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 · Oct 29, 2019

ThugUK said:
Buy the shield and its a none issue and so much tidier.

I've got one.

Viper20 · Oct 29, 2019

Hey Guys

thanks for the responses! Yeah it seems theres not a ton of info about 4play racing, i have seen some youtube videos and there is a guy on reddit who did a complete writeup about it and is extremely satisified. The gentleman that runs it is from Texas and his name is John he has been very nice to deal with via email and responds in a timely manner. I cant say they same about Sim Lab as an email i sent over 5 days ago is still unanswered. The 4play rig will defintely work out to be much cheaper then the sim lab and im thinking of going for that and putting the extra money saved towards the Heusinkveld pedals. I just want to be absolutely sure that with the SFX-100 this rig will be ok i honestly dont see why it wouldnt, any other thoughts on that?

Also are any of you guys using triple monitors or even a single monitor attached to the rig with the SFX, if so does that work or is there a lot of wobble? What other soultions are there for this (besides VR)?

Finally for now regardless of what rig you are using you obviously need to attach the rig to the sfx actuators how are you guys doing that, are you able to provide me a link to a solution i can order for that because unless i missed it somewhere i didnt see it in the parts list.

Thanks again!
Frank

BluePotato00 · Oct 29, 2019

When I was building a year ago, I exported a text copy of the entire forum thread. I've done another export which is current through today. Hopefully some others (especially new builders) will find it helpful to have an offline searchable text of this 300+ page forum thread. The text file is 4MB.
https://www.sendspace.com/file/6mjjlq

I'm also attempting to construct a PDF version (including embedded images) of the entire thread. It will obviously be a much larger file.

BluePotato00 · Oct 29, 2019

Viper20 said:
Yeah it seems theres not a ton of info about 4play racing, i have seen some youtube videos and there is a guy on reddit who did a complete writeup about it and is extremely satisified. The gentleman that runs it is from Texas and his name is John he has been very nice to deal with via email and responds in a timely manner. I cant say they same about Sim Lab as an email i sent over 5 days ago is still unanswered. The 4play rig will defintely work out to be much cheaper then the sim lab and im thinking of going for that and putting the extra money saved towards the Heusinkveld pedals. I just want to be absolutely sure that with the SFX-100 this rig will be ok i honestly dont see why it wouldnt, any other thoughts on that?

I have a 4Play rig. It was all 1515 profile except for the pedal deck uprights. I've replaced all of the base profiles with 1530 when I built my actuators. All is sturdy and I'm happy with the rig. I think that John at 4Play now offers rigs with 1530 base in his heavy duty line.

BluePotato00 · Oct 29, 2019

Viper20 said:
Finally for now regardless of what rig you are using you obviously need to attach the rig to the sfx actuators how are you guys doing that, are you able to provide me a link to a solution i can order for that because unless i missed it somewhere i didnt see it in the parts list.

I used 4 of these per actuator. Slotted side on actuator, round hole side on rig base profile. They're also available in black.
https://www.tnutz.com/product/cbs-015-a/

HugoB · Oct 29, 2019

Wow @BluePotato00 you’re killing it with the awesome info! Cheers to you mate

Viper20 · Oct 29, 2019

BluePotato00 said:
I used 4 of these per actuator. Slotted side on actuator, round hole side on rig base profile. They're also available in black.
https://www.tnutz.com/product/cbs-015-a/

Hey BluePotato thanks for all of your awesome info! That helps a lot, i will verify with John that he is using 1530 on the Competition platform. Are you using triple monitors or a single monitor if so are those attached to the rig?
Thanks!

Viper20 · Oct 29, 2019

BluePotato00 said:
Here's my USA shopping list:
https://www.racedepartment.com/thre...-simulator-thread.159524/page-98#post-2899157

Hey Bluepotato

I saw this list yesterday everything looks good but the following items dont have any links and it looks like the screenshot you attached is broken, how do i source the following parts?

Emily at Alibaba (emily@ntl-bearing.com)
(Edit: Emily no longer works there. New contact is: Amy Chen. skye@ntl-bearing.com)

(4x) Hollow shaft

(4x) Ball screw and nut

(4x) Fixed bearing

(4x) Linear bearing

(4x) Shaft coupling

$263.36 shipped

Thanks so much!
Frank

BluePotato00 · Oct 29, 2019

Viper20 said:
Hey BluePotato thanks for all of your awesome info! That helps a lot, i will verify with John that he is using 1530 on the Competition platform. Are you using triple monitors or a single monitor if so are those attached to the rig?
Thanks!

I do 90% of my sim racing in VR (Valve Index), but I do have a single 50" 4K monitor mounted separately from the rig.

BluePotato00 · Oct 29, 2019

Frank,
Sorry, I don't know the newest contact person at NTL Bearing. I'm sure a more recent builder can give you the right contact there.

BluePotato00 · Oct 29, 2019

BluePotato00 said:
When I was building a year ago, I exported a text copy of the entire forum thread. I've done another export which is current through today. Hopefully some others (especially new builders) will find it helpful to have an offline searchable text of this 300+ page forum thread. The text file is 4MB.
https://www.sendspace.com/file/6mjjlq

I'm also attempting to construct a PDF version (including embedded images) of the entire thread. It will obviously be a much larger file.

Here is the PDF of the RaceDepartment thread (with images). Uncompressed it was 950MB, so I compressed it in Adobe Acrobat and it's now 171MB. However it looks like the text isn't searchable, which is unfortunate (even in the uncompressed one). My process was to use the autopagerize plugin for Chrome and load all the pages, then "print" the page as a PDF, but perhaps the community know of a better approach than mine.

https://www.sendspace.com/file/cwav9p

Viper20 · Oct 29, 2019

Thanks again Blue!

Guys,

For the 3d printer i am thinking of purchasing the Prusa i3 MK3s i know absolutely nothing about 3d printing, what kind of filament and how much is needed for this project, also what is the best place to buy that from?

On the Prusa page when looking at ordering the printer there are two options for "spring steel sheet"
Spring steel sheet with smooth double sided PEI sheet OR doubled sided textured powder coated spring steel sheet. Which of those would work best?

Thanks again!
Frank

HugoB · Oct 30, 2019

Viper20 said:
Thanks again Blue!

Guys,

For the 3d printer i am thinking of purchasing the Prusa i3 MK3s i know absolutely nothing about 3d printing, what kind of filament and how much is needed for this project, also what is the best place to buy that from?

On the Prusa page when looking at ordering the printer there are two options for "spring steel sheet"
Spring steel sheet with smooth double sided PEI sheet OR doubled sided textured powder coated spring steel sheet. Which of those would work best?

Thanks again!
Frank

The smooth PEI is easier to work with apparently, because they only include the smooth sheet with their (newbie focused) Prusa MINI. In an interview they mentioned this, apparently it’s easier to prep for good adhesion, and easier to clean.

I have the smooth PEI and printed all my SFX100 parts in PETG, but I would recommend to print in PLA if you are a beginner because it’s easier, and you don’t have to lube the sliders if you use PLA. Any good quality PLA should work but I can recommend Prusament or Extrudr PLA NX-2 which I have found to be the easiest to work with, the least stringing and least warping.

Printing temps with the Extrudr PLA try 205-210C, standard fan profile, that worked best for me (beware hot-end temperature probes calibration sometimes differ per printer) but the Extrudr stuff prints at almost any temperature, just print a temperature tower to find out what works best for your printer/filament. Look for surface, it should not be too dry and not too shiny, try to break the tower to find out which temperature has the best layer adhesion, typically the hotter the better but you don’t want it too hot that it looses its dimensional accuracy, so there’s a golden middle.

Prusa’s latest included PLA profiles are really good, just change the settings to the recommended from the OpenSFX wiki, like bottom and top solid layers, perimeters, solid layer every x, infill etc and it should work out of the box with your Prusa i3 MK3S, if you’ve assembled it correctly and meticulously.

It’s recommended to print the slider first since that is the most tricky part which should fit the aluminum profile exactly, with some resistance yet not too much (manual insert with manual force possible vs needing a hammer to inch it in..). Also try different orientations of the slider, since the profile or the print part are sometimes not symmetrical. So print a small part of that slider (just stop the printing after a while, so you don’t waste a whole part if it doesn’t fit) and try, calibrate printing extruder for dimensional accuracy (google) then print again until it fits correctly. Beware of the ‘elephants foot’ at the bottom (google) that will fit tighter than the top, so try inserting upside down, or sandpaper off the ‘elephants foot’.

Once you have settings that make the slider fit correctly, print all the other parts.

Hees · Oct 30, 2019

hey @Viper20 regarding the 3d prints suggest you get them from @diablo2112 he is offering the whole set with its cost helping the community, unless you need to go the whole one mile.

Insert Coin · Oct 30, 2019

Viper20 said:
Thanks again Blue!

Guys,

For the 3d printer i am thinking of purchasing the Prusa i3 MK3s i know absolutely nothing about 3d printing, what kind of filament and how much is needed for this project, also what is the best place to buy that from?

On the Prusa page when looking at ordering the printer there are two options for "spring steel sheet"
Spring steel sheet with smooth double sided PEI sheet OR doubled sided textured powder coated spring steel sheet. Which of those would work best?

Thanks again!
Frank

Just a suggestion, alternative to a Prusa printer: 3D printing with an Ender 3 Pro.

pass-low · Oct 30, 2019

an actuator has developed a clicking sound, doesnt appear to be in 1:1 sync with rotation the shaft, any idea what to look out for when removing and opening it up to investigate?

HugoB · Oct 30, 2019

pass-low said:
an actuator has developed a clicking sound, doesnt appear to be in 1:1 sync with rotation the shaft, any idea what to look out for when removing and opening it up to investigate?

First thing I'd check is the shaft coupling.. maybe it's slipping?

Viper20 · Oct 30, 2019

Hees said:
hey @Viper20 regarding the 3d prints suggest you get them from @diablo2112 he is offering the whole set with its cost helping the community, unless you need to go the whole one mile.

Hugo thanks so much for the info, i reached out to him and i will be ordering from him so that problem is solved!
Frank

Viper20 · Oct 30, 2019

BluePotato00 said:
I used 4 of these per actuator. Slotted side on actuator, round hole side on rig base profile. They're also available in black.
https://www.tnutz.com/product/cbs-015-a/

Hey Blue
About to order these, what mounting hardware did you use for them (like bolts)

Thanks

BluePotato00 · Oct 30, 2019

Viper20 said:
Hey Blue
About to order these, what mounting hardware did you use for them (like bolts)

Thanks

M8 x 16mm for the actuator side (you'll need the swivel-in tnuts from the shopping list)
5-16/18 x 5/8" for the rig (1530 profile in my case) side https://www.tnutz.com/product/combo-015-a/

The SimFeedback-AC DIY Motion Simulator thread

Yes

No