The SimFeedback-AC DIY Motion Simulator thread

sjb266 · Sep 17, 2018

Hey guys. Thought I’d create a thread for those taking the plunge into this brilliant DIY project..
I will be starting mine soon and I know there are others thinking about it.. so feel free to share your knowledge and experiences so we can all enjoy this platform to its full potential. A huge thanks to the developers who have really knocked this one out of the park!

Website: https://opensfx.com/2019/02/20/welcome-to-our-new-site/

Github: https://github.com/SimFeedback/SimFeedback-AC-Servo/wiki

For all the internals for the actuator contact Amy - skye@ntl-bearing.com
She can supply everything you need. Just remind her you want the ends of the shafts chamfered and make sure she sends the right sized ball screw - we have had a couple of issues reported. She is very helpful though and the cost is pretty good.

Huge thanks to @RowanH for writing a comprehensive user guide which can be accessed here - https://www.rowanhick.com/sfx-100-build-and-running-guide

In addition, @anton_Chez has contributed a list of post numbers for some of the important settings etc..
Post #320 SFX-100 thread
Post #327 SFX-100 thread for Discord correlation
Post #339 SFX-100 thread
Post #418 SFX-100 thread
Post #424 SFX-100 thread
Post #439 SFX-100 thread
Post #449 SFX-100 thread
Post #517 SFX-100 thread
Post #554 SFX-100 thread
Post #580 SFX-100 thread
Post #826 SFX-100 thread
Post #837 SFX-100 thread
Post #864,866,867,868,870,887,889,897 SFX-100 thread
Post #911,914 SFX-100 thread
Post #988,992,998 SFX-100 thread
Post #1147 SFX-100 thread
Post #1492 SFX-100 thread
Post #1511,1517 SFX-100 thread

I will try to keep this page updated with links to source the parts in other parts of the world. Just post whatever links you have and i'll add them here.

Please note: Not all the parts listed below are essential for the project. For the essential parts refer to the original shopping list.

Australia:

Thanks to @AussieSim for the following links:

10A power lead(s) * 4
https://www.jaycar.com.au/2m-black-mains-extension-lead/p/PS4152

Top quality wire stripper
https://sydneytools.com.au/product/boxo-cutws205-multifunction-wire-stripper

RCD/safety switch power block
https://www.bunnings.com.au/arlec-4-outlet-heavy-duty-portable-safety-switch_p4420028

WD-40 lithium grease for the ball screws
https://www.bunnings.com.au/wd-40-specialist-300g-high-performance-white-lithium-grease_p6100408

Vibration pads
https://www.bunnings.com.au/whites-on-site-100-x-12-5mm-rubber-anti-vibration-mat-4-pack_p3961547

WD-40 Dry PTFE spray for the slider (free shipping)
https://au.rs-online.com/mobile/p/lubricants/7577134/

Arduino Leonardo (free shipping + frequent 10-15% off discount)
https://www.arrow.com/en/products/a000057/arduino-corporation

DB25 cables * 4 (free shipping)
https://www.arrow.com/en/products/ak401-2/assmann-wsw-components-inc

PETG * 3 (free shipping)
https://www.arrow.com/en/products/petg17bk1/mg-chemicals

WAGO-like connectors to avoid a breadboard (perhaps use genuine ones if you are doing 240V AC)
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32906719488.html

D-Sub breakout boards * 4
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32297675967.html

3D printer Creality Ender-3 Pro
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32918302452.html

Wires from Arduino to D-Sub breakout (remove black plastic from the WAGO end)
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32887680826.html

Crimp connectors for AC wire leads
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32813550981.html

Mascot · Mar 17, 2019

Steve D said:
I can't lay claim to the idea Steve mate. Think our good buddy @anton_Chez may have mentioned it first, (and some time ago), about using the weight of the rig to hold the harness mounting points down without having to secure to the floor directly. I simply built upon his idea and added my own 'flavour' as we all do.

View attachment 296991

View attachment 296992

Oops! Posts updated crediting both of you.

Steve D · Mar 17, 2019

Mascot said:
Little update: stole another idea from @Steve D's Harness Consultancy™ and added a couple of rigging screws for fine-tuning the tension. Looks a little neater too, I reckon.

The placement of your rear actuators makes this a really neat solution Steve. No chance of fouling the P1 chassis. Utterly brilliant mate!

Mascot · Mar 17, 2019

Steve D said:
The placement of your rear actuators makes this a really neat solution Steve. No chance of fouling the P1 chassis. Utterly brilliant mate!

An unintended bonus of moving them back by 100mm. Nice when things like that happen..!
The plywood pads I used are quite small, but that's just because I happened to have them pre-cut. Bigger ones would give clearance for 'normally' positioned actuators.
If anyone's thinking of adapting this idea, I'd suggest you make circular pads if you've got any form of OCD. The tension vector from the harness rotates the pads until they reach the optimum position, so this can put square pads slightly twisted and out of alignment.

Insert Coin · Mar 17, 2019

Springs between the belts and the floor aren't necessary?

Mascot · Mar 17, 2019

Insert Coin said:
Springs between the belts and the floor aren't necessary?

I didn't feel the need for them, but I know some people use them.

ThugUK · Mar 17, 2019

Mascot said:
An unintended bonus of moving them back by 100mm. Nice when things like that happen..!
The plywood pads I used are quite small, but that's just because I happened to have them pre-cut. Bigger ones would give clearance for 'normally' positioned actuators.
If anyone's thinking of adapting this idea, I'd suggest you make circular pads if you've got any form of OCD. The tension vector from the harness rotates the pads until they reach the optimum position, so this can put square pads slightly twisted and out of alignment.

How about 1 longer wooden board going from left to right, with holes either side for your pads (instead of 2 pads) and then you can place your anchorage points anywhere along that board. You could possibly paint it too so it looks the same as your rig.
That way it wont move at all.

Mascot · Mar 17, 2019

ThugUK said:
How about 1 longer wooden board going from left to right, with holes either side for your pads (instead of 2 pads) and then you can place your anchorage points anywhere along that board. You could possibly paint it too so it looks the same as your rig.
That way it wont move at all.

Yep, @Steve D suggested something similar recently. It's probably the better approach. Having a similar board spanning the front actuators might also help with creep, where your rig achieves singularity on high settings and tries to leave the room to find a weapon to kill you with.

Moxley6969 · Mar 17, 2019

I was asked to show how i wired my box. Duponts are super handy and make things rather idiot proof if you've wired the plugs properly.

D7jbK-cK6-r40HIm7TBahhNUH9DMDFkCMPksBTMTjYbr5rZER0t0fEFIoioaXhePJ0GDO8xs8J2Yr_h64TAw_IUYIhAiRdVCLZfqnMmj1_yRm_L4NsWjKAi4ixTva7nEo76Xs0evDfQf5_gJpYeNyx6JoP8L7Bh3b6qcgDAh5rXUnW_VmK69fef0ebcmPd0wUOSEamvOqovMkeq81rCWqLsgB7elKjypScGb5ZI06g8cGtKO5cdbaGiMoYJkR94ywZ9Z4PATiSatsyRIx6thCbp1hOMTXzb71r5c4seHAM7HszGt8KSDV_35nIFIAxFeUXVBdRGqsFFuBvKYZawso7aUGyMJQEhFVafymuKGSGVR40gZB8HSkwyOfAJ57KlOp0SJ-LSLG9_bljkzsvuR1xHFDpWKJMeh_6IEgCzXx78lVj7BcW2AaGCFkx24UiRpKrNFkadicH_zpXcYYNIpEWrO-JXigaoAqAybuYqusGZRwzR394LhLJS9gVj8JRZ7CMh70fOgPJCTnw4NGVjVNTlmLLGRxMUL6vCzxL0HCkBzQmtinEZk1cUXrPU8Cm75pPw1CObPnUEvOKqrQCycG-ueup-I-L-wQv3WZrCnTfzvzTdAO2IFycdronibrieCTVcDr8SawK9DHQf6UlJ6aV9pKSmzIOpO=w2499-h1874-no

ScottSonder · Mar 17, 2019

@Mascot I was trying to find more information about more mods people have done to the feet. I can't remember which page yours was on, do you perhaps? I remember you explaining what you did before, but I cannot for the life of me find it in here lol.

@Moxley6969 Looks good, is there no Estop wired in there?

Also, why even use a Dupont, are you saying you crimped those on instead of soldering? All seems the same to me there.

Mascot · Mar 17, 2019

ScottSonder said:
@Mascot I was trying to find more information about more mods people have done to the feet. I can't remember which page yours was on, do you perhaps? I remember you explaining what you did before, but I cannot for the life of me find it in here

Previous page?

ScottSonder · Mar 17, 2019

Mascot said:
Previous page?

Meant before you switched to the plywood, sorry about that.

Moxley6969 · Mar 17, 2019

ScottSonder said:
@Moxley6969 Looks good, is there no Estop wired in there?

Also, why even use a Dupont, are you saying you crimped those on instead of soldering? All seems the same to me there.

No Estop in that picture, but i figured the Orange wires coming from each cable all soldered together was a dead give away as to whats what.

As for the Dupont, Yes duponts are crimped on.....So im not sure What you mean "instead of soldering" Soldering to what ? the bottom Side of the PCB on the Leo ?

ScottSonder · Mar 17, 2019

Moxley6969 said:
No Estop in that picture, but i figured the Orange wires coming from each cable all soldered together was a dead give away as to whats what.

As for the Dupont, Yes duponts are crimped on.....So im not sure What you mean "instead of soldering" Soldering to what ? the bottom Side of the PCB on the Leo ?

Yeah, but I don't see where you're going back out to the estop, sorry for missing your dead giveaway..

Crimping Duponts straight up always seemed to be a pain to me, if you solder to connector, then slide the connector in the Dupont that was easier for me. Wasn't sure what people did, but cool wiring job.

e: Looked up more guides on crimping Duponts, I see a lot of methods that look easier/faster than what I attempted, so yeah not a lot of people solder to the connectors it seems.

C64 · Mar 17, 2019

Mascot said:
Oops! Posts updated crediting both of you.

I started playing around wit seat belts last night using iRacing, I initially tried with some very strong bungy but found that stretched and more or less wiped out the variation in pressure I hoped for.. so I went to solid fixing the rear point and having the straps very tight... this was just uncomfortable so I loosened the straps and it started to feel a lot better with a much bigger range of pressure. I was using the "brake" telemetry feed in iRacing which gives the % brake pressure, to get a good range of feeling I had the rig pitching almost full deflection on heavy braking... it felt like it was too much pitch... so I was thinking I need more travel in the straps and less movement in the rig, to do this I will need to anchor the side straps to the floor and have them pulling more backwards than downards as I am looking for backwards pressure, additional travel can also be got from the centre strap by anchoring that to the floor... although this may prove dificult to do. Another thing is I want to attach the straps midway between the 2 rear actuators ( all 5 straps ) so that roll / sway produce as little movement in the straps as possible, to do this will need some guides/rollers to route wire/rope to the rear of the rig for the side and centre straps. It would also be nice to have an effect that just raised the rear of the rig so that pitching was not as pronounced. Just my wishful thinking for the moment.

Pyronious · Mar 17, 2019

I'm about to order the extrusions for my frame and was wondering if people know of a good source for black anodized 1515 and 1530 (and possibly 1545). I see that Tnutz carries 1515 in black but not 1530. Any suggestions for other providers? *Edit: I found it on 8020's site.

Also, do I really need 1545 for the base frame (where the actuators connect), or is 1530 rigid enough for an SFX-100 build?

Pyronious · Mar 17, 2019

Oh, and one more thing. Curious to see what you recommend between the solid or "lite" extrusions. Any opinions? I'm leaning towards the lite.

C64 · Mar 17, 2019

Pyronious said:
Oh, and one more thing. Curious to see what you recommend between the solid or "lite" extrusions. Any opinions? I'm leaning towards the lite.

Lite should be more than enough... that is assuming the base is 40x120 or 40x160 section.

GeniFx · Mar 17, 2019

And i told my self my simrig was done last year....

And then this show up... Aluminium profiles orderd and the harware for the actuators orderd.
3d printer is runing full speed atm.
Realy have to say this is an awsome project. Almost done with all the pages her just 30 or so left.
And big thanks to Saxxon for leting everybody in on this.

But i have some questions since i have to modify my rig. what is the optimal distance between actuators ? seen ppl be about 1 m front to back and 68 side to side.

thing i can have 63 side to side and around 1m front to back.

Was thinking of changing my main suport on the back of my rig to run past the front part with an overlap and chang it out with a 40x120 insted of the 40x80 i have now and run a 40x40 under the pedal part to suport it.
And shorten in my front part.

What do you guys think of that ?

PandaNL · Mar 18, 2019

I noticed that for the linear bearing print when tightening the bolts the PLA cracked, because I could not find a option in Cura to do 100% infill every few layers I used the following guide to add a support block which you can set to 100%. (Video Guide:

)

I placed it around the screw holes so that it makes it a little bit stronger.

Jean-Paul Lanaux · Mar 18, 2019

Pyronious said:
Oh, and one more thing. Curious to see what you recommend between the solid or "lite" extrusions. Any opinions? I'm leaning towards the lite.

I am trying to be a minimalist.

I am using 1.5"x3" 1530 Lite as a box. Many rigs seem way overkill to me.

There is a deflection calculator https://8020.net/deflection-calculator to help you with sizing.
There is some twisting to consider - but there will be cross members and a seat that will keep the frame from wanting to twist.

I also see people struggling with clips from a 40 to a 25, etc.

I just ordered some angle and drilled the holes where I needed them. I have two angle clips per actuator. 2X2X3/16. Drilling aluminum is easy.

The SimFeedback-AC DIY Motion Simulator thread

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