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Lotus 49 cockpit rig

Discussion in 'DIY Motion Simulator Projects' started by skydivepaul, Feb 13, 2019.

  1. skydivepaul

    skydivepaul Member

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    Hi , Just a post to introduce myself.
    I Happened across this site whilst searching for DIY motion simulator racing rig. I am currently building a Lotus 49 cockpit simulator, this project started off a few months ago as "Why don't we get a racing game for the new office?" To which I replied , "no problem, I will have a look into making one"
    Three months on and I have nearly finished a 1:1 scale cockpit of a 1967 Lotus 49 F1 car. Built from a wood skeleton frame and clad with aluminium panels.
    DIY made seat, dashboard and gear housing.
    The car will be painted in British racing Green with yellow stripe of course.
    I didn't intend for the sim to be a full motion sim but now I have gone this far with it, I may as well give it a go.
    The original intention was to use the Xbox one Forza 7 as it has some nice classic F1 cars including the Lotus 49. I realise that I will need to use another platform if I go for motion sim.
    Currently thinking of using assetto corsa as that has the correct circuits and cars I would want to use but happy to take advice on this.
    Any advice appreciated on where to start with this.

    My background is I have a HND in electro mechanical engineering. My day job is in electronic security so can turn my hand to most things electronic, soldering, programming PLC's as well as the mechanical stuff. I have built several kit cars and race cars so I know where to bolt the wheels on.

    A few pics of the build to date:

    1.jpg 2.jpg 3.jpg 4.jpg 5.jpg 6.jpg 7.jpg 8.jpg 9.jpg
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  2. noorbeast

    noorbeast VR Tassie Devil Staff Member Moderator Race Director

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    Superb craftsmanship, your rig is an awesome basis for a motion rig :thumbs

    Keep in mind that you also have additional options to consider, like including a G-Seat and motion driven harness tensioner: https://www.xsimulator.net/community/faq/gseat.20/category

    Plus you can use Game Vibe to drive transducers: https://www.xsimulator.net/community/faq/transducers-rumble-motors.25/category

    Assetto Corsa (plus some mods) is an excellent choice, as it has some of the best physics for motion rigs. Project Cars 2 is another option that includes the Lotus 49 and it has classic tracks as well, along with things like day/night and built in weather.
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  3. skydivepaul

    skydivepaul Member

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    Many thanks noorbeast, i still have a way to go to get the rig finished as a static sim. I would really like to get the gauges working especially the rev counter. It is a replica smiths gauge 0- 10k reading with a mechanical input reduced 2:1 I have made a small connector and stuck my battery drill on it to check it moves as it should.

    I will do a lot of reading on this site to check out all the options and what I want / need the rig to achieve.
    This really puts a new spin on the project as I enjoy the electro mechanical side so I am sure it will evolve over time.

    Will post more pics as the build progresses
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  4. noorbeast

    noorbeast VR Tassie Devil Staff Member Moderator Race Director

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  5. Gadget999

    Gadget999 Well-Known Member

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    My Motion Simulator:
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    this will be a nice sim - is it going to be full motion ?

    i have a sim based on a F3 carbon fibre tub

    old vid of it here --
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  6. MarkusB

    MarkusB Well-Known Member Gold Contributor

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    My Motion Simulator:
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    Wow, this is an incredibly beautiful build. Just looking at it is a pleasure, and sitting inside with motion and motor vibrations must be fantastic. I guess you will get a lot of watchers here.
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  7. skydivepaul

    skydivepaul Member

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    Great stuff I really like that set up. As my rig wasn't originally intended to be a motion rig I think Some sort of platform that I can bolt the rig to would be good
  8. skydivepaul

    skydivepaul Member

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    Thanks for your kind words. I am hoping it will look good once I get the paint and stickers on it.
    I also am installing an 800 watt 5.1 speaker system ( my old sony surround system) with a 12" sub woofer behind the drivers seat and the other speakers carefully placed within the main cockpit.
    It should shake and rattle your teeth once the volume gets cranked up!
  9. MarkusB

    MarkusB Well-Known Member Gold Contributor

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    My Motion Simulator:
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    Or - as @noorbeast suggested - check our the g-seat and harness tensioner options plus Game Vibe. There is an increasing number of such builds in this forum.
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  10. skydivepaul

    skydivepaul Member

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    Thanks I hadn't thought of a G-Seat, but to be honest I hadn't heard of one either.
    I had a go on the ferrari world simulator in Barcelona and that had seat belt tensioners. It was very effective
  11. dododge

    dododge Active Member Gold Contributor

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    If you want literal shaking and rattling you should look into transducers. One big advantage is that instead of just relying on the game's audio, there is software such as Game Vibe or SimVibe which can take game telemetry data -- engine RPM, road bumps, collisions, etc -- and deliver specific effects to specific points on the rig such as the seat or pedals.

    Even if you don't go full motion you can get quite a result just with transducers. For example my old rig had four really big ones (admittedly driven by two 3000W amplifiers) and I built the whole thing on springs so they could shake it even harder:



    [​IMG]
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  12. skydivepaul

    skydivepaul Member

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    Thanks that's another option I can look at. Once i have the rig finished as in a static sim I'll assess all the options. I guess the transducers will be a quicker install than a full motion platform
    What sort of costs are the transducers and amplifiers?
  13. noorbeast

    noorbeast VR Tassie Devil Staff Member Moderator Race Director

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    My Motion Simulator:
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    There are a range of transducer and amplifier options, but to give you an idea of the lower end of the cost spectrum you could use an amp and PSU like this: https://www.ebay.com/itm/4-X-100-Wa...8:g:2yIAAOSwhf1Zn9da:rk:3:pf:1&frcectupt=true

    With a cheap USB sound card: https://www.ebay.com/itm/USB5-1-to-...a:g:Uz0AAOSw0ehZ-MEx:rk:1:pf:1&frcectupt=true

    Driving 4 X 50W transducers, something like these: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Dayton-Aud...c:g:w48AAOSw3gJZJH90:rk:1:pf:1&frcectupt=true

    Game Vibe can handle 2 sound cards, so 8 transducers: https://www.xsimulator.net/community/marketplace/simtools-v2-game-vibe.201/
  14. skydivepaul

    skydivepaul Member

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    Many thanks I'll take a look at all those components, I guess you could also incorporate some of those bass shakers into a full motion rig as well?
  15. SeatTime

    SeatTime Well-Known Member

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    Absolutely, I have one directly mounted to the back of my sims seat. It is great for fine motion detail, or were there is no track motion data exported - as with NL2 - so I use what is in the sound output. Don't recommend you mount the rig on springs as shown above , not hating on that member, but a setup like this often just produces unrealistic under dampened oscillations. Isolating the seat/rig on just rubber washers would be much better.
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  16. skydivepaul

    skydivepaul Member

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    Excellent I am now thinking of a platform type system that I can put my rig onto, with one or two transducers to compliment the motion......

    I think I may have started something here as my 13 year old daughter is taking an interest and want me to build her a full motion VR roller coaster simulator!! How can I refuse
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  17. noorbeast

    noorbeast VR Tassie Devil Staff Member Moderator Race Director

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    One or two transducers are good, but four will allow what is called chassis mode, one transducer representing each of the wheels, which is why I suggested the hardware that I did. If you go with eight you can place one on the pedals, one on the wheel or shifter, one under your backside and another at your back.
    Last edited: Feb 16, 2019
  18. skydivepaul

    skydivepaul Member

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    That sounds like a great set up, the lotus 49 is a real handful to drive so as much feedback as I can get get will be good
  19. noorbeast

    noorbeast VR Tassie Devil Staff Member Moderator Race Director

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    My Motion Simulator:
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    What is particularly useful with transducers is that you can tune an effect in Game Vibe and a transducer can handle multiple effects, that can be things like road surface detail, bumps, gear shift, turbo boost, flaps, landing gear and much more. And transducers can really be convincing, plus they really compliment motion cues.

    On xmas eve I had my father over and put him on my compact rig for half an hour, in VR, playing his favorite game War Thunder. Dad has been doing VR since the DK1 days and has spent endless hours on my compact rig in WT, so is pretty experienced with both, he is also the oldest student pilot to solo in Australlia. Dad did not realise he was testing the new WT transducer functionality by @Ville Pesonen and Game Vibe extended capabilities by @yobuddy, with my father being convinced he actually experienced motion: https://www.dropbox.com/s/srikea401jhben4/WT Game Vibe Xmas Test.mp4?dl=0
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  20. skydivepaul

    skydivepaul Member

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    Thats really cool, what a great set up you have and if your dad can't tell if the motion is on that's a great compliment to your rig . It's difficult for me to really appreciate that without any seat time. Gives me some more to think about
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