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First sim design

Discussion in 'DIY Motion Simulator Projects' started by trevor douce, Sep 7, 2016.

  1. trevor douce

    trevor douce New Member

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    Hi everyone,



    I am a new member and am planning the design of my first simulator.

    I am a mechanical/electrical engineer with good workshop facilities and skills but limited computer skills beyond pages and numbers!

    The sim will be used for motorsport, flight may come up in the future but not for now.

    I want the whole cockpit to move, seat, pedals and steering wheel, mounted on a welded light alloy subframe.

    I plan to style the rig to resemble the Red Bull playseat, although of course this has no motion but looks really elegant.

    The three curved LED monitors will be mounted on a separate floor standing frame with front and centre speakers integrated.

    The rig will connect back to computer and AV box with a single flexible conduit umbilical, not lots of messy wires everywhere.

    I am happy to start with simple motions until I get the hang of the motion control software, but want to ensure that the mechanical design of the rig will support more complex motion control as I progress.

    Having browsed various threads I am left with a number of questions that I hope someone will be able to answer.

    I understand the concepts of DOF’s roll and pitch, achievable with two motors. Adding a third motor and DOF presumably controls yaw.

    What I don’t understand are the concepts of heave, surge and sway . Can these and loss of traction be achieved with three motors?

    If not where can I start and make provision for it to be added later?

    Where should the main pivot point be to achieve all of these and is it OK to mount the first two motors under the seat where they are less visible, or is it better to have them at the rear, connected by pushrods to the top of the seat back?

    I will be truly grateful for any help that I receive.

    Trevor Douce

    Computer spec:


    Intel i5-4460 3.2GHz CPU

    Intel Core i5-6400 500GB Samsung 850 EVO SSDNVIDIA® GeForce® GTX960 graphics 4GB of GDDR5


    Main sim components:


    Motor gearboxes: Motion control products DC Brushed Geared Motor 150W / 90ZYT-199 60:1 reduction.

    Monitors: Three curved LED Samsung C27F59

    Motor controllers: Polulu JRK 12v12

    Motor power supplies: HP 575watt, one per motor

    Wheel, pedals and shift: G25

    Seat: Sparco sprint

    Sound system: Denon AVR-X520BT with five Yamaha speakers and sub.

    Low frequency seat transducer: Bootkicker Mini CT plus amp tba
    trevor douce, Sep 7, 2016
    #1
  2. Daguru

    Daguru Rally drivers do it in the Dirt

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    My Motion Simulator:
    Motion platform
    Hi @trevor douce good luck with your build and to answer one of your questions a 2 dof rig will give you a good feeling of pitch, roll, sway, heave and surge and the extra motor can be used for traction loss ( yaw is not the same as traction loss ) so yeah 3 dof will work very well for a race sim
    • Agree Agree x 1
    Daguru, Sep 7, 2016
    #2
  3. noorbeast

    noorbeast VR Tassie Devil Staff Member Moderator Race Director

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    My Motion Simulator:
    3DOF, DC motor, JRK
    The third motor control you have would be used for traction loss, not yaw, the latter is more for flight while traction loss relates to racing sims. Yaw pivots at the center while traction loss pivots at the front. Traction loss can be added retrospectively to most designs:
    https://www.xsimulator.net/community/faq/traction-loss.174/

    Heave is up and down movement, surge is acceleration and braking style moment and sway is the leaning away from a corner. All of them can be simulated on on 2DOF, though can be improved with more DOF: https://www.xsimulator.net/community/faq/dof-angles-forces.215/

    You should find the balance point with yourself and all peripherals included: https://www.xsimulator.net/communit...-of-gravity-to-balance-a-motion-simulator.55/

    The universal joint should be placed as close to the seat base as possible: https://www.xsimulator.net/community/faq/universal-joint-placement.108/

    A compact design does not have the same inherent leverage advantage as a shoulder mount rig with rods: https://www.xsimulator.net/community/faq/shoulder-mount-rod-angles.149/

    A compact design will also take a lot more power to drive it than a shoulder mount, particularly a full frame as you have in mind, so if space is not an issue a shoulder mount is more effective: https://www.xsimulator.net/community/faq/calculating-basic-linear-speed-and-forces.89/

    The other option is a foot mount, which also has good leverage and may better suit the design of the Playseat you have in mind.
    • Like Like x 1
    noorbeast, Sep 8, 2016
    #3
  4. trevor douce

    trevor douce New Member

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    Thanks for that, what do you mean by a foot mount?
    Do you think that i am right in going for pedals and steering wheel moving with the seat?
    trevor douce, Sep 9, 2016
    #4
  5. Daguru

    Daguru Rally drivers do it in the Dirt

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    My Motion Simulator:
    Motion platform
    Foot mount is when the motor arms are connected at the pedal end of your rig.
    • Agree Agree x 1
    Daguru, Sep 9, 2016
    #5