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Fans of flight simulators, care to take a short survey?

Discussion in 'New users start here - FAQ' started by Inside, Feb 12, 2012.

  1. Inside

    Inside New Member

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    I'm a senior in a mechanical engineering program. For our senior design project we're going to be creating a set of plans for a flight simulator. We're talking things like exact part specifications, where to find them, how to pick out alternatives, how to attach things.

    We're aiming for something under $1k that can be put together with no specialized tools.

    I'm doing a market survey to gauge the market for such a set of (free) plans.

    The survey is available here --
    http://twu.net/mch

    Thanks for your time :)
  2. bsft

    bsft

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    http://www.acesim.com/main.html here are some plans to build a flight sim, $15 for plans, can be made from PVC, and just a matter of fitting motors and control boards.

    If you can set something up for under $1000, there may be interest here on this forum. But then again, I built my joyrider style sim for under $500.
  3. Inside

    Inside New Member

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    We're saying $1k on our project proposal as the limit to not come in over budget later.

    I know it's been done before, but it can also be done again and different. Hopefully we can also go for better.

    Thanks for your response! I assume you're the only person who replied as having actually built one :)
  4. bsft

    bsft

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    Have a dig through the forum projects, there a quite a few whom have done it. Tronic comes to mind straight away.
  5. stowaway

    stowaway New Member

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    I sure hope my project comes in less than $1000.

    Im basing mine off Aldoz 3 DOF design. (but im cheating as I wont have to pay for the steel, spring, computer) As i beleive I can find most of this around my works workshop.

    Im hoping to get away with 3 motors $300. Arduino UNO board $20, 2x Tronic H-Bridges $?? and random items $200, uni joint $90.
    we will see tho :)
  6. eaorobbie

    eaorobbie Well-Known Member SimTools Developer Gold Contributor

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    My Motion Simulator:
    2DOF, DC motor, JRK, SimforceGT, 6DOF
    i have built the joyrider - pvc version cost me $450aus, one cool joystick.
    Then built one from steel using a mix of square hollow sections went well except i got back into online racing,
    and never motorized either unit, since sold the pvc unit because i didnt like the idea of relying on plastic part to hold up to the proposed motor torque, but from see tronics in action they do it quite nicely.
    But would be very intersested in see something like this here on site,
    But as suspicous as i am these thing lead to sucking all the info from us diy guys, then disappearing and coming back as company trying to flogg us a product we all helped to design. Unless ya gunna keep it free. :disobedient:
  7. stowaway

    stowaway New Member

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    I agree. It would also take the fun out of building my own if someone came out with a $1500 China-Mass-Produced Simulator that you clip together.
    I suppose it is bound to happen one day.
  8. Inside

    Inside New Member

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    Heh, I wouldn't worry about me taking the design and then sending it off to china to get manufactured.

    I'm not even sure if this project is going to be approved -- part of the reason why I was doing the market survey is to try to get some numbers that I agree with to show our senior design professor regarding the need of this project. So far the numbers are looking pretty dang good.

    Other than that, I'm not quite sure how marketable a product like this would be. I haven't really heard of people actually buying the existing flight simulators. Then there's that whole slew of problems regarding patents -- part of the project is doing a patent review and there are at least several hundred patents that cover every single thing regarding flight simulators.

    Anyhoo -- I'll do my best to keep people updated on the project.

    The timeline is looking like this --

    Proposal due 2/13
    Approval/disapproval 2/20
    If it's an out right denial, then that kind of sucks for me, huh.
    Functional Requirements/Engineering Specifications/proposal of alternate designs 2/27
    Detail concept drawings, mathematical models, analytical results/performance predictions - 4/9
    Then there's a lot of paperwork and busywork that we do until the end of the semester
    Nothing scheduled over the summer, but we hope to get some nice computer simulations of how everything should go together done by the time the semester starts..
    Then looking at the syllabus for the next semester we need to absolutely have everything done by the 11th week of the fall semester.

    So... somewhere around november is when we should have it built, tested, and working. It'll be a long time yet =p
  9. bsft

    bsft

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    Ok, I like the idea of an engineered designed simulator, however, this is a DIY forum, we share information around even though there is already some users trying to steal information to get a commercial sim done and bugger us all off.
    The people on this forum have great knowledge and are happy to share it, however, if this info does turn into commercial simulators, it is only a matter of time, until someone finds out and confronts the person involved.
    Internet or not, freeware or not, all of us like to have our piece of pie and not want it stolen.
    Granted a design can be changed by 5-10% and then you cannot do a damn thing.
    The only need we have here is our own designs working.
    Surf the net, there are quite a few commercial built sims out there already , and yes they are expensive. So thats why we are here.
    A few of us have completed your survey including myself. Its fairly straight forward enough to show that people could have an expression of interest in another commercial simulator.
    Also, China is not the end all for manufacturing. It can be done closer to home for less cost and a better product. Even the Chinese workers are starting to fight for higher wages, as they see how much their stuff is being sold for overseas.
    As long as you plan to share your info and studies here, all will be good.
    Remember, the world is not as big as you think.
  10. Inside

    Inside New Member

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    Well, by $1K we meant just the chassis part that moves :p

    I'm assuming that most people already have a PC that they'd just use with the chassis.
  11. stowaway

    stowaway New Member

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    I also wasnt inclduing Screen or PC, Steering wheel, pedeals in my estimate, But I have all them already.
  12. jyrki.j.koivisto

    jyrki.j.koivisto New Member

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    EU safety regulations make it unrealistic that something like that could be done under 1k as commercial product. If safety precautions are not implemented then it could not be sold in Europe.
  13. bsft

    bsft

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    true about that, unless the designer sells plans to build, like the current joyrider plans. Then it doesnt matter, safe or not, people might just build it.