Mobile Driving/Flying Cockpit with Motion and Tactile ( Build )

[RCHeliguy]

Finally finished making the 1.5mm hardened steel spindles for the Tourbillion clock. I'm currently planning to assemble it tomorrow morning.

Edit: I couldn't wait until tomorrow
Now I need to create the metal main springs.

I'm going to try the PETG springs to start with.

 

[RCHeliguy]

Making progress.
So far the minute and hour progression works well and everything moves freely.
There is a gear on the left side that can just be lifted to get the minutes and hours synchronized.
I'm on page 70 of 144 pages of instructions.

 

[anton_Chez]

Clearly the pointless endless hours of sim racing tinkering has seeped into all areas of one's life....

 

[RCHeliguy]

Clearly the pointless endless hours of sim racing tinkering has seeped into all areas of one's life....

After two weeks of solid printing as a background task, I lost interest in this project for a while. I didn't feel like I had the time, and it looked like busy work. I finally decided to put it together just so it wasn't left unfinished.

I agree that this is definitely in the realm of a complete waste of time. Hopefully it will be cool when it's running. I generally don't bother printing other people's designs, but I did learn a few things about precision alignment with this project that I may be able to use for something I'm design.

FWIW I'm at a point where I don't feel like tinkering with my rig any more. This happens from time to time. I am interested in refining my machining skills which could look like a waste of time depending on the projects I choose to learn with.

 

[RCHeliguy]

The Escapement mechanism is working smoothly and the spring allow for a very nice tic tic tic tic tic as it keeps time. I'll have to put this down for a while again. It's taking longer than I expected and I have other things to do today.

 

[RCHeliguy]

OK, got that out of my system.
It works well enough, now back to other things.

 

[GagarynGaribaldi]

Photo is useless - we demand a video.

 

[RCHeliguy]

Photo is useless - we demand a video.

Hopefully this will work since you are demanding it.

 

[RCHeliguy]

I've said many times that I like my NLRv3.

So I'm looking at the latest just announced NLR motion platform just because I'm curious. I'm not seriously considering a full chassis motion system.

It looks compact and crazy simple to install. It appears that you just lower your chassis onto it, run a power cord and USB port and go.
The left and right actuators are connected to a solid metal base 70cm wide which looks like a stable platform that would prevent an actuator foot from lifting off the floor.
The box fits under and supports the chassis in a self contained controller box with power supply and actuators.
It has a 321W Power supply, so it won't be power hungry.
They say it responds at up to 1100mm/s and has "ultra-low latency"
They say it can support up to 550 lbs which should work for most any application ( ASSUMING that means two units = 1100lbs. )
It will also work with their easy to use software.

So far that's all good. This is the most simple easy to set up motion system I've ever seen. They claim that you can be setup in less than an hour and I believe it.

It takes 2 units for a full chassis 4 post movement and they are $3500 each. That would be $7,000 total. Initially this price surprised me, however given the NLRv3 is a 2 actuator self contained plug and play system, I guess this is in keeping with that.

They don't mention the amount of travel it supports and from the pictures it doesn't look to be much. They show images like the one below and then with the springs fully bottomed out. That barely looks like 1" of travel.

Having the actuators mounted closer to the center does maximize the amount of angle they can get from the limited motion so there is that.

Overall it looks like a tidy package, but with limited motion and it seems a bit expensive to me despite being in keeping with the NLRv3 pricing model.

https://nextlevelracing.com/products/motion-plus-platform/

 

[RCHeliguy]

I've got a couple round over end mills and I'm still waiting for my 8mm and 14mm end mills which are apparently harder to come by in the US. Hopefully I'll see them in the next week or two. I'm going to take a 2nd attempt at the sequential shift mount just to get it "perfect". Then I'll be ready for my next project, whatever that may be. I'm also going to bring my video camera with me for that just to see how well I can capture this process.

 

[anton_Chez]

The best bang for buck motion solution is still the V3 seat mover, I think. Honestly I've said it a thousand times now but spending that money, not even all of it but some of it, on a nice tactile system, TST and large BK units, with appropriate amps is the way to go, coupled with a seat belt tension system of which there are a few choices. It's a wonderful overall package that gives so much feeling and almost none of the issues that motion systems can be known for. I much prefer having my cockpit stationary and having everything happen around me, rather than being moved around while trying to place my car correctly on the race track. I know real drivers deal with forces and movement but I think most would agree that the movement provided by most motion systems can be far different from what you feel in a rigid race car chassis.

On the unit, though. It's very clean, looks to be easy to mount on pretty much anything with a flat bottom and the software is very good from what I remember when using the V3. So that's all good. I still think that the total cost of $10K+ USD for the 2 platforms and the V3 itself is a bit high compared to what you can get elsewhere though.

 

[RCHeliguy]

Just upgraded the firmware on my i9-12900 MB and I'm now running my 32GB of 4,000 MHz DRAM at full speed It's a good day!

 

[RCHeliguy]

One hand giveth and one taketh away.

Power has been out since about an hour after my firmware update. The wind has been fierce and the power company estimates 10pm before we get power back.

 

[anton_Chez]

Lucky it didn't go out during the flash.

 

[RCHeliguy]

Lucky it didn't go out during the flash.

Next time, I'll put a UPS on it!

Gigabyte has a Windows application that I used. When it's done it asks you to reboot. It took a few reboots before it came up and by came up I mean show me the MB bios screen. The configuration looked very different as well. This is the 7th firmware update, but the first time I've updated it.

They claimed multiple improvements to performance optimizations and I was hoping I could run my DRAM at full speed, but wasn't sure since I didn't get matched memory.

They also have a bootable USB flash drive method. I would like to hope that would work if the windows app failed, but I didn't try that.

It does seem a bit faster, but I should have benchmarked it before and after so I can't claim anything objectively.

I was running the memory at 3600Mhz before, but there are supposed to be other optimizations as well.

 

[anton_Chez]

I've only ever found BIOS updates really noticeable with the Ryzen CPU's. I have the 5600X and that platform had an issue early in release with USB connectivity across the board, mostly due to reliability but also compatibility with things like the G2. Every update has seen the USB device connection become more and more stable, to the point now where I don't even notice there once was an issue with it. Intel based systems probably won't gain too much from BIOS updates but there are times where functionality is added and if it's allowing you to run RAM at higher speeds, that's pretty good.

I reckon that it was the catalyst for me selling the SFX-100 system I built. Drop outs were common on my build, to the point where even buying and installing a brand new motherboard, different brand, did not help. I was running Intel at the time so when I swapped to Ryzen and the drop outs happened again, I just thought it was the system and decided to part ways with it. Looking back, it might have been AMD's shitty AGESA implementation that contributed to it after I thought I'd had solved it.

 

[RCHeliguy]

These are some of the things listed in the last two updates showing. They skipped / pulled some releases as well. Only F4, F6, F7 are showing. The last update was Feb 9, 2022.

1. CPU VRM parameter calibration for improved performance
2. Fix Non-K CPU performance issue
3. Optimization for improved VRM and processor overclocking thermal performance (CPU load line adjustments)
4. Improve DDR4 XMP 3200~3600MHz compatibility

 

[anton_Chez]

Rarely will a BIOS affect performance of games/windows, if ever. You'll get performance if it enables a particular function in a piece of hardware, such as overclocking, or the RAM in your case. Mostly it's just reliability/compatibility. Always good, for the most part, to be on the latest release for your motherboard, though. I've updated mine around 6 or 7 times since moving to X570. Probably 6 times last year and then one more just recently. I actually rolled back to the previous one because I thought it caused a drop out of the G-Belt, which I experienced when I first got it. Turns out, the USB selective suspend option within Windows had worked its way back to enabled, so I disabled that and it's been fine ever since. Funny how that actually affects devices. It needs to be disabled, PERMANENTLY. I'll go back to latest when I get a chance to update it.

 

[Peter Winkler]

maybe i need to write more feedback
i watch this report, i follow you
but i do not get any update when you post .....

 

[Peter Winkler]

Honestly I've said it a thousand times now but spending that money, not even all of it but some of it, on a nice tactile system, TST and large BK units, with appropriate amps is the way to go, coupled with a seat belt tension system of which there are a few choices. It's a wonderful overall package that gives so much feeling and almost none of the issues that motion systems can be known for.

i fully agree Anton

i was not vocal on this within RD so far - did some lines in the german forum
i have frequent rig visits from PRO dirvers (real racers) - they enjoy my updates and love to see what simracing can do - they also help me to drive immersion

i always do a certain test with them - they drive all possible combinations of tactile - motion - seat belt ten - and standalone
guess what - 90% of them prefer and would choose the following
tactile - seat belt ten

to be clear - i do not what to attack my motion or any other motion system - just a interesting feedback i got and always get

Peter