Karting Simulator

Hi, I like to introduce my self and my build. I've been doing a lot of research to make me a motion rig. I am thinking it will be a 3 axis platform.

It all started about a month ago. I had just watched the F1 grand prix of that weekend and that night I had a dream in which I was driving an f1 car. Suddenly the dream changed to me playing my old play station 2 grand Turismo and then it changed to me driving my shifter kart (which has been in storage for a long time mostly for lack of buddies to go during the week as I work weekends). By the end of the dream, I was handling the kart with a play station controller. When I woke up I was so exciting. I couldn't get back to sleep and so I got up and headed to my laptop to start searching for a karting video game alternative for when I cannot go to the real track, I knew there had to be something.

After some time browsing, I came across two awesome games "kartkrafts" and "kart racing pro". Without knowing what I was getting into I downloaded the steam app and purchased both games only to find out my computer wasn't compatible with one and didn't have enough free space for the other. I was hooked with the idea of playing them so I order myself a new gaming-capable pc lol (the wife has no clue). It would take 2 weeks to get it delivered so in the meantime I kept watching videos and learning what else I would need. I order a g920 wheel with pedals. Somehow I ended up watching a video about a diy motion simulator that got me to this awesome page and long story short by the end of the week I had purchased metal tubes, grinder, welder, lots of hardware bolts, oculus quest 2, Arduino board, wheelchair motors with 32:1 gearboxs, cables, and soldering iron, also pulled out boxes with a lot of kart spare parts I had saved in the past and started making the cockpit. I replicated every single aspect and measurement from the real chassis as well as functions converting the paddle shifters to a sequential shifter precisely where the real kart has it. I also converted the foot clutch pedal to a hand clutch lever attached to the steering column. Here are some pictures of my progress so far. If any of you have suggestions and recommendations I will appreciate all of them. So far the rig is ready to play and the next step is adding the motion base, speakers, wind or any other cool feature I can to make it a more immersive experience

I am considering mounting the roll/pitch motors in front of the pivot point. I understand the majority prefer them behind with shoulder mounting points and I wonder if there is a lot of difference. The reason is I could hide the motors below the plastic side pods (see last uploaded picture on the previous post) so everything would look cleaner plus I prefer not to make the whole thing any longer than it already is for room space reasons. Here are my current calculations

Noorbeast, Thanks a lot for the link and the great suggestions. You just gave me an idea of using a rib protector as a harness. I could attach webbing or bungee cords and carabiners to it.

A very exciting day for me
I finally got all the connections done and motors are responding correctly to SMC3 utility. They do make a buzzing noise that goes away and comes back every time I move the slider. Not sure if that is normal or what can be done about it. My next step is to finish the lower frame and linkages.

I have two new ideas I like to incorporate into the controls as I notice these are available in the games. One is tucking your head to reduce drag and the other is covering the air intake with your right hand to rich up the engine. In reality, this last one is a thing of the past barely ever used in new engines but I thought it would be cool to have an airbox with a sensor inside, maybe a photoresistor that triggers this action when my hand covers it, and for the tuck a door or proximity sensor attached to the vr head strap. I was thinking of wiring those sensors somehow to a mouse, keyboard keys or Arduino to send the signals to the computer. If anyone has suggestions/ideas on how I could accomplish this I will appreciate it.

motor mounts and pivot point almost done, body shakers for each corner in place

Yes, I had found the balance point just like described on that page using a round pipe and planned to mount the top but after adding the shakers the center of gravity changed so I figure if I have a lighter/heavier friend that would change as well so my plan is to have the top slide on a rail 2" back 2" forward mounting adjust the CG accordingly. I will upload a picture of it tomorrow to see what you think.

For hardware and code, I am using SMC3 mode 2 with IBT-2s with thermal paste and cooling fans over the heat sinks. To power them I am using a meanwell psu and I plan to upgrade to hp server psu.

that is good to know, the downside is my Meanwell is only 15 amps and they are more expensive to buy. I didn't want to go with a battery indoors because it is my understanding they have lead inside and may release gases. I have a parrot and lead is poisonous to them. Would you prefer using resistors to help the hp PSU's or definitely better to go with more meanwell psu's?

The motors are supposed to be 250w continuous and 575w peak each. The hp's I was thinking are 750w but I found 930w dells too. Either ones I could get for cheap. Do you consider the hp to leave plenty overhead or best idea to go with the dells?

Here are pictures of the top frame temporally mounted in place with clamps on top of the slider. This would be the COG for my weight leaving adjustable room each way for lighter/heavier drivers

hp PSU's modified, controllers box assembled, kill switch and trackball in place. Next step is traction loss motor/mechanism.

Hi, You use same motor as mine. Did you disassemble the brakes on the rear of the motors?
In normal operation theres a switch to relase brakes when they move, but when they are not powered in any direction - brakes hold the rotor.

yes, brakes were removed

I had a setback with one of the potentiometers, it had a loose/bad connection and the motor kept spinning bending the tie rod. I ended up cutting the base and widening it 1 inch on each side to prevent that from ever happening again so now the motor axles can spin a full 360 without touching the arms if that were to happen again. Other than that the only progress was welding the pivot point for the traction loss. I did a lot of repairs but not much progress I did get to test and play live for speed quite a bit before the incident