PC Driving Simulator Help Please (Motion)

I dont know how into this you want to get, but I assume you want something more than a vibrating desk chair. Something similar to a professional race sim like this one.

This is worth watching. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NsvWnGgT7Ok  Its Nico Rosberg talking about his driving position inside the car. He points out a lot things to consider in designing your seat. Really put some time into picking your seat as your entire design will be based around it.

If it were me, and I had those motors, Id probably seriously look into going down to my local pick 'n pull (junk yard) to get some parts.

Im not 100% sure that the ratios will give you a good speed, BUT I think some (4) hydraulic jacks (the kind that come in trucks and SUVs) will give you a good, fluid roll and pitch. They can be had usually for only like 10 bucks a piece too. Im thinking use the motors to raise and lower the jacks. I would advise against screw jacks as their operation tends to be rather jolty at startup, and inconsistent in the torque required to drive them across their range. Their nonlinear nature will likely be a bear to account for in code, although im not sure how noticeable it will be at the weight you are using.

You will probably also want to get some driveshaft assemblies here too. Each end has a nice and strong U-joint for connecting the jacks to the seat frame. he only real issue will be cutting them to length... The u joints from steering assembly might also work. they will be easy to cut, but I question their strength.

Things that arent necessary, but you might like:

I suggest you get a seat track too. This is just to provide a simple sturdy way to find the perfect seat to pedal distance. I prefer to weld it in place afterwards, but that is pretty much optional. I just hate when people adjust my seat.

You might like to get a pedal assembly too. I prefer a real metal pedals to the plastic ones. I use the full braking system for the brake pedal, using  spring feels weird. for my brakes I do: pedal->hydraulics->caliper-> load cell ->microcontroller->input device.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Im not so hot at electrical stuff. but id definitely be using  microcontrollers. I have no idea what circuitry is in your curent steeringwheel setup. but basically id think you could split the signal to the steering motor controller to the input on a microcontroller. then use the uC to control PWM to run the chair motor. This way you can easily dial in the motor speed needed to move the chair. I cant really say any more since i have no idea what the circuitry looks like in either device.

Hi, I remember that LFS( the SIM I use has) some real time G force informations , couldn't it be used in some way as a guide to the motion of the seat ?

Ps, I am a car enthusiast too

Edit: Sorry, I rechecked and looks like LFS does not have a "original" G meter, but I know there is some G force meters  adds.  Great Project , greetings

.

These motors would certainly "move" you.

Could use them to simulate pitch and roll, though that'd be more like a flight sim than racing.

You're quite right. I have decided instead to make something for the kids with them. My racing sim might have to go on the back burner for now.

If you decide to use something similar to them for a driving sim, you could make a driving seat "tub" that rolls into the turn.  Cam the tire track on the tub at the end of travel and the tub will "skip" on the tire simulating sliding.

Attachments:

Steve,

I'm wanting to do a very similar thing to what you have done with the SRW and Sidewinder steering wheels. Can you give any advice on how you wired the two together?

Do the steering input and force feedback both happen in the Sidewinder unit, or does the steering input come from the SRW? And do all the controls on the SRW still work? Is it just a simple case of connecting both steering wheel i/o to the PC and it 'just works', or do I need to rewire them to only have one steering input?

Sorry if these questions seem a bit stupid but I want to have a good idea of what I'm doing before I start hacking.

Many thanks!

Ash

Hi Ash.

The sidewinder handles steering input and force feedback, controls from SRW-S1 still work.

You will need to remove the steering wheel from the sidewinder and cut out the center as you will need to keep this part in order for it to work. Pass the USB lead of the SRW S1 through the Sidewinder steering shaft and out the back of the unit and connect it to your PC seperately.

You will need to make your own adapter to attach the SRW-S1 to the sidewinder base.

See images:

[IMG]http://i945.photobucket.com/albums/ad297/hatchet_2009/20130330_154714_zps91b34dd4.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i945.photobucket.com/albums/ad297/hatchet_2009/20130330_154954_zps230f7307.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i945.photobucket.com/albums/ad297/hatchet_2009/20130330_155109_zps82670c52.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i945.photobucket.com/albums/ad297/hatchet_2009/20130330_155452_zps8faa1098.jpg[/IMG]

Hi Steve,

That's great, thanks for the info. So you can literally just connect both steering wheel USBs to the PC and it works? Fantastic, that makes life easier.

When you say cut out the center of the sidewinder wheel, on your photos is that the black plastic plate or that whole circuit board?

Much appreciated,

Ash

The entire center. The hub, the circuit board and the retaining plastic piece.

Steve you have a good idea but you are going about it wrong.

1. your motors are fine
2. you have your data not from the wheel but from the sim itself (pc hopefully) or how are you going to know how much force you need or what happens in a turn or on a hill
3. moving a seat is easy but you want to move the seat, peadels, control panel, wheel, shifters, and you monitors etc all at the same time.
4. If you have a PC based game there are groups that hacked some of the games. take your clue from the flight sim community.. http://www.simpits.org/mailman/listinfo/simpits-tech has good stuff there. and I belong to this group.

so this is not a small project. good luck

Cris H.