From 60 to 100mph, a few months later…
The second iteration of the sim racing rig
A few months back I got started with sim-racing. I wrote about my experience in starting up with the hobby, as well as a couple of more “technical” articles about configuration for triple screens, and triple screen wall-mounted stands.
This write-up is about the second iteration of my sim rig, motion platform, and all. In short, I “upgraded” from my old motion platform to a new one, using actuator motors.
Update 02/01/2022: the third iteration is up. I won’t do a write-up, but the video is here:
Upgrading the rig
After I sold my prior motion platform, I decided to try the actuator-based platform, as it is supposedly more accurate, and faster in response. I bought a used SFX-150 system, which had been built from the following two components:
- Cockpit: SimLab’s GT1-EVO
- 3DOF SFX-150: E-Racing Lab DIY Mega+ kit
- Controller: Thanos 1280
Such a setup only provides up to 3DOF. Specifically, you can reproduce heave (up/down), pitch (lean forward/backward), and roll (lean left/right). For racing, though, an important component is sway (rotation) as that simulates when you lose grip, particularly in the rear tires.
I decided to add Race@Home’s brand-new LowRider platform, which provides two additional DOF (Traction Loss, and Surge). It doesn’t really provide sway “per-se”, as the pivot is not in the center but rather at the front. For racing, which is what I do, I think this is actually good, as in real life when you “lose the rear” the car is indeed pivoting on the front wheels. In any event, thought I’d mention it just in case there are purists out there :-)
The following video contains the walkthrough of the build, and a snippet of the FOV from the driver’s perspective. The video is annotated to show each component (within reason, I am not a video editor)
Finally, this next video shows a short clip of me driving, so you can see the platform move, graciously taken by my daughter :)
The game used is Automobilista 2.
I am happy with how everything has turned out. I still have plenty of tuning to do, but very happy so far.