Complete newbie - kinda....advice, help and general chit chat

So...where the heck to begin!! This site has mostly everything...which is good and bad. Too much choice and my head is about to explode trying to navigate all the options.

So, yep I am wanting a nice motion seat - for racing/flying/driving/training whatever...but it has to move.

My profession is visual systems design, basically big pretty hi-res images for the simulation industry - so I am building a large curved projection screen - 6m Dia with 180 degree x 50 degree view. It will have 3 projectors on it all warped and blended - plus be active 3d enabled (120Hz) frame sequential - quad buffered stereo capable.

Now the part I don't really know much about....the motion seat.

I have done the visuals for the sims used by several of todays F1 teams..but I just do the visuals and I can't really afford the hundreds of thousands they spend on the motion platforms.

I have been in contact with Frex, D-Box and BR...but so far I am just browsing and came across this goldmine of info!

Most systems I can see use pitch and roll - but most race cars have so stiff suspension that in truth you wouldn't need these degree's of freedom....maybe lateral movement with fore/aft for acceleration and cornering and a third for under/oversteer. Ofcourse track banking and surface may give little roll and some heave...I guess it depends on the game, vehicle and situation. Or am I going way too deep into this??

Now my next issue...head tracking or the dynamic eyepoint position. Assuming your static at teh centre of this curve...if your motion seat changes your position, then the graphics have to change with it to retain the same viewing perspective don't they??

I know Schumacher felt sick after one of my sims due to motion sickness...but they never really understood why that was. Extreme example I know...but if the motion isn't synchronised with the visuals then you will get sick or certainly start to feel it.

So...where to go next? Any idea's? People being here before and have similar experiences of utter turmoil about where to spend their cash...right or wrong...regrets or not...upgrades...reccomendations??

HELP.....and thanks for your time!!! I hope to build something for sure...what I am not sure right now!

Thanks for the time to reply Noorbeast... I did look through the FAQ, but I actually found more info just trawling through the various threads and going off at tangents following the links other post up...Jeez you can get lost in this place!!

I am fairly convinced that I want an actuator at each corner of the rig (maybe only 3 if I can keep the balance right). Essentially giving me a 3 DOF (Roll, Pitch and Heave)...but then I got thinking about adding a 4th to add in some yaw for the oversteer action.

Kinda like the existing D-Box powered versions out there...or the FrexGP offerings.

BUT - before I go into this too deep....

Can the traditional connectivity still be used? Does the kinematics have to follow any geometry - or can this all be calibrated in the software, assuming I can extract all degree's of freedom and there limits (angular and linear)?

What choices do I have for the motion components? Can I use any decent supplier of actuator...as the 4 corner mounting will be pretty darn simple. Plus this gets to move pedals and wheel relative to the seat - so exactly like it is in a car.

The seat shaker makes you move independant of the pedals and wheel - so not entirely realistic.

As well as motion components what kinda of motion controllers are OK to look at - I have seen a few topics with the JRK boards...would these work with 4 actuators?

I know, many questions....and perhaps something that somebody has already done? I will start a new thread with some concept sketches I think...and then go from there!

Thanks all

I did not read all, but this conclusion is wrong if we are talking about a racing sim. You should read the FAQ anyway...

OK, a small correction...most of the resources I have seen with basic seat rigs only move the seat. Granted if the entire rig was balanced on a pivot point then yeah it would be more realistic, and this is what I am shooting for.

I went with a Full frame, you can check out my build here

Perhaps...and lets be honest who hasn't on here....over thought this way too much!

I have just had the priveledge to drive a few f1 teams simulators whilst building them, and also several car manufacturer simulators...and non of them had anything as simple as a seat shaker. Granted the car sims weren't really used for driving practice per se, more for HMI interface layouts and realtime situation simulation (HUD benefits etc..)...but all but one of the F1 sims were on a 6 DOF platoform with a couple of teams mounting that onto an X,Y table too.

I can see the logic in it for sure, but I still can't get away from that I would like the pedals and gearstick to remain in the same place relative to me during motion.

Does SimTools support a full 6 DOF? Afterall is a pretty basic arrangement (lower mount, top mount and 6 actuators inbetween) and gives all the DOF and more. Or is programming and setting up the bugger going to be a challenge?

Right now I am tempted to set up the visual system, as that is going to be very immsersive, and also have an impact to the perceived motion, especially roll. Then just see what other motions are needed/wanted to be added or re-inforced.

The rig is planned to be from aluminium extrusion, so can easily be hacked about and re-configured.

I'll bang up some CAD sketches once I get a layout I am happy with...then let you guys rip it into it after that!

It's gonna be a long and winding road this one....but hopefully enjoyable too!