Modular Vehicle Simulator

From Open Source Ecology
Jump to: navigation, search

Basics

  • This page aims to lay out the design for a “Sim Rig” that can be configured as a “Sim Racing” Setup, a Heavy Equipment Simulator, and a Flight Simulator with as little distinct equipment as possible
  • As of now most equipment will be OTS although long term custom builds make sense as the markup for Button Modules/Joysticks is obscene, wheels can be pricy, but Logitech’s offerings are reasonable all things considered

Modules

  • From the bottom up

Floor Mat

  • Not really needed but can help of you have carpet etc

Frame

  • The Low End is mainly based on tubes akin to a lawn chair; supposedly pretty flimsy so not recomendable
  • The mid range is powder coated metal bolted together, not AS modular as the T-Slot Aluminum Extrusion based models but still quite customizable and also very rigid
  • The High End is large heavy rigs based off of aluminum extrusion
    • Need to look into if costs are reducing with self sourcing the extrusion etc or not

Chair

  • Low end is your existing chair/desk, or a cheap office chair etc
  • Mid end is a nicer office chair or the goofy racing/GAMING chairs
  • High end is a racing chair or aircraft cockpit type chair ‘’’bolted to’’’ the frame

Wheel

  • While some Heavy Equipment Simulator kits come with wheels, these tend to be lesser quality than the “Racing” wheels for the same cost or more so especially if cost limited to is better to not get those and just get a good entry oevel racing wheel
  • Budget Options tend to be gear reduction indirect drive
    • SUPPOSEDLY more risk of slop/less max torque etc
    • (User: Eric here, i saw a little demo unit at target for the Logitech Model I’m looking at and even though it wasn’t direct drive, it was still able to slip out of my grip so I’d say the need for direct drive is a bit overblown!)
  • High end is direct drive off of a servo
    • MAJOR proven cost savings here via something like an ODrive ; there are many DIY/OS Projects along these lines

Manual Gearbox Knob

  • Not needed if you aren’t trying to learn stick shift manual transmission or trying to simulate one
    • Most wheels have Paddle Shifters and also automatic gearboxes make it a bit less needed too
    • Can be good to have though and often comes at a discount with a wheel
  • Logitech seems like the go to option, although if going for a larger number of gears and/or a setup much more like what is in a large Semi-Truck, there may be better options

Auxiliary Brake/E-Brake

  • Not REALLY needed short of (Drift) Racing
  • Can be nice to have though
  • There are good Off The Shelf non-logitech options for about 40USD (almost all metal construction, Hall Effect Sensor or optical sensor based, etc
  • Logitech Recently came out with their own model EXPENSIVE ~100 USD but very high quality, also the tension may be from an adjustable on the fly motor, as opposed to swapppable springs
  • Can it be used as a forklift/other heavy equipment “stalk” is the question

Mounts/Brackets

  • Most Frames come with these but basically a desk with bolt holes so you can secure down the wheel, a flat part for the accelerator, brake, and clutch pedal (board) to be secured, and mounts for the gear shifter/ebrake, OR HOTAS mounts etc
  • Also things like a Cupholder or Phone/Tablet Mount, or a Monitor Mount also exist
  • Also Cable Management
  • Can also mount speakers and Haptic Actuators if not using headphones and/or a motion simulator platform respectively

BOM

User: Eric ‘s Attempt

Floor Mat

  • n/a for now

Frame

  • Bit pricey so i may just hack together something from EMT or even just Dimensional Lumber and MDF lol
  • IF i do get one though, probably this:
    • Next Level Racing Wheel Mount 2.0 (Amazon Listing) ( ~245 USD)
      • It’s powder coated metal + mounting brackets
      • Has a small desk and floor for bolting down the wheel+pedals
      • It has the slot for the chair legs/wheels but ALSO can later add in a dedicated bolt on seat (although this may be discontinued, amazon being horrible with spec sheets and related product interlinking as per usual)

Wheel

E-Brake

Internal Links

External Links