DIY Simulators. Simracing, Flight simulators and more

cross-posted from: https://discuss.tchncs.de/post/21415025

It has been a while that I tried Star Citizen. With the new Neuralnet Tracker plugin (AI haha) for OpenTrack we get head tracking without annoying IR LEDs or reflecting stripes just by reading the webcam video feed. This is apparently fast enough to try head tracking without a dedicated head tracker nowadays. And all that on a Linux PC. Took some fiddling but the concept still works. What a time to be alive.

Demo: https://makertube.net/w/groS1wpAhP8XYE75vJwX32

HowTo: https://simpit.dev/systems/opentrack/

@fk_tech shoved my nose on Monocoque today, which appears to become an alternative to Simhub: Cross Platform device manager for driving and flight simulators, for use with common simulator software titles. It supports e.g. bass shakers, tachometers, simlights, simwind through USB and Arduino serial.

And it works on Linux PC: https://github.com/Spacefreak18/monocoque

See a demo on https://www.youtube.com/live/GVghB4aMEmY by @fk_tech

I also jumped into their Matrix room (#simracer:matrix.org) and they seem like a friendly bunch too.

Mebbe worth to keep on the radar.

Edith says: Shorter videos to get the gist:

• https://www.youtube.com/shorts/TznEHQ4lPZM
• https://www.youtube.com/shorts/t27kFte_fIE

Found this on my daily YT journey for home cockpits and I can get behind that channel slogan :D

Pretty wild how much know-how is laid out there. Extra kudos for using FreeCad instead of Fusion360.

cross-posted from: https://discuss.tchncs.de/post/18462516

I implemented a proof of concept to add the FaceTrackNoIR (or OpenTrack) protocol into FreeSpace 2 Open on Linux PC. Apparently only TrackIR and FreeTrack (both Windows only) are supported so far. Still needs some fine tuning but I'm really happy with that single day coding frenzy considering that I didn't touch C++ in years.

I never did create a merge request so far. I'm still going to but it's really low priority for me rn :-/

This is a demo of the implementation with Diaspora: Shattered Armistice, a BSG mod for FreeSpace 2 Open. It's also on YT should you fancy that: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRB8lRV1m54

I had the chance to play Flight Of Nova (https://flight-of-nova.com/) for the first time today. This was on my wishlist for quite some time now. Dived in blind and had no idea what to expect. 3 tutorial missions later: Oh boy… this is hard. I can see myself sinking many hours in this.

Anyway, as usual, my focus is on interfacing with my home cockpit (or simpit) and while there is no ship telemetry [yet?] I was able to get it running just fine via Proton and with my DIY headtracker using OpenTrack. Hats off, seldom that I see a game that detects my joystick just fine, has great ingame calibration, offers me a windowed mode and a bunch of ultra width resolutions without having to resort to hacking config files or use gamescope to resize it ❤️

Head tracking is, as usual, TrackIR only so far (I guess the native Linux PC version does not have UDP in place here but I couldn’t check due Steam refusing to download another version today). Anyway, you can see me fooling around with the buttons and do an A+ crash landing in the end – sunny side up 😆 Not too shabby considering that this was my 3rd landing at all.

I for a long time had a wooden attachment to my Ikea Poang chair that I attached my wheel to. It became quite cumbersome to climb in and out of the chair like a canoe. So Finally I added a new shelf so the chair is free.

Note, not mine. Similar to mine. In fact totally down my alley :D

This was a fun build. I got to utilize a old xbox 360 controller and a LED touch light.

Stay tuned ill have a build video soon.

Got the TM R383 Mod wheel all mounted and everything is working. I'm doing more driving than debugging which is a sign that I think it's near done.

The OpenFFBoard has shift register support so with no modification to the wheel other than a coily cable I was able to get all the buttons working. I designed some adapters to mount to an ebay QR (highly recommend this one called "For Racing Simulator Simagic Moza 70mm Steering Wheel Quick Release+Wheel Base" on ebay) which is rock solid. I was all ready to machine the adapter flanges out of metal but I put the prototypes on to check the fit and they were so rigid there's no point in taking the time to do it. It feels easily just as solid as my real car. Kindof amazing considering the threads are even printed into the PLA, no heatserts or anything.

Feel free to let me know if you want the FreeCAD models, I suspect at least the 70mm wheel side adapter would be compatible with other TM wheels too. I use the RT FreeCAD branch so they won't work in normal FreeCAD unfortunately.

It's running at about 14Nm right now, I don't have a thermister on the motor coils so I'm trying to be a bit conservative however I'm pretty sure 14Nm peak is way way more than I need personally. The motor and supporting hardware should technically support about 22 but I don't think I'll ever push it that hard. 14Nm is scary enough.

YT suggested this one to me and I absolutely love it. A whole cockpit on a budget made from cardboard: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09GdiFmaHq0

It's for civil aviation, unlike my own, and features some very neat ideas - like the fans in the ceiling, or [non functional] "fuses", for more immersion. It always impresses me how far dedication and skill go.

A quick test, without a wheel attached to the spindle, of the openffboard running on Linux in BeamNG.drive. It took a while to get here as I'm not very knowledgeable with motor drivers but it seems to work so far.

Next step will be to fabricate a bracket to mount it to my rig. Since this video I have mounted a wheel and done some driving. The feel is pretty good, the motor is only 6NM which in DD land is a little on the low side but it's incredibly smooth.

Hardware:

OpenFFBoard (purchased assembled) Project Link Github Link

ODrive S1

Baldor BSM90N-1150AFP (ebay auction for untested motor, was about 50USD shipped)

48v 10.5A power supply

I have been working on it for the last 6 months adding a little bit here and there. I run a logitech g29 with pedals and shifter and a diy handbrake. I created a foam board canopy hood to help with immersion.

I don't have a lot of space where my desk is but wanted a combo space combat and racing rig that was fully rigid except for the seat.

The chair sits in a wheel trough with some 3d printed wheel chalks that fit the wheels exactly so it doesn't really move much at all when braking.

Everything is running on Linux using a lot of SDL and input device spoofing hacks to get it all recognized correctly in games. I mostly play DirtRally2.0, BeamNG, AMS2, and Overload. Trying to get into Elite Dangerous but it's not really my type of game. Maybe it will be some day though. Also play a little RBR but not all that much.

List of gear:

T300rs with a R383 Mod wheel - tmff2 driver. I designed a "quick" release ring so it's not a pain to take the wheel off for flight.

Heusinkveld Ultimate+ pedals - protopedal or xboxdrv depending on the game

TH8A shifter - heavily modified to fit in the small space I had and with a 3d printed short throw plate that I designed. It's not ideal, but works for occasional use.

Some ebay handbrake - I use xboxdrv for this sometimes if necessary but most games can find it. I also modified it to be mounted under the plate for a bit more space on top.

Gladiator NXT EVO Omni Throttle (Left and Right hand models) - These are a pain in most games. I use a winehid hack where I adjust the registry values HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE System CurrentControlSet Enum WINEBUS VID_231D&PID_{200,201} {Service, CompatibleIds} from xinput to winehid. This works but depends on the bus the device is currently connected to. Looking for a better SDL env var alternative but haven't got it working yet.

Acer Nitro 37.5" QHD+ 3840 x 1600 curved display

NextLevelRacing "Wheel Stand 2.0" - I made some steel parts for it on the mill to increase rigidity, 3d printed spacers for the adjustable arms to tighten them up a bit since the stock ones are a bit sloppy, and made some extra plates for mounting the sticks and other stuff out of 10mm aluminum plate.

VKB UCM-S drop mount brackets for the sticks. I modified these as well to fit under the aluminum plates. The left one is hinged so that it can be folded upwards to get in and out of the chair when the chair wheels are fixed in place.

annnd... yes I know the shifter and handbrake are reversed... I like it that way.

A glorified DIY joystick controller with an LCD ('MFD') and plenty of RGB.

• DIY headtracker with Opentrack
• DIY button box with LCD ("MFD") display
• DIY status indicators using a Neopixel
• Lots of plumbing with Node-RED
• Arduino Mega with a custom Rust daemon for driving the joystick and LEDs
• A custom “App” written in React to drive the MFD
• …and a Linux PC to power all the crazy 🤪

I did set https://SimPit.dev/ live yesterday where I'm writing up all my collected SimPit clutter of the last 3 years in a more cohesive way. Feedback appreciated 🙃 More to come. (Oh yeah and ads and tracking free cuz I can't stand this ***).

I'm kinda blind on the topic by now after hacking away on this page for days so I'd appreciate feedback. Especially if something is broken.

Site may be slow af. I'm hosting this in my backyard. Videos are mirrored usually on PeerTube and YouTube though so pick your poison.

I mounted a basically brand new Golf 7 seat on it, which fit with just a few washers and some M8 20mm bolts. If you're in Germany and looking for a seat for your simrig, go look on ebay, the guys I got this one from have like 30+ more brand new seats in stock for €160 each!