DIY Wind Generator

[ears]

I have a bit of spare time next week as the family are all away so I decided to have a go at this.

I had seen a review of a commercial product (linked below) and the 'two fan' version together with delivery and all the extras was over £200 - a bit much for something that's just a bit of fun.

Now I realise that most of the time I race in cars with windscreens and even open wheeler drivers wear helmets so whether this introduces any realism is up for debate.

However, realism and immersion are not necessarily the same thing and I'm open to this adding some immersion to the experience.

Additionally, summer has come early and I do get very hot and sweaty inside that VR hat, so the idea of some cool wind blowing at me is appealing.

I managed to pick up everything I needed for this project on Amazon for around £80.

If it works, I'm a progremmer by trade, so might take a look at connecting to APIs in other sims to see if I can use the fans on those two - the scripts provided only work with AC so far.

If anyone's interested, I'll post updates. Should be building it over the weekend, early next week.

 

[DrRob]

Cheers for the insight @metalnwood !
As I am not simracing openwheelers at all, the wind simulation is kind of silly anyhow. Tintop cars will also have cooling / fans but not so much related to car speed as it is with formula cars.

Good points made about velocity/volume. As I practically have a living room setup, noise is a factor. At times I use a headset, e.g. when my wife watches some (lame) crime or zombie TV series.

Will think of a solution when summer comes. At the moment I do not feel the need for cooling while simracing. At the very least I can use my table ventilator, if I haven't come up with a good solution until then.

 

[metalnwood]

If you have to deal with other people in the room, you might not be able to turn it up a lot

If it was just noise for yourself I think you could live with the tradeoffs but I understand the wife is a lot harder to bargain with!

 

[Chipless]

Does anyone know where to get a good Monster Moto Shield? Looks like the preferred source has discontinued them, and I've heard the clones are extremely unreliable and of poor quality. The only quality replacement I've come across so far is this one from Polulu but it's quite expensive! I'm in the USA FWIW.

 

[Moxley6969]

You really dont need legit MM's for Wind....Order 2 just in case one is junk. Worst case you got a spare.

 

[worms14]

You guys need a ready-made airflow solution for simracing.
So far I have used 140mm fans connected to the arduino, but this is the 6th attempt in 3 years and I am fed up with constant problems with this system.
I would like the ready system to react to the speed of the car, I want to connect it and it should work flawlessly with the possibility of adjusting power.
What are my purchase options for ready-made solutions?
Please help.
Thank you

 

[Elaphe]

You guys need a ready-made airflow solution for simracing.
So far I have used 140mm fans connected to the arduino, but this is the 6th attempt in 3 years and I am fed up with constant problems with this system.
I would like the ready system to react to the speed of the car, I want to connect it and it should work flawlessly with the possibility of adjusting power.
What are my purchase options for ready-made solutions?
Please help.
Thank you

I will always recommend the fan controller by Sym Projects. It's small, not very expensive and comes with a simple program that just works. I have it controlling a couple of powerful and noisy Delta fans and I can't be happier (tested with Assetto Corsa). The fans can act like a wind simulator or at the constant speed you want. I have programmed a button on my button box to cycle between different modes, and also made my game automatically select wind simulator or constant speed depending on the chosen car.

 

[worms14]

Thank you very much for recommending this product, it seems that my expectations are also met.
One more question.
I download the fan controller software from this page, is it delivered with the order?

 

[Elaphe]

Thank you very much for recommending this product, it seems that my expectations are also met.
One more question.
I download the fan controller software from this page, is it delivered with the order?

The software is called SimDash. Anyway, don't hesitate to contact the seller. He's a very nice guy and always willing to help.

 

[worms14]

Thank you very much for your help. I ordered two for 4 fans. I hope my problems will finally end

 

[worms14]

The guys got 2 Fan Control tiles to which I wanted to connect 4 windmills.
Everything is functional of course, but only 2 fans separately.
As 4 turns on, unfortunately only 2 work.
I thought that he would detect each plate separately, and as it turns out, it probably isn't.
I do not know what to do in the subject, so that two control boards work separately and each supports the windmills according to the set parameters.
Greetings.
Christopher.

 

[worms14]

Problem solved, I had to reprogram one of the boards, I'm so happy, everything works