Main > Driving & Racing Cabinets
DIY Home Steering Wheel
Generic Eric:
With the talk of shaft extensions, I thought I would look over the 'net for some DIY examples.
This is a push pull yoke, but this seems like a good example that would fit here for the single axis.
Generic Eric:
Another push pull yoke @ kickstarter
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/irisdynamics/affordable-force-feedback-flight-sim-control-yoke
Howard_Casto:
The second one got my attention until I saw the massive box sticking out of the thing, and the price. I guess to sim enthusiasts the term affordable is subjective.
Also I'm sure they know what they are doing more than I do but I'm trying to figure out why they need a raspberry pi AND an arduino AND a teensy. That's half of the cost right there.
If you don't care about force-feedback (most of us do) making a wheel is really easy.
It usually isn't cost effective though... we can find a used arcade wheel or a good pc one for a better price.
Just in case though I'll give you a rough idea of how to do it.
Hardware store parts list:
Foot to foot and a half long metal pipe with threads on both ends (diameter doesn't matter that much, but all your other parts will be based on it).
End cap to fit the pipe.
Flange to fit the pipe, it should flange out to around the size of a standard automotive steering wheel mount.
Metal sleeve that fits snugly over the pipe (larger pipe would work).
Bearings that fit over the pipe snugly. It's the same kind we use for trackballs, only larger.
Bungee cords (a variety pack works best).
Various bolts and connectors, anything you think you might need to mount the thing. Get at least one heavy duty bolt that'll go through your pipe when drilled with about two inches left over and several nuts to go on it.
A large L bracket.
Tools required:
Screwdriver.
Drill.
Something to cut wood (jigsaw is probably fine but a circular saw would be better).
Various hole saw bits and/or spade bits depending upon the diameter of your pipe and bearings.
You will want to assemble it like this: (Bad ascii art incoming).
|---|=|=|--o
Going from left to right, the first vertical bar is the flange, this just screws on so no problems there. You'll want to either drill through the connector or lock tight it to keep it from unscrewing while playing though. The next bar assembly is a bearing, followed by the sleeve with that bolt drilled though it (=|=) and the other bearing. When mounted the sleeve will keep the shaft of the wheel from sliding in and out. That heavy duty bolt holding it on is going to get a lot of use. You want to use all the nuts you picked up to mount it so that an inch or so is sticking out of the bottom and an inch or so is sticking out the top.
On the top we attach two bungee cords one pulling to the left and one pulling to the right. This will be our spring mechanism. Why not use springs? Well the springs we have access to are costly and loud so bungee cords are a cheap, quiet solution. Now the bottom of that bolt will act as your stop. Once you've got your range of travel figured out you'll put wooden or metal stops on either side of the shaft that hit the bolt when the shaft is in it's maximum positions. Like I said, use a heavy duty bolt!
The little circle on the right represents your end-cap and pot. How you mount it depends upon the pot itself but remember that it needs to turn the same amount as the physical wheel with the same stops. In terms of putting it into the end cap, drill a hole the same size as the shaft on the pot and then fill one half of the hole back in with some epoxy or anything really. (It isn't really structural). That oversized L bracket will be used to mount the pot to your base, just drill a hole in it the right size and used the nut on the pot to secure it.
As for mounting the shaft itself, metal is better, but it's super costly and out of most of our skillsets. Two 2x4's will work just as well. Using a hole saw drill through one of the sx4 sections with a bit the size of the bearing, but only drill in the thickness of the bearing. Basically your bearing should fit snugly in this recess. Now switch to a bit slightly larger than the diameter (about a 1/4 of an inch or more) of the pipe and drill the res of the way through. Repeat for the other 2x4, bookend the bearings in them and after making sure everything moves freely screw the 2x4's to whatever base you've built. Use heavy duty screws as this lumber holds the entire assembly in place!
Whew! Ok I think that's a decent design. Not bad for thinking it up on the spot eh? ;-)
Sorry I don't have pics, but I've never built one, like I said, not exactly cost effective. It's based on what I've seen done on the net though, with some various improvements by yours truly.
twistedsymphony:
--- Quote from: Howard_Casto on May 05, 2014, 06:52:56 pm ---Also I'm sure they know what they are doing more than I do but I'm trying to figure out why they need a raspberry pi AND an arduino AND a teensy. That's half of the cost right there.
--- End quote ---
That's a big WTF from me too... Honestly if you're using an arduino in an official product to me that just says to me "I don't know how to use a micro-controller"
it's one thing if you're building a hackable product designed to interface with an arduino that your users already own... it's another thing if that's part of your device's vital control backbone.
The arduino is great for prototyping, I have a couple of them that I use all the time for just that purpose, or if I need to build something quickly and plan to disassemble it once it's served it's purpose.... however if I'm building something that I plan to have stick around for a while I'm going to be using a PIC or an AVR... that's ONE PIC or ONE AVR... AND THATS IT.
Beyond that an R-Pi has absolutely NO business being in that device at all.
Arduino and R-Pi are great for home built projects but they have no business functioning as the logic board for anything produced in quantity.
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As for a DIY wheel setup, Personally I'm a big proponent of "don't reinvent the wheel" (no pun intended). I mean you can get a whole steering column, wheel and and mounting brackets from a real car from a pick-and-pull for $50... you'll spend more than that on raw materials doing it DIY and you'll probably end up with something that LOOKs pieced together compared to real car parts.
Generic Eric:
Thanks for the replies.
I have some layouts and sketches from LEW's Wheels from way back in the day. They are similar to the videos I posted.
I'm looking forward to building them one day along with a dash and seat.
In the mean time, I'd like to see a dialog around building DIY wheels and learning what it would take to apply FFB to them. :cheers:
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