Obsessive hobbies....

[RCHeliGuy]

Awesome mark!!! Let me know what it's like to fly a Tie Fighter!!

I'm getting closer. It's mobile ( key WAF )!!!!
I still haven't added my 4 vibration transducers, or setup the mounts for my stick, throttle and flight pedals. My flight stick and throttle will move with the chair.

I haven't tried it out yet either. I ran a diagnostic on it and I've got some left/right motion interference. I'm going to countersunk bolts, will chamfer some of the aluminum angle, but will likely need to raise the motion system by at least half an inch.



This shows the motion system running as far right as it physically can before it touches the base frame bracket bolts. I will be able to got further left and right once I have this issue resolved.

In VR a little motion goes a long way tricking your brain into thinking you are in the car / plane / spaceship.



This is REALLY rough. I'm just getting the positions figured out for the flight controls.

 

[JonFo]

Wow Mark, that's looking really good. Great workmanship.

A dream of mine is a dedicated motion cockpit for my car sims, there are some really slick ones, but they cost as much as a car.
Meantime, an Xbox One S and a $400 wheel and pedals setup is keeping me entertained enough.

 

[RCHeliGuy]

This almost looks stereo related
100W x 4 channels for transducers for each wheel. Only 16ga wire from Parts Express, sorry



Got the flight controls mounted. The pedals slide back and forth and remove quickly.


The flight controls all come off pretty quickly so it isn't a big deal to switch between car racing and flight sim modes.
If you move the driving pedals forward a few inches, the flight pedals can be dropped in, then raise the chair to upright, and three bolts to attach the flight stick and throttle.

FYI, the plywood is for prototyping. I'll be getting some plate aluminum and in a few places using African Purpleheart.


I really wish I had some idea when I'd be done with this. I think I've made a bunch of progress and then I realize I have half a dozen more things to do

 

[RUR]

…..Only 16ga wire from Parts Express, sorry

You know that wire is gonna make your F1 handle like a Toyota minivan, right?

 

[RCHeliGuy]

You know that wire is gonna make your F1 handle like a Toyota minivan, right?

How did you know? That's what I was going for! I don't want a heart attack from too much excitement!

In fact I'm using a cheap $29 class H 4x100W LED power supply to drive a cheap class D amp to make sure the fidelity isn't too emotional for me
You should see the cheap power cords I'm using...

From everything I've read a seat mover combined with VR will trick my brain pretty well even if the entire rig isn't moving. But that is just the immersion side of things. It will feel real, but a full motion system is superior. However my system can pop up on it's casters and be wheeled into the storage room, a requirement of my wife.

 

[RCHeliGuy]

I finished today Here it is in Flight mode. It takes about 5 minutes to switch between flight and driving mode.



The front pedal transducer mount works very well. I'll need to redesign the mount under the seat.

 

[JonFo]

Awesome! Love the DIY at this level of fit an finish.

 

[twich54]

pretty cool Mark, my son as something very similar with exception of a actual racing seat, originally set up with wrap around monitors he has now gone with the virtual reality goggles as well. Multiple steering wheels for various types of vehicles. I tried a stint racing Watkins Glen, I was exhausted ..........

 

[RCHeliGuy]

pretty cool Mark, my son as something very similar with exception of a actual racing seat, originally set up with wrap around monitors he has now gone with the virtual reality goggles as well. Multiple steering wheels for various types of vehicles. I tried a stint racing Watkins Glen, I was exhausted ..........

It's definitely something people can get passionate about.

I've thought about a racing seat. My sim seat may not be cool looking, but I think it makes a lot more sense for me. A properly fitting seat for me wouldn't fit many larger people. Some of the racing seats feel claustrophobic to me especially with a headset, you could whip you head around and hit the seat with your headset. I like having adjustable lumbar support and adjustable recline feature. Also the seat lifts up and flattens out which is much better for flying. I'm also not planning to get 4 point seat belts.

Coming soon is a button box. The RAM mount is already installed and USB cable run for it. I wanted a large start button, a reset button and some switches for adjusting seat position in VR etc.. Once again I'm not doing F1 so I'm not sure what the rotary knobs can be used for.

As far as getting exhausted, I think a lot of that has to do with the DD wheel bases. Mine is still a twin opposing belt driven motor setup. I have my force feedback set to 100%, but I think it is only capable of 6Nm of force. I'm planning to upgrade to a DD steering base which means the steering wheel connects directly to a large stepper motor typically 20-30Nm which can actually be set much stronger than real life. Basically it can snap a finger and they have Emergency cut off buttons etc.. I'd like the extra fidelity a DD offers, but I would likely have it set to 40-50% power and just have the headroom so there is no clipping.

I'm also looking to upgrade my pedals to a set of Heusinkveld Sprints. You can set their Ultimates up to real life braking pressure of over 300 lbs for 100% brake, however I don't think my knees want to deal with that kind of pressure. There are limits and at some point it stops being fun and starts being painful.

 

[A_Nardi]

You might think I'm either crazy or boring but I developed an interesting hobby about five years ago and it's real estate To be honest I'm not even actually buying or selling anything: I'm just checking the local and european markets, listings and prices and trying to guess what will happen next in the markets. For example I'm checking the sites to buy an apartment on the French Riviera, choosing a spesific listing and following it for months. If it has been sold finally I consider it as if I sold it and with the money I get I'm buying a new property (fictionally). Pretty fun, huh? :ROFL:

 

[ttocs]

^^^^^^
Are you also betting on when airline flights might arrive and depart like Kramer did on Seinfeld??

Actually, what you're doing is pretty good real life education based on actual outcomes.

 

[A_Nardi]

^^^^^^
Are you also betting on when airline flights might arrive and depart like Kramer did on Seinfeld??

Actually, what you're doing is pretty good real life education based on actual outcomes.

Ahahaha no but good idea actually

 

[RCHeliGuy]

Finally finished it with a little help from the supervisor
I've been dialing in all the motion and tactile response software which seems to be coming along nicely.

 

[RCHeliGuy]

The rig continues to evolve.
The Shift is actually built by Quaife Engineering. They build real racing transmissions.
The pedals are now Heusinkveld fully adjustable. They build pedal systems for professional racing sims used by racing teams.







Older picture but shows hangers for additional steering wheels and tow strap used when I pull the rig into the center of my media room.

 

[RCHeliGuy]

A few more updates.

 

[JonFo]

Totally in awe of that awesome rig!!

Very nice work there Mark.

 

[timm]

A few more updates.
View attachment 20262
View attachment 20264
View attachment 20263

So......does this have photon torpedoes???

 

[RCHeliGuy]

Totally in awe of that awesome rig!!

Very nice work there Mark.

Thanks!

I've been spending a lot of time in iRacing lately and got my 2nd promotion. It's pretty serious competition in there. Each week there is a new track. I start by watching the VRS (Virtual Racing School ) video on how to drive the track, then I practice and compare my telemetry data to the known good and see where I can shave some time off. Driving fast is very hard to do well, but driving in a race is a lot more than being able to do a fast lap. I typically qualify mid pack and then reel in the guys in front of me when they make mistakes. I got my first podium finish a month ago, but I still have a LOT to learn and I'm still not very fast. I'm just competing against other not really fast drivers.

The race below is at Road Atlanta with the BMW M8 GTE (fixed setup) and the races are only 12min long.. The best I did that week was 5th place. This week the race is at Summit Hill. Next season I'll start driving in series where you can tweak your car's setup, so things will get a bit more intense. The races are also longer (30 min). There are also endurance races all the way up to 24hours at Le Mans which involve teams typically in different time zones. Pit stops for fuel and tires are needed on the longer races. I haven't had to deal with them yet.



This gives a just a bit of flavor to how competitive iRacing is.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuGEoVlESbo&feature=emb_logo

 

[asindc]

Wow, I'm surprised that there 15 pages in this thread yet no mention of cycling before now.

 

[twich54]

Wow, I'm surprised that there 15 pages in this thread yet no mention of cycling before now.

Anthony, go back and check post #9 ...........