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

Dave_6 · Jul 6, 2019

anton_Chez said:
View attachment 313595

My build has seen some significant improvements even since the completion of the SFX-100 system.

I've also just received this beauty:

View attachment 313596
Looks great and feels fantastic. BTW, since I'm here, what is CAL on the dial.... ? Yes I am noob.

Nice to see a SFX build using a Sim-lab GT1 (which is what I have). So far I only have the extrusion and the SFX board. I see that you have your seat mounted down inside the frame; do you have any more pics of how you did that? How did you mount your shifter like that as well?

jv8 · Jul 6, 2019

RowanH said:
Everything got a bit out of control (and still going.....) this is from a few months ago. I've had over 30 different people all have a go in it and come out like grinning idiots - from people who never knew simulators even existed to some serious rev-heads. Pretty evenly split down the middle from "that was a cool experience, now I'm really intimidated" to "just a few more minutes, need to better my laptime..."

The rig is never in a state of "done" with cables tidied up for long enough to get a good picture !

View attachment 313685

Rowan, what size are your monitors? This is close to my current build plan. But I haven’t settled on the display size and resolution. Thanks!

Megahowler · Jul 6, 2019

jv8 said:
Rowan, what size are your monitors? This is close to my current build plan. But I haven’t settled on the display size and resolution. Thanks!

He runs 3 x 32" 2560x1440's

Specialist68 · Jul 6, 2019

I know 16 m8 bolts is overkill but yeah I had the bolts and nuts
https://www.dropbox.com/s/5a4ebte12l1u66y/IMG_0155.JPG?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/ogxv7ekcxc1it86/IMG_0159.JPG?dl=0

Specialist68 · Jul 6, 2019

how to upload a photo without a dropbox link?

Wmacky · Jul 6, 2019

Great job! I think you may have just solved how to tackle my next step. I'm wiring up the drives tonight and been gong back and forth on how to combine those 4 power leads into 1. ( daisy chain. Wago connectors, or a bolt through eyelet crimp connectors. I like the electrical box idea.Whats inside? Any chance we could peek inside that box with quick pic to see how you have done it?

diablo2112 said:
I'm just finishing my SFX-100 build. I have 3 complete acutators, and have gotten all the electronic bits up and running. Was testing out software profiles today while the parts for my 4th actuator are printing. This build went super-smooth. Really no problems at all. I ordered the standard components off the build list, and recieved everything within about 2-3 weeks. Part quality is great, and the actuators went together very nicely. The only tricky part was threading the inserts, and I quickly realized that a 11x1.5mm tap threaded in about 6 turns made this part very easy.

If you're on the fence about starting this based on concerns about actuator assembly, I'd say go for it. This has gone very smoothly, and has been a ton of fun.

diablo2112 · Jul 7, 2019

Nothing special in the box. I ran 12-gauge double-insulated wire to each controller, each of the 3 lines (ground, and both 220V legs.). I did not daisy chain the power. It's what's called a "star" wiring run, dedicated lines to each controller.

The box inside is simple. All grounds connected together with a big wire nut. The switch (link below) is a double-pole, and I switch both legs of the 220V. From the downstream side of the switch, I have another 12-gauge wire, and they all twist together with more wire nuts, both legs. 3 wire nuts in total, 1 double-pole switch, 5 wires (supply and 4 controllers) in each wire nut. Hope that helps.

Here's the switch:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002MPPTBQ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

And this is what the other side of the box looks like. Just a 12-gauge, insulated flexible power cord there, with a locking 220V plug on the other end.

anton_Chez · Jul 7, 2019

Dave_6 said:
Nice to see a SFX build using a Sim-lab GT1 (which is what I have). So far I only have the extrusion and the SFX board. I see that you have your seat mounted down inside the frame; do you have any more pics of how you did that? How did you mount your shifter like that as well?

With the seat, I bought the side mount rails with my Sparco Rev bucket so they basically sit on top of the GT1 seat frame like normal. The only difference is that I pushed the cross member just in front of the seat (you should have two with the big angle brackets they give you, one for the rear and one for the middle of the bottom frame, these are what the seat frame sits on) slightly forward and mounted the seat frame inside the cross members as opposed to on top. You'll need a handful of the smaller angled brackets (you'd use them anyway mounting them on top as per their diagrams) and the bolts should be really tight, as it's sort of floating mounted like this. I have a gusseted angle bracket on the bottom slot of the 80mm profile and the seat mount rails sit on top of that. Flat bit facing upward on the bracket allowing the rail to sit on top.

The shifter, I assume you're talking about the Fanatec H pattern at the bottom there? SimLab sent me the wrong CSS mount (I wanted the side mount with the round shape top on it, they sent me the L shaped style instead, I think that one's the cheaper one). So I've managed to make use of it by mounted the small L shaped part on top of the bottom rail and have the rest of the mount sticking up, allowing the side mount of the shifter. It's a little awkward to mount as you can't get to all the bolts at once, but it's doable if you do it in correct order. I can't even remember exactly how I did it.

I used to remove the H pattern when I wasn't using it for a specific car, as it got in the way a bit up top with the rest of the handbrake and seq shifter. But once I worked this out, I was able to a) have the shifter in a more authentic position for old style H pattern cars, especially because my seat is so much lower than when I have the V3 unit and b) allows me to just leave it there full time, no mucking about removing it. It's so out of the way there that I forget that it even exists for the most part.

Wmacky · Jul 7, 2019

Thanks, I have Wago connectors I might try first, But I had no way to mount them, or anyway to keep the main power cord resistant from being from ripped loose when tugged on. Your junction box Idea is perfect. I just got back home with the same box, complete with cable entry clamps. I'm skipping the switch and just using the box. Thanks again for your post, Perfect timing just when I needed it

diablo2112 said:
Nothing special in the box. I ran 12-gauge double-insulated wire to each controller, each of the 3 lines (ground, and both 220V legs.). I did not daisy chain the power. It's what's called a "star" wiring run, dedicated lines to each controller.

The box inside is simple. All grounds connected together with a big wire nut. The switch (link below) is a double-pole, and I switch both legs of the 220V. From the downstream side of the switch, I have another 12-gauge wire, and they all twist together with more wire nuts, both legs. 3 wire nuts in total, 1 double-pole switch, 5 wires (supply and 4 controllers) in each wire nut. Hope that helps.

Here's the switch:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002MPPTBQ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

And this is what the other side of the box looks like. Just a 12-gauge, insulated flexible power cord there, with a locking 220V plug on the other end.

Scoops · Jul 7, 2019

As a 3D printer novice I’m amazed how easy it is. Took about 4 attempts to sort the bed adhesion for the first layer but after being told to use double sided tape and no heating of the bed it looks sorted. I’m now printing the third bump stop and the first two look perfect to my novice eye.

Peeling them off the tape is difficult until you hear the bed to 50C and it just comes away easily. Need to apply new tape each go but it’s cheap enough.

This 3D printing is becoming addictive!

sn4il · Jul 7, 2019

ThugUK said:
I used slotted angle brackets.
These were the right size so didn’t require any additional spacers etc. They also look great.

Do you have a link to these brackets?
Thank you.

SeniorDingDong · Jul 8, 2019

I was just looking into getting all the printed parts done by 3dHubs. Quote was $388 which was reasonable I thought. In their online quote configurator, they don't show .25mm as a layer height choice - only .2 or .3. Would this be an issue? And if not, which height should I go with?

Thanks

diablo2112 · Jul 8, 2019

Given a choice between .2 and .3, I'd choose .2 to maintain the tolerance for the slider and other alignments. Wall thickness in the standard 0.25mm build is 2mm, requiring 8 wall layers. For a 0.2mm build, increase the number of wall layers to 10 (0.2 x 10 = 2mm). Finally, top and bottom layers are 3mm in the standard build (that's 12 layers x 0.25 =3mm). Again, for a 0.2 mm build, I'd increase the number of top and bottom solid infills to 15.

Hope that makes sense.

SeniorDingDong · Jul 8, 2019

Hmmm, I don't see those options on the 3dHubs quote page, but I assume they can fulfill those details when actually ordering.

diablo2112 · Jul 8, 2019

Standard 3D prints will not work for the SFX-100 parts. It's critically important to talk to the printer and make sure they us the appropriate wall thickness and top and bottom layer numbers. You need 2mm thick walls (especially around bolt holes and the threaded parts) and 3mm thick top and bottom layers. Nearly everyone that does talk to a printer finds that the cost increases quite a bit, due to increased time and material requirements. Quotes I've seen range from about $400 to $550 for the complete set.

It's fine to order your parts, just make sure they get the above correct. The tolerances on these parts - especially the slider - is critical for maximum performance. If you're dead-set against printing your own, just be aware of this. If you're at all interested, printing isn't nearly as hard as it sounds, most find out it's actually quite fun, and you control the process and can test fit parts before you commit to the full 200 hours needed to print everything you need.

SeniorDingDong · Jul 8, 2019

I already have too many hobbies and toys so I was hoping to avoid having to add 3D printing to my life. I did see someone in this thread say they used 3dhubs and the parts worked out OK, so I am hopeful they just need more details.

Wonderboy · Jul 8, 2019

Hey all. I thought I'd jump on the SFX100 bandwagon too. Currently assembling my new P1-X rig and printing the parts with my MK3S which like the WIKI says is like a mini project all of its own. Looking forward to learning and contributing.

ThugUK · Jul 8, 2019

sn4il said:
Do you have a link to these brackets?
Thank you.

I bought them from here...
http://www.valuframe.co.uk/
They are based only 20 miles away from where I live.
You could contact them and just say that its the slotted aluminium angle brackets. If you mention me (just say the lad from Middlesbrough that made full motion rig) and they will know what you mean and which ones.

Here is a photo of 2 of them (one with the cover on and one with it taken off to show you).