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Showroom 2DOF Motion simulator, DIY Handbrake & Pedalset

Discussion in 'DIY Motion Simulator Projects' started by Robbie Teengs, Sep 22, 2017.

  1. Robbie Teengs

    Robbie Teengs RobbieT

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    My Motion Simulator:
    3DOF, DC motor, Arduino
    I started with this project while racing iRacing where a friend of mine Willem Pienaar, asked what it would be like to put some motion in our rigs. We joined xsimulator.net thread to see what everything was about.

    I can do a bit of welding but am very dangerous when it comes to electrics that shock and electronics that normally smoke, so this was really a big challenge for me.

    This forum I will be discussing the handbrake first then the motion build and then the pedalset build. The discussion will be in plain English and I am not going into the wiring of the products etc.

    Well this is how the project started and with being in South Africa I knew that there was a lot of goodies that I needed to purchase on line. Homework was to be done and the first exercise was to get wheelchair motors (24volt) as I am quite a big guy (140kgs)
    After getting the motors I needed to find out how long the arms needed to be. The 75mm arms were attached to the motors with a hefty piece of 8mm steel. I connected a pin to the nut on the wheelchair motor that would be the the connection to which the potentiometers were to be connected to.

    The first two pic are of the rig prior to the motion fitment and then the final product. No, it's not finished and will it ever be finished, I doubt it.
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    • Like Like x 1
  2. Robbie Teengs

    Robbie Teengs RobbieT

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    My Motion Simulator:
    3DOF, DC motor, Arduino
    The first DIY action happened when we were playing Dirt Rally as it launched and we all decided that a handbrake would do the trick. A friend of ours Willem Botha that works at Toyota Motorsport and builds the Dakar Toyota Hilux bakkies in Johannesburg said that he would fabricate a handbrake for us.

    It operates with a 10K pot and the springs used are normal engine valve springs. The problem started with connecting the handbrake to the system, and the Leo Bodnar Logitec G25/27 Generic pedal adapter connected to the handbrake pot. It is plug & play and connects to the PC via USB.
    The handbrake only gets used whilst playing Dirt rally. In the game, some advise.... in a 4 wheel drive vehicle handbrake works all 4 wheels when handbrake is pulled, but if you only want the back wheels to brake the clutch also needs to be engauged.

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  3. Robbie Teengs

    Robbie Teengs RobbieT

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    My Motion Simulator:
    3DOF, DC motor, Arduino
    The plans for the motion rig was found on the forum from leaedman, that looked like they were the easiest to follow. I split my rig to be able to work on the seat area with the steering wheel area and pedalset being on the front part.
    The advantage of the split was while I was building the motion area I could still use the seat to race during the week and work during weekends. Wouldn't be able to wait for 3 weeks without racing iRacing and Dirt Rally!
    The first project was to get a CV joint, got that at a car breaker for free and the joint was welded on a sturdy 2mm square plate on both sides. The swivel part was attached to the seat side to create the swivel nearest to the seat. A frame was fabricated to accommodate the racing seat and and the connecting points for the wheelchair motors. Holes were drilled into the bottom part to be able to retain the same height as we had without the motion being fitted. Holes were drilled into the rig area and the CV joint plate and was then connected via 4x8mm threaded rod pieces. This allowed me to change the seat height in the rig.

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  4. noorbeast

    noorbeast VR Tassie Devil Staff Member Moderator Race Director

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    My Motion Simulator:
    3DOF, DC motor, JRK
    Nice work :thumbs

    I am presuming the levers and rods run at around 90 degrees, rather than the acute angle in the pictures.
  5. Robbie Teengs

    Robbie Teengs RobbieT

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    My Motion Simulator:
    3DOF, DC motor, Arduino
    The next project was to connect the wheelchair motors to the rig. A 8mmx50mm flatbar was connected to the bottom of the frame via 8mm bolts and nyloc nuts on the front and rear parts of the rig. One error that was made when bending the bar was not to have the motors at a 90 degree but at about a 60 degree. If not the motors hit the seat and damage will occur.
    A 1.2mm plate was fabricated to connect the pots to the motor without having ANY movement. This plate was split in two to have easy access to the pots when replacing them. The first pots used were cheap 10k potensiometers but they last about 100 000 spins. These have been replaced by pots from Leo Bodnar (see Leo Bodnar Potentiometer P260) 1million spins
    The potentiometer is connected to the motor via a stepper motor coupler. (See attached pic)

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  6. Icefox

    Icefox Member

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    My Motion Simulator:
    2DOF
    super hand brakes ! :)
  7. Robbie Teengs

    Robbie Teengs RobbieT

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    My Motion Simulator:
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    Hi Noorbeast, You will see that the angle changes sowhat on the final product, but must say it works well for me.

    Regards
  8. Robbie Teengs

    Robbie Teengs RobbieT

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    My Motion Simulator:
    3DOF, DC motor, Arduino
    The power supply that was purchased was Meanwell SE-450-24 Volt that was locally available for the wheelchair motors.
    The additional stock that was ordered online from Dimension Engieering was the Sabertooth 2 x 32 controller and the Kangaroo x 2. To connect these to the PC the DElink was also ordered. We went this way as the programming of the motors were made a lot easier and there was no need for formulas. DEScribe is the download from Dimension Engineering that made the process a lot easier.
    A 12 volt power supply was fitted into an enclosure (that was hopelessly too big and needs to be replaced) with 2 x PC cooling fans with one wired in reverse. This created good airflow and keeps the Sabertooth and goodies nice and cool.

    In the last pic I tried to get the power brake working on the motors but to no avail. They were removed.

    Apologies for the mess, but I just took pics as I was going.

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  9. Robbie Teengs

    Robbie Teengs RobbieT

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    My Motion Simulator:
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    Well, I’ve been through 2 x Logitech G27's, having changed springs to stronger progressive springs etc. I just did not feel comfortable with all the restrictions and limitations.

    I then purchased a Fanatec CSR Wheel and pedals. The pedals just did not do it for me. After a couple of months Pine Pienaar brought me a set of V2 pedals from the UK. Now we were talking business! I used these pedals for approximately 8 months and the PC board of the Fanatec packed up. Once again Leo Bodnar came to the rescue with the BU0836LC Load cell Joystick controller that has a load cell input, 7 analogue inputs, 32 button/16 rotary encoder inputs and 8-way hat switch. This load cell controller was to repair the Fanatec V2 pedals but did not accommodate a 3 wire load cell. So back to square one.

    The load cell was not working but through Leo Bodnar a load cell simulator can be fitted that accommodates the 4 wire load cell. ( new product)

    I then decided to see if there were any other sets available that I could later convert from spring/potentiometer, brake cylinder/pressure switch, load cell/spring.


    The best option I found was with Main Performance pedals and started my design using their basic idea. The one con I was concerned about was the 12mm shafting keeping the pedals together, was rather flexible. I changed the shafting to 16mm. The main difference was that the pedals are not floor mounted and gave the normal feel you would get from driving a car. The height, spacing and angle can be changed as you feel comfortable. Again I was faced with how to connect this pedal set to the PC.

    With Pine being the PC fundi, he mentioned the BU0836LC from Leo Bodnar and would be the Ideal product to use for this project. The P260 potentiometers were fitted with RC chopper servo tie rods and work well.

    The throttle and clutch was easy to assemble, but the brake needed some thought. I wanted to be able to change the spring strength by quick set as well as the cushion effect at the end of the travel. The advantage of this fitment is that you would be able to convert the pedal set rather quick to hydraulics or load cell without changing the whole system.

    With a bit of trial and error the brake has 2 shafts of which one carries the progressive spring and the other shaft has a poly urethane bush with some normal rubber grommets. Both are individually set and adjusted.

    Having a friend Stuwie White, currently competing in the French Formula 4 championship, and very competitive iRacer nearby, he assisted in getting the right feel for the pedal set. His comment was, brilliant.

    Please keep in mind that he is often in competition simulators across France and Italy.

    The exchange rate in South Africa is ridiculous and thus we try and fabricate everything instead of importing things at great cost.

    Well that is my story, hope I did not bore you.

    Cannot see it being long before we fabricate a nice homemade sequential shifter, Watch this space……

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  10. Robbie Teengs

    Robbie Teengs RobbieT

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    My Motion Simulator:
    3DOF, DC motor, Arduino
    Sorry to say, please feel free to give any comments and I will gladly answer any questions.
  11. yobuddy

    yobuddy Well-Known Member Staff Member Moderator SimAxe Beta Tester SimTools Developer Gold Contributor

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    Looking good man, can't wait for the video!
    yobuddy
  12. SeatTime

    SeatTime Well-Known Member

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    My Motion Simulator:
    AC motor, Motion platform
    Nice rig. As you don't seem to have a button box, any plans to go VR? For the brave, the new 8K 200 degree FOV headset would give most triples a run for their money :).
  13. Willem Pienaar

    Willem Pienaar New Member

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  14. Robbie Teengs

    Robbie Teengs RobbieT

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    Thanks, Been racing motion but have never done a video. Movement is really set on the lighter side but still very enjoyable. I am also looking the the button box option but have found Voice Attack and JRT to do the trick. VR most defianately is going into the future planning but costs are currently a big restraint.