Movement platform evolution (2DOF to 6DOF)

Printed protection from 220v on a din rail

I connected an additional 12V power supply for the backlight, case fans and the rest of the periphery

Collected and lengthened the wires from the motor, end sensors and potentiometer. Packed everything in a spiral shell

I unsoldered the wires to the connector and the counterpart on the case

I connected and conducted the first tests so far without feedback. When turned on, the driver issued a hall sensor error, after a long search, it found that one wire in the connector fell off. Everything is not perfect at once!

I installed the potentiometer and tightened the belt. One linear actuator ready

There are five more ahead. Parts are all ready

Part 1 - Assembly of the linear actuator
You need to print the following details on a 3D printer:

I printed with ABS plastic: 60% filling, no supports

To assemble a linear actuator, you need to buy the following components:
1. Aluminum structural profile 20x40, length 600 mm - 2 pieces
2. Aluminum pipe with an outer diameter of 28 mm, a wall thickness of 3 mm and a length of 400 mm
3. Ball screw 1605 400 mm long
4. Support bearing FK12 + fastening nut (included)
5. BLDC brushless motor with flange size nema23 (I took BLDC 24V, 188W)
6. Coupling for connecting the motor shaft with the ball screw (8-10mm, 8mm - the motor shaft, 10mm - ballscrew shank)
7. Ball pins PHS10 - 2 pieces
8. Multi-turn potentiometer 10KΩ (10 turns)
9. Microswitches - 2 pieces
10. Coupling of potentiometer with shaft (screw) 6,35-5
11. Sleeve bearing for diameter 28, length 30 mm
12. Pulleys, GT2 belt, miniature bearings 625 (5x16x5) - 2 pieces
13. Wires, connectors, fasteners (description during assembly)
13. Desire and hard work

We start assembly
In the detail "Medium platform.STL" we install the support bearing FK12 on the screws M4x30

Fix the “Mount potentiometer.STL” part with M4x16 screws and nuts as shown in the picture

Using M5x16 screws and special M5 nuts for the profile, we fix the middle part on the aluminum profile at a distance of 120 mm from the edge of the profile (BLDC motor length - 100 mm)

We install the engine on long screws M5x80, first put on the coupling (8-10)

Put the ‘’ Moving part_2.STL ”part on the ball screw nut, and then the“ Moving part_1.STL ”part. Tighten with M5x90 screws and nuts. Insert aluminum pipe and mark one hole. Drill and tap M4 threads. Replace the pipe and secure with one M4x16 screw. Then, in the same way, make threaded holes for the other 3 screws.
On the other side of the pipe, make two M4 holes opposite each other at a distance of 19 mm from the edge and another threaded hole, approximately 27-28 mm from the edge

Use “Top ring.STL” and “Top bushing.STL” for attaching the ball stud. Assemble and insert into the pipe as shown in the picture

Tighten the two screws from the side through the “Top ring.STL”, they should fit between the “Top bushing.STL” and the washer with the M10x40 screw head. Tighten any third M4 screw to secure the head of the bolt from turning and tighten the ball pin. Then the auxiliary screw must be removed


In the profile, it is necessary to pre-install the fasteners for the microswitches, the belt tensioner and the housing for the wires. To do this, we put on the M4 nuts inserts “Insert M4.STL” preventing them from scrolling in the profile (you can use special T-nuts, but they are more expensive)

Install the sleeve bearing into the “Top mount_1.STL” part and put it on the aluminum pipe together with the “Top mount_2.STL” part. We insert the resulting structure with the ball screw shank into the thrust bearing and secure it with a nut. Fix “Top mount_1.STL” and “Top mount_2.STL” with M6x40 screws to the aluminum profile from the end. Detail “Bottom mount.STL” with M4x30 screws to the profile from the other end (from the engine side)

Fasten the “Pulley fastening.STL” part to the profile with M4x10 screws in the pre-installed nuts

Fix the “Belt plate.STL” part with self-tapping screws with a diameter of 3mm and a length of about 15mm

That's all for today. To be continued in the second part

Part 2 - Assembly of the linear actuator
Continue assembly
Install a multi-turn potentiometer and a belt. We push the M5x50 screw into the bearings and at the same time put on the pulley. We fix the axis with two nuts. We tighten two nuts and put on the clutch. After pushing the axle, we tighten the nuts to the bearing and counter these nuts against each other. Then we install the potentiometer as in the figure.

We take a 6mm GT2 belt and 4 clamps (cable ties). We fasten one edge of the belt to the drive carriage using clamps, measure the required belt length and thread the belt around the pulleys. Do not forget in advance !!! set the potentiometer to a position in which it has enough stroke when the drive carriage moves. Fasten the other end of the belt with a slight tension. Then you can tighten the belt using a movable pulley.

The photo shows the position of the belt tensioner before and after tension.

We install end microswitches and make electrical wiring. According to the diagram, we solder the wires to the first microswitch. I bought plastic plugs in red in the same store that sell aluminum profiles for beauty and aesthetics. We make holes for the wires in the plug to hide them in the profile groove.


Extending the wires from the engine

Using a heat shrink tube, we group the wires into bundles so as not to get tangled. We pass the wires into the previously printed case for wires “Case.STL” with PG11 input. We wind the spiral sheath on top of the wires

We solder the wires to the connector

Done. We have tests ahead of us.

Before connecting, it is better to check the microswitches and the potentiometer with a multimeter for correct connection and operation.
I am using as a controller: ESP32-WROOM-32D. I took the FlyPT - 6DOF Brushless DIY Actuators code as a basis. Partially reworked it: instead of 10 bits, I made 12 bits, set my own pin values for connecting drives. Soon I will add a button to exit to the minimum low position and stop in case of an error on the drivers.
Everything is connected and now the movements are transferred from FlyPT Mover and SimTools to the drive!

Added arduino nano to the circuit to track alarms from drivers and control an addressable LED strip for visual effects

Large schematic file is not loaded, so the picture quality is poor

Approximate costs for one linear actuator excluding various small things (fasteners, wires, etc.)

Assembled a movable upper platform. I'll take the chair and everything else from the 2DOF car simulator

Almost assembled all six linear actuators

I bought a joystick for flying

I have reinforced the upper movable platform. And it looks better this way, although it will be from below
I tried on an electrical cabinet on the base

Well, for the heap, I put a platform on top

A few more photos

Added, in addition to the wheels, adjustable supports

Soldered the board for the control cabinet

I tried on the attachment points for linear drives. I will be testing a car simulator soon

First tests for checking electronics and linear actuators

Getting closer and closer to the final
Heave:

Sway:

Surge:

Roll:

Pitch:

Yaw:

First video

The second video with a load in the form of me 80 kg

The handbrake and gearbox are easy to remove and change to a joystick if you need an airplane

The footrest rests on a drawer and can be easily removed

Step for landing in a chair

In total it turned out like this

It will be even better when I make the backlight
While I can single out one drawback - noisy work

Here is another video in full assembly

A plastic ring and a retaining ring were installed on the free end of the screw. Since I noticed that in one linear actuator, the screw rarely, but still touched the aluminum tube inside

The black cogs in the clutch and the pulley turned a little from the vibration. I had to counter them with a special anaerobic liquid (fixative)