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

[RCHeliguy]

What 3D printer do you have?, and what do you recommend to purchase if one was looking to enter into the world of 3D printing right now please…

I'd say either the Prusa i3 mk4 or Bambu A1 or Bambu P1P

The Bambu A1 looks like a sweet spot for price and ease of use.

This is a good side by side comparison of the mk4 and A1

They are about the same speed in actual print times now that the mk4 has input shaping.

I like the PrusaSlicer and the Bambu requires using it's own slicer, but it's based on the same open source slicing software, and they are improving it quickly. Others like Cura also contribute to the open source community, so innovation is shared and incorporated between slicers.

I'm still partial to Prusa for overall quality and reliability of prints, but both are very good and it's hard to discount the A1 for less money.

The Bamboo A1 is
1. less expensive than the Prusa.
2. comes mostly assembled and has just a few steps before it's ready to go.
3. It may be a bit quieter with the motor modeling.
4. Has a good multi-filament addon.
- Hardware is closed, not open source.

The Prusa
1. Is open source for all parts.
2. Building the kit is a plus/minus item. It may make any repairs easier to handle.
3. Overall print quality may tend to be a bit better without tweaking settings, but an A1 can be adjusted to print just as well and likely it not a big deal once you learn the printer.
4. It's multi-filament addon has historically been problematic. I'm not sure how well the current iteration works.
- cost

With the Prusa, if you use PrusaSlicer, Prusa filament and the Prusa profiles for their filament, you can pretty well guarantee great print results. The Bambu will be pretty close, but as shown in the video, you may need to drop the speed a bit for better results.

I suspect both will continue to see heavy use in printer farms.

The Prusa XL is highly capable as well, but it was delayed for a very long time and still seems to have some issues to work out. I think it will eventually be a solid work horse. However, it is expensive and aimed at print farms and definitely not a first printer I would recommend.

 

[MarkModdy]

Many thanks for the above Mark

 

[RCHeliguy]

Still working on my Stream Deck profile.

I've mostly used it for tweaking SimHub settings, but where I had it before in front of my h shift, It was mostly out of sight and mind, so I never really used it for that much which is a serious waste considering how flexible it is.

 

[Ruttman98]

What 3D printer do you have?, and what do you recommend to purchase if one was looking to enter into the world of 3D printing right now please…

Not to hijack OP Mark's reply or his extensive 3D design and printing experience (he leads by DOING!), but the Creality Ender 3 Pro is a tried and true entry-level printer. I couldn't help but buy mine when Microcenter was selling them for $100 (MSRP $200) for their equivalent of Black Friday 2022. Used ones are around $80 and they are ultra-customizable.

The multi-filament capability of the Bambu is very appealing to me to make switches with different colored lettering, etc., and--if I used my printer more often than a hound's age--the enhanced quality of the Prusa would be very attractive.

 

[RCHeliguy]

I know many people with Creality printers who have gotten good use out of them and gotten some very good results. They offer a lot of bang for the buck. They do typically require a bit more work and with a few upgrades can offer similar functionality.

The lower cost units don't have auto-bed leveling and magnetic PEI build plates among other things. Creality does have more expensive models with most upgrades included, but that will get you within $100 of the price point of the Bambu A1.

I got a Prusa because I didn't want to spend any time futzing and was willing to pay more to get that. I used Prusa slicer, their profiles and their filaments. I have done zero maintenance in over three years of use and can count the number of failed prints on one hand. Other than assembling it using the locknut mod under the bed for a better level starting point, I have made zero upgrades to it.

However YMMV dramatically. I have a background in CAD, an engineering degree, and am less cost sensitive than some, so what works for me, isn't necessarily the right choice for someone else.

I had no way to predict that I would get as much use out of my 3D printer as I have, but I knew that if I reduced the pain points of printing that my chance of getting more use out of it would improve and I like to set myself up for success.

This is not an argument against the Creality printers, they do work and many like them. It's just my thought process behind why I went the way I did at the time.

 

[RCHeliguy]

Just having fun this morning driving my rig.

So many things are working well!

I think my wheel position is better and more comfortable with the ASR wheelbase than I've ever had it. I'm now using my Stream Deck more and it is an improvement. Not sure why I needed it up in my face for me to really start to use it.

The latest D-Box update appears to have fixed the issue I had with my G-Belt not working in Dirt Rally, so that is great to have back I may not update it again for a while. Everything is feeling really good right now. The tactile feels great too!

The Beyond continues to blow me away! Once again in Dirt Rally 2.0 at 90Hz. It just looks freaking amazing! Really enjoying my time in Dirt Rally.

I could see glare watching the replays which show up like on a larger virtual movie screen, but in game driving, I never noticed it at all.

Driving has never been this good and after all these years I'm still feeling improvements

 

[herve45]

Hi @RCHeliguy
impossible to get g-belt to work on dirt rally 2 at home.

is there anything specific to do?

i also use simhub but g-belt doesn't work either even if simhub is closed

 

[RCHeliguy]

Hi @RCHeliguy
impossible to get g-belt to work on dirt rally 2 at home.

is there anything specific to do?

i also use simhub but g-belt doesn't work either even if simhub is closed

First configure the output port in Dirt Rally or at least see what it's using. It either allows one or two ports to be specified.

I know Simhub supports port forwarding and possibly SimCommander as well.

So you have options for routing the telemetry to multiple ports.

I'm hoping to get back down there in an hour or two and I'll see if I can get some screen shots of the port configuration.

This is one reason I love iRacing setup. It just seems to work without any futzing.

 

[RCHeliguy]

DiRT Rally​

In the following file I have Dirt Rally putting out 3 ports of data.
There is also a copy of this of this with VR in the name. I modified both.

Documents\My Games\DiRT Rally 2.0\hardwaresettings\hardware_settings_config.xml

<motion_platform>
<dbox enabled="true" />
<udp extradata="3" ip="127.0.0.1" enabled="true" port="20777" delay="1" />
<udp extradata="3" ip="127.0.0.1" enabled="true" port="29373" delay="1" />
<udp extradata="3" ip="127.0.0.1" enabled="true" port="10011" delay="1" />

Simhub is configured to use port 29373 from Dirt Rally.
My D-Box is configured to use 20777
I believe my G-Belt is using port 10011

SimHub is also forwarding to ports 20777 and 65535 ( this may be in error since the .xml file shows all 3 already being generated. Maybe why I was having issues )

I can't find where in SimCommander specifies the port the G-Belt needs.

You can also set up port forwarding in SimCommander.

Not sure if this was enough to help.

 

[herve45]

@RCHeliguy
Thanks, I'll look tomorrow

Édit : problem solved. my profile g-belt for dirt rally 2.0 was corrupted

 

[RCHeliguy]

A little Bigscreen Beyond update.

It wasn't a big deal, but there was a tiny lip at the bottom of the nose section of the cushion. I trimmed it away with a set of surgical snips. Now it doesn't leave a line on my nose.

I also have had sporadic issues where I would get a bit of light leakage on the left and/or right side of the cushion. Some days, I could easily adjust this away, but for some reason on other days I had trouble getting the light completely blocked. If light comes in from behind it creates some pretty serious glare.

Since the Beyond cushions are a very custom solution, I don't know that my fix would make any difference for anyone besides me.

So I 3D printed a couple tiny wedges that fit behind the USB-C connectors on each side. They put a tiny bit of pressure on the outer edges of the cushion to completely eliminate this light leakage issue for me.

I also ordered one of these Q3 head strap supports. It looks like it could be a slight improvement over the Q2 support I'm using in that it would allow me to center the support. Currently It works well, but is off center. That is more of an aesthetic thing, I still would like to see if it works better in any other way.

Amazon.com

 

[RCHeliguy]

The Q3 head support does seem like an improvement to me. So I'm going to use it going forward.

 

[RCHeliguy]

We are having some 20 degree weather right now and my basement is colder in the morning.
What I've noticed is that the fog is taking longer to clear on the Beyond. This seems to be entirely temperature related. When my basement was warmer at 50%+ humidity the lenses were clearing in about 4 minutes. Now that the temps are colder even with only 29% humidity, it is taking 10 minutes for the displays to warm up and burn off the fog. This is now a tie with the Aero with fans that are on a timer and don't turn on for 10 minutes.

This makes me think that in the late spring and summer when it is warmer despite the humidity being high, the screens will likely clear pretty quickly.

 

[RCHeliguy]

Someone asked so I thought how to mount the Brunner FFB yoke to the ASR wheelbase mount and I think I have a cleaner solution than a custom plate.

The ASR width I'm measuring is 257mm to the outer edges of the center profile where it bolts to the rail, if you did want a custom plate, but I don't think a plate is the best solution.

Parts list:

1. 2 x 1.5"x1.5" profile lengths of 340mm. ( length of the yoke chassis )
2. 2 x 1.5"x1.5" profile lengths of 176mm. ( cross brace length )
3. 4 x corner braces.
4. 8 x M8x16 bolts and T-nuts
5. Buy some SGR rail, maybe a 500mm length cut to 2 x 250mm. Only the front of the rail on each side will be holding it in place.
6. Get some 2mm thick 1.25"x 250mm aluminum plate.
   ( 1.25" is within the radius corners of the 1.5" profile and will look cleaner, but the rail is 1.8" wide and would be easier to line up with the rail if you are drilling them together )
7. 6 x M6x14 bolts and T-nuts.
   The kit comes with M8x12 bevel head bolts to secure the rail to the profile, but with the 2mm shims, that might not be enough threads and M8x16mm bevel head bolts would be too long. So you may need to drill and countersink M6 holes in the rails and use 3 bolts per side, since you can order M6x14mm bolts.

Drill holes in the shim that link up with the beveled holes in the rail to bolt to the profile. Then the yoke would bolt directly to the top profile slots with M5 bolts and T-nuts.

Drilling M6 holes and beveling them shouldn't be too much additional effort. I think this boxed profile solution would be more rigid, lighter and likely cheaper than having a custom plate fabricated.

I think this would be more rigid, lighter and likely cheaper.

 

[stigs2cousin]

Or you could just trim the excess length of the M8x16 with a grinder?

 

[RCHeliguy]

Bigscreen asked me if I would like to try out the pre-production audio strap. I was curious so I said yes. They shipped it the next day and I should see it next week.

I purchased the audio strap last summer, so this is a preview of something I've already paid for.

The pre-production unit has a number of issues that will be corrected in the production version. I've already asked if they have any problem with me modifying it to help address the known issues and they offered to give me some technical guidance. That might be fun to mess with.

They asked for feedback on the comfort and fit, which I'll provide them. They also mentioned sharing my impressions with the community, but there are no strings.

I am curious about the comfort, and how the speakers sound. They say the final version will allow positioning the speakers just off your ears. I understand that the speakers currently don't have springs and flop around if they are not pressing your ears. I have some ideas on how to address that for a bit of testing.

I initially misread the updated timeline they gave me. They will have time to incorporate my feedback and feedback from others and there will be another short run of the final preview copies made a month or so from now.

 

[RCHeliguy]

Since BigscreenVR reached out to me about the pre-production audio strap, I asked when I might be able to order a thin cushion and was given the opportunity to order one now before they have been made generally available on their store which is supposed to happen later this month.

My thin cushion has been scheduled to be printed and expected to ship by next Wednesday, so it's looking like they have a pretty quick turn around on them and I assume print them locally on demand.

Because they were still ramping up when they shipped my headset, they didn't have the production capacity for people to have a second cushion shipped with their order, or I along with many others would have asked for both then.

I initially got the normal cushion shipped with my headset based on their recommendation to be safe and make sure there were no interference issues with either my eye lashes touching the lenses, or my brow touching down on edge of the lenses. I'm pretty sure after pressing the headset pretty hard into my face that I won't have either of those issues. I can also see more of the display so this will increase the FOV by both being closer to the lenses and by making more of the displays visible.The combination should both increase the size of the sweet spot and FOV.

I've heard others say that the pancake optics also work better when your eyes are closer in terms of glare. I'm guessing the viewing angle changes where the reflections causing the glare would be seen and moves them closer to the edges of the viewable area. However, I don't have anything mathematical to back that up. Despite the fact glare is not bothering me in game, I do know a few places where I can make it very noticeable. So I will A/B the cushions and test this.

I did something similar to this with the Reverb G2 and FrankenFOV mod which also moved my eyes closer to the lens and improved the sweetspot on that headset. Unfortunately it also made the individual pixels visible to me. I'm hoping this won't be the case with the Beyond because of its higher ppd and pixel pattern.

Another possible option is that if I were to use OpenXR and FFR right now with the thicker cushion, I could trim some of the outer edge that I currently can't see and increase performance a bit.

 

[RCHeliguy]

My street still hasn't been plowed and more snow is coming today. Where I live snow like this nearly shuts the city down. School it out all week. They recommend staying home if you can.

My Pre-Production Beyond Audio Strap is at my local UPS distribution center and still says the following.

So I've been thinking about a video that I attempted to create a while back showing the evolution of my sim rig. As of today the 175 pages and 6 years(next month) of this thread pretty well cover this journey. I started piecing it together, put it down, come back to it and put it down. In between putting it down and picking it up, I would make another 2-3 changes to my rig.

Maybe it would be entertaining for some to watch a long montage simply showing of the changes with a time line at the bottom and a cost counter on the side. I'm sure some would get a laugh out of that and maybe I'll do that some day.

However, I think it might actually be more valuable if I broke the changes down into functional blocks showing the evolution of a very specific areas of the rig with explanations behind the changes in rig design and mini reviews and comparisons of the controls. I can even quote comments I made along the way that I completely contradicted later, because I never changed my mind about anything along the way

Sim Rig Evolution Series - Pedals and Pedal Decks
Sim Rig Evolution Series - Wheelbase mounts
Sim Rig Evolution Series - Seats and Harnesses
Sim Rig Evolution Series - Button Boxes
Sim Rig Evolution Series - Flight Quick Release mounts
Sim Rig Evolution Series - Shifters and Hand brakes
Sim Rig Evolution Series - Tactile ( might need to break this into multiple parts )
Sim Rig Evolution Series - Mobility
Sim Rig Evolution Series - PC hardware and VR gear
Sim Rig Evolution Series - Forgotten controls and parts that I need to sell.
Sim Rig Evolution Series - Failures
Sim Rig Evolution Series - The biggest lies that I told myself

Thoughts? Any ideas for something else that might be useful?

 

[blekenbleu]

Any ideas for something else that might be useful

Evolved motivations: sim, vehicle, event preferences
Feedback hierarchy learning

 

[Mr Latte]

One idea:
How much we actually use it and get to properly enjoy it, rather than working at it or with it?

I feel for some the hobby is not so much "playing games" sorry "sims" but continually looking at ways to improve or via new hardware/upgrades to better experiencing them.

Especially as we age, mmm and older generations are perhaps happy enough dabbling in single player more than online experiences? While others perhaps from younger generations are more likely to commit the time and effort into online races or leagues?

Casual vs Hardcore perspectives maybe play a part in it all, who knows...