SimCraft SC520 or SC530 - Actuators

[Roadster2]

Being impressed by the look of the Virtual Grand Prix simulator video on the Simcraft web site I am looking at the possibility of building a Simcraft SC520 or SC530 (with Yaw motion). Before I investigate further does any member know what make/model of actuators Simcraft use. I assume they are standard commercial actuators rather than custom made by Simcraft ?

As the Dyadic SCN5 and SCN6 are known to work well with X-Sim these might also be an option ?

Also, does anyone know how the adjustments are made for (a) leg to pedal length to adjust for different user height and (b) centre of gravity adjustment, assuming differing users height and weight will need re-balancing.

Any info appreciated
Thanks

[simcraft]

Glad to see your interest in building a full motion simulator, I'm a bit biased but wholly endorse the center of mass architecture over the comparable alternatives.

SimCraft's actuators are customized for us and our manufacturing partnerships allow us to provide them to consumers at a cost lower than you would wind up paying for comparable strength actuators (same response speeds but over 4x stronger than SNC5). Sourcing them yourself, you would still be left with designing and buying a mounting system, communications interface electronics, hardware programing and power supply. Our complete motion systems include all this ready to go, in addition you get the rotary chassis bearing specifically designed for motion simulation.

Can you do all this your self? Probably, it really comes down to how you want to spend your time, if saving a bit of money is worth the dozens (or hundreds) of hours to figure out how to make it work for you. With a SimCraft system you get a proven solution and top notch support if/when you need it to get you on the track sooner with a full motion simulator.

Regardless of the route you take on your motion system, it encouraging to see more and more simracers opt for a proper simulation experience using center of mass architecture. This is the reason we provide public chassis plans as examples of how enthusiasts can build their own motion sims using the same motion more and more pro drivers are using to train.

Michael

[Nima]

hi michael,
do you can use your actuators with x-sim?

[Roadster2]

Hi Michael

Thanks for your response. I have looked at the SimCraft kits before (and drooled over them) but it was really the video of the Virtual Grand Prix simulator, based on the SimCraft, that has rekindled the interest. I thought it looked great.

I understand what you say about the sense of using the SimCraft kit, but like many members on these forums it's simply a question of cost. Even more so in these financially troubled times. As I am situated in the UK there is also the additional carriage, Import Duty and VAT. I was hoping that I could build a chassis from your excellent plans (a big thanks for offering these free to download by the way) and then use SCN5 or SCN6 actuators with the X-Sim software to reduce the cost. From what you say it sounds as if this is a non-starter.

Perhaps you might want to consider offering the bearings, actuators and mounting brackets as a kit, without the electronics, so that users could use the X-Sim software - then again I suppose the savings involved wouldn't be enough make it worthwhile.

Oh well, I guess we'll just have to wait for the lottery numbers to come up !

For reference I would be interested to know what facilities the SC520/SC530 chassis' have to accommodate different size users. The plans available don't give any indication of possible adjustments and how easy (or difficult) these might be.

Thanks again,
Iain

[simcraft]

Ian, we are planning on selling just the rotational bearings so DIY folks can at least get some real frame mounting hardware. This would also allow a shot at 3DOF as well. Contact me and I'll get a price from production on this for you, MBoardman at SimCraft dot com and push something more formal to our site and the forum.

The rest is pretty much a package deal, our price is still below what a consumer would pay. I feel your pain, maybe our UK presence will merit a redistribution center someday soon.

As far as the chassis goes, it is fairly adjustable. The chassis are designed to take "drop in" motion upgradeable cockpits. The one from your x-sim picture looks like it could work with some mounting areas along the sides for example. Start there and compare it to the cockpit in the plans. Simply add a couple inches (or millimeters rather) to the lengths of the frames, roll and base. You can make the same type of addition to the yaw frames (for 3dof) to accommodate a wider cockpit.

You can use one of the other motion technologies to move your frames and work on "upgrading" to electromechanical actuators as money and interest permit.

The VGP tub from the video is a totally custom pit from Brazil, we are working on replicating a version to launch our motion upgradeable cockpits.

Michael

[samsrcin69]

SimCraft's actuators are customized for us and our manufacturing partnerships allow us to provide them to consumers at a cost lower than you would wind up paying for comparable strength actuators (same response speeds but over 4x stronger than SNC5).Michael

You mean these actuators? To me it looks like three off the shelf SCN6 actuators, an off the shelf power supply, and off the shelf RS485 adapters stuffed into an alarm box from the outside of a house. X-Sim even detects them as SCN6 actuators! Tell us the specs of these actuators and how they are “customized” that make them worth thousands of dollars more than buying the SCN6’s directly from simxperience

[egoexpress]

To be honest, they pretty much look like SCN6, just with bigger stepper motor.
Perhaps Bernard could ask Mirai how much they would be for us.

X-Sim even detects them as SCN6 actuators!

Well, I guess X-Sim compatiblity is no issue then

Regarding the bearings.
http://cgi.ebay.de/Stehlager-Gehauseein ... 5888321520
Not that nice, but the price is DIY friendly.

Regards

[bvillersjr]

To be honest, they pretty much look like SCN6, just with bigger stepper motor.
Perhaps Bernard could ask Mirai how much they would be for us.

X-Sim even detects them as SCN6 actuators!

Well, I guess X-Sim compatiblity is no issue then

Regarding the bearings.
http://cgi.ebay.de/Stehlager-Gehauseein ... 5888321520
Not that nice, but the price is DIY friendly.

Regards

From the photos, they look like plain old SCN6 actuators with a bolt on 4-post mounting bracket, but not the faster 020 series, they look like the slower 100mm/sec 050 series motors.

I only stock the 150mm SCN6-020 and 300mm SCN6-020. The 040 series only has more power at very slow speeds, so I don't think it is cost justified for simulation. The 050 series is out of the question due to the slow speeds.

I'll invstigate other motor options that can be bolted on to the SCN6 but I really don't think that's what we're looking at here.

[egoexpress]

but I really don't think that's what we're looking at here

Bigger motor, more torque, which is needed to move heavier masses and to compensate mass inertia forces.
The stepper seems bigger at least.

Regards

[bvillersjr]

I'll check it out and see what other motor options are available if this will help the community.

I'll also obtain pics of the steppers on the 020, 040 and 050 to see what differences exist in motor size of the standard SCN6 offerings.

For me, I prefer to find more creative ways of handling the mass and intertia than reducing my sim to the performance of slower actuators. I hope to be able to share my new project that demonstrates this in a few months when testing is complete.