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

[Ruttman98]

This is really close and technically this does work.

View attachment 463071

However I printed with supports to a lip that isn't necessary and I had to chisel away material to get the clips to fit.
View attachment 463070

So I'm redesigning the clips with 3 changes.

1. I removed the overhang so it no longer needs supports.
2. There is a lip at the bottom and indentation at the top so you can easily grab the clips with your fingers to pull them out to change height.
3. I rounded the edges that insert into the bracket slots to make it easier to start.

View attachment 463069

I also decided that the brackets are too long. I need space to route cables under them and I'll never drop my pedals all the way down. At some point I'm going to print shorter brackets.

View attachment 463074
I think that will be it. I'll test fit this in a few hours with the existing clips when the other pair of brackets are finished in 4 hours and if that all goes well, I'll reprint new clips and now and at some point print new brackets.

This adjustable mount is brilliant! Perhaps the most innovative of your many rig components.

 

[RedBull48]

Some next level fusion 360 skills, did you have experience in similar software in your working history? I had seen that you have an engineering background. Also can you recommend any quality resources for learning the more advanced features? I am still quite new to the software but getting a good feel for the basics but I would like to expand into multi part models.

 

[RCHeliguy]

This adjustable mount is brilliant! Perhaps the most innovative of your many rig components.

Thanks for that!

Some next level fusion 360 skills, did you have experience in similar software in your working history? I had seen that you have an engineering background. Also can you recommend any quality resources for learning the more advanced features? I am still quite new to the software but getting a good feel for the basics but I would like to expand into multi part models.

When I was a TA working my way through college, I taught the lab for AutoCad to Architecture and Art and Design students, but that was a ways back. My degree is in Electrical Engineering.

I started to use Sketchup for my woodworking a few years back, but always felt like I was fighting with it.

I started using Fusion 360 for the first time this past September, but it has felt very intuitive to me from early on. Whenever I wanted to do something I didn't know how to do I would just google how to do it in Fusion 360. Typically there was a video tutorial covering whatever I wanted to do.

I tend to learn by doing, and I have enjoyed this quite a bit. Between Fusion 360 and my 3D printer I feel like I can do things that would have been prohibitive before.

As far as multi-part design goes, I just did it when I was ready. I don't know how to convey how my brain works, but this design was completely intuitive. I can see the force vectors in my head and where certain geometries make sense. Past that I just worked within the constraints of my print bed. The parts naturally grow.

One feature I like in Fusion 360 for multi part things is the subtractive join. You can pick one piece as the part to be operated on and then other parts as tools. So you can just make a large cube for example and move it so it overlaps other parts and then just subtract the other parts away from it leaving you with a part that exactly fits.

I did this with the Neutric female connector. I put the connector model where I wanted it to fit in my larger part and subtracted it away from my part leaving a perfect fit indentation and hole.

 

[RCHeliguy]

The proof of concept works. However I think I should have a couple additional 5mm bolts to hold the deck to the clips. It works as is, but I'm getting an occasional creak from where the deck meets the clip. I can also get a little fore/aft rocking from that same joint. I should have seen that.

Importantly it seemed to take my weight well when I pushed hard on the pedals.

I'm going to put a couple 5 mm holes in my new clip design with clearance from the underside to insert a threaded insert. Then I'm going to press the parts together and drill through the deck. I think a 5mm bolt is enough, so I'll give that a shot first. I can always make a bigger hole or redesign the top and clip to have more meat where they attach.

 

[RCHeliguy]

This worked well enough that I'm printing the second clip out.

Fully seated showing off its' new threaded inserts.

Pulling it out using grab lip. It's tight, but with the indentations pulling it out is much easier.

Here it is bolted in place. There is no more creaking coming from it now. This will take an extra minute to secure when switch between driving and flight, but it make the joint much more secure.

To be fair this isn't as solid as 3/4 Purple heart bolted to profile, but it works well for side to side rudder pedal use and even for pushing forward with the brakes. It does flex slightly forward when I push the pedals forward because I have the landing gear brake springs set very stiff.

 

[RCHeliguy]

My current thoughts are that this works well enough that I'm going to use it for a while to see how it holds up. However I would prefer that it be perfectly rigid, so I may go back to a hybrid aluminum 3Dprinted solution, but the design of that will be impacted by what I've learned from this.

Edit: I changed my mind.

I just chopped off the bottom of the brackets to lower them so they wouldn't interfere with the pedals at the top of the brack after I dropped my pedals another 40mm. It feels so much better!

Also the flex doesn't occur during braking or rudder action, it only happens when I push the bottom of my pedals which is nothing I would never need to do, so I think I'm keeping them.

So I'll redesign the brackets even smaller than they are now.

I think I'm just going to leave the flight pedal deck in place and pull the pedals off by unscrewing the 4 M6 bolts that hold it down. The bolts go into very beefy threaded inserts so I'm not worried about wearing that interface out.

 

[RCHeliguy]

Just had a serious break through!

I was looking at these and had an idea.

MFG Crosswinds Combat Pedals and Bar Pedals by Asherao

A project fueled by aircraft habits.... and a tiny rig. The Combat pedals support "heel-on-floor" type movement, similar to what you see in the F18, F16, B737, and others. The height, and therefore the feel of the braking action, is adjustable. The Bar pedals support helicopters, Mig, and some...

www.thingiverse.com

His 140mm bar is too wide to fit and the 90mm bar doesn't seem quite wide enough, so I just remixed the 140mm bars down to 105mm which fits comfortably submerged in the frame of the P1 chassis and seems like the right size to me.

I just spent some time reorganizing my wiring and dropping the 2nd SC 2 power supply a bit lower so I could move the pedals further forward as well.

The end result is that I'll be able to put my driving pedal deck right over the top of the flight pedals and leave them in my rig all the time

I'm really liking how this is coming along. I've been using a different USB hub when I'm using the flight gear so I don't have to unplug all my other gear. I am keeping the NLRv3 plugged in and my button box. DCS supports everything it sees, but some software like SW Squadrons has serious issue with more than just 3 controls for HOTAS. So I can't keep my button box for navigation or mapping the piles of options available in game.

 

[RCHeliguy]

These are the newly printed 105mm bars. They have about 10mm of clearance on each side and I like how they feel.

This shows how much clearance they have under the foot plate for my driving pedals. My conversion to flight mode just got a lot easier

Below you can see that the 2nd SC2 power supply was submerged to allow the flight pedals to extend further back and lower than before.

A 2nd USB Hub holder dedicated to flight controls is printing. It will bolt to the 2 M6 holes on the left rear of the Crosswind pedal base. I a shorter 1 foot USB cable is ordered for the pedals to leave permanently connected.

Below shows the USB holder, with indentations for the 20mm Velcro coins that will hold the USB Hub in the holder.

 

[RCHeliguy]

Bolted a 2nd USB Hub holder to a couple empty bolt holes in the Crosswind Pedal base.

The 2nd USB Hub is only for flight controls. This was my old USB Hub that works well but requires that I press a button to turn it on. That's fine for flight controls that I don't use nearly as often.

For DCS I'll use the other Hub too and have the NLRv3 and my Button box also active.
For SW Squadrons which gets confused when there are more than 3 USB controls, I'll only use the flight hub.

 

[RCHeliguy]

To make this completely rigid, it would just need an adjustable support that can push off the floor. Simply putting a book under it should work, but I think I can make something a bit more refined.

 

[RCHeliguy]

Installed the new Crosswind damper which makes the pedals feel more realistic and less springy when flying as an airplane with a spring and much more realistic without the spring for helicopter use.

Also notice something is going on with my clutch pedal. I removed the epoxy clutch pedal face. I have a 10 degree wedge printing and new pedals coming Wednesday. I would like to use the new clutch pedal place.

 

[RCHeliguy]

This is a 10 degree wedge for the clutch. It appears that it is enough to keep the ball of my foot from bending backwards uncomfortably(never an issue for floor mounted clutches), but I need the new pedals faces on Thursday before I can be sure this is right. I may move the clutch hole backwards a bit too, but not until I see how it feels with the new pedal faces.

Edit: 4/13 Printing a 15 degree wedge and will drill new front mount holes 30mm back.

 

[RCHeliguy]

The curved epoxy pedal face cover actually feels very good in use and allows the ball of my foot to rotate forward. For cosmetic reasons I'm trying to get the HRS pedals to fit.

This is the clutch with 15 degree wedge moved back 30mm.
The pedal now stops at 90 degrees, but the pedal is too high.

Since the pulling stress is all on the front and the back of the pedal mount is just under compression, the front is through bolted to the bottom of the aluminum plate. The rear top and bottom bolts are just using threaded inserts.

I'm thinking that this would be MUCH faster to prototype just using blocks of wood and wood screws until I get the height and angle worked out and then I could 3D print something or even machine an aluminum block.

However I am going to see how a 3D printed shape feels as well.

Meanwhile the flight pedals with damper are working great! I've been logging more time in the Huey with the damper and with the centering spring removed which makes sense when using them as anti-rotation pedals vs. a plane rudder. Center is completely meaningless when flying helicopters.

 

[RCHeliguy]

The original issue is that the flat pedal faces work fine when the pedals are floor mounted but inverted the clutch pedal was bending my foot backwards uncomfortably. I had case an epoxy pedal cover that worked, but was cosmetically a bit ugly.

Moving the clutch pedal back 30mm, adding 6 degrees of angle ( 15 degree wedge - 9 degrees backing off two pedal mount holes) and printing an ergonomically shaped pedal face work well together. This rolls with my foot very well through the clutch motion better than what I had before.

I think if the clutch pedal dropped a bit ~ 20mm it would be dialed in.

I got rid of the traction ridges. It doesn't need them and I think it looks better smooth. I printed this with 8 perimeters and 30% infill and it feels solid. So yes I think 3D printed pedal faces would work fine on this. Unless the clutch pedal from HRS surprises me, I'll probably keep this clutch pedal face and just use the throttle and brake pedal faces with this.

HE Sprint Inverted Clutch Pedal Plate by RCHeliGuy

Flat plates work well for floor mounted pedals. But when inverting pedals, a clutch pedal with its longer throw can bend your foot backwards uncomfortably. YMMV, but that was my experience. This is a remix of hukdizzle's pedals which takes care of all the important work of mating the pedal...

www.thingiverse.com

 

[RCHeliguy]

Here are the new HRS pedals and everything in the box.

I added one more hole of rotation or another 4-5 degrees and decided I would see if this would work. It's not bad. I think the rounder pedal lowered might be better, but this obviously completes a matches set. Time will tell. Having the bottom of the pedal face be round vs a sharp edge actually makes a difference.

I was just thinking that I should print an 80x20 end cap for the top of my dead pedal, but otherwise I'll need to wait until June for the ProSim lockout before I do anything else major. I just finished a big project yesterday and I've got about 2 weeks before another project starts. So I think I'll be able to work on that video including the flight stuff.

I wasn't sure what I would think of the oversized brake pedal, but it actually does feels better underfoot.

 

[RCHeliguy]

Here is a walk through video I made this morning of the conversion from racing rig to flight rig.

 

[Tom_Hampton]

I added one more hole of rotation or another 4-5 degrees and decided I would see if this would work. It's not bad. I think the rounder pedal lowered might be better, but this obviously completes a matches set. Time will tell. Having the bottom of the pedal face be round vs a sharp edge actually makes a difference.

I'm sure with your F360 skilz you can match the HRS "style". I agree that a rounder pedal surface for the clutch would be better. As you note, it allows the foot to remain more normal to the pedal surface instead of rolling up onto the toes.

Re: brake pedal..I'd actually prefer the larger pedal to be on the throttle. If fact that's exactly how my real pedals are configured. The larger throttle makes heel-toe a bit easier. Its a very common configuration in the SM world:

5X Racing Loud Pedal for Mazda Miata

5X Racing Loud Pedal for Mazda Miata

5xracing.com

 

[RCHeliguy]

In the finishing touches department, I finally created an endcap for my 20x80 profile dead pedal.

It took about 1 minute to measure, 2 minutes to design and 28 minutes to print at quality settings.

One less unfinished edge showing. Looks pretty clean to me.

 

[HoiHman]

The sheer joy and fulfillment you can get from a simple end kap.

Thrust me i know

I watched your video switching between racing and flight sim rig and it's quite impressive

From a kindred spirit here are some tips:

- Connect the entire pedal section to an USB hub, so you only have to disconnect one connector
- Getting the bolts back in can be fiddling, so leave them in place in the pedal section and make vertical cuts which runs wide on the plates from the main frame.
- Use (strong) magnets with opposite poles to click the parts (like the HOTAS) in place, so the the bolt and nut instantly align. ( trust me you will love it)

These are a just small improvements, but they give you satisfaction every time you use the them.

I spend a lot of time in switching from a sim racing rig to flight sim rig. I even managed to this under 60 seconds, but discovered in the end that flight sims just were not my thing.

 

[RCHeliguy]

@HoiHman Thanks for the suggestions.

• Magnets on the flight stick would be a good improvement.
• I'll also consider creating mounting brackets with slots for the bolts.

I already have the pedal section plugged into a USB hub. There is just one connector there.
The two connectors I unhook from the side are actually for the two USB hubs. One is dedicated to just the 3 flight controls because games like SW Squadrons gets confused by my other USB devices.