Mobile Driving/Flying Cockpit with Motion and Tactile ( Build )

[RCHeliguy]

Next Month On 3D Printing Workshop
We have 3d printed side skirts, front splitter and spoiler.

I think your getting carried away with the printing rather than racing.
It seems the 3D printer motor gets more action than the steering wheel.

In all seriousness, what I'm doing now is running 19 hour print jobs. So I may tweak the designs a bit, but that doesn't take long.

Also my rig isn't out of commission for any of this. The covers just bolt over the top of the casters.

 

[RCHeliguy]

This morning the print was done and it fit with a smidge of persuasion.

Looks good to me, so I'll tweak the others and get them printed out.

 

[Mr Latte]

I was just pulling your chain....

Some excellent work has been done, no denying that and your abilities with what you have shown.

My own favorite is the aluminum work you did and polishing it up. 3D stuff has useful benefits who can question that, but personally, well I find the whole plastic dash and exhausts a bit too much or tacky.
You or others may love them and with your own build, of course you can do what you want.

I love these look professional and functional for its purpose.
Clean tidy and compact.

Just was wondering and teasing, with your constant tinkering and compulsion, I'm not sure where/when you will stop.

Was hoping to see your posts perhaps transition to tuning the motion, the wheel, the tactile and sharing the settings you use what you feel is good with different sims now that you have the rig ready to use and enjoy.

Lots of people share their rigs, very few share how they have them configured.

 

[RCHeliguy]

I completely understand your thoughts on the faux exhaust pipes. I'm just playing with that and consider it silly but fun for the moment.

However with the dash I'm of a completely different mind. I created something that fit around my SimLab P1 vertical DD mount and in VR it is much easier to find controls that wrap around corners and that have lots of reference points. The magnetic labels work great and I love the layout. Everything comes to hand easily. I may change the design a bit over time. The rotaries are a bit to easy to knock in VR. I may end up printing something that they are recessed into a bit, but I can probably bolt that on to the existing design vs. having to reprint anything large.

Those flat rectangular button boxes to my eyes are completely worthless in VR and would be a bitch to navigate. Just another man's opinion, but I have something very similar to the controls in your link in my Virpil flight throttle and in VR most of those knobs and buttons are useless. They are too similar, don't have good boundaries for differentiation, and make no use of edges. Fortunately there are a LOT of controls on the flight stick and the throttle grip and they take care of my needs well.

So we have nearly diametrically opposed views on that.

As far as the tweaking settings for my wheel, motion and tactile go, I have deferred to others for SC 2 settings and NLRv3 settings. I'm also only in iRacing and Dirt Rally. iRacing has scores of settings by people who love playing with SC2 settings, even on a car by car basis. Some of these guys are crazy passionate about getting the wheel to feel just so. My copies of AC and ACC are collecting dust and I think that covers the vast majority of people on this forum.

While I've dabbled in tactile and like the effects I'm getting, I seriously doubt I will ever go into this deep enough to satisfy your passion for that aspect.

I think my passion is ergonomics, hence improved mouse position, button box, easier rolling casters, etc.. Many of the changes I made in terms of cabling and winding up and routing USB cables was to make the transition to flight mode easier. I moved a lot of hardware around while I did that and also allowed better placement of the flight pedals.

I still plan to fabricate a bit more aluminum to clean up the flight control attachment points, but I'm in no rush. It is getting pretty well polished now, but every time I think that there can't be anything else to do to it, I get an idea.

 

[MaddogBC]

I've been wanting to ask you a question for a long time now but have held off in fear of sounding like an idiot, but, are you left handed? Why keep the left side so busy, but have almost nothing for the right to do except shift?

 

[Kieran527]

I've been wanting to ask you a question for a long time now but have held off in fear of sounding like an idiot, but, are you left handed? Why keep the left side so busy, but have almost nothing for the right to do except shift?

I would imagine ergonomics.
You do most, if not all adjustments on a straight when you don’t want your right hand busy as it should be shifting.
You shouldnt be adjusting anything whilst braking, and down shifting with your left hand.

I’m right handed and have my set up predominately left controlled for this very reason.

 

[RCHeliguy]

I am right handed.

It would be exponentially harder to fit additional controls on the right side around the mouse, sequential shift, hand brake and H pattern shift.

The left side is completely empty unless I'm in flight mode.

 

[RCHeliguy]

This morning's print.

Last night I finished the left front cover, but I wasn't happy about all the bolts showing.

So I added a bit of vertical wall to cover the bolts. I think this looks better.

The right rear is printing now and should be done tomorrow early. I'll reprint the front left front with more of a bolt cover after it's done. Then I'll call this complete.

Thinking about a matching cover on the other side of the vertical support. Something simple and clean.

 

[RCHeliguy]

This morning's print.

I'm pretty happy with it.

I added 0.5mm of space around the 40x40 profile, but this also required that the holes I drilled in the angle aluminum were spot on and that I bolted the angle to the very edge of my rig and that I centered the 40x40 profile when I bolted it to the piece of angle from the back. So there were multiple points of play. It did tap into place, but I should have designed more slop into the hole the profile fits through.

It definitely looks more finished compared to having two pieces of angle jutting out.

I still have 3 more prints on the way. 2 smaller ones will finish today and then I'll reprint the left front with the bolt cover lip.

 

[DrRob]

Busy, busy,... Looks fab.

 

[RCHeliguy]

Busy, busy,... Looks fab.

Thanks! I think this fairing finishes off the vertical upright. I'm happy with it, so the right side is printing now. I'll reprint the front left Caster Cover with the wall to help hide the bolts and then I'll call this project done.

 

[RCHeliguy]

Since this part is a general use part that anyone with a P1/P1X could use, I put it out on Thingaverse.

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4765858

Right side with Fairing.

 

[RCHeliguy]

Was looking at my ergonomics today.

Seat:
Back cushion = 25 degrees
bottom cushion = 13 degrees
leg bolster = 35 degrees

Foot plate height almost equal to butt height

Brake pedal plate centered on the ball of my foot

Steering wheel:
Angle = 7.5 degrees
Wrists lay on the top of the wheel with my arms straight
Elbos are just over 90 degrees with my hands at 9 and 3 on the wheel.

I used to have my wheelbase a bit lower and tilted up more, but I like this better. It feel more natural to me.

I guess most importantly it feels comfortable over long periods of time.

I'm sure that the elbo bend doesn't look close enough to 90 degrees for many. Personally I feel cramped with the wheel closer to me.

 

[DrRob]

...and also looks comfy!

I am more or less the same with my setup. Pedal tray a bit lower, steering wheel a tad more angled pointing at below my chin. But everybody has their own small tweaks to make it more comfortable over longer sessions.

 

[RCHeliguy]

...and also looks comfy!

I am more or less the same with my setup. Pedal tray a bit lower, steering wheel a tad more angled pointing at below my chin. But everybody has their own small tweaks to make it more comfortable over longer sessions.

I had a picture from the top looking down, but the sight of my thinning hair put me off posting it.
LOL! Oh well, it is what it is, so here it is below.

This is me back in 2003 when I was 36 years old.
Damn! I feel like an old man in the picture above 18 years later.

 

[DrRob]

If you allow for a comment, but maybe the beard adds more to it than the not-so-thinned hair.
Not that I want to post of pics from me compared to 18 years earlier... mind you.
Don't fret you gained a lot of experience along the way.

 

[RedBull48]

Thanks for sharing the evolution of your rig! It's really interesting to see how things change over time. I would also like to say, after seeing your mounting solution for your HE sprints that inspired me to invert mount mine as well. I am really happy with the result. Personally I find the leverage better when they are inverted resulting in me being more consistent. Look forward to seeing your future endeavors!

 

[RCHeliguy]

If you allow for a comment, but maybe the beard adds more to it than the not-so-thinned hair.
Not that I want to post of pics from me compared to 18 years earlier... mind you.
Don't fret you gained a lot of experience along the way.

Well... my wife likes the beard and has gotten mad at me when I've shaved it off, so It's not going anywhere, but it did white faster than my hair.

 

[Emery]

Something I noticed when installing a Sparco Evo seat in my autocross car is that a race seat puts the headrest further back than a regular car seat, presumably to allow space for the helmet. You may want a cushion to give you a functional headrest.

 

[RCHeliguy]

Something I noticed when installing a Sparco Evo seat in my autocross car is that a race seat puts the headrest further back than a regular car seat, presumably to allow space for the helmet. You may want a cushion to give you a functional headrest.

I wear a VR headset, so this is a good thing.