Working on my DIY pedals, I wonder if this is a good idea

[DesChips]

Hello here,

Since a few weeks I am working on a set of DIY pedals. I am still not sure it was a good idea, and it made me think about the reasons why I went with DIY instead of buying off the shelf. I wrote it down on my blog: https://weenoisemaker.com/blog/2023/10/21/gear-fabrication-syndrome.html

I hope some of you will find this interesting, and I am curious to get other DIYers opinion on this. Are you happy with your custom gear? Would you do it again? Did you end up buying off the shelf?

 

[GeekyDeaks]

DIYing is a big part of the whole hobby for me. I'd say my main motivation is simply to learn how things work.

You said in your blog that the pedals are still not usable. Want to share? I haven't made an entire pedal set from scratch, but I am familiar with modding my own sets.

 

[Daniel R.]

I will always try to stay DIY. It’s just a cool opportunity to create and learn something!
Nice pedals btw

 

[DesChips]

DIYing is a big part of the whole hobby for me. I'd say my main motivation is simply to learn how things work.

I get you, learning is also one of the reason why I did so many DIY projects.

You said in your blog that the pedals are still not usable. Want to share? I haven't made an entire pedal set from scratch, but I am familiar with modding my own sets.

I think I know what needs to be done, now I have to find the time to do it
The next step now is making a clean electronic circuit.

 

[stigs2cousin]

Kudos for your approach to make everything yourself

In case your up for short cut to get to racing faster or just as inspiration:
(but be warned, his website ca get expensive fast)

BU0836-LC Load Cell Joystick Controller : Leo Bodnar Electronics

Leo Bodnar Electronics BU0836-LC Load Cell Joystick Controller - A small USB joystick interface board with pin header connectors to connect buttons, potentiometers, sensors, rotary encoders and switches to a PC or Mac. Build your own gaming device - Commonly used for making pedals with a...

www.leobodnar.com

 

[GeekyDeaks]

The next step now is making a clean electronic circuit.

Ah, I did wonder as I noticed what looks like an off-the-shelf HX711 board. I never went that route, but my friend did and even at 80Hz there was a noticeable 'lag' in the responsiveness.

If you looking some example bits to make up an amp circuit, I have a really, really simple one here:

GitHub - GeekyDeaks/g29-load-cell: DIY load cell modification for the logitech G29 pedal set

DIY load cell modification for the logitech G29 pedal set - GeekyDeaks/g29-load-cell

github.com

Sharing only for possible inspiration/BOM as it's designed for a cheap 1/2 wheatstone bridge loadcell and inverts the output for the G29 wheelbase.

I also wanted to know how the HID protocol worked, specifically the reporting structure etc... so I ended up poking around the HID library provided with Arduino to make something similar to FreeJoy, but with an Arduino (and again much much simpler): https://github.com/GeekyDeaks/g29-pedal-usb-controller/blob/master/controller.cpp

 

[stigs2cousin]

As always it depends on your goals.

I personlly can attest that the Bodnar boards work

I´ve used on in my cockpit build and will soon add another one ( too many inputs)