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2DOF Build Log Thread

Discussion in 'DIY Motion Simulator Projects' started by Tim McGuire, Oct 27, 2015.

  1. Tim McGuire

    Tim McGuire "Forever a work in progress"

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    My Motion Simulator:
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    Interesting, looks like they're crimp-less too! Thanks for the tip!
  2. Tim McGuire

    Tim McGuire "Forever a work in progress"

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    Hey guys, has anyone ever had problems getting the game manager to recognize that a game is actually running?

    It never switches to the blue "game running" state for some reason when I start up assetto corsa now. I've unpatched, and re-patched, and I've tried running everything in admin mode. Additionally, this only happens with AC. I've tried it with Dirt Rally and the game manager recognizes it just fine. Would forcing AC to run in 32bit mode cause this problem? (After the last update assetto corsa just crashes back to the main app if it's not forced to run in 32 bit for some reason).

    Any help is appreciated, thanks.
  3. noorbeast

    noorbeast VR Tassie Devil Staff Member Moderator Race Director

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    My Motion Simulator:
    3DOF, DC motor, JRK
  4. Tim McGuire

    Tim McGuire "Forever a work in progress"

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    My Motion Simulator:
    3DOF, DC motor
    I've tried verifying the game cache, I actually did a clean reinstall of the whole game and it still didn't help. I'm not exactly sure what's causing the version to crash either. I looked online but the only fix people had was to force the 32 bit version. I'm guessing this is what's causing my problem with simtools.
  5. Nick Moxley

    Nick Moxley Well-Known Member

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    My Motion Simulator:
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    CHECK YOUR RESOLUTION!!!!!!!!!


    Im assuming you can get into the Launcher, but as soon as you hit "race" it goes black screen then pops you back to the launcher ? Or is the game actually launching and just not "latching" to simtools ?
  6. Tim McGuire

    Tim McGuire "Forever a work in progress"

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    My Motion Simulator:
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    Resolution is fine, (well sort of, for some reason AC only gives me the option of 1920x1080 59.98Hz, rather than 60Hz). If I'm running the game in 64 bit mode, I'll hit "race" and the normal loading screen will pop up for about 4-8 seconds, but the game window will never open, and it will just go back to the previous screen. If I force 32 bit mode in AC, then the game will run fine, but simtools will not recognize that AC is running :(. I'm not sure if the plugin is written such that it will only recognize the 64 bit version of ACS, but that would make sense, I only started having this problem when the game stopped working in 64bit mode.
  7. Nick Moxley

    Nick Moxley Well-Known Member

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    My Motion Simulator:
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    hrmm, well thats confusing. The fact it works with 32bit and not 64 bit means to me its AC related, Sim tools isn't seeing the "on track data" until your actually on track right...so there for it wont connect with it when the game is glitching out in 64bit mode. If you've done all the basics as in integrity check and what not, which it sounds you have done, All i can suggest is to make a post on the AC support forum as Noor has suggested with all your Logs so the dev's can have a looky loo.
    • Agree Agree x 3
  8. Tim McGuire

    Tim McGuire "Forever a work in progress"

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    My Motion Simulator:
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    I've figured out my problem. I was previously using the reVive injector to play AC with an HTC Vive. When I switched to an Oculus, I was getting awful barrel distortion, so I deleted all of the injector files from my AC install folder. THIS WILL CAUSE THE GAME TO NOT LAUNCH. You need to leave the LibRevive64_1.dll and openvr_api.dll files in the game folder. Instead, delete the xinput1_3.dll file from the game directory, and your problem should be solved. I don't know if this should be stickied anywhere, it certainly won't be a common problem for many people, but it was a bugger for me to figure out. (I only found out because I tried opening ACS.exe directly on a whim, the game logfiles just report that ACS.exe never starts).

    Finally, after literally FIVE MONTHS of various things being broken, I'll get to try out my sim in VR with AC :confused:.
    • Like Like x 1
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  9. Nick Moxley

    Nick Moxley Well-Known Member

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    My Motion Simulator:
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    Very unique problem that a clean install would have surely fixed no ?
  10. Tim McGuire

    Tim McGuire "Forever a work in progress"

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    No, for some reason a clean install didn't fix the issue. I did a cache integrity check, cleared out the documents folder, reinstalled the game, reinstalled all of my .NET and VCREDIST frameworks, then I did all of that again on an admin account. I was about to reinstall windows to see if that would help, thankfully I figured it out first.
  11. Nick Moxley

    Nick Moxley Well-Known Member

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    My Motion Simulator:
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    But is the file you removed a AC Native file or something Oculus/Vive related ?
  12. Tim McGuire

    Tim McGuire "Forever a work in progress"

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    My Motion Simulator:
    3DOF, DC motor
    Yes, xinput1_3.dll is a reVive file, not an AC file. I missed removing that one the first time around because it was introduced during a patch, not as part of the main directory for the injector.
  13. Tim McGuire

    Tim McGuire "Forever a work in progress"

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    My Motion Simulator:
    3DOF, DC motor
    Some more progress updates. I've taken a page out of another sim's book, and decided to make an interfacing PCB to manage the connections between the Arduino and the MMs (I saw someone else do it on here with smaller driver boards, but can't remember the thread, so I can't credit the user unfortunately :oops:). Aside from taking the signals from the arduino to the drivers, it's also going to have integrated mounting points to secure heatsinks, relays to shut motors down in the event of overheating/to reduce the constant motor coil whine when not using them, and an MSP430 microcontroller managing all of the external extras so that the Uno can focus all of its processing power on running the PID loop. The final board should be about 11.5''x4'', have mounting space for one arduino uno and 3 MM shields, and be able to screw into standard motherboard mounting holes inside of a PC case. I'm finalizing the schematic right now, and would appreciate it if any other electrical guys on here would mind giving the PDF schematic attached a quick look over to make sure I haven't make any terrible mistakes (I'm not too worried, but it's always a good thing to get another set of eyes on a project).

    Once I've ordered/tested PCBs to make sure they work properly, I'll upload the gerber files for anyone to use if they want them. On another tangent, does anyone here have experience with CY Industrial PCBs? They seem to offer 3oz copper boards for ridiculously cheap (I'm sure there's a catch somehow, it is China so you do have to be wary). I could go down to 2oz copper for the board, but seeing as it'll be running 30 amps per MM I'd rather have too much copper than too little.
    Sim_Controller_PCB.png

    Attached Files:

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  14. noorbeast

    noorbeast VR Tassie Devil Staff Member Moderator Race Director

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    My Motion Simulator:
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    Brilliant idea and one I think many sim builders would really appreciate as it combines useful capability in a tidy easily mounted package :thumbs
    • Like Like x 1
  15. Tim McGuire

    Tim McGuire "Forever a work in progress"

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    Thanks! I'll try and power through and get this done in the forseeable future haha, before january if I can. Most of my other projects seem to take months and months without anything actually getting done.
    • Like Like x 1
  16. Tim McGuire

    Tim McGuire "Forever a work in progress"

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    My Motion Simulator:
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    Board is maybe 30% routed, the most time consuming part is done I think.
    Capture.PNG
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  17. Tim McGuire

    Tim McGuire "Forever a work in progress"

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    My Motion Simulator:
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    More progress. I've completely finished routing the signal portion of the board, and added mounting holes as well. Unfortunately I wasn't able to make the board size work nicely with standard ATX motherboard mounts like I originally wanted to, the dimensions are just too odd. All that's left now is grounding, copper pours for the high-current traces, and a proper silkscreen. Something else I wanted to get some opinions on is whether or not it would be worthwhile also designing a through hole only board, as I don't really know how comfortable most sim builders are with soldering small SMD components. I'm planning on just using solid core house wiring (14-16AWG?) to connect the MMs to the PCB. I looked into machined pins, but they were just too expensive/not conductive enough to justify the cost. Both the arduino and the MMs will be seated using the standard row-headers, allowing them to be easily removed when an MM inevitably breaks.

    Capture2.PNG
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  18. bruce stephen

    bruce stephen Hammer doesnt fix it, must be electrical

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    My Motion Simulator:
    2DOF, DC motor, Arduino, Motion platform, 6DOF
    I use 14gauge stranded for my motos. Solid wire is harder to work with and is more susceptible to breakage.

    I'm surprised you chose to route the 12volt thru your board. That's a lot of power in some instances. Peaks over 50amps depending on system.
    • Like Like x 1
  19. Tim McGuire

    Tim McGuire "Forever a work in progress"

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    My Motion Simulator:
    3DOF, DC motor
    It is a very high amount of current, but this was the easiest way to keep the wiring with the shutdown relays to a minimum. I'll do my due diligence and test everything, but I think I'll be able to make it work. The board will have thicker copper than most PCBs (2oz or 3oz rather than 1oz), and the current only actually has to travel a very short distance through the PCB (from the barrier terminal to the relay, from the relay to the MM, and from the MM to the output terminal), so heat generated in the trace should be manageable if I'm careful with how I design the copper pours.
  20. Tim McGuire

    Tim McGuire "Forever a work in progress"

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    My Motion Simulator:
    3DOF, DC motor
    Power planes are mostly done, just trying to come up with a workaround to some of Kicad's thermal relief settings:
    Capture3.PNG