DIY 2 DOF Racing Seat

Good morning folks,

my Project is currently (since January 2019) not further developed. Of course the Mockup works, like seen in the video but actually everything is stopped.
Within the next weeks i want to build a console (?) for the Seat, steering wheel and other periphery.

I hope that there will be progress within the initially project. If so, you will see.
Until then i wish you all the best and be aware that i´m always secretly following your effort !

Bye

Hi folks,

on monday i wrote you every further work on my Project has been stopped. But...
After i wrote that (above) i took my time to read the latest articles about your works and what happened was, that all the thing i read revived my interest again.
So the last days i used my free time to get back into building my Racing Seat.
At the end of 2019 i already had aluminium tubing (ITEM Construction Profiles) cut down to lenght. These profiles i got on a scrap yard. Back in times y thought a scrap yard only has old and rusty things BUT that was a big fallacy. The ITEM Profile were in absolutely new condition. In the meanwhile this place became my personal prefered place for getting the best steel, stainles stell, alloy etc. you get for money. Be sure theres alway a lots of nearly new stuff to find...

Yestreday i put the Basic parts together to get an Basis (Rack) for every further mounted part. Pictures will come, when i think it will be a well working construction.

Actually i´m looking for a U - Joint. Therefore i just came back from a local wrecking yard (for cars). But to get it i would have to disassemble a half car. Well, not today...

Maybe i will get to another yard where the best cars are already disassembled.

Within the next week i will get more ITEM related parts. Until there i will think about getting the Arduino and H-Bridge into a nice looking Case.

Bye

ML

Good evening,

here is the newest progress...

The case for Arduino UNO and the IBT_2 is a left free of an older Project. I use a Hammond 1554 Series Case in 160mm x 160mm (height 90mm).
So there will also be a fan and the Meanwell PSU (switched PSU) integrated:


Earlier i ordered a few more parts at Reichelt (who does not know Reichelt...) But that will be shown on another day to earn more coins.
Here you can see the markings for the holes i have to drill for the IBTs. The IBTs will be fixed with M3 Screws and they will sit on 25mm spacers, so the heat sink will not have any contact to the plastic case. You will see that maybe next week. The Arduino mounting plate will also be fixed with the case.


The 3mm holes on the left side will be the Arduino mounting holes and further you can see a 8mm and 12mm mark for the LED Socket and the Main Switch:


Have a nice evening!

ML

Hi folks,

today i got some more parts:
The jonit head (swivel head, pivot mount ???). It´s a M12 type. I have some M12 Stainless screws which will be welded on the lever arms...


More mounting brackets


Sliding blocks


While i was watching a video about some guys building a racing seat frame they used those clamping levers for hight adjustment of the wheel console / table...
It seemed to be a very strong but easy way to do that. You and i will see...





Within the next days some more electronical part will arrive to make more progress.
See you

ML

Hi,

after i decided not getting dumber by switching on the TV i wanted to make more progress by building things and getting better as a craftsman.
So here we go:

The green LED with its socket and the switch to unleash the beast had been installed. There was a time i build Guitars and so I knew a Shop selling these black switches. For it´s price i could get 10 "normal" ones, but i like black. If you are interessted in such a switch you can find it at
https://www.rockinger.com/parts/elektrik-knoepfe/schalter/955/minischalter?c=101



As you know, the LED will need an extra Resistor, so it will have a longer live than a half second.
Therefore i mostly use my PEAK DCA55. I purchased it at Reichelt (https://www.reichelt.de/komponententester-dca55-fuer-halbleiterbauelemente-atlas-dca55-p81766.html?&trstct=pos_4&nbc=1)
Of course, you don´t need that fancy thing but in the past i had to measure out a hundreds of transistor. Therefore it was worth its weight in gold...



It doesn´t matter how to clamp on the part which will be measured. The DCA always tells you the connecting pins (of the LED, Diode etc.)


So here you see the "operating Voltage" of your specific LED and...


...the current, your LED needs during operation.


With the help of the "Ohmsches Gesetz" and a Calculator (the older ones of us maybe dont´need it) you can now get the Resistors right value.
Well, the next higher value should work also...
I think the most of you knew that

See you

ML

Good evening,

today i had time for wiring up some parts inside the Control Box. Arduino, Power Supply and the Fan are installed. The Fan once was a CPU Fan and now it has to get out warm air. To prevent the installed parts from dust, i also assembled a small filter.
One of the most important things for a good ventilation, i think, are at least 2 ports for good air flow. Well, i forgot one, so this will have to be made within the next days.

All cables (240 Volts, USB Cable, Power Input and Motor Output) will be fixed by cable glants. And, of cours, i have forgotten to order the right nuts to fix them.
You are right, good people, these will come from Reichelt.

And as always, pictures...

This is my actual progress for today. Switch, LED and 4,7k Resistor are mounted and wired.
Arduino and its bracket are mounted and wired.
The Power Supply is a Meanwell /12Volts _ 15 Watts.


For a better looking i installed those "clamps" to fix the wires with cable ties.


Well, not very nice BUT it works. There is always anything i forget...
The fan will be mounted in a better way but therefore i have to break most of my fingers, so that will be done on another day.


I wish you all a nice evening !

ML

Hi folks,

sometimes there´s nothing better than bringing parts together, changing the most, because it does not work and finally bring it back together.
AND hear Heilung.
Man, i love this music.
But now i need more coins and so here you get the results of todays work.

Tomorrow i want to drill another hole for the Pots´wires. They will be fixed with a smaller cable glant.


Here´s the Fan cover with an integrated filter mat. The front cover is just held by two small lips. And it fells of the whole time. What a s...
Hot glue can fix that.


Here´s the wiring. Exepting the Pots wires everything is ready to run.


Have a nice evening !

ML

Well, creativity never sleeps...

I just copied the SimTools and XSim Fonts to create an "printable" file for my Silhouette Plotter.
With these files i can print a few Vinyl Decals wich will be fixed on the case cover from above.
Of course, they can be sticked to nearly every free place on the rig.


By duplicating and alining the files, it´s possible to get more out of the foil.
Tomorrow i will show that in detail. Maybe a short Video... We will see

Hi,

here´s the actual base frame. Next thing will be to build the pedal mount. I´m thinking of using two screen printing plates for the wheel and pedal table.
Aluminium will work, of course, but the whole thing is really stable...
Well, there must be potential for later upgrades, you know




Here you the the wheel mount. It is 45cm x 30cm (17,71 x 11,81 inches) and can be adjuted in height an angle within 4 clamping levers.
Well, these ones seem to be very, very stable. You can even sit on the table and theres nothing moving. So these will work during playing, i guess.


And the parts will be cleaned... Later. Maybe


See you

ML

Hi folks,

here is a little more from todays work. After 1 Year not welding i tried to weld the mounting frame for the Seat.
It´s not very nice (nobody ever told me how to do it right) but it will work.
I got the steel tubing from a small ad at e..y. They were "scrap pieces" from a metalworking company and they were really cheap. So i took all of them.
Sorry... The tubings are 40mm x 50mm x 1100mm.

To tighten the screws at the front mounting treads of the seat i drilled 2 8mm holes for the M8 Screws.


And for the back mounting treads i also drille 2 8mm holes but due to the tubing isn´t open, one hole had be drilled to nearly 13mm,
so the washer can be inserted to.


On Wednesday i ordered an Universal Joint but it hasn´t arrived yet. So tomorrow i will think about a mounting place for the Control Box and
the mounting plate for the shifter. I think the shifter will also be a DIY Projct...
Maybe the Control Box will be mounted on the right Side besides the Shifter Plate...


That´s it for today.
I wish you all a nice evening !

ML

Good morning,

the following pictures will show you the progress of making the Vinyl Decals for the Control Box.
I made this just to show it to you. Normally i print a whole bunch of the same types, so theres not so much foil left / unused.
But for you my good people...


It all starts with the prepared files. Here i use Silhouette Studio for my Silhouette Printer. The previous created (raw) fonts are converted by the software into a file with the right cutting lines. These lines, which will be cut, are red. As you can see on the right side, i use "Oracal 651" as the Foil type. This was already installed by Silhouette. The used Foil is an "Oracal 631 Exhibition Cal".


Of course, I already have an amount of different colours. Any Decal can be printed in 2 or more colours which can be combined.



The Oracal Foli will stick on the Printing Mat. The Printing Mat has an adhesive surface.







Everything is prepared...



As you can see one of the "i - dots" is missing so this decal wont be used.



The Printed / cutted foil will be separated.



And, if separated, the Transfer Foil will be sticked on the raw Decals.



And here we have the finished Decal, ready to stick on.



The Cover was prepared with tape, to get the right position for the Decals.
Yesterday i already made that without tape but it came out "not as straight" as i wanted...



That´s the result...



Last year i started another Project. Therefore i needed some Custom made Decals, which i ordered online. For these Decals i payed something about 35 €.
AND they were easy ones like the above ones.
Well, i´m a good husband, so my wife got the Silhouette Printer as an Christmas gift. As an side effect, i can use it, too
So between us, my good people, a 5 meter Foil (31 cm wide) costs something about 11 €, if you use the Oracal 631.
Well, i think thats enough information to think about.

See you

ML

Hi,

now i´d like to sit in mi rig a start any game. But, of course, i´m not finished yet...
Meanwhile i must be statisfied by bringing every little thing together. A bit of progress EVERY DAY (if possible) can be a lot for a week.

On the scrap yard i found more of those yellow (racing yellow, of course) aluminium profiles which came really cheap.
They were a bit dirty but in almost new condition (like other things you can find there, too). There you don´t have to pay the length but per kilogram.
E.g. you have 15 Meters of Aluminium Profile. The weight maybe 15 Kilograms and so you (or I) will have to pay 15 € (means 1€ per meter).

Here I build the mounting stand for the Control Box. Later it will be modified so it can be adjusted in 2 different angles. I´m not sure if that´s the final position.
Actually i looks a little bit to close.



The lever has been changed to a normal M8 Screw.



Here you can see the rotation. I think it should be tiltable, too.



The Whole Case is fixed with 2 M8 Screws. The cable glant has been mounted, too. At first i wanted to install a smaller one
but there wasn´t enough space for all cables.


Maybe i will be back later...

ML

Good evening,

the last days i was figuring out, how my received Shifter can be mounted.
So here we go:

Thats a SMART (450) Shifter. It has Gear + and - / Neutral and Reverse.
The whole thing works with hall sensors which are sitting integrated on a PCB.
Although i have the wiring for that part i want to build a Shifting Mockup for Pre testing.
The worst thing is the Knob. Man, that thing smells terribly. There´s a unbelievable smell of Perfume. You cannot image...

The inner spacing between the mounting holes is 71mm. So i cut of 2 pieces (31mm) of my alumium pipe. 31mm + 40mm...



The original mounting holes had steel inserts with a diameter of nearly 7mm. Due tu i use M8 screws these inserts had to be removed.



No words



The mounted Shifter. Well, it´s not the finished Version. First i want to mount the Seat with the U-Joint and all the other parts, so i will have the final setting.
Without the mounted Seat it shall be a very unstatisfactory solution.



Different view. Same room...


See you

ML

Hi,

today is welding day...
The Plate for U-Joint has been welded on the Frame (under the Seat) and the Joint itself had been fixed with M5 Screws.
I cut the lower mounting Plate (for U-Joint) to lenght and fixed it provisionally on the Base Frame.
I wasn´t even sure how to mount the Motors due to a problem. I will show that to you...

Heres´the U-Joint. I got it for nearly 18 € at e***.de. The Joint itself is fixed with 4 M5 Screws on a Stainless Plate (from Scrap jard).
The Plate had been welded to the Seats frame.



Now you can see the lower mounting Plate. It is a 7mm thick one. And when i get more mounting brackets for the Profiles it will also be supported by 2 Profiles.



The position fpr the U-Joint was balanced out with me sitting in the chair including my prefered (i think so) sitting position. The angle between the Base frame and the Seat is about 6 or 7 degrees.



Now here is (was) my problem. When i build the Mockup in 2018, everything worked fine BUT at this time i did not think about enough space for mounting the Motors AND the lever. As you can see, the lever is still not in the lowest position and so the gap between the Mounting screws would be really close...
Thats just without the needed Motor mounting brackets ! So...



...it was time to use my (hopefully good working) brain.
After looking for some parts which could be used ofr solving the problem, i found these clamps from a curtain rod.
Luckily my wife is at work so i will use them as Problem solvers.



The M8 Nut and the part they (the Nuts) sit on will be welded together in order...



...to screw them onto the Mototrs thread.
And as you can see the lever arms and the Screws (here is a M8 / M12 will be used) can be welded, too. I thing the biggest disadvantage will be, to weld on the whole Arm onto the Motors Shaft...
Well, sometimes you have to die a death...


AND, GOOD PEOPLE !!!

If there are any ideas to do anything better, please let me know.
Of course, it is "my" threat, but be invited to give me Feedback...

ML

Puh

These both will be the Motor mounting plates.
Maybe they will fit tomorrow. I just figured out, that i took the wrong measurements.
The holes will be drilled new or i will make them longer...
The inner hole has been drilled with a bimetal hole saw (44mm) so when the lever will be welded on, the Motor can still be removed.


Have a nice eveneing

ML

Good evening,

the isuue with the Mounting plates had been solved.
I just drilled new holes beside the wrong ones and her we go...

Well, as i wrote above, there must be space for further inventions...

ML

And here we are...
I ordered some small standing feet for the rig. I needed them for mounting the motor plates. And it is way easier to work on the yellow machine.
And easier to get into the seat...



The feet have a soft rubber sole onto the bottom. When the rig will be used i will have to see if it stable enough. Actually i´m not sure...



The motor plates are fixed with 3 M8 Screws onto the frame. The plates itself are 10mm thick.
If there will be the need, the plates will/can be made stiffer.



Here you see the Welded pipe with 2 M12 Screws. On the sides of the Steel pipe i want to mount the belts (later, if needed).



Due to my not so professional weldings, that must be enough...
Well, i think it will work. The joint heads are mounted and fixed with screws (thats an information from the future).


Yesterday the whole construction was disassembled into handy parts to get it to another room.
But thats another story...

ML

Good evening.

The last days i started to wire the last parts like the Pots and the PSUs. As you can see above, theres not so much space
to work inside the small Case.
Next time (?) i´d use a biger case... For sure

Within the next days i will show you the mistakes i made (maybe that will something have to do with the H-Bridges...)
and of course the actusl staus of my Project. A few things already work really great an some don´t...

So these are the brackets i already used in the past- To get enough space for the lever arms, i cghanged these brackets with a quick and dirty method by using my angle grinder.



The brackets can be moved and adjusted due to i´m using these aluminium profiles.
The pots are connected with a flat piece of plastic to the lever arm (also quick and dirty)...
And the cable from from the pots to Arduino are Ölflex 3x0,5 mm²







The Meanwell PSUs are 100 Watt types. The Motors shall have a peak current of nearly 60 Watts. I hope that will be enough...
Well, i´m not really small, you know...



In order to think about further inventions on my rig i fixed the PSUs just with cable ties...



So the next days i want to get into testing procedure with SMC3 and later with Live for Speed. But before that i need to change the H-Bridges.
The whole rig can already be used as an working sim rig exepted the motion we are looking for.

BUT !!! Yesterday i had my first real Sim Racing experience. THAT WAS AWESOME

ML