2021 Year in Review and Seasons Greetings

I just had word that Santa has fired up the sleigh and is headed to the international date line, somewhere around Christmas Island, Kiribati, ready for a world wide tour. For those who need it here is the official Norad Santa tracker: http://www.noradsanta.org/


Seriously though I know we have many members from around the world who have a diverse range of views and beliefs. Irrespective of what those may be I would like to pass on end of year seasons greetings to yourselves, and those who you hold near and dear, particularly after such a disruptive, and for some, a tragic year.

Covid19 and lock downs resulted in a 2020 spike in new members and activity on Xsimulator.net, the stats are not yet out for 2021 but my guess is things should settle a bit as restrictions have eased in many places, though the hits just keep coming with Omicron off the line just in time for the festive season

On the upside updating and building new motion rigs and peripherals proved a positive way for many to endure Covid19.

On that upbeat note I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has contributed to Xsimulator.net. All members have advanced our community, plus DIY motion related simulation and peripherals, in a vast array of ways, and the originality and ingenuity you all bring to your many and varied projects continues to amaze.

In 2021 our major community build trends have been the increasing proliferation and refinement of servo based actuators and rigs, with more members also starting to experiment with ODrives DIY actuators. Hardware wise the AMC-AASD15A servo controller has become even more popular, following further refinements for DIY and commercial actuators, along with direct drive wheels There are also new controller options, with @knaufinator debuting his open PCB assembly and @Motion4Sim.

There has been a bit of a decline in G-Seat and G-Pressure systems during 2021. On the entry level side @Halloween2go has made a handy video guide on how to build a a 2DOF with wiper motors, Arduino, IBT2 and SMC3.

The rise of 3D printed parts continues, particularly with respect to motion, control and other peripherals. For example @Lebois has been beavering away and refining his 3D printed hydraulic pedals, along with his hydraulic clutch activated 3D printed gearbox shifter. Meanwhile @Spit40 has diversified his DIY flight related controls.

Software wise FlyPT motion software initially grabbed a lot of attention, being regularly updated and diversified to add many options and features. Following on from a number of point release updates, in the latter part of 2021 @yobuddy has been dropping hints about a pending v3 SimTools update, piquing the interest of many.

Covid induced chip shortages has made it hard to get the latest generation of computer hardware in 2021. Bitcoin miners have not helped when it comes to getting a hold of RRP 30 series Nvidia cards, or the new Ryzon 5000 CPUs and GPUs.

This year also ushered in a bunch of new SimTools plugins. As always @Wagnard's continues to diligently update his Elite Dangerous plugin. Stepping up to the plugin dev plate @RyanM created a plugin for Vector36, while stalwart @yobuddy added a new F1 2021 plugin, plus he and others also provided feature updates to existing plugins. So a big Aussie Christmas koala stamp award to all the plugin devs, who we all depend on to bring our motion rigs to life in our favorite games.

As we put 2021 in the rear view mirror we can hopefully look forward to less disruption and more normality in 2022. So, wherever you are and whatever you may be doing, many thanks for being a part of this vibrant community. I wish you all the best for the festive season and new year, no matter how you choose to celebrate or spend them, and I look forward to 2022 being a year of endless project possibilities and amazement for our community.

Happy Holidays everyone!