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Start of my air g seat

Discussion in 'DIY Motion Simulator Projects' started by David muir, Feb 22, 2022.

  1. David muir

    David muir Dave from Scotland

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    Hi
    Im new to all this but ive decided to start my air g seat .
    When i was in the raf in the 80s i had a go of a real Jaguar aircraft sim at raf lossiemouth .
    The best part of the sim was when starting the takeoff roll i could feel airbladders inflating behind my back on the ejection seat ,it felt that i was being pushed into the seat .
    Im going to try and replicate this on my seat but just with a link from the throttle to a sliding pot then to the servo to squeeze the small airbladders ,from there the air will travel to the 2 larger ones behind my back .
    Ill post some photos of the build so far .
    Regards
    Dave from Scotland
  2. David muir

    David muir Dave from Scotland

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    First servo arrived today
    My plan is to use one servo to squeeze 4 small bladders from one paddle on a hinge .
    2 small ones connected by an air line to one large one ,ie when the servo moves the paddle all 4 small bladders send air to the large blue ones behind my back .

    Attached Files:

  3. David muir

    David muir Dave from Scotland

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    A picture of the seat base for the setuo ,its a playseat airforce model with the warthog stick and throttle ,there will be a link from the throttle to the sliding potentiometer which will move the servo .

    Attached Files:

  4. David muir

    David muir Dave from Scotland

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    Here is a link showing the sliding pot moving connected to the throttle .
    The sliding pot will be positioned at the side out of sight and the operating rod will be further down and shortened .

    • Creative Creative x 2
    • Like Like x 1
    Last edited: Feb 22, 2022
  5. David muir

    David muir Dave from Scotland

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  6. David muir

    David muir Dave from Scotland

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    My Motion Simulator:
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    Code for arduino to operate a servo from a potentiometer .


    #include <Servo.h>

    Servo myservo; // create servo object to control a servo

    int potpin = 0; // analog pin used to connect the potentiometer
    int val; // variable to read the value from the analog pin

    void setup() {
    myservo.attach(9); // attaches the servo on pin 9 to the servo object
    }

    void loop() {
    val = analogRead(potpin); // reads the value of the potentiometer (value between 0 and 1023)
    val = map(val, 0, 1023, 0, 180); // scale it to use it with the servo (value between 0 and 180)
    myservo.write(val); // sets the servo position according to the scaled value
    delay(15); // waits for the servo to get there
    }
  7. David muir

    David muir Dave from Scotland

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    My Motion Simulator:
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    Sliding pot working with the 60kg servo

  8. David muir

    David muir Dave from Scotland

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    Once the parts are installed for the seat back bladders then im looking at fitting some hall effect sensors around the outside of the base on the warthog stick for pitch and roll senses to the seat sides and bottom bladders using simtools .
  9. MarkusB

    MarkusB Well-Known Member Gold Contributor

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    Hi @David muir ,

    this is a creative approach to connect additional pots to your game controllers. :thumbs

    However, an alternative you may want to consider is using a software like SimTools (https://simtools.us/), which - with the help of specific game plugins - retrieves telemetry data from simulation games and forwards it to motion controllers.
    One advantage would be that your servos will move according to the 'real' forces applied to the simulated vehicle instead of the controller movements.

    Luckily, this community is full of DIY projects using SimTools, and there are even some that use RC servos for inflating air bladders, like this one, this one, or this one.
    • Agree Agree x 3
  10. David muir

    David muir Dave from Scotland

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    Hi Marcus

    Many thanks for all your information regarding the build.
    Its my intention to use simtools to connect to all my servos in the future once ive got my head around on how to use the simtools software .
    Im just wondering is it possible to try simtools as a trial period to check out if it works with my seat ,once all the servos and air bladders are installed ?
    Ill be using dcs and mfs mainly as my flight sim to the seat .
    Thanks
    Dave
  11. noorbeast

    noorbeast VR Tassie Devil Staff Member Moderator Race Director

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    My Motion Simulator:
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    The demo version of SimTools includes the fully function plugin for Live For Speed, specifically for testing purposes.

    Be sure to run LFS before patching it for motion: https://www.xsimulator.net/communit...run-in-first-person-mode-before-patching.365/
  12. David muir

    David muir Dave from Scotland

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  13. David muir

    David muir Dave from Scotland

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    Thanks but i cant seem to find the link for the simtools demo version ,sorry .
    Regards
    Dave
  14. seuszok

    seuszok Member Gold Contributor

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    Simtools will be "demo" till You dont receive key
    Just download it
    • Agree Agree x 1
  15. David muir

    David muir Dave from Scotland

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    Thanks but i cant see the link to click on to download the demo version of simtools.
    Ive looked at the quick start guide and it only mentions .....download sim tools further down in the procedure ,there isnt a hyperlink to click on with the mouse .
    Im sure its there somewhere but at the moment i cant see it .

    Thanks
    Dave
  16. MarkusB

    MarkusB Well-Known Member Gold Contributor

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    DCS as well as MS Flight Simulator have SimTools plugins, so that SimTools can control your servos for both products.

    And controlling servos with SimTools is really easy. You will probably achieve this in a shorter time frame than adding additional pots to your joystick.

    All you need hardware-wise is an Arduino Uno and an external power supply that provides the voltage needed by your servos. And I see that you already have all this.

    And software-wise you will find the needed Arduino code and instructions in this forum. Here is a post that might be of some help, but there's a lot of more information available.
    • Like Like x 1
  17. noorbeast

    noorbeast VR Tassie Devil Staff Member Moderator Race Director

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    The SimTools download page is here: https://www.xsimulator.net/community/marketplace/motion-simulation-software-simtools.63/
  18. David muir

    David muir Dave from Scotland

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    Thanks Marcus ,i'll look into this its all becoming clear now .
    Best regards
    Dave
    • Like Like x 1
  19. David muir

    David muir Dave from Scotland

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    • Like Like x 1
  20. Martin Dixon

    Martin Dixon Member

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    very interesting concept will be watching this any chance of a video when its functioning.