location:
    Sydney
    Balance:
    1,002Coins
    Ratings:
    +59 / 1 / -0
    My Motion Simulator:
    Motion platform, 6DOF
    FYI here are some of my U-Joint prototypes, 3D prints and a final version.
    The final version I made to have both a flat bottom to mount to my floor base. And an optional threaded top/boss to mount on my actuator rod end.
    That way I could manufacture 12 sets and use them either at the top or bottom of the actuator.


    • Winner Winner x 1
    • Useful Useful x 1
  14. hexpod

    hexpod http://heXpod.xyz

    Joined:
    Apr 18, 2016
    Messages:
    1,094
    Location:
    berlin
    Balance:
    7,097Coins
    Ratings:
    +336 / 5 / -0
    My Motion Simulator:
    DC motor, 6DOF
    The degree of freedom is limited mechanically on purpose ?
  15. Psionic001

    Psionic001 Active Member Gold Contributor

    Joined:
    Mar 5, 2017
    Messages:
    138
    Location:
    Sydney
    Balance:
    1,002Coins
    Ratings:
    +59 / 1 / -0
    My Motion Simulator:
    Motion platform, 6DOF
    Yes I have limits on the DoF. The less freedom, the shorter I can make them, and the lower my overall platform for the size of actuator. I did not want any bigger than this.

    Shorter/Squat U-Joints are also stronger for their size.
    And currently the degree of freedom is more than double what I need.

    If I made them taller to get more freedom/angle (which I don't need) then I would need to add more material for strength, and that wouldn't look as nice. :)


    • Informative Informative x 1
  16. hexpod

    hexpod http://heXpod.xyz

    Joined:
    Apr 18, 2016
    Messages:
    1,094
    Location:
    berlin
    Balance:
    7,097Coins
    Ratings:
    +336 / 5 / -0
    My Motion Simulator:
    DC motor, 6DOF
    If I see correctly, those joints are not rotating vertically on ball bearings, right ? What are your dof limits ?
    I use
    120 surge sway heave
    10 - 15 - 25 yaw roll pitch
  17. hexpod

    hexpod http://heXpod.xyz

    Joined:
    Apr 18, 2016
    Messages:
    1,094
    Location:
    berlin
    Balance:
    7,097Coins
    Ratings:
    +336 / 5 / -0
    My Motion Simulator:
    DC motor, 6DOF
    Here I see an interesting design. You save some length by mounting them laterally and you have almost unlimited degree of freedom.

    3BA3CFFD-E03B-4C7A-B1FA-923E720353A9.jpeg


    Do we need such angles and if those doesn’t lock is another question
  18. Psionic001

    Psionic001 Active Member Gold Contributor

    Joined:
    Mar 5, 2017
    Messages:
    138
    Location:
    Sydney
    Balance:
    1,002Coins
    Ratings:
    +59 / 1 / -0
    My Motion Simulator:
    Motion platform, 6DOF
    My DOF Limits are set differently depending on the game, and I keep them lower than their max limits.

    My actuators have 400mm travel @ 500mm/sec
    I usually have
    300mm heave and 150mm surge and sway, but I can have much more.
    25 degrees Pitch and Roll, and 15 degrees each side of centre for yaw.

    I often just run at 50% of this which is still enough for most needs.
    • Like Like x 1
    Last edited: Jul 26, 2021
  19. PyroBlaze13

    PyroBlaze13 PyroBlaze131 VR Racer

    Joined:
    Jul 5, 2021
    Messages:
    12
    Occupation:
    PC Repair
    Location:
    Fortuna, California
    Balance:
    77Coins
    Ratings:
    +4 / 1 / -0
    My Motion Simulator:
    2DOF, 3DOF, DC motor, 4DOF, 6DOF
    I love the 1st One you show here. Great design. Where can I get the .stl file for one?
  20. Emilio Guarinoni

    Emilio Guarinoni New Member

    Joined:
    Dec 17, 2021
    Messages:
    1
    Balance:
    16Coins
    Ratings:
    +0 / 0 / -0
    My Motion Simulator:
    2DOF
    Hey guys who sells these need buy asap im in Sydney.. pls PM me cash waiting

    Attached Files:

    Last edited by a moderator: Dec 17, 2021