I have arrived!

Hey guys and gals,

Chillisteak here!

Your newest newbie to the XSimulator Community

Why am I here?

Well because over the last few years sim racing has become a bit of an obsession, from spending hours behind my wheel to watching YouTube video after video.

So my obsession with racing games/sims all changed when Forza 4 came out, I got hooked on the multiplayer and club system. Eventually I purchased a wheel the Fanatec CSR with some lovely CSR Elite pedals, bets purchase I'd ever made for racing games.
But I quickly realised racing behind a make shift cockpit of a stole and table wasn't going to cut it. so a few months later I purchased a GT Omega EVO rig.
Another great investment!
From there I jumped ship from consoles to PC racing, meaning I now race on Project CARS, iRacing, Formula Truck, GRID Autosport, RaceRoom Racing Experience and the list could go on and on...

I've slowly upgraded my gear getting Fanatec Clubsport V2 pedals, just pre-ordered the Clubsport V2 Base as well but whats next??

But that got me thinking whats next?
Well the Oculus Rift is at least a year away so it leaves me with only one option, a motion rig!

After looking at purchasing one and seeing their crazy prices I was left with 3 options.

1. Sell a kidney and buy one.
2. Find a new dream and forget about motion rigs
3. Build my own.

Seeing as the first two ain't really an option, I begun a quick Google search on home made rigs and ended up here!

Wow that rambled on a bit longer than I thought it would apologies, hope you're still with me!

So first off I'll explain this, I have no clue what's needed to build a motion rig.
So I'll probably ask lots of stupid questions, so I'll say sorry for that now. Sorry!

What I've been looking at building is a rig very similar to this kind of thing.



Given all this is an idea that's popped into my head today, I haven't got to far with planning.

Priced up some sheet aluminium and tubing.
Looked at the following actuators
http://www.miraiintertech.com/home/scn5.php
and I've downloaded some CAD software to help me knock up some designs.

So here's my first lot of stupid crazy questions?

Are the actuators suitable for the job? if not what would you suggest?

How do I power the actuators? and connect them to a PC?

and finally I'm guessing I'd need software to run them, what software is out there capable of doing it?

I found something called Sim Commander but not sure if that's up to the job.

If you have any tips suggestions or answers to any of my questions thanks it's appreciated.

If it's all been answered before I do apologize for asking again, but I've not yet had chance to wander the forum.

Thanks for reading I'll speak to you all soon some how I'm sure.

Hi, @chillisteak ! You're in the right place. Here you will find a lot of useful information, tips from experienced members, the necessary software. And you can realize your dream without harm to health.

Good to know I've stumbled across the right place.

It seemed like such a simple idea, but after browsing the forum for a bit I'm starting to think this might not be such a simple idea.

Lots of different approaches and lots of things flying straight over my head as well, this may take a lot of reading. I just hope the learning curve ain't to steep haha

Hello @chillisteak , welcome.
Yes there are a zillion different configurations on this site, all unique designs.
Yes you need a PC to run the games and motors control. Not to worry, you dont need a hugely powerful computer, but minimum 4 core cpu, 4 gig ram and decent graphics card. That can be cheap or expensive. I can build a decent PC from about $700, or I could use my other machine at $1500.
I have been through a few myself http://www.xsimulator.net/community/threads/different-2dof-sim-builds-feel-free-to-add-designs.5624/
The most common is the 2DOF on a balanced pivot point. next is a drift/traction loss frame under that 2 DOF for swinging.
This can be achieved with a seat mover and or full frame with proper motor/actuator placement.
Then 3 - 4 DOF lift.
That can get more expensive, but not as costly as the dbox 4 actuator system you linked in the video.
You would need to think about what you would actually like.
The SCN5 are not very strong and best used on only a seat mover at shoulder mount at rear. They look good, but are not very strong.
SCN6 actuators would move a 2DOF balance point frame, but are costly by our poor money standards.
DC motors around the 12 200 watt with different gearboxes are the most feasible.
Control boards like the JRK are by far the simpler to use.
If you like coding or need to look at much larger motors than 300 watts, the arduino and h-bridges would be needed.
Forget Simcommander, the licence is expensive and it doesnt have the range of game plugins nor the refined motion of the free Simtools. I have heard runors of simcommander-simexperience people coming to simtools.
Have a look at some of the designs and check out the videos relating to them.
Cheers, David.

Yeah the DBOX prices are insane, they wanted almost £8000 for it. Lowest price I found anywhere for this kind of design was £7000.

There are 2 points I like about the design, actuators look cooler than motors haha
But the main reason is I need the seat wheel etc all to move at the same time, because I plan on using this with the Oculus Rift when that shows it's face I think the seat moving and wheel not may be a bit disorientating.

I've been browsing the member builds and FAQ section, haven't had much time spare to sit and read it all but I will eventually.

My PC will run it all no worries, so that isn't a concern especially when my new GPU arrives.

What style is that 4 actuator system I showed in my first post? as in 2DOF or 3DOF etc? because that's what I want, without a shadow of a doubt I need the whole frame to move like that. I'm not 2 concerned with the sliding (drift) motion.

I really like the look of actuators over motors, I've taken a quick look at your various designs. I noticed you used actuators in the 2nd one from the top and only 2 from what I can see. So 4 of them should be more than enough to handle me and my rig and give me all the movement I want.
What actuators are they? couldn't see any info on them other than they are expensive and you got given them

I know actuators may be the more expensive option and I have a figure in mind on what I'm willing to spend and believe I can stay below that or at least I hope I can lol.
So as this is purely in the planning stage I'll stick to actuators for now, if it soon becomes apparent that I can't stay below my budget I'll start the research on motors.

You mentioned coding?
Is that something that's needed for both JRK and Arduino? or just Arduino? because I have no experience with coding or control boards unless.

Well that's 2 votes for this simtools software, I'll have to take a look at that and see what it's all about.

Hello, I looked at that video, it might be 4 actuators but moves like a 2 DOF balance pivot., So if you want it to move like that, its less cost.
heres some videos of my "foot motor mount" frame I had. Motors were down near the feet, nice and compact and rattled me up very well.


http://img31.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=403447740_IMG_20120414_114615_122_432lo.jpg

so maybe something like that may be good
Yes , stick with JRKS, 7 wires, simple PID commands, NO CODE TO WRITE OR HAVE TO MESS WITH AN EXISTING ONE.
I am simple and its the best and simplest performing board out there.
http://www.pololu.com/catalog/product/1393 one per motor, will handle 14v at 30 amps continous all day with heatsink and fan cooling and also run 45 amp spikes.
Heres a place to get the motors https://www.motioncontrolproducts.co.uk/ , I cannot find the exact listing, but a 12v 200 watt dayton style with 25:1 gearbox will do the job nicely

I dressed up the "foot motor" mount sim
Cannot see anything really

At the bottom of this page, Take a look at how they explain the seat movements.


http://www.frex.com/gp/


I also suggest Motor's over actuators 100%

Seatmover with Oculus Rift works very well! That explanation from Frex site is quite good.

Ok guys,

Why do you all recommend motors instead of actuators? apart from the price difference, do they offer something actuators can't?

@noorbeast after seeing your rig I'm considering a motor based rig. that's some slick work!

Yep, DC motors for sure, Ive put my DC motors through abuse that NO actuator would survive, that and if something does break on them, its cheaper to replace.
Linear speed of dc motors can be a lot faster than actuators.
@eaorobbie seat mover, shoulder mount at rear has 65mm CT levers using 80mm total travel, and he gets about 500mm per second linear speed out of that matched with JRKS.
I use 40mm ctc and I get about 300mm per second over 75mm travel of lever.
Even though SCN products like SCN5 are listed at 400 mm per second, they will break in no time at that speed. Hence Simx moves them at half the speed.

Not to mention all the rubber bushing's and " Inline Dampeners make motion more fluid and less digitized " LOL what BS, You mean your gear isn't strong enough so you have to add a bunch of rubber bands to make it work...Classic.