New user, ideas abound.

Hello guys, my name is Richard, and i live in the United States. I hope to move elsewhere someday, but thats a bit off topic.

Anyhow, im huge into gadgets and racing/flight sims, and ive always been kicking around the idea of building a simulator that would double as a full motion simulator, and an ultimate gaming setup.

I mocked up a design of my idea in AutoCAD, and spent a few minutes in Gmax animating it to give off the basic idea of what id like to accomplish. It is genuinely my idea, though im sure somebody else has probably thought of it, and maybe even implemented it, but ive yet to see a project like it... It uses 3 electric motors to drive two axis. If built right, it should be quite well balanced, so there shouldn't be a need for large motors, just ones with enough torque to overcome the momentum. Plans for the interior are rudementary, but are basically include steering wheel/pedals, yoke, joystick, and keyboard/mouse all of which would be on a quick disconnect system so switching between flight/racing/etc shouldn't take more than a few moments.

Anyhow, heres a GIF of my idea in actiongive it a few to load, its kinda big)



So heres a few questions:

1. Im not rally savvy with the electronics part of it. Im a computer Guru, but as far as getting a motor and electronic speed control connected to my computer, im stuck. I d assume there are some usb devices that can help, but again, i dont really know.

2. Once i do have the thing built and connected to my computer, id need software to control it, and sync with the games as well. I know that these forums are for the X-Simulator software, but would it be able to handle a system like this.



I haven't really found good forum for home-made motion sims, so this seems like a good place to start.

Thanks guys

hi,
1.you mast have a interface and a hbrighe.for test you can use a vellemann 8055
bad is not the best.you can buy it complet.the other interfaces (tronic is a good one)or jakob is building a new one.
2.x-sim can make it all

Yes, you are right, this has been on topic before, you can find related posts here on the forum.

When we are talking about full 360° rotation, we introduce a lot of variables into the equation, both from the mechanical as well as the controlling point of view. By the time you finish it, it is going to cost about 3x as much as you would expect, and take 5x as long. You absolutely have to make sure it is reliable and safe, and that is going to take a lot of engineering.

It doesn't really matter how balanced it is, you still need to accelerate all that mass and stop it in position. With a small motor the motion is just going to be garbage, and you are going to burn out the motor too fast.

There are a lot of options for motors and electronics, I recommend you read other threads in the forum. X-Sim with a PID position controller is going to take care of the motion, although I'm not sure how X-Sim would handle complete revolutions.

Thanks for the info guys.


I am an Aerospace Engineering student, and have quite a bit of building and engineering know-how behind me in terms of design, structural rigidity, etc. Back at home, i have a wonderful shed and workshop just filled with materials (steel, wood, fiberglass, etc), down too and including a nice racing seat i got on the cheap at a car junkyard. In terms of building the actual chassis and main components, the only thing im missing are some nice bearings, and some large circular channel i can use as the center support..

Then im off to figuring out servo motors and whatnot.


This isnt going to happen tomorrow, its probably going to be a month or so before i start work, but i just want to start gathering information before i start anything.