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

MADShootStuff · Dec 15, 2018

GEEDOGG said:
I was waiting for someone to try the step up converter first lol. my rig is in my unfurnished basement so it won't be hard to run the line from my breaker box over to my rig. I guess your the beta tester for the step up converter for the SFX-100 in the U.S it will be nice if it works that will definitely get more people to take the plunge. To answer your question like you I was concerned I wasn't sure if it would be enough to power everything or if there would be any other issues using it. The one thing I did know was if I ran the 220v line it should be fine.

Yeah,
The math is reassuring but I've still got that 'what if' in the back of my head!

Worst case, my breaker box is in a closet in my man cave and I've got a 2 slot spot that's unused. The wiring in this house is really old and that's the only open area in 2 side by side breaker boxes. Hope an electrician will work on it if needed haha

HoiHman · Dec 15, 2018

Tonight i hooked up my spare servo to the spare arduino for some testing. For this test the servo was powered from the same outlet as my speakers (logitech z5500) and a security camera.

As soon as the servo was activated, i could see disturbance on the security cam and hear it on the speakers.
The servo was properly grounded.

When i'm racing i normally run the SFX100 from a different outlet on a seperate electrical group as my pc, speakers ect. and have no interference at all.

sjb266 · Dec 15, 2018

AlexP37 said:
I’ve had the rift before but sold it after 6 months. VR is the best immersion wise but the resolution just sucks at the moment.

Yes yes i have a gtx 1080 ti and supersampeling etc etc. It just sucks.
For me personally it is, what is the point of immersion when it gets distorted by resolution.

Just waiting for second gen. VR and i will jump back in.

I love high resolution as much as anyone but I never pay attention to the reduced res of the Rift.. the immersion it provides is unsurpassed and easily good enough for it not to be a distraction.

I find motion on rigs with monitors a bit odd.. a bit counter intuitive. I initially tested the sim feedback system with just a monitor and was underwhelmed. Then Add VR and WOW!!!

I urge you to try it again. Especially with the rift being so cheap now. It will be a while before the next gen with acceptable performance. From what I’ve seen at least a couple more generation of GPU’s away.. that’s a long time to wait!

HugoB · Dec 15, 2018

Yes, it will take a couple of GPU generations, because to double the resolution you need more than the average 50% GPU performance increase that we get per generation... so I guess at least a couple of years? Also, I’d rather have an increased FOV, and this means even larger resolutions to get the same dpi

At the moment I’m more than happy with the Rift, after tweaking the settings little and adding some nice shaders for VR, it looks really good with SS 1.7
Also, the mirror mod is freaking amazing in VR, you can see youself! (your virtual self though) and look around and see the other cars in your mirrors in 3D

AlexP37 · Dec 15, 2018

I dont know what the vr market will bring soon. I am not only focussing on oculus. There are many other brands (good and bad) that are taking steps into our homes vr wise.

There is already a headset on the market that has it all, good tracking, great fov, great resolution and it can be run with the current gpu’s. But it aint available for the consumer market (yet)

For me the resolution was/is really an issue, but you may be right, now that i have motion.

We will see what happens in 2019

Maybe ill buy a rift again but for now ill stick with the triples.

HoiHman · Dec 15, 2018

Alex, you are invited to come and try VR + SFX100 again in my rig if you want to and off course you can also try what the GS-4 adds to the experience.

It must suck big time having the rig ready, but just waiting for those sprint pedals. Call Svend monday morning, i'm pretty sure they will help you out.

Me and couple of friends visited Heusinkveld a while ago and they are really good chaps.

As a winner of a contest, you should be racing in no time.

Edit: Just saw the update on tweakers, you will be racing before christmas

GEEDOGG · Dec 15, 2018

HugoB said:
Yes, it will take a couple of GPU generations, because to double the resolution you need more than the average 50% GPU performance increase that we get per generation... so I guess at least a couple of years? Also, I’d rather have an increased FOV, and this means even larger resolutions to get the same dpi

At the moment I’m more than happy with the Rift, after tweaking the settings little and adding some nice shaders for VR, it looks really good with SS 1.7
Also, the mirror mod is freaking amazing in VR, you can see youself! (your virtual self though) and look around and see the other cars in your mirrors in 3D

What is this mirror mod you speak of?

HugoB · Dec 15, 2018

‘Ilja’s light shader’ has this mirror mod. @Mascot has a thread about it:

https://www.racedepartment.com/thre...w-has-your-car-reflections-in-mirrors.158349/

It’s so realistic, I find all the others sims mirrors look like crap compared to this

Mirrors with this mod in VR get a real shiny realistic mirror surface and objects are 3 dimensional.

(sorry for OT)

C64 · Dec 15, 2018

MADShootStuff said:
Yeah,
The math is reassuring but I've still got that 'what if' in the back of my head!

Worst case, my breaker box is in a closet in my man cave and I've got a 2 slot spot that's unused. The wiring in this house is really old and that's the only open area in 2 side by side breaker boxes. Hope an electrician will work on it if needed haha

I will be surprised if there any issues with your supply or with a step up converter. I have been running with 240v and a 13amp fuse. Connected to this are 4kw of heating, SFX100, PC, monitor, Rift, OSW.

Assuming the heaters are taking 4amps... it means the whole of my rig is never drawing more than 9amps and with the previous measured values I doubt I am ever exceeding more than 4-5 amps with the SFX100.

MADShootStuff · Dec 16, 2018

C64 said:
I will be surprised if there any issues with your supply or with a step up converter. I have been running with 240v and a 13amp fuse. Connected to this are 4kw of heating, SFX100, PC, monitor, Rift, OSW.

Assuming the heaters are taking 4amps... it means the whole of my rig is never drawing more than 9amps and with the previous measured values I doubt I am ever exceeding more than 4-5 amps with the SFX100.

That's great to hear, thanks for the extra info!
It should be the only thing on its circuit except for a lamp and my beer fridge.

metalnwood · Dec 16, 2018

Antracing said:
Interestingly when I try to send the firmware with the servos turned on I get the above message but with them off it loads - i think - I dont get any message to confirm the firmware send is completed though the bar just dissappears - is this normal?

I would be wary of updating firmware on any microcontroller with servos on and connected. Just in case one of the pins goes in to an unexpected state and throws your rig around. There is nothing mechanical stopping your ballscrew coming out of the nut other than software thats not protecting it at that point.

HoiHman · Dec 16, 2018

metalnwood said:
I would be wary of updating firmware on any microcontroller with servos on and connected. Just in case one of the pins goes in to an unexpected state and throws your rig around. There is nothing mechanical stopping your ballscrew coming out of the nut other than software thats not protecting it at that point.

There's no limit or protection in the software, but the control unit of the servos does have an overtorque protection build in. It shuts down the servo when the limit is reached, assuming this happens a lower speeds there nothing that goes wrong.

metalnwood · Dec 16, 2018

HoiHman said:
There's no limit or protection in the software, but the control unit of the servos does have an overtorque protection build in. It shuts down the servo when the limit is reached, assuming this happens a lower speeds there nothing that goes wrong.

Correct, only the software is only controlling it by limiting the movement. After just looking at it, the nut cannot come off the screw as the slider will hit the bottom and prevent that.

Still, I wouldn't suggest doing firmware updates in general while connected to things that can move from unexpected signals. Maybe the arduino has guaranteed states while in update mode, i dont know it that well.

AlexP37 · Dec 16, 2018

HoiHman said:
Alex, you are invited to come and try VR + SFX100 again in my rig if you want to and off course you can also try what the GS-4 adds to the experience.

It must suck big time having the rig ready, but just waiting for those sprint pedals. Call Svend monday morning, i'm pretty sure they will help you out.

Me and couple of friends visited Heusinkveld a while ago and they are really good chaps.

As a winner of a contest, you should be racing in no time.

Edit: Just saw the update on tweakers, you will be racing before christmas

Thanks for the offer Henk, Svend from heusinkveld already responded and the pedals will be send upcomming week.

But ill let the offer stand, surely wanna try your gs-4 out sometime.

Grumpybeard · Dec 16, 2018

@Antracing - for possible usb issues you might want to ensure power management of usb devices to make sure they don’t go into suspend mode. Google search will help here.

cprelot · Dec 16, 2018

I'am about testing the 4 actuator build before mounting to the rig , but what's is the initial position of the shaft before fire up the first time the arduino for testing the actuator?
should I screws in/out all the way or middle position?
thanks

HugoB · Dec 16, 2018

cprelot said:
I'am about testing the 4 actuator build before mounting to the rig , but what's is the initial position of the shaft before fire up the first time the arduino for testing the actuator?
should I screws in/out all the way or middle position?
thanks

You want them all ‘retracted’, like if you have them on the rig and gravity weighs the rig down.

Antracing · Dec 16, 2018

Well as a heads up I changed usb port and also dissabled the power management in device manager - seems to ok now?
Must admit I didnt think to turn off the servos before updating firmware - noted if I have to do it again.
Thanks again for all the suggestions.

HugoB · Dec 16, 2018

Antracing said:
Well as a heads up I changed usb port and also dissabled the power management in device manager - seems to ok now?
Must admit I didnt think to turn off the servos before updating firmware - noted if I have to do it again.
Thanks again for all the suggestions.

So it’s working now?

AlexP37 · Dec 16, 2018

Sorry for this offtopic question, but my kids are enjoying this moving rig aswell

and a long time ago i saw a guy with a motion rig using a rollercoaster simulator of some sort.

Do any of you know the name of a rollercoaster sim that sends telemetry ?
Thanks upfront from my 2 devils