Post by izidore on Jul 18, 2020 15:18:29 GMT
My design team, me and my two sons, are building an immersive Spaceship Bridge Simulator. Of course, after the majority of the construction has been completed 2/3 of my team (my two sons) have decided that some type of motion would add to the experience. I don't disagree but I don't know if it is feasible.
I have absolutely no expertise in this area whatsoever. I have looked at hydraulic and pneumatic lift kits (like the kind used in hopping low-riders) and a variety of linear actuators, all of which have some pretty significant disadvantages. I stumbled across this forum and thought that someone might be able to point me in the right direction. After spending several hours looking through this forum I essentially discovered two things: 1) Really beefy rotary actuators might be the solution, and, 2) 90% of the things being discussed here are levels of magnitude beyond my current (extremely limited) understanding.
Here are some very basic specs of what I am dealing with, what I wish accomplish and what I need help with:
1. The "Bridge" is a rectangular cuboid roughly 11'L, 9'W, 7'H with an estimated weight just shy of 1,400 lbs. It is designed for 6 people so max gross weight is (for planning purposes) 3,000 lbs.
2. I only wish to have movement on the pitch and roll axes. I was considering having about 12" of total throw (+6 in. on one servo and -6 in. on the opposing servo) which would give me about 5-6 deg of roll/pitch respectively. This is based on nothing but an uneducated guess. I am not married to this idea and would like some input/advice.
3. I am not trying to achieve a full motion effect just 'some' movement nor am I at all concerned with eliminating 'bounce'. Actually my goal is more to bounce or 'jostle' the occupants.
4. I am in the process of fabricating a steel frame that the simulator will be reconstructed on (once it is torn apart, thanks boys) to add strength, rigidity and provide hard points for attachments.
5. I prefer not to, but I may need to make a pivot point at the center of gravity (estimated due to changing loads) to reduce the required torque in order to achieve the desired motion (at a reasonable cost).
6. The Bridge Simulator software we are using has DMX special effect capability. One of my sons has quite a bit of experience with DMX if that helps at all.
7. It appears that many folks have assembled servos from off the shelf motors paired with off the shelf gearboxes. Many of the links appear to be broken...I don't even know where to start.
8. I will accept any and all help, advice and links or pointers to resources such calculators, tutorials, how-to's and would greatly appreciate info on dealers/distributors of the stuff I need to build this.
I realize that this is an overly ambitious undertaking and I don't know enough (but am eager to learn) about the subject to know if this is even remotely feasible.
Any advice, pointers, pro-tips (and even encouragement or unvarnished brutal honesty) will be greatly appreciated.
Iz
I have absolutely no expertise in this area whatsoever. I have looked at hydraulic and pneumatic lift kits (like the kind used in hopping low-riders) and a variety of linear actuators, all of which have some pretty significant disadvantages. I stumbled across this forum and thought that someone might be able to point me in the right direction. After spending several hours looking through this forum I essentially discovered two things: 1) Really beefy rotary actuators might be the solution, and, 2) 90% of the things being discussed here are levels of magnitude beyond my current (extremely limited) understanding.
Here are some very basic specs of what I am dealing with, what I wish accomplish and what I need help with:
1. The "Bridge" is a rectangular cuboid roughly 11'L, 9'W, 7'H with an estimated weight just shy of 1,400 lbs. It is designed for 6 people so max gross weight is (for planning purposes) 3,000 lbs.
2. I only wish to have movement on the pitch and roll axes. I was considering having about 12" of total throw (+6 in. on one servo and -6 in. on the opposing servo) which would give me about 5-6 deg of roll/pitch respectively. This is based on nothing but an uneducated guess. I am not married to this idea and would like some input/advice.
3. I am not trying to achieve a full motion effect just 'some' movement nor am I at all concerned with eliminating 'bounce'. Actually my goal is more to bounce or 'jostle' the occupants.
4. I am in the process of fabricating a steel frame that the simulator will be reconstructed on (once it is torn apart, thanks boys) to add strength, rigidity and provide hard points for attachments.
5. I prefer not to, but I may need to make a pivot point at the center of gravity (estimated due to changing loads) to reduce the required torque in order to achieve the desired motion (at a reasonable cost).
6. The Bridge Simulator software we are using has DMX special effect capability. One of my sons has quite a bit of experience with DMX if that helps at all.
7. It appears that many folks have assembled servos from off the shelf motors paired with off the shelf gearboxes. Many of the links appear to be broken...I don't even know where to start.
8. I will accept any and all help, advice and links or pointers to resources such calculators, tutorials, how-to's and would greatly appreciate info on dealers/distributors of the stuff I need to build this.
I realize that this is an overly ambitious undertaking and I don't know enough (but am eager to learn) about the subject to know if this is even remotely feasible.
Any advice, pointers, pro-tips (and even encouragement or unvarnished brutal honesty) will be greatly appreciated.
Iz