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MDF Racing car simulator project.
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Oh man, those are kick ass!!
I have seen other "home simulators" before, but those look pretty slick.
Sorry, not really any help - just though it was cool! :cheers:
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I guess the other question I should ask is, would anyone be prepered to design one and share the DXF. I would myself, but I suspect it would look more like Chitty Chitty Bang Bang , knowing my design abilities.
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I recon with a good super low frequency rumble generator fitted behind the seat, it would really give the sensation of the next best thing to real driving.
See here
http://www.geocities.com/mellott124/Aura.htm
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If you plan on selling them, you'd want to make them look quite differently due to copyrights. You'd also probably need to build a mockup or 2 to get the sizes right, and this would cost a bit of money. Once you add all those options in, those things get pretty expensive. :)
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Originally Posted by ger21
If you plan on selling them, you'd want to make them look quite differently due to copyrights. You'd also probably need to build a mockup or 2 to get the sizes right, and this would cost a bit of money. Once you add all those options in, those things get pretty expensive. :)
Hmm, I was thinking to sell these units and I was planing on only selling a re-desined version.
Let me explain my thinking here.
The human body lends itself to having a shape that will need to have similar shapes to the current model, so it will have to be similarly shaped.
It is a simulation of a racing car, so it will need to look like a racing car.
I guess the simulators in the pictures are loose copies of real racing cars them selves so they are not been so original either.
While I will strive to make mine different, it will effectivley look similar in many ways.
My argument is, there are so many brands of cars out on the road and they all have 4 wheels, a steering wheel, a seat, etc., and yet they are not in copyright with each other. I guess this goes with other products too, TV's, computers, houses etc, they all differ from each other slightly, however they all look similar to each other too, and carry out the same function of each other.
I guess the simulators pictured are also similar to older driving simulators also.
So while you mention copyright, I would argue that while I will not be copying the whole thing by transcribing dimentions, I will be copying the concept, as they themselves have, and also most of every product we have in our houses, is a copy, and hopefully an improvement of former similar products.
Here is some examples of former simulators that I am sure influenced their design of the concept design.
The other thing. While I hope to sell the fully made simulator, I wish to make the project open source so that anyone else can also build one for themself. I will be selling the cutting/ assembling service more that the simulator itself.
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As long as the sides look different, you'll probably be OK.
I think you could possibly make more selling plans, then just cutting and assembly services.
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I think you could possibly make more selling plans, then just cutting and assembly services.
He he, get someone else in this forum to do the design for me and then sell the plans. Good lurk hey.
Nah, I'm pretty much an open source man, open source is what makes the net a great place. You gain someone elses creations and, you give back where you can. ( As is evident by the great way you also constantly give your tallents to the members of CNCzone.) So far all I can give is a few free mach3 screen designs and share some design ideas. Its all about sharing. :)
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Originally Posted by ynneb
He he, get someone else in this forum to do the design for me and then sell the plans. Good lurk hey.
Nah, I'm pretty much an open source man, open source is what makes the net a great place. You gain someone elses creations and, you give back where you can. ( As is evident by the great way you also constantly give your tallents to the members of CNCzone.) So far all I can give is a few free mach3 screen designs and share some design ideas. Its all about sharing. :)
I was talking about if you designed it yourself, due to the R&D required. :)
I'd really wanted to try to sell my AutoCAD gcode exporter, but figured the support would be more trouble than it's worth. So I'm forced to give it away for free. :(
I think the main reason I answer so many questions here, is that it bothers me a bit when people get bad information from people that don't know what they're talking about. I see people all the time buying stuff that they shouldn't be wasting their money on, because they read that it was good somewhere. Just tryin' to give people honest answers.
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I have doctored a few pictures into one just for inspirational reasons.
This is how I imagine my set up to be. It would include building the home made video projector that lumenlab sells plans for.
I expect the building costs to be quite cheap ( Less than $1000) This includes the completed simulator and the video projector.
I hope this picture will inspire you.
http://www.cnczone.com/gallery/data/500/Inspiration.jpg
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What about the cost to add the room onto you're house? Surely your wife wouldn't let you have that "car" sitting in the middle of the room? :)
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Aha, well here is one reason my design will be better than the other one. While the other ones fold in half. Mine will be able to stand completely upright, allowing it to be stored away. Maybe some small dolly wheels can be placed on it for easy moving.
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How hard would it be to set this race car up to vibrate and tilt? Bumps in the road ya know. And a horn that goes beep beep? I would like mine to look like an RV or a bus. Always wondered what it would be like to tear up the streets in a big yellow. :)
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There was an ad in 'SportsCar', the SCCA's publication (I think, or it might have been Grass Roots Motorsports) for one of these made from welded tubing and made to fit a real Sparco racing seat- cutting out the hassle of designing the seat, and getting a more authentic feel- particularly if that's the SAME seat the user drives in their car. I'll scan it tonight and post if I remeber.
I also saw some sparco knock-off's at AutoZone for $150. Might be something to look at rather than fabbing something that could be mass-produced in Taiwan.
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I will toy around with the design and see what i can come up with in acad and solidworks.
Joe
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(1) Ger21: "I think the main reason I answer so many questions here, is that....." Gerry, I don't know if you realise just how much you do help people. I'm indebted to you for the AutoCAD help (both directly and indirectly) I've gotten from you over time.
(2) Ger21: "I think you could possibly make more selling plans, then just cutting and assembly services"
Now rarely will I dispute you opinion but on this occasion I'm going to. Why? Because people like you judge others to have more or less the same abilities and mentality as yourselves. You are thinking that others will be able to make something like this in their garage and also get a good finish on it afterwards like what you and I and most of the others at this forum would be able to. I disagree. I think the money is in the 12 - 40 year olds who would rather pay and spend their time racing. For every person like us (who can read plans, cut, drill, finish, paint, stickers), I'm guessing there would be 100 who can't but have the money to buy it as a painted, ready-to-assemble kit. Think of how many 12 - 18y.o. are out there who's parents are only too happy to buy the latest "must have" for their darling hmm - hmm.... Not only that but I'd reckon that if you (Gerry) wanted to build one of these, you (and most of the others here) wouldn't need someone else's plan to do so as you are well used to designing (which is half the fun for us). I say the above not to dispute but simply to put another view into the ring.
(3) Benny: I recon with a good super low frequency rumble generator fitted behind the seat, it would...... Definately the way to go!
(4) Sporqster: I also saw some sparco knock-off's at AutoZone for $150. Might be something to look at rather than fabbing something that could be mass-produced in Taiwan. This too!
Just get it done before the Chinese have them on the shelf for $20
Hey Benny, one more thought: When your wife comes home each day and here you are in the racing simulator with the volume turned up and you say to her: "Just doing R & D for my work dearest"
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I hadnt given much thought to seats and was planing to just make a timber insert into the frame, however for the extra price I expect they would make the Simulator just that much better.
Here is what I have found http://www.cardomain.com/shoplist~b~APC~t~Sport+Seats
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I will toy around with the design and see what i can come up with in acad and solidworks.
Joe
Go Joe, we are counting on you :)
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Hey Phil.
1) I probably didn't word that correctly. :)
2) I did say "possibly" :)
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make it like ikea.. use untra-cheap pressboard, and that edging tape\plastic stuff... it can look nice, and maybe cost $150.. in fact, it may be entirely logical..
benny... how is the machine going? whats the latest? what sorta jobs do you do now with it? is it paying for itself?
whats the low-down?
robert.
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Benny, looks like fun. Sorry, I can't help you. Too busy on my own projects. Have you seen the aircraft simulators? Kind of the same premise.
Here's a site with some links.
http://a.webring.com/hub?ring=cockpits
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Hey Benny,
Got a mate with one of those sims, I too have been keen to cut some out omy router so I spent some time yesterday drawing one up ,although not yet finished will be soon.
Only problem is my router is 1500 X 1500 and the sides are 1700 long, have to cut the sides on an angle.
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Well Jonathon, why dont you email me the parts as dxf and let me cut them too.
I went down to a local computer shop yesterday and got some measurements.
My machine will look different, however I did need a general idea of sizes so as to give me a start.
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Will do, Just got to convert to DXF's.
Yeah the one i copied is a variant of the one you have measured, it doesnt have the hinge, maybe I should incorperate this as it would make the side parts smaller.
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Some more pics, and my pathetic attempt at a redesign :)
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Some other variations.
Ive also nearly finished my first prototype. I will cut it in a few days and post the results.
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benny.
it may be late, but a good suggestion would be to start with pencil and paper drawings... sit in a reclining position and have someone measure you and get a 'human form factor' database started.. get a few measurements from different people, and also try and get some measurements from a real car or race car.. or several.. this kind of basic research could help you build a superior design - allow you to maybe even improve the ergonomics of the design you are referencing.. reverse engineering dosent always have to mean an inferior copy, but can also lead to an innovative redesign.
there is a great book about designing for human bodies, 'The Measure of Man & Woman' writen by the famous architect Henry Dreyfus.. It is a standard among car and chair designers, and the like.. And well done. A great book for any designer who might work with human factors. (like me, im a product designer)
I might be interested in helping with such a project.. maybe not too much ,but i would help do the final solid model if you provide reasonable drawings and measurements.. the 3d models from solidworks can be very usefull for part-fit verification and other such things..
i ask again - has your machine proven profitable? has your wife threatened to leave if you dont stop obsessing over homemade industrial robotics? my ex-gf, an extremely talented artist got frustrated with me for always reading engineering books when i should have been reading artforum magazine....
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link to dreyfus book
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Vaccy, you've made a good point about hand drawing, in actual fact I am drawing life size on a home made white board.
BTW, I came up with this great idea for a cheap white board. I bought 2 rolls of clear book covering contact plastic and laminated the whole study wall with it. ( White wall) I now have a 2m x 2.4 white board on the wall. In indellable texta I have put measured grid lines on the board ( They will not wipe off) I find it much easier to design in real size and with an easy to rub off marker. ( Kids love it too, they can legally grafitti as much as they want.)
Any how, I got my 6 foot son to sit in a racing position beside the board, while holding the wheel and pedals, and I traced around him just to get an idea of actual posture shapes, and dimentions. Thishas given me some really good guide lines for the design.
I am in the process of transfereing this to CAD.
Yes I always remember you as the Solidworks man. I would love it if you did create a model for me from my 2d CAD entries. I have a local mate who is also helping me with using a similar program too, but the learning curve using it is a bit much for an oldie like myself. ( No not 89, but feel that way)
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i ask again - has your machine proven profitable?
The reason I was hesitant to answer that question is because i have really good times of profitability, and then go for weeks or months with really bad times. Ask me on a good week, and ill tell you I can cut $800 bucks of work in a day while sitting on my computer surfing the internet and changing sheets every 10 minutes or so. Ask me on a bad week and thats all I do..... sit on the internet :)
Thanks for the link to the dreyfus book. I probably wont buy it, I recon I will figure out this design anyhow.
Thanks for your offer of help for the 3d work. I will take you up on that :)
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Benny,
You might like to look into Racing Kart Seats as a cheaper alternative for your Simulator. These are usually heavy Fabric over GlassFibre construction, light and very sturdy.
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Just wondering how the simulator is coming along?
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ynneb....just a suggestion...haven't seen it posted.....I would base my design on one of the racing seats that is in every automotive magazine.....off the shelf parts are very important to off-the-shelf approaches......
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ynneb....I would also look at surplus hydraulics and some automotive coil springs to give you the bump and go simulation.....
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benny
if you are still interested i am pretty good with solidworks and i am in college so i have plenty of homework i can put off to draw. i love drawing stuff in solidworks. when i had a broken leg i made a model of my girlfriends ceiling fan! anyway if you still have interest and have some decent drawings of the design i would be willing to work on a model.
Matt
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An excellent offer. I will post the dxfs for the side panels once I find them. I will cut out and build the car once we are finished so as to test it for size and function. Once its all complete we will post the gcode for the design in this thread.
Thanks so much Matt.
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Matt desregard the other stuff in the file but use the sides as a guide. You should be able to sort out the rest from the measurments on the pictures I previously posted.
Be as creative as you like. Post lots of progress shots and we can openly discuss the project on here.
BTW. I have a program that can read Solidworks files. Its freely availiable so post the working files if you want.
Good onya chum. :)
EDIT; I would offer to cut you a car for free when its finished, but I think postsage to the states would be prohibitivly big. Ill see If I can line up a local guy to do you one if you want. ( No promises though)
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Hi Benny
Maybe theres some one out there who will donate a rotapod for you to shoehorn under your simulator. Now that would be a K.A. simulator.
derekj308
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Derek, I presume by rotapod you mean something to tilt the car as you drive it?
Sounds great. I wonder if anyone would like to come up with a design suggestion for one.
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Benny
i'll take a look at the files and get started this afternoon. as for cutting out one for free, my dad has a shopbot so i believe that could already be managed. i appreciate the offer though.
Matt
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Benny
As mententioned before, have you considered adding a airbag suspension kit to the sim. I think with some fancy wiring you could have the sim. tilt left and right as you turn for the corners, and raise and lower the front and rear on acceleration and deceleration. (Something you may want to offer as a High End model!) I think if you were going to design a system like this (airbags) it would be better to do it from the start. Even if you don't use the airbags system you could have a design that would allow for future upgrades.
(Just a thought)
I have built my own Mame Arcade, just need to put the final touches on like the marquee and front bezel and will probably have to build another for a co-worker. But I have also thought about a racing sim and how cool it would be to have one. So, I'll probably be add this project to my todo list, someday.
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benny
what are standard thicknesses for MDF etc. in your neck of the woods?
also standard roundover bits. i want to do everything in SI but I need common sizings on these items.
cerealkiller
i think the air bag thing would work but if it were quick enough to be realistic i would think it would be annoyingly noisy. not to mention having an air compressor in the living room.