Rough sketch of my planned cockpit - would welcome everyone's input

[Lenard Schaeffler]

So I am a lucky man, my father owns a good size metal fabrication company. He does large corporate contracts for automation and custom fabrication, doesnt generally stray from that line of work, luckily, being his son and all, its a standing order that if I get him CAD plans for something, he will fab it and ship it. Point of all that, I am curious based on the rough sketch, what if anything would you experts change. Going to get cracking on CAD tomorrow. Also was wondering if anyone had a measurement template I could work off of for the G-27 wheel, thinking of adding a backplate to hold buttons and eventually an SLI most likely.

Thanks ahead of time
-TLP

 

[Brian Clancy]

Good start!

I would consider trying to add some adjust-ability in to the design, particularly the Pedals, reach and monitor height. Look at the shifter mount also. Its almost impossible get it spot on without a lot of mock-ups and testing! Think about speaker placements, keyboard/mouse. Will you want to add other peripherals later, display units? Good cable routing, can you run some of the cable through the steel box/tube? Is it worth considering castor wheels so it can be moved with ease if needed? When you design the Wheel Mount/pedal and shifter mounts, try to leave the design flexible enough to accommodate new units in the future without a total re-working. Try to consider access to things like pedals too, so they are not a total 'mother' to remove for repairs / mods etc

Sorry, long list lol

 

[Alisdair Buttery]

Looks good.

One thing i would suggest is maybe a more stable are for your Computer to sit in the even of your rig maybe shaking when racing etc. Don't want you computer to break xD

 

[Remco Hitman]

Hi TLP, ambitious project!

A few remarks here off the top of my head..

If you can, try to tilt the chair slightly backward. It will improve seating position to no end!
And why is the seat so high? If you want a racy feeling then consider lowering it more towards the level of the pedals.

Also note that you need to design a tilted wheel mount for the G27to get a straight steering wheel.
The pedals appear at a very acute angle in your sketch, but I think you were going to adjust that (and make them adjustable!).
I think the monitors should be much much closer, preferably right behind the wheel. It will greatly improve the FOV you can use.
Be sure to place the shifter right by your thigh and not too far out of reach.

On a last note: try and keep the whole unit as narrow as possible. It will look a whole lot better than some of the MDF tugboats you see around the net.

GLA!

 

[Lenard Schaeffler]

Good start!

I would consider trying to add some adjust-ability in to the design, particularly the Pedals, reach and monitor height. Look at the shifter mount also. Its almost impossible get it spot on without a lot of mock-ups and testing! Think about speaker placements, keyboard/mouse. Will you want to add other peripherals later, display units? Good cable routing, can you run some of the cable through the steel box/tube? Is it worth considering castor wheels so it can be moved with ease if needed? When you design the Wheel Mount/pedal and shifter mounts, try to leave the design flexible enough to accommodate new units in the future without a total re-working. Try to consider access to things like pedals too, so they are not a total 'mother' to remove for repairs / mods etc

Sorry, long list lol

Thats the fun part, no mock-up at all! My dad lives a good 700 miles away so once the design is finalized, thats the end. I appreciate the input, didnt think about adjusting pedals/wheel as I had hoped that adjustment of the seat along the seat rails would be enough to accommodate different heights of drivers, the plan was, for the pedals at least to have diamond plate running the width of the unit bridging the frame so to speak and that flat surface was the mounting. I am not overly concerned with accessing each piece if only because with the open framework design and the fact that I have small girlish hands (my 3.5 year olds are already about half the size of mine). I will definitely take your suggestions into consideration on V.2

Looks good.

One thing i would suggest is maybe a more stable are for your Computer to sit in the even of your rig maybe shaking when racing etc. Don't want you computer to break xD

No worries, my baby would never just sit up there unsupported, there would definitely be a mounting system of sort so it would be solid.

Hi TLP, ambitious project!

A few remarks here off the top of my head..

If you can, try to tilt the chair slightly backward. It will improve seating position to no end!
And why is the seat so high? If you want a racy feeling then consider lowering it more towards the level of the pedals.

Also note that you need to design a tilted wheel mount for the G27to get a straight steering wheel.
The pedals appear at a very acute angle in your sketch, but I think you were going to adjust that (and make them adjustable!).
I think the monitors should be much much closer, preferably right behind the wheel. It will greatly improve the FOV you can use.
Be sure to place the shifter right by your thigh and not too far out of reach.

On a last note: try and keep the whole unit as narrow as possible. It will look a whole lot better than some of the MDF tugboats you see around the net.

GLA!

To be honest, I am not sure why the chair is so high, think I am still in the "desk" mindset, as it is still my main computer and would need to be used for work as well. I am curious what you mean about a tilted wheel mount for a straight G27? I like your idea of the monitors being closer, now that you mention it, I have pulled them as close to my wheel as possible on my current desk so them being so far away would probably drive me nuts. I want to keep the unit narrow (at 5'8" 130lbs I can fit into almost anything), but in the same breath a few of my really good friends are of the prettydamnbig tribe so I cant pull it all the way in.


Thank you all for your suggestions, keep an eye out for V.2 later today

 

[Lenard Schaeffler]

V.2



Incorporated my interpretation of some of your idea's

 

[Jim Cole]

The mounting plate for the wheel should be angled down a little, I think 15 degrees, but not certain so that when you look at the wheel from the side it is perpendicular to the ground. You may not wish to have it exactly like this though, so you should have some way to adjust the angle a little to suit your needs.

 

[Niels_at_home]

Your second sketch looks a lot better. It is always very hard to draw the wheel and pedal position right the first time, so yeah some adjustability is a good thing to build in.

Also, using 3 screens is great, but you want your eyes to be as high as the center of the screens, so from your drawing it seems the screens have to go up considerably.

 

[Lenard Schaeffler]

The mounting plate for the wheel should be angled down a little, I think 15 degrees, but not certain so that when you look at the wheel from the side it is perpendicular to the ground. You may not wish to have it exactly like this though, so you should have some way to adjust the angle a little to suit your needs.

Hmmm I hadnt noticed an angle on the mounting of the G27 but then again my desk is tapered at the edge, so getting it "straight" has been a pain, i probably corrected for it without even knowing about it. I will make sure to consciously account for it in this design

Your second sketch looks a lot better. It is always very hard to draw the wheel and pedal position right the first time, so yeah some adjustability is a good thing to build in.

Also, using 3 screens is great, but you want your eyes to be as high as the center of the screens, so from your drawing it seems the screens have to go up considerably.

Thanks for the input, I am actually pretty short (5'8") so my head doesnt pop up further than the top of a standard car seat. but I am sure some fine tuning will be necessary.

Thank you again to everyone so far, Now to remind myself how to use autocad, need to find a good tutorial

 

[Roadster-2]

Just a quick thought; if you ever want to add seat motion in the future (e.g. the Simxperience setup) then don't have the framework running too close to the edge and the back of the seat. Leaving room for the seat to move now will save a lot of heartache if you decide to upgrade later.

Regards

 

[Tinker]

As mentioned, I would think having a back stop behind the seat is not a good idea. The frame is going to be steel so it shld be solid enuf with just the base. I would leave the back open (similar to a bobsled). If you want a back stop then build a inverted squared off bottom "U" frame that actually goes over the top of seat that can be slide in and out separate to the main rig, just attach to frame at position desired using adjustable bolt thru method of attachment. Tall enuf to clear your head and the frame can be also use to mount the rear speakers if needed. This way the seat can be changed or moved easily. This will allow you to attach options like a Buttkicker onto the seat. Also def think about an adjust deck for the steering wheel mount. A fix position may work for the G25/27 now but when and if you decide to replace the G25/27 then a adjustable deck would be better option.

 

[Lenard Schaeffler]

Ugh, started working CAD last night, forgot how much of a pain that program is, anyone have any experience with Google sketchup?

 

[Lenard Schaeffler]

partial update, I have it probably 60% built in google sketchup, once I have something worth showing I will attach the file for critique, and once its complete I will post it for anyone looking for a cockpit design

 

[Brian Clancy]

Looking forward to seeing it

 

[Lenard Schaeffler]

Me too, this 8hrs at work is killing me, I almost brought my laptop...but decided I do need my job. Its been a journey, worked on it as much as my wife and 3.5yr old son would allow this weekend, at one point sitting at my desk my mouse arm and both legs had fallen asleep. I am learning to use Sketchup at the same time as designing the pit, its an obsession, i wish I could call it something else.

 

[Brian Clancy]

Me too, this 8hrs at work is killing me, I almost brought my laptop...but decided I do need my job. Its been a journey, worked on it as much as my wife and 3.5yr old son would allow this weekend, at one point sitting at my desk my mouse arm and both legs had fallen asleep. I am learning to use Sketchup at the same time as designing the pit, its an obsession, i wish I could call it something else.

I design and build hardware...... yup, I KNOW exactly what you mean

 

[Lenard Schaeffler]

This is about 50% completion, luckily a few months back I welded up a custom 3 monitor mount so I am able to steal the demensions straight off, save some time. once I finish building that in the model, its just building the spot for the mouse/shifter and a few finishing touches and I can send it off for fabrication. Not sure what I am going to do with that massive desk of mine. but one hurdle at a time

 

[Lenard Schaeffler]

Update - almost done

 

[Tinker]

Since this will be custom made, maybe adding some industrial grade casters on the bottom. With triple display, PC, all the race gear and it being an all self contained setup, that rig will get heavy fast. The casters would def help to move the unit around if needed.

 

[Kris Vickers]

Hey TLP,

Apologies if i missed something, but why is the rig so wide in your sketch?
Is it a scale issue or are you designing it to be that wide?