Tommys simulator powered by wipermotors

Hi all!
I think its time I start a project tread now. I found this forum a couple of weeks ago and started to do some research. At first it was a little difficult to understand what is needed to get the simulator working, but I think I have everything under control now.

Update:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEnnlsAkjD4

The equipment:
Computer
Samsung 32 LCD
Logitech G25
+
Momo seat
2 wipermotors from Toyota Corolla
Car battery
PCB:s
Components for AVR-controlller 1.5 and H-bridge 1.2b + Potentiometers for the wipermotors + LCD

Here is a picture of what I have to start from:
[img600px]http://home.mnwa.net/~tommy/Simulator/Picture%20054-1.jpg[/img600px]

I started the project by making the PCB:s. The PCB:s started to cost ~40€, wich is pretty expensive. The reason is that I bought more fluids than nessecery and they were pretty expensive. This was the result:
[img600px]http://home.mnwa.net/~tommy/Simulator/Picture%20049-2.jpg[/img600px]

I found the seat at a local car forum and bought it yesterday. I also bought the wipermotors from a junkyard.
[img600px]http://home.mnwa.net/~tommy/Simulator/Momo.JPG[/img600px]

Next step is to order all the components for the AVR-controller and the H-bridge + The potentiometers + the LCD from http://www.reichelt.de. The problem with http://www.reichelt.de is that you have to order for over 150€ if you dont live in Germany. I will order the components with Jandersson on the forum and the total price will then be just over 150€.

Big thanks to Michael.N for making the list of the components we will need. :

I have now made a drawing of what my simulator will look like. Do you think it will work? I want to make it as small as possible because I live in a very small apartment.
[img600px]http://home.mnwa.net/~tommy/Simulator/fardig2.jpg[/img600px]

[img600px]http://home.mnwa.net/~tommy/Simulator/fardig.jpg[/img600px]

Some pictures of the progress.





I hope this will be stable enough

Hi tommy! a project that begins well but your pivot under the seat seems too early! :?

Hi ouioui! Thanks for the comment! I thought that you want to have it as early as possible to keep the weight down on the wipermotors. Another reason to have it as early as possible is because you want the seat to turn from side to side, not to move the whole seat from side to side. At least this is what I have thought. Hopefully it is correct.

I tried to sit in the seat when I powered one of the motors today and it seemed to be pretty heavy as it is for the motor. It may had been the battery that wasnt strong enough. At least I hope so.

I will update with pictures tomorrow.

Picture update as promised

First a tip to those who want to keep it as cheap as possible. Get a couple of these from the car junkyard. You will probably get them for free:


Cut them in half and weld a couple of threaded rods on them and you will get this:

Hi Tommy,
have you already thought about, where to install the Potis?.

Hi Michael!

I think I could attach it to the back of the wipermotor by drilling a hole in the axle that the arm is attached to. But then I need some kind of gearing and I dont know where to find that. I have to search trough my RC stuff to se if I could find something there. Any other suggestions?

Does anybody know what the gear ratio inside the wipermotor usually is?

Hi Tommy
i put them here now
the gearing are from Conrad

Hi Christian!

That's exactly were I was going to put my potis :highfive:

What gear ratio do you use? I found some gears that should give a ratio of ~10:1 on a crashed RC helicopter I have got. Do you think that could work? The potis are 10-turn potis which means that only half of the potis's range will be used.

the big gear wheel 50
the small gear wheel 20

With 50:20 you would have not enough resolution IMO, as a half crank turn would just turn the pot 1,25 times.

To nearly use the full range of 10turn pots I'd recommend something like 1:18 (half crank turn turns the pot 9 times)

Of course these ratio are just if the gears are connected to the crank axis.
If connected dirctly to the motor axis, it should be something like ~3:1

Regards

1:18 is pretty extreme. Maybe it is better to try connect the potetentiometers directly to the motors then, or do you think it will work good enough with 1:10? I guess it depends on the potentiometers precision.

with 1:10 you would just use 5 pot turns.

Using full range would give you ~1000 positions, using just 5 revs just the half.

The higher the resolution, the better the motion quality.

Mounting the pots directly to the motor shaft is possible as well, but more difficult imho.

So it is up to you...

Regards
Christian

Hi all!
I finally got the components :yippiee:
They are faar more than I expected. I will start soldering later tonight.





Big thanks to Michael.N for buying the components for me!!! :

Regards
Tommy

Holy shit, Tommy - there's a lot of soldering work waiting for you...

Good luck !!!!!

Bye,
Chris

Yes Good Luck Tommy , you will need it .
I hope you don`t get much trouble with soldering and everything is working immediately

Hi Tommy
now i have 50:10 gearing, its much better
have fun
regards
Christian

Hi
Are you using a 10-turns potetiometers too? That means you are only using 1/4 of the potentiometer range and it works good?

I have btw soldered the two cards now but I noticed that the components for the LCD are missing so I will go buy them on friday.

Regards
Tommy

Maybe someone should write a small multiturn pot installation guide on wiper motors to have it available for beginners on the WIKI !!


Regards, Thanos