Question Actuator Location?

Hopefully a simple question which is easier asked through a couple of illustrations as shown below.

Question -

Why is it often seen that the actuator motor/drive is fixed to the moving part be that a seat or frame? This doesn't make sense to me as it is adding the additional weight of the motor/drive and actuator plus it also means that the wires are more difficult to route neatly. But a lot of simulators do this, even professionally designed ones and so I'm wondering if I'm missing a less obvious reason for this. Is it just the easiest method?​

Couldn't both of the above could have the actuator mounted closer to the base and then extend the actuator rod?

And here's two of my favourite looking commercial models...



But again couldn't the actuators have been mounted the other way round? The image below demonstrates how this is even possible using the largest of actuators...


And whilst searching for these examples I've come across this model which is now my personal favourite and a lot of which I hope to be able to incorporate into my own DIY design (Not sure where they hide the PSU!)...

It's worth checking out here... http://www.atomicmotionsystems.com/?page_id=10244

I particularly like how it is able to stow away in a compact size!

Hi @noorbeast I've been reading through the forum for the past couple of months now and yours is one of my favourite DIY simulators. My biggest constraint is going to be space, after that it's probably cost.
I also suffer pretty badly with motion sickness and whilst racing games don't tend to affect me at the moment sat in a static chair, I'm completely unable to play flight sims and even some first person shooter games can throw me over the edge.

I've decided that a seat mover is definitely the way I would like to go, but not sure if I should also include the pedals and wheel. I've read mixed reviews about which is preferred and so think that this boils down to individual preference. I'm hoping to design my seat mover in such a way as to be able to add the pedal and wheel if required. If I don't get the motion to feel right (or at least what my brain expects), then it's going to make me feel nauseous and ruin the whole gaming experience.

Being an engineer I'd also like to think that I've designed something rather than just copied an existing design

My plan is to use linear actuators. I'm currently in the process of designing an actuator that uses an e-scooter 24V DC motor and a short toothed belt to drive a ball screw. If additional torque is required I can adjust the ratio of the pulleys on the motor and ball screw. The reason for choosing a scooter motor is that they are readily available, very cheap and come in a variety of power/torque sizes.
I'm still playing with the design at the moment but was thinking of using a short 250mm ball screw and limiting it's amount of travel as required.

Over the past couple of weeks I've become pretty adept at using Sketchup!