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

[RCHeliguy]

Just verifying everything one last time since I moved the bolt holes back and I wanted to absolutely verify that the TST-429 fits properly.

I hate to say it this close, but I'm too pooped to pop!

I make it a point not to use my larger power tools when I'm feeling fatigued and I feel completely wiped out. So better safe then sorry and live to fight another day. I'll pick it up first thing in the AM. I don't think it will take me more than a couple hours to get the new plates cut, drilled, beveled and mounted on my rig.

 

[RCHeliguy]

Getting excited to try this out... not with PLA of course.

 

[RCHeliguy]

Did all the quiet drilling early. Taking a coffee break and waiting for it to get a bit later before starting up the noisy power tools.

Given the flack I received over using WD40, below shows some Tap Magic. ( I ran out of WD40 ) LOL!

I'll solder the exciter wiring to the 8 pole receiver next so I'm nice to my neighbors.

All ready to go. A few cuts, some deburring and sanding and it will be ready to go back together.

I'm going to get everything together and verify that it all works properly before I start finishing parts, but I won't be in a rush to do that.

I have the saw blade fairly well exposed so that the cutting force has more down force than if I had it shallow. For wood I typically only have the blade exposed about 1/4" above the height of the wood for safety reasons and for less tear out.

Some days I wish I had a decent sized mill. If only I had room for one...

 

[RCHeliguy]

Plates are ready. They are basically hidden so I went this far.

I bolted the seat brackets to the seat and then tightened all the bolts on the underside for a good fit.

Then I removed the seat, bolted the TST-429 in place, got all the Race Base isolators pre-tensioned properly.

OMG It's back together!!!!!

I still had to stick the exciters to my seat and solder up the 8 pole receiver.

Now I'm putting away the mess. The media room is pretty good, now to put away the garage.

Everything should be ready to test.

 

[HoiHman]

looking really good.

Do you think the racebass isolators will add some wobble to the seat?

 

[RCHeliguy]

The Race Base isolators feel more rigid than the NLRv3 does. It has a bit of play to begin with. They really do feel very solid. I've seen them flex backwards under heavy braking in a video, but I couldn't feel anything so far. I haven't taken it for a spin yet.

What I can say is that my seat, steering wheel, and foot plate geometry feel good. It didn't change that much.

The 30x60 is due to arrive on Tuesday. I'll 3D print all the new parts for the adjusted flight stick quick release between now and then and get my flight mount back on the side of my left seat bracket.

 

[RCHeliguy]

Wife told me my rose garden needed tending. Exactly what I wanted to be doing right now.

 

[metalnwood]

I managed to do it real quick hun! Now back to my more important job!!!

 

[RCHeliguy]

I managed to do it real quick hun! Now back to my more important job!!!

To be fair, some of my rose bushes were over 9 feet tall.

Just finished playing games, and now I get to try my rig out!

 

[RCHeliguy]

First impressions are that the BK in back comes through with MUCH more authority now using the Race Base isolation and the TST-429 does well too. All motion on the NLRv3 felt normal. I couldn't feel a difference.

The front is better and is an improvement over my earlier Sorbothane isolation, but not nearly the same improvement I got at the seat. I've got something going on with my BK in front. I'm going to trouble shoot that.

So far so good. I haven't tried the exciters out yet.

 

[RCHeliguy]

This is actually pretty cool, isn't it?

Sometimes I get caught up in the design and don't take time to look at what I've built.

 

[metalnwood]

Nice, must be fun to be using it

I think the pedals are the hard part of the equation. On the one hand we want to minimise flex as much as we can whilst wanting isolation and I think this puts compromises on the choices available to us, as well as the pedal tray being so light, it doesnt help.

 

[Deleted member 1449502]

Nice, must be fun to be using it

I think the pedals are the hard part of the equation. On the one hand we want to minimise flex as much as we can whilst wanting isolation and I think this puts compromises on the choices available to us, as well as the pedal tray being so light, it doesnt help.

Whilst driving I can't sense any flex, it certainly doesn't affect my performance in a negative way. It's only when my OCD side looks at it that it keeps me thinking of ways I could try to eliminate it

 

[blekenbleu]

ways I could try to eliminate it

4 parallel links with spherical rod ends,
one pair running either side of the seat to that side of the pedal assembly.

 

[metalnwood]

Yes, mine flex visibly but its not a problem as far as using them. You still use the same amount of force braking and dont notice the movement.. Braking essentially feels the same, maybe your in game brake is 10% off where it was before as some force goes to the springs instead of the load cell but muscle memory takes care of fixing that, or recalibrate in game if you want.

So I dont see an issue with the level of flex that the racebase springs are giving, or the bobbins which move a bit as well.

I think what is difficult is choosing a combination that will give maximum isolation to the pedal tray while not introducing too much flex.

I think a more complex arrangement may be the only way to get around it, e.g. dual springs, one of a different spring constant giving you 95% of your driving with better isolation and when that is compressing under braking a second spring is taking most of the load giving you the stability you want from your pedal tray.

 

[Deleted member 1449502]

4 parallel links with spherical rod ends,
one pair running either side of the seat to that side of the pedal assembly.

Could you please elaborate?

 

[blekenbleu]

Parallel links create a parallelogram with upright links at seat and pedals;
seat cannot move away from pedals and can tip only if pedals also tip,
but pedal pressure would want them tipping in opposite directions,
so cancelling.

Vertical and lateral tactile energy would not be coupled; only longitudinal.

 

[Deleted member 1449502]

Something like this for each leg?

 

[Mr Latte]

This is actually pretty cool, isn't it?

Sometimes I get caught up in the design and don't take time to look at what I've built.

Well, you have something that is unique and nobody else with a VR3 has anywhere, congrats on a superb job and sharing your journey with it. I have been highly impressed with your work but not only that but the speed you get things done.

You are also, as you know but others may not, the first on the continent to have the "official" components for the RaceBass. Not some copy, that people decided to attempt to do. So it has let you see how simple but how well the components for the solution comes together.

However, as you're aware and most others are not. We know what has been shown and used here on your own rig is still not the complete solution that can be offered for 8020 owners.

I could eloborate, that in discussions with others, we discovered specific requirements for 8020 users.....

• Some based on the hardware they own, want the ability to raise/lower the installation of the springs, for the seat and pedals.
• Some may need to position the horizontal placement, different rigs or d.i.y builds.
• Some living in apartments/flats/upstairs rooms want an additional reduction of the vibes that will go into the floor.

Regards installing tactile, some will want to follow the RaceBass recommended path...
Yet others, already own various popular transducers. So a design that can accommodate those and incorporates all these requirements is what we want to provide a solution for.

.

 

[RCHeliguy]

This morning I started to setup my exciters. All 4 of mine are working properly.

1. They do not require much power. I've got my amp set at about 25-30% per channel.
2. Yes, you can feel these little guys surprisingly well. So no surprise, they do work.

I'm running them through the t.racks DSP box to shelter them from frequencies that can blow them up. I can already tell they will add quite a bit to the mix.

Unfortunately, my 7.1 Audigy 5/RX is a DUD driving analog outputs. The SPDIF to my surround sound runs great, but I can only get stereo out of this card. With stereo I get separation. If I set it up Quadrophonic channels 3 and 4 leak across all the channels in a major way. Setup as 5.1 or 7.1 is worse. Only the subwoofer channel works.

I've ordered a new 5.1 audio card that has no SPDIF, so it has to be 100% analog to function properly. It should arrive tomorrow.

I did back off the pretension on my foot plate and that added a bit more feeling. Surprisingly I feel more in the seat than in the foot plate. I suspect my BK-CT in front is a bit of a dud.