SFX-100 Build with Scratch Built Alu Frame

Hi All,

I got the itch for a racing sim after seeing them being used by professional racers during lockdown here in NZ and decided to build one from scratch to keep the cost down (and I have a TIG welder which helps). I don't show as many steps as I just got stuck in but can do close ups and answer any questions if anyone has any.

The frame is made using 50 x 100 x 3mm box for the large sections and 25 x 50 x 3mm box for the smaller sections. I also used a combination of 75 x 5mm plate and leftover 100 x 3mm plate for motor and monitor supports.

Here are some photo's of the frame nearly finished before building the Monitor support;

The mounts for the SFX-100 actuators are permanent with some bolts that will go through the main frame

A close up of the wheel motor mount and uprights before I capped them off


The seat and pedals are on Seat Rails so can be moved independently, the wheel then sits static but can be adjusted by loosening the bolts.

I made my pedals, Simucube 1 case and wheel button box from scratch (making two sets as building a set for my uncle). Here are some of the parts laid out;


Quite a bit of drilling for airflow for the Simucube;



This is the button box for my uncle that just has 6 buttons and the two (AMStudio) magnetic paddles, mine also has a Simhub 8 character display for live data. They both run off an Arduino Pro Micro and all printed in ABS plastic;



Here are the parts for the pedals with some welding complete. They are made using aluminium with 50 x 25 x 3mm box, 25 x 25 x 3mm angle, 100 x 3mm plate and 75 x 5mm plate. Pivots are ABS plastic for now but my remake them in Nylon later if they wear too quickly. It uses a 100kg loadcell for the brake and hall effect censors for the throttle and clutch.

This is them assembled and testing to get the hall censors working with the magnets and before they were removed again to be cleaned up and all the sharp edges removed. the pedal plate is made with 4 lengths of 75 x 5mm aluminium plate and some support at front and back. May give it more later if there is too much flex from the brake.

Here is the frame after competing the welding and painting it black with galvanizing spray. I sanded the moving faces as the paint would just get rubbed off anyway. In this picture you can see the monitor mount that supports the screen (34" Dell) via the vesa mount, bottom in two places and the top in the middle that will also hold the Oculus sensor. I will try and run the majority of cables inside the upright you can see with the hole in the top;


Put together along with a mouse and keyboard tray that can swing in and out in case I want to play games with the keyboard. This was done using a sturdy 2 arm monitor bracket, you can see it in the second photo;



The cat likes the seat so I need to keep a blanket on it while not is use so he doesn't scratch it up. You can also see how it works for keyboard gaming use with the wheel removed using the quick release;

Here are some clearer photo's of the keyboard/mouse, monitor and Oculus mounts;



This shows the top monitor clamp that is removable via 3 M6 bolts and then just undo the 4 Vesa screws to remove the monitor.


And here are some close up photos of the pedals after cleaning them up and rounding the edges. They are fully functioning and have a very real feel especially the brake with a mix of different skate board truck bushings and a short strong spring. Throttle has a fairly soft spring and the clutch is fairly firm;


Two screws missing in the throttle but otherwise complete, face adjustable in 15mm increments on all pedals with threads in the arm. Slight bend on the throttle and clutch, may do the same for the brake. The black pad is a length of rubber adhesive used on boats from a boating shop;

A close up of the hall sensor I printed and the magnet super glued to the back of the swing arm. Just have to make sure the travel doesn't let the magnet hit the aluminium base as it will get broken in half (happened twice so far). Putting locking nuts on the threaded rod stops them moving on their own, I use the spring bottoming out as the end stop for both clutch and throttle;

And this is a small box that holds the Leo Bodnar BU0836-LC that all the sensors connect to, the rail bar is setup to push down so not an issue with clearance there;

I have started printing the Actuator parts and just took two prints to get the ratio sorted (101%) to get a firm but movable fit without sanding. Had one failure printing the 3rd when the adhesion was too low;


You can see the beefiness of this extrusion with the slider assembled, will grease before final assembly;

I have finally completed the printing and got a few more pieces together to be able to start assembling the actuators;

Here are my custom top motor mounts for 80ST and fixed bearing mounts. Motor mounts are 60mm, fixed motor bearing mounts are 40mm tall x2 and 50mm tall x2. I first designed the 50mm tall units but seemed a waste of plastic and print time so shrunk them to 40mm. You can see the size of the coupling (65mm tall) so that is the reason for the extra height, will drill a hole through the side of the fixed mount to be able to get to the lower coupling bolt.



Picked up some 90H 213 o-rings for the bump stops and here are the M14-M8 threaded inserts and all the required bolts;

I have a three stage Tap set for these as they are not self tapping;



My remaining 3 motors and drivers have arrived so will be able to start testing it soon via the Thanos controller. Looking to make a wooden/vented box to put them in that can be used in the top for storage and as a seat/bench as the room this is in is quite small. Also the drivers that came with this are more compact than the normal AASD15's so will be interesting to see how well it can be packaged.

Can you share photos of the servo drives? What do you mean they are smaller than the AASD-15A drives?

Thanks
Thanos

Sure Thanos, is the one in the link below. Same parameter setup and seems to run on the same protocol. Does have a slight difference for wiring power but worked that out. By smaller I mean physically, are still 15A. This link has my feed back after I got the wiring working along with photo, just need to change it from Spanish to English.

https://m.es.aliexpress.com/item/40...co0WiSLNByQLpPkTGRBoCjEYQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds