Hello/pre study before build

Hello folk’s outhere I found this site by looking for a site like this.
I have been simming for about 15 years and of late im really about to move up a little.
I have had several set ups with eight monitors and six computers networked together with all the fixings.
I have always had a room in my home to set up a sim but not the room to get some kind of motion going.
Im a heavy bird flyer so im not looking for fighter capabilities.

My closet is housing my simm and it gives you the closed in affect.

But im now wanting motion now and im posing a question to you highly skilled folks out there on this subject.

I was riding down the street one day and rode pass a car show and there were cars that were moving up and down on all four wheels and sometime separately.
I got to thinking is it possible to take a Junker low rider car that has all the hydraulics (and I done my research on finding people selling there junk cars with there hydraulics still intact). I’ve seen on the net folks selling there crashed cars for as little as 900 bucks etc.

im thinking of now moving my sim to the garage and using one side of it to house my sim, I would gut the car and build my sim inside it with all the monitors built where the windows go and so fourth.

It’s doable I believe, or im out to lunch.

Of course if it’s doable then is it possible to have fsx software talk to low rider mechanics.

The way I see it you have four wheels on the ground attached to four hydraulic attached to a chassis that can be controlled by switches in the chassis.

So why not have fsx and driver software to control the hydraulics under the chassis.

I will have a cockpit in a confined space.

I will have movement. And I will have the confined look I like in a cockpit.

I normally fly a level d 767 but im waiting for the pmdg fsx 737.

That is what im shooting for.

Am I missing something here?

My name is Robert ……………………Thank

I'm certain that a four wheel hyrdaulic simulator is possible with X-Sim, but this design would be sub-optimal for flight purposes.

X-Sim has an extreme amount of flexibility. This is both a blessing and a curse. You can do nearly anything with it, but the learning curve is steep and for a project like yours, there is not a preset path (list of parts & instructions) to follow at the present time.

It might be best to start by determining your budget, seeing what type of actuators you can afford and designing a sim that suits your needs around the capabilities of the actuators.

:

I second that.

Buying the hydraulics is just a fraction of the whole picture. Their power will greatly depend on the geometry and the weight and you have to control them very precisely if you want good motion.

Since you only want to use it for large airplanes with slower movement, your best option is DC motors. They are cheap and will achieve good results for the price.

Thanks for the fast reply, and yes im taking in all the things needed, im thinking low-rider be cause vie seen them in action.

I see no different in what they do as far as making there car move up and down and independently, as far as controlling them , just think as each wheel can go up a foot or more , as I said imp not looking for fighter jet just a heavy with slow movement.

The advantage is I have a cockpit and motion all in one and compact too.

imp still researching and so far I see no stop signs or detour or that it can’t be done.

I understand that each wheel will have its own suspension , all I need to do is control each wheel to move when I say, just like the low-rider cars do, vie seen them jump off of the ground.

Don’t need them that powerful.


The main reason im researching this is because of space, time, and if im going to spend a lot, it might as well be more bang for buck.


As for weight, remember these are cars going down the street with several batteries in the trunk with all the wiring to boot.

I have already seen junk car low riders folks are getting rid of for 900/ 1500/ 3000/ etc.

And of course you can go hog while and spend a lot.

I can put all the crap (electronic in the trunk and set up my views (monitors will be built into the front and so forth.

Just think outside the box folks and when you are finish laughing at my idea, tell me where this won’t work.

Thank you my future good simmers……………..Robert

We are not laughing at your idea. I really like the idea of using cheap hydraulics.

The only problem here is controlling them accurately. I don't know what type of control electronics are used in those systems, but I would bet they are not suitable for more reasons.

As far as I know, in those low rider hydraulics there is no actual position feedback. In other words, you have no control over the position of the pistons, only by your eyes. You can tell them to go up, or go down, but you cannot tell them to raise 3cm.To replicate proper motion for simulation, you need accurate positioning to achieve accurate forces that are scaled properly.

With different positioning of the 4 pistons, you can achieve more degrees of freedom. In the setup you are talking, you are limiting it to 3DOF (pitch,roll,vertical). With 4 actuators, you can get at least one more (yaw for example).

The bottom line is, you can use the hydraulics, but as I posted before: the cylinders and the pumps are a very small part of the equation. You will have to figure out accurate positioning with feedback, and use PID controller to drive the hydraulic pumps. Because this has never been done on a hobby level for simulators, there are really no guide lines or documentation to follow.