my DIY pedal project - WIP

shaynet · Sep 17, 2013

I recently started working on a DIY pedal set

first i would like to give a big thanks to Squidwert for his help in figuring out a lot of the stuff i wasn't sure of

here is my progress so far:

metal supplies i got

nuts, bolts, washers, springs, pots etc...

tubes cut to length to act as hinges

and the work done so far

the load cell finally arrived today (I have been waiting for it for quite a while and for some reason the tracking number shows it haven't left Hong-Kong yet)

just a couple of questions:
how much does the load cell flex when force is applied to it?

any one has any idea how the load cell is bolted to the actuator in these cst pedals?

is it just bolted to it or is there some kind of connection that allows some flex?

progress is quite slow because I didn't have the load cell's dimensions until now and just because of general lack of time.
hopefully i'll have new photos to upload soon

RichardHessels · Sep 17, 2013

I have the made normal "hanging" CST's myself, so things are located the other way around, compared to your floor model, but it functions the very same way.

The loadcell flexes very little, the L-shaped connection pushes it up, so no need for rings there to space it.
There is only 2 bolts, at the side closest to the pedals at your "floor" design.
The rings (blue at my drawing) are located at the underside between the bolt and the metal square pipe, to make the connection much stronger and so you can fix them better without ruining the metal square pipe while tightening them.
Make sure the holes drilled are drilled perfectly vertical otherwise you put extra tension on the loadcell, making it register a bit of load before it's even used.

In DXtweak I have calibrated it with some threshold in a way that just leaning your foot without pushing will not be registered as load at all. Older titles like rF1 use the Direct X standard calibration.
Took of the first 140 units of the 1024 available totally, so just rubbing the pedal slightly will not be registered.
Yes they are that sensitive, just touching them is already registering some load.

shaynet · Sep 24, 2013

thanks for the advice Richard
I think i will probably bolt the load cell only to the top layer of the tube and thus avoiding the need to drill perfectly straight holes which I can't do with the tools at hand.

a progress update:
i had some time to do some work during the last couple of days so i got most of the project welding done which is the main thing i can't do at home so i have to go to my dad's work place to do it. it's not like there's some good equipment there - it's just that there's nothing to set fire to there and an absolutely trashed drill press.

got some brackets made and welded onto the pedal arms for the rod ends:

got the L bracket for the load cell made:

fitted the pedal arms to their bases and gas and clutch L brackets:

and started working on a tilting mechanism for the rig:

shaynet · Sep 24, 2013

on a side note
I was thinking about the electronics side and i'm considering making my own board
and I was wondering if there would be some public interest in it
so my question is how many of you would buy it:
it would have a 1000 reports per second and digital noise filtering
an option for a load cell amp
and would be cheaper then Leo Bodnar's board, maybe even significantly cheaper if enough people bought it

so please tell me if you would seriously consider buying a board if i made one

RichardHessels · Sep 24, 2013

Looking good!

To produce a controller board..
How many interested people would you need to make it worthwhile?

If the holes are not perfectly vertical drilled you could still use 2 thin rings as a spacer, lifting the loadcell a little, if needed. Having the connection go trough both side makes the construction a lot stronger in the long run.