Thanks for the sleepless night!!

Wow, just wow, I am in complete awe of you guys!.
To own a motion sim has been one my daydream wishlist entries ever since I was a young teenager.
I found this forum completely by chance while searching for cnc related stuff, it was fate, im sure of it.
I have been looking round the site (unregistered) for a few days now trying to gleam an understanding of whats involved and at what expense.

A wiper motor 2dof platform is probably my best bet at the moment while I figure this all out.
I will have a very, very tight budget (no all aluminium builds for me ) so trips to salvage yards and scavenging are in my very near future.

The mechanics and building don't scare me too much being an ex fabricator\welder but the electronics do.
I should say at this point that I have just built a desktop cnc which I bought as a kit without electronics, I managed to source and build the different components I needed to get it fully operational.
How, I don't know, I would not be able to name all the parts now if you asked me, I look at it now and think how the hell did I manage that!. :?
My point being I can bumble my way though most things as long as I have a clear understanding of what I need, which at this moment in time I don't.

I have looked at loads of threads here and this link seem to be the least complicated and most inexpensive route so far.
k8055-dual-wiper-motor-control-with-variable-speed-t2795.html?hilit=K8055

My only problem with it is that it seems to lack punch and snappyness.
Is this because of the choice of controller, motor or power supply?.
I want the best of both worlds, car and flight sim is this possible?.

Would it be possible for someone to draw up a flow chart of how all the pieces fit together.

(Powersupply>Pc)>(powersupply>controller>?)>(Pots>motor)

>=connects to
I hope you understand the gibberish request above.

I am just rambling now as I am excited so for the moment I will leave it there.
You all brought this on yourselves with these incredible builds.

as for sleepless nights, now you know how we all feel! :brows:

Hi Rebo and Welcome!

First of all if you are on a tight budget, plan everything out before committing to expenses. This is very important because there are hidden costs that could bite you.

There is a lot information to get your head around and you will find the answers to your questions reading through all the discussions on the forum.
Unfortunately the search function is on strike, but to use that you would need to know where to start...

- The response of the simulator depends on all those factors, and more. I just answered the same question about snappyness here:
new-here-few-questions-t3051.html#p30686
- You can do car and flight simulation, but they will have to be compromised. Best to choose one and make it 100% than make both 50%.


There are different flow charts for different setups. Basically, you are doing the exact same thing with your CNC: positioning.
To position an actuator you need to drive it (motor driver).
In order to drive it properly you need to know where it is and where it needs to go (feedback).
You have to calculate how hard you need to drive the motor and for how long (controller).
This is a closed loop system and the most common control algorithm is the PID. If you are not familiar with it I highly recommend studying and understanding it because these calculations are the bases of how the system will react to a moving setpoint (where you want to go).

The K8055 is only an interface device and it cannot do any calculations, hence the PC has to do them in software - adds additional delays and uncertainty.
(Game PC -> Motion PC) -> Profiler(PID) <-> K8055 (sends feedback from Motor to PC) -> Motor driver -> Motor -> Feedback (potentiometer)

Dedicated hardware controllers are better because they can run faster, independently from the PC. The AMC and Pololu jrk12v12 just to name a few.
(Game PC -> Motion PC) -> Profiler -> PID controller(uses feedback from Motor) -> Motor driver -> Motor -> Feedback(potentiometer/Encoder)

Power supplies are required according to each stage.


I hope this will start you down the right path! Just keep on reading, the chances are pretty good that your questions are already answered.

Thank you for the welcome.

I sort of guessed trying to get the best of both worlds would have a trade off, I totally agree with you as in to commit to one or the other. I'm still at the stage where I am looking at the different threads and saying to myself wow i'm going to do it that way and then changing my mind again by the time I have finished reading the next, lol.

Once i've settled down I will be able to zero in on what I really want to achieve and hopefully with all the reading pick up all the knowledge required to build it.

Posts like the above are most helpful in this area, thank you.