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

Ryan Korzyniowski · Nov 24, 2019

metalnwood said:
Hi Ryan, sometimes these tolerances stack against you and you can find it works better by doing a few things. One could be to rotate the top plate the top plate by 90 degrees and see if that helps. I would only screw down the top plate when the slider is in the highest position. Simlarly only screw down the bottom parts when the slider is in the lowest position.

Sometimes if it doesnt work then swap your top plate with another from a different actuator it it works.. To get all mine going the smoothest I had to mix things around a little until I had the best parts that fit with each other.

Thanks for tips. Now that I'm assembling next rest of the actuators, I think its a must be a minor issue with the slider. Depending on how I rotate that in the profile, the fixed bearing mount will line differently with the holes. Like you said, its finding the right orientation and that works best. Good tips on slider position when assembling.

scoobyzilla · Nov 24, 2019

MrSnoebel said:
Hi, I'm also stepping into this adventure. Saw that the group buys for the SFX shield in Europe is finished. I live in the Netherlands, but would not mind to pay some extra for shipping.
Anyone have a board for me?

I'm just in the phase of getting all the info to start ordering parts.
Already started with 3D printing, learning a lot in that area. Did not yet start printing parts for the SFX100 but are getting enough confidence that I will start this weekend.
Bought an Ender 5 with some option like Silent board, capricon, metal extruder, glass board etc. Planning to use PETG. Got very good results with the standard Ender/Creality filament (PLA and PETG), sow was planning to stick with this brand.

Today we run a simple playseat setup and was planning to save some costs to cannibalize the seat and slider. But maybe sell this to buy a better one, any suggestions for a affordable seat with slider to buy in the NL?

Really looking forward to start building the whole setup, maybe even more than using it eventually. Good that I have more people in house who love to use it ;-)

Got already a couple of questions :

For building the RIG I was thinking of using 80x40, would that be stiff enough for the sides? Or should I really go stronger like 120x40 or even bigger? Did find a very affordable company for the profiles, but they need a special order to go bigger, standard max is the 8080 or 4080. (For the actuators I will of course use the Kinetik ones)

Almost no one is building the screen(s) onto the rig, I'm using a single BenQ 35", was planning to make a frame over the rig, or would that be unnecessary?

On the shopping lists, on the sfx100 website but also in this (very large) tread I found several options, but hard to find if the quality from the Chinese suppliers is less then the German ones, or are they the same?

Feel free to give any advise for this starter

And no, I did not already read this whole tread.. about halfway through it now..

I went for this seat, sliders are like £35 on ebay - I am still waiting for the seat as its out of stock in the UK, expected Jan - I chose it as it seemed a bit more comfortable then a full race seat, and I know what one of them is like after a few hours, plus it is a recliner - which given my back will be an added bonus - i want a full on racing experience but i dont want to be in agony afterwards - but seats are a very personal choice and also your budget will drive the choice a lot - i might have to canablise my playseat if this seat does not show soon

start your printing as soon as you can - I have been at it months, and whilst the printers are relativity safe I would not want to leave it unattended - so fit it around days I am at home for 8 hours or more to be on the safe side

thenic123 · Nov 25, 2019

My order of the servos, drivers and 3d printed parts arrived today. Cost me $1350aud for the servos/drivers. Big Thanks goes to him.

I've ordered the thanos controller and that had shipped. Now I have to buy the profiles, internals, bolts and wires. My family members ask and wonder what's in the boxes. "You"ll see"

saxxon66 · Nov 25, 2019

My order of the servos, drivers and 3d printed parts arrived today. Cost me $1350aud for the servos/drivers and $500 for the 3d printed parts that diablo2112 printed for me. Big Thanks goes to him.

I've ordered the thanos controller and that had shipped. Now I have to buy the profiles, internals, bolts and wires. My family members ask and wonder what's in the boxes. "You"ll see"

@thenic123 Sorry, you are in the wrong thread.
This is SimFeedback and SFX-100 (SimFeedback (e)Xtended), a DIY project and we do not support any commercial application or parts.

There are now many new generations of builders and if you are new to this I would like to tell you something about the history of this project and why my position regarding commercial use is very strict.

Some years ago we did most tinkering in a small group doing pure DIY stuff with DC motors w/ gearboxes + some controllers to drive our simulators.
I had developed my own software to get the telemetry out of the games and a controller firmware to drive these motors. Not an easy task because these controllers need to do the complex position, acceleration, deceleration, … calculations on its own.

These simulators had some shortcomings regarding backlash, position tracking, power controlling, heat, … and we did already know that the right way to do it would be to use a linear actuators with positional feedback.

It took us a while searching for a way how to build our own DIY linear actuator. At that time there was no easy to build DIY actuator project out in the wild, only a few ones who were brave enough to build their own used analog potentiometers for positional feedback.
So, not exactly what we were looking for.

It all started when we found the extrusion profile with the right dimensions. After some experiments with other motors we found the right ones.

Right after the first test run, I knew we had a winner here. A short time later we asked ourselves how we could share our invention with others to building their own simulator.

So we got together some very experienced people who did tests, documentations and optimizations to publish it free of charge for everyone as a DIY project.

We have explicitly excluded commercial use. Because we do not like that our work, that we provide all for free, will be used by someone who is going to make money out of it.

All core members agreed, even someone of our team, who earns his living producing very high quality Simracing equipment.

This is DIY, that means you can build your own simulator by yourself. It does not mean you can simply buy or let others build one or all components for you. This is an very imported!
DIY is an alternative to commercial but it is not a competitor. This is a critical factor, because we do need the commercial ones. DIY is not for everyone and commercial simulator companies are for consumers who do not want to/can tinker.

Commercial Simulators come with safety certifications, do have to follow regulations and market rules and will provide warranty and support levels. Because of that they are many times more expansive than DIY simulators.

If you mix commercial simulator products with DIY you are getting into the commercial market and will become a competitor.
An uneven competitor that does not follow the rules, regulations, … because he is doing “DIY”.

This is what Thanos did. He jumped on the SFX-100 hype with his controller and tried to push the PT actuators as an better alternative.
Both do not follow the market rules and tried to use the SFX community in several forums to position and advertise their products. At the end PT uses the same motors and drivers like the SFX to drop their prices.

This is critical for all commercial companies who are following the market rules by advertising there products with the appropriate tools like ads, YouTube, FB …, get their products certified and take full responsibility.

We do need these commercial companies to fulfill the consumer market.
This is why we stay away from any commercial simulator related parts or companies for this project.

This project comes in an all in one package, from the shopping list, the 3D models, the electronics and controller to the software.
We do only use of the shelf parts, that was the hard part.
It was never easier to build your own motion simulator and become part of a great community.

And this community is the part that drives this project. We are all volunteers and doing all of this in our spare time.
So if you join the team it will up to you to support the next generations.

TL;DR;

Do not mix and match this project with commercial parts.
We do not want to compete against any commercial simulator companies.
Support the community.

Paul Mullins · Nov 25, 2019

thenic123 said:
My order of the servos, drivers and 3d printed parts arrived today. Cost me $1350aud for the servos/drivers..

That's an awesome price for the servo/drivers - who did you get them through?

I just landed (today) my controllers and motors from Master Jiang (Aliexpress) and it cost me $1616AUD ($1052USD)

thenic123 · Nov 25, 2019

Paul Mullins said:
That's an awesome price for the servo/drivers - who did you get them through?

I just landed (today) my controllers and motors from Master Jiang (Aliexpress) and it cost me $1616AUD ($1052USD)

I purchased the servos from this seller. They were on special at the time of purchase and the shipping was a little cheaper.

US $206.00 | 90ST-M02430 750W 220V AC servo motor driver kit 3000rpm 2.4N.m match driver AASD-15A permanent magnet https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/mwwBWVcy

thenic123 · Nov 25, 2019

saxxon66 said:
@thenic123 Sorry, you are in the wrong thread.
This is SimFeedback and SFX-100 (SimFeedback (e)Xtended), a DIY project and we do not support any commercial application or parts.

There are now many new generations of builders and if you are new to this I would like to tell you something about the history of this project and why my position regarding commercial use is very strict.

Some years ago we did most tinkering in a small group doing pure DIY stuff with DC motors w/ gearboxes + some controllers to drive our simulators.
I had developed my own software to get the telemetry out of the games and a controller firmware to drive these motors. Not an easy task because these controllers need to do the complex position, acceleration, deceleration, … calculations on its own.

These simulators had some shortcomings regarding backlash, position tracking, power controlling, heat, … and we did already know that the right way to do it would be to use a linear actuators with positional feedback.

It took us a while searching for a way how to build our own DIY linear actuator. At that time there was no easy to build DIY actuator project out in the wild, only a few ones who were brave enough to build their own used analog potentiometers for positional feedback.
So, not exactly what we were looking for.

It all started when we found the extrusion profile with the right dimensions. After some experiments with other motors we found the right ones.

Right after the first test run, I knew we had a winner here. A short time later we asked ourselves how we could share our invention with others to building their own simulator.

So we got together some very experienced people who did tests, documentations and optimizations to publish it free of charge for everyone as a DIY project.

We have explicitly excluded commercial use. Because we do not like that our work, that we provide all for free, will be used by someone who is going to make money out of it.

All core members agreed, even someone of our team, who earns his living producing very high quality Simracing equipment.

This is DIY, that means you can build your own simulator by yourself. It does not mean you can simply buy or let others build one or all components for you. This is an very imported!
DIY is an alternative to commercial but it is not a competitor. This is a critical factor, because we do need the commercial ones. DIY is not for everyone and commercial simulator companies are for consumers who do not want to/can tinker.

Commercial Simulators come with safety certifications, do have to follow regulations and market rules and will provide warranty and support levels. Because of that they are many times more expansive than DIY simulators.

If you mix commercial simulator products with DIY you are getting into the commercial market and will become a competitor.
An uneven competitor that does not follow the rules, regulations, … because he is doing “DIY”.

This is what Thanos did. He jumped on the SFX-100 hype with his controller and tried to push the PT actuators as an better alternative.
Both do not follow the market rules and tried to use the SFX community in several forums to position and advertise their products. At the end PT uses the same motors and drivers like the SFX to drop their prices.

This is critical for all commercial companies who are following the market rules by advertising there products with the appropriate tools like ads, YouTube, FB …, get their products certified and take full responsibility.

We do need these commercial companies to fulfill the consumer market.
This is why we stay away from any commercial simulator related parts or companies for this project.

This project comes in an all in one package, from the shopping list, the 3D models, the electronics and controller to the software.
We do only use of the shelf parts, that was the hard part.
It was never easier to build your own motion simulator and become part of a great community.

And this community is the part that drives this project. We are all volunteers and doing all of this in our spare time.
So if you join the team it will up to you to support the next generations.

TL;DR;

Do not mix and match this project with commercial parts.
We do not want to compete against any commercial simulator companies.
Support the community.

Which thread should I be in then?

I'm not confident in some areas in diy, like 3d printing and soldering. 3d printing looks daunting to me and I would never be happy if the parts didn't come out right or failed. The tolerences need to be pretty accurate to minimize failures in the future.

The shield board would have to be soldered and I'm not confident in my skills. I've done soldering in the past but I've had components fail on me. I don't want to start a fire and endanger others.

So I've looked for alternatives to get this project completed.

saxxon66 · Nov 25, 2019

thenic123 said:
Which thread should I be in then?

I'm not confident in some areas in diy, like 3d printing and soldering. 3d printing looks daunting to me and I would never be happy if the parts didn't come out right or failed. The tolerences need to be pretty accurate to minimize failures in the future.

The shield board would have to be soldered and I'm not confident in my skills. I've done soldering in the past but I've had components fail on me. I don't want to start a fire and endanger others.

So I've looked for alternatives to get this project completed.

You were smart enough to order all the parts so you will also know where to find the information.

Btw if you had looked at the wiki, the website or the beginning of this thread, you would have quickly found out that you can do the project very well without any soldering.

But it's so much easier to "donate" $500 for the 3D print parts, buy a controller for $550 and find a good deal for the motors.

Sorry, but that's not the idea of this project.

Spikar · Nov 26, 2019

Finally got my confirmation from kinetik and DHL....profiles are on their way to me (8 weeks later) - there was issues with the transaction so it actually wasn't their fault... after digging further and finally replying to my emails - they found the transfer and confirmed the order.

Can't wait to assemble them.

Michael Roitman · Nov 26, 2019

saxxon66 said:
@thenic123 Sorry, you are in the wrong thread.
This is SimFeedback and SFX-100 (SimFeedback (e)Xtended), a DIY project and we do not support any commercial application or parts.

There are now many new generations of builders and if you are new to this I would like to tell you something about the history of this project and why my position regarding commercial use is very strict.

Some years ago we did most tinkering in a small group doing pure DIY stuff with DC motors w/ gearboxes + some controllers to drive our simulators.
I had developed my own software to get the telemetry out of the games and a controller firmware to drive these motors. Not an easy task because these controllers need to do the complex position, acceleration, deceleration, … calculations on its own.

These simulators had some shortcomings regarding backlash, position tracking, power controlling, heat, … and we did already know that the right way to do it would be to use a linear actuators with positional feedback.

It took us a while searching for a way how to build our own DIY linear actuator. At that time there was no easy to build DIY actuator project out in the wild, only a few ones who were brave enough to build their own used analog potentiometers for positional feedback.
So, not exactly what we were looking for.

It all started when we found the extrusion profile with the right dimensions. After some experiments with other motors we found the right ones.

Right after the first test run, I knew we had a winner here. A short time later we asked ourselves how we could share our invention with others to building their own simulator.

So we got together some very experienced people who did tests, documentations and optimizations to publish it free of charge for everyone as a DIY project.

We have explicitly excluded commercial use. Because we do not like that our work, that we provide all for free, will be used by someone who is going to make money out of it.

All core members agreed, even someone of our team, who earns his living producing very high quality Simracing equipment.

This is DIY, that means you can build your own simulator by yourself. It does not mean you can simply buy or let others build one or all components for you. This is an very imported!
DIY is an alternative to commercial but it is not a competitor. This is a critical factor, because we do need the commercial ones. DIY is not for everyone and commercial simulator companies are for consumers who do not want to/can tinker.

Commercial Simulators come with safety certifications, do have to follow regulations and market rules and will provide warranty and support levels. Because of that they are many times more expansive than DIY simulators.

If you mix commercial simulator products with DIY you are getting into the commercial market and will become a competitor.
An uneven competitor that does not follow the rules, regulations, … because he is doing “DIY”.

This is what Thanos did. He jumped on the SFX-100 hype with his controller and tried to push the PT actuators as an better alternative.
Both do not follow the market rules and tried to use the SFX community in several forums to position and advertise their products. At the end PT uses the same motors and drivers like the SFX to drop their prices.

This is critical for all commercial companies who are following the market rules by advertising there products with the appropriate tools like ads, YouTube, FB …, get their products certified and take full responsibility.

We do need these commercial companies to fulfill the consumer market.
This is why we stay away from any commercial simulator related parts or companies for this project.

This project comes in an all in one package, from the shopping list, the 3D models, the electronics and controller to the software.
We do only use of the shelf parts, that was the hard part.
It was never easier to build your own motion simulator and become part of a great community.

And this community is the part that drives this project. We are all volunteers and doing all of this in our spare time.
So if you join the team it will up to you to support the next generations.

TL;DR;

Do not mix and match this project with commercial parts.
We do not want to compete against any commercial simulator companies.
Support the community.

yes thats true those other companies use similar drivers but the actuators themselves are better. Quieter, faster, and longer stroke (thats what she said hahaha)

The difference is that thanos’ AMC controller allows use with SIMTools - an open source app that has plugins for over 100 titles.

So not only do you have the option for faster/longer/quieter actuators with the other companies, but you also have the option to build a DIY SFX-100 kit and use it open source with the AMC Controller thanos made instead of using the leonardo board and be stuck with only the option of SimFeedback

im just saying, its another option for users that dont like to be locked into something thats closed-source.

i opted for SimTools personally and i have a coworker that uses SimFeedback, and i also know of people who switched from simfeedback to SimTools.( Those who switched to SimTools were able to use 110mm stroke instead of 100mm on the SFX-100 kits also). Those who switched said they wouldnt go back.

really its up to the user but i think SimTools has more openness, more options, alot more help from the community, and a huge forum thats been around nearly a decade (xsimulator) as far as i know. Although the downside is that simTools needs better instructions and UI, whereas simfeedback looks better and seems easier to use.

This is just my two cents on the matter

papasqueeze · Nov 26, 2019

Hi guys back again lol

Have any of you had any trouble with losing internet connection

My controllers are under a desk with pc on top of desk, ethernet cable runs past controllers would this disrupt signal??

Unplug it and plug it back in and we are away again

Any ideas

metalnwood · Nov 26, 2019

I am an open source guy, typing on my linux thinkpad, developed open source software. My racing sim is my only let down running windows 10

I havent been able to find the source code for simtools or the thanos board?

saxxon66 · Nov 26, 2019

Michael Roitman said:
yes thats true those other companies use similar drivers but the actuators themselves are better. Quieter, faster, and longer stroke (thats what she said hahaha)

The difference is that thanos’ AMC controller allows use with SIMTools - an open source app that has plugins for over 100 titles.

So not only do you have the option for faster/longer/quieter actuators with the other companies, but you also have the option to build a DIY SFX-100 kit and use it open source with the AMC Controller thanos made instead of using the leonardo board and be stuck with only the option of SimFeedback

im just saying, its another option for users that dont like to be locked into something thats closed-source.

i opted for SimTools personally and i have a coworker that uses SimFeedback, and i also know of people who switched from simfeedback to SimTools.( Those who switched to SimTools were able to use 110mm stroke instead of 100mm on the SFX-100 kits also). Those who switched said they wouldnt go back.

really its up to the user but i think SimTools has more openness, more options, alot more help from the community, and a huge forum thats been around nearly a decade (xsimulator) as far as i know. Although the downside is that simTools needs better instructions and UI, whereas simfeedback looks better and seems easier to use.

This is just my two cents on the matter

Most of what you said is not true/correct.
So please educate yourself next time before going public and claim wrong facts.

1. Open Source

SimTools is a commercial products and not open source. Go and show me only one GamePlugin or other part of the software that is open source.

Parts of SimFeedback are open source, MIT style, like the TelemetryProvider (Game Plugins) and Extensions.

SimFeedback-AC-Servo/Src at master · SimFeedback/SimFeedback-AC-Servo

SimFeedback AC Servo Version - Virtual Racing Motion Simulator - SimFeedback/SimFeedback-AC-Servo

github.com

Other source code:

GitHub - Vantskruv/SimfeedbackXP11: An plugin for Simfeedback using X-Plane 11 for the SFX-100 motionsimulator.

An plugin for Simfeedback using X-Plane 11 for the SFX-100 motionsimulator. - Vantskruv/SimfeedbackXP11

github.com

GitHub - JamesClonk/iR60TelemetryProvider: iRacing 60Hz Telemetry Provider for SimFeedback

iRacing 60Hz Telemetry Provider for SimFeedback. Contribute to JamesClonk/iR60TelemetryProvider development by creating an account on GitHub.

github.com

GitHub - ashupp/ETS2TelemetryProvider: Euro Truck Simulator 2 Telemetry Provider for SimFeedback / SFX-100

Euro Truck Simulator 2 Telemetry Provider for SimFeedback / SFX-100 - ashupp/ETS2TelemetryProvider

github.com

GitHub - ffxf/sfb-f1-2019-new-provider: SimfeedBack provider for F1 2019 (and F1 2018) new UDP format

SimfeedBack provider for F1 2019 (and F1 2018) new UDP format - ffxf/sfb-f1-2019-new-provider

github.com

....

Full list

Build software better, together

GitHub is where people build software. More than 73 million people use GitHub to discover, fork, and contribute to over 200 million projects.

github.com

2. Pitch and Stroke

We do use 100 mm because is plenty of travel range for a racing sim. But some have modified the design and are using now 140 mm.
It is easy to adjust the servo driver to support other pitch and stroke length, no controller adjustments required. ATM SimFeedback supports many setups like TL, surge sled, belt tensioner, SimWind and even a G-Seat setup is possible.

This G-Seat is driven by SimFeedback.

DYI G-Seat

So I finally got to the point, where I can start working on the G-Seat. Here is my latest progress with the rig in general. What's important for G-Seat part of the project is tactile installation on the seat, which consists of 3 BK Concert + 1 TST 239, so it's pretty powerful tactile, so I...

www.racedepartment.com

3. Controller
Both controllers use the same Arduino platform under the hood and are both not open source.

The SFX-Shield is open source hardware design.

GitHub - Pyronious/SFX-100-Breakout-Board: An Arduino Leonardo shield to simplify the wiring of SFX-100 serial port connectors

An Arduino Leonardo shield to simplify the wiring of SFX-100 serial port connectors - Pyronious/SFX-100-Breakout-Board

github.com

4. Community
SimFeedback has now more than 300 Users, that is a big number for this project and I am very proud of it.
Maybe we do not talk much in public about what we are tinkering on and do not show videos of every little tiny step we do, but we do have very talented people in our community doing great projects.

4.Choices
It is good to have choices, so everyone can use what he likes.
And before SimFeedback there was no real DIY alternative to SimTools, now you do have a real choice.
And yes you are right SimFeedback is more restricted because it does not support any commercial part or products and no commercial use, go and read my post for more info.

Michael Roitman · Nov 26, 2019

metalnwood said:
I am an open source guy, typing on my linux thinkpad, developed open source software. My racing sim is my only let down running windows 10

I havent been able to find the source code for simtools or the thanos board?

heres the open source thanos board and info @metalnwood https://github.com/tronicgr/AMC-open-hardware-servo-controller-4DOF

FlyPT · Nov 26, 2019

metalnwood said:
I am an open source guy, typing on my linux thinkpad, developed open source software. My racing sim is my only let down running windows 10

I havent been able to find the source code for simtools or the thanos board?

I'm more a share guy...
Can you tell me how I can interface with the SFX hardware? I want to use it in my free Mover software.
I might build sfx100 actuators if I know how to make it. Or is it a secret of the open source sfx100.

FlyPT · Nov 26, 2019

Maybe using it in Mover we could increase even more the community?

metalnwood · Nov 26, 2019

FlyPT said:
I'm more a share guy...
Can you tell me how I can interface with the SFX hardware? I want to use it in my free Mover software.
I might build sfx100 actuators if I know how to make it. Or is it a secret of the open source sfx100.

One design file for a breakout board does not make the project open source, simtools as you described is certainly not open source but the reality is that for most people that is academic and no one is going to look at the source.

saxxon66 · Nov 26, 2019

Michael Roitman said:
heres the open source thanos board and info @metalnwood https://github.com/tronicgr/AMC-open-hardware-servo-controller-4DOF

This is hardware only, same as the SFX-Shield and he calls it "open hardware".
We do have real open source software for critical parts of the software.

FlyPT · Nov 26, 2019

For me it's not academic.

I have done my part, free software, not open source for now, might become.
Made my rig actuators and controllers, all open source in the XSimulator forums.
Code for sketch is there for anyone to copy how they want.
Don't try to tell me what is free or open source.

I just want the connection method or the sketch from the sfx100 hardware. I want to connect to it from Mover.
It's free right, if it's not made for profit, it doesn't matter from where we control it right?

My software was made for personal use and shared with everyone.
I accept donations, but only if people find it worth the use and want to give me something.
I accept 1 cent 1 million or nothing.

saxxon66 · Nov 26, 2019

FlyPT said:
I'm more a share guy...
Can you tell me how I can interface with the SFX hardware? I want to use it in my free Mover software.
I might build sfx100 actuators if I know how to make it. Or is it a secret of the open source sfx100.

Hi FlyPT, I do like your project.
It looks very interesting, the part you requested is not open source, sorry. Same as your software.
Your software looks much more sophisticated and does support a stewart platform, great.

The SFX-100 is successfully because it is one eco system, from the hardware to the software and the game profiles and it is easy to build and use.

Maybe we can find a way to work together, but I wish we would have had a better start than your post sounds.