Ledfoot's 2DOF simulator project

Hi guys,

I started this post in the Getting started section but I decided to move it here so that I can get some more feedback during my project. First i must thank everyone here for their collective knowledge. I have been reading this forum for the past week and I have aquired a tremendous amount of information which has now given me the confidence to start this project which seemed almost impossible a week ago. My design is based on Mr. Burns project but I will be using a ball joint instead of the rubber pivot.

I have the t-slot frame almost fully assembled and I just went and picked up my SCN5's today from Mirai Intertech. I also received my Devantech RS485 to USB interfaces today and will be using the information that Bernard has provided to properly configure those. I will be placing an order for a power supply tomorrow and also paying a visit to Brafasco and Napa to get the necessary ball joints and threaded rod. I have some pics of my progress which I will be converting and posting sometime tomorrow and I expect to have the frame and seat fully assembled by the end of the week. I will them spend the weekend playing with the actuator settings (as long as my power supply arrives in time).

Thanks again for all of this valuable information

.....Mike

Well I've been busy building in the last week and I've finally completed the mechanical portion of the project. The frame went together much easier than I thought it would have thanks to the informaiton provided by Mr. Burns and others on this site.

I'm now waiting on my 24v power supply that I ordered from ebay so that I can power the unit up and start testing

http://cgi.ebay.com/24V-10A-DC-Univ...in_0?hash=item5ad321da1b&_trksid=p4999.c0.m14

Here are some pics of the project. I would appreciate any comments or suggestions.


http://img197.imageshack.us/i/dsc4143m.jpg/
http://img24.imageshack.us/i/dsc4195.jpg/
http://img23.imageshack.us/i/dsc4184.jpg/
http://img513.imageshack.us/i/dsc4188.jpg/
http://img268.imageshack.us/i/dsc4194.jpg/

I'm hoping that the angle of the actuators is ok and I have already check to make sure that I have full motion without any binding or interference with the tie rods or frame.

In the meantime I'll start building the power cables and start familiarizing myself with the x-sim software.

.....Mike

Hi Ledfoot !!

I am following with great interest your work and I shall begin mine too soon.

What size aluminum you get it? 40-4040-Lite?
That would hold weight with this profile?
You could put the exact dimensions of this assembly?
How much meters of aluminum are needed?
What is that red stuff in the penultimate picture?
You could put details of the pivot seat?

Thanks

Hi Zhuravlik,

Yes I used 1095 cm of 40-4040 Lite in the following demsions:

Base = Qty 2 @ 152.5cm, Qty 4 @ 66cm
Seat support base = Qty 2 @ 73.6cm, Qty 2 @ 45cm
Seat vertical T support = Qty 1 @ 63.5cm, Qty 1 @ 45cm
SCN5 supports = Qty2 @ 63.5
Shifter T support = Qty 1 @ 39.4cm, Qty 1 @ 14cm

The seat base dimensions are for a Playseat so that may vary for you depending on that seat you decide to go with. I also used the front end of my existing playseat so that I could maintain adjustability of the wheel and pedals.

I used a ball joint from a Chevy 4x4 truck as a pivot. The ball joint does not have a flat bottom so I had to use a PVC fitting under the balljoint so that it would sit flat on the aluminum profile and then some long 8 x 50mm screws to secure it. It seems pretty strong an can easily support the weight.

Here is a picture of it.

http://img91.imageshack.us/i/dsc4137.jpg/
http://img43.imageshack.us/i/dsc4207n.jpg/

I'm not sure what red stuff you are refering to but I assume that you are talking about this picture?

http://img513.imageshack.us/i/dsc4188.jpg/

If so, this is a Butt Kicker http://img513.imageshack.us/i/dsc4188.jpg/ it reproduces vibrations and makes the sim experience more realistic.

Let me know if I can be of any more assistance.

....Mike

Thanks for your explanations ledfoot.

I hope to see photos and video to final assembly

Regards

You're welcome.

I'm hoping my power supply arrives by tomorrow so that I can get these things powered up .

....Mike

:thbup:

I hope to see your photos and video if it is possible.

Regards

I'll definately be taking more photos and posting some video once I have it working.

...Mike

looks nice.

Thanks

very nice job so far!! I am still waiting on my parts..and when I get them all together i will order the actuators i like how you mounted the shaker. I have two shakers, i have one mounted on my pedals and one on the back of the seat itself....I had 3 amps blow from them...so i was able to get a replacements and the last time they sent me a shaker with it...now i use a bigger amp (450w) that I had lying around to power my shakers and i have had no more problems.

Just noticed your from Toronto :

Thanks.

Yes, I live in the east end of Toronto. Where are you located??

I received my power supply yesterday and completed my custom cables as well. I was amazed at how fast the connectors and pins arrived from Digikey . I picked up the wire I needed locally from Sayal Electronics and put the cables together in about 30 minutes.

I connected everything and setup x-sim using Bernard's SimXperience Commander which made the install and setup very easy. I loaded one of his profiles for rFactor but I can't seem to get it to work for me for some reason. I was able to get his rfactor and Race 07 profles to work in Race 07 and iRacing but not in rFactor. I'm going to spend today getting a better understanding of how to create edit and use the profiles and also to better understand the inner workings of the Profiler2 and Profiler Sender applications.

So far so good though. I hope to have a good working profile soon and will post some video once I have things worked out. Thanks to Bernard, Mr Burns, Sirnoname and the rest of the x-sim community for all of the knowledge and information that you have provided.

...Mike

This was posted by Egoexpress in other post. Maybe I can help


This little tutorial will demonstrate you how you will be able to display and use R-Factor motion-data in X-Sim:

1. Copy the rFactorplugin.dll out of C:\Programms\X-Sim\other stuff\rFactor and paste it to C:\Programms\rFactor\Plugins
2. Start Force-Profiler
3. Start Force-Sender and activate rFactor plugin in Force-Sender Plugin dropdown register. Then press Send
4. Start r-Factor
6. Ensure the hardware plugins are activated (Press G on your keyboard to activate/deactivate them while on racetrack)
5. Select cockpit-view and put your vehicle in movenment
6. Press the Pause-key and return to your desktop (ctrl-alt-del)
7.Congrats! Now you should be able to see rFactor motion data in Force-Profiler' upper incomming-list
8. Make a profile that fits your requirements, or load a profile provided by our community members.
9. Have fun with your simulator, infopanel or whatever you are going to move with those data!

Regards

Thank you Zhuravlik. I will give that a try and let you know if I am successful.


....Mike

That worked for me Zhuravlik. Thank you.

Now I just need to fine tune a profile for rFactor and I'm set.

....Mike

I'm glad

Regards

iracing? pm me so I know who you are on the eastern Canada club boards. :

Cool. I'll do that. I just installed iRacing a few days ago and I'm loving it so far. I'll send you a PM with my details.

Here's a vid of my sim setup in rFactor MMG 2007. I'm using the SimXperience open wheel 06 profile with Speed at 22500 and acceleration at 200 for testing. The profile is very aggressive (but I like it ). I'll be creating one of my own profiles tomorrow and see how that feels.

I've had a few instances where the SCN5 has hit the bottom even though I'm using the 25% limiter so I will definately have to tone this profile down a bit. Since I'm new at editing and creating profiles, I'd appreciate any input on the easiest way to reduce the aggressiveness of the profile. I've reduced the acceleration to 200 to remove a lot of road feedback effects as it was almost unbearable with that value any higher but I still need to tone down the travel.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEygA4xFRV0

...Mike

Good video ledfoot. Glad to see that you have completed your project. I hope someone can help in adjusting the profile, I'm new too and I can´t help you with the profiles.Perhaps in the software section there will be some post that can help you clarify something.

To enjoy it.

Regards