Xcelerator - Xbox driving cab

[theCoder]

< original text lost in the hard drive crash of '07 > 

... I said something imaginative and thought provoking I'm sure.  Original concept drawing below.

[leapinlew]

Awesome! This will be something to see. I'll watch this with a lot of interest.

You building this just big enough for 1 person or are you considering linking multiple systems? Racing alone is fun, but racing others is a blast.

Can't wait to watch it unfold.

[Crafty]

You are well ahead of me on this project. I will be watching with great interest...

I got delayed in building a driving cabinet because I fell upon a Crusin USA Jamma Cab that set me back a little bit. (Cant keep anyone off it at the moment - see picture)
I have to agree that a driving cabinet sure passes the time, and even though mine only has the one game it is a real hoot.

Keep the posts coming as it will keep me motivated and also I hope with your good grace to borrow some of your ideas...

[theCoder]

You building this just big enough for 1 person or are you considering linking multiple systems?

This will be a 1 seater.  I thought about making a 2 station system, but I want it small, cozy, loud, and engulfing.  A 2 seater might be a little too open for what I'm shooting for.  I'm planning on mounting a lan port somewhere on the exterior for linked multiple system play.  If I do a good job with the design/blueprints, maybe it will be a slam dunk making a second unit to sit side-by-side.

... I fell upon a Crusin USA Jamma Cab that set me back a little bit.

What kind of shape is it in, and, if you don't mind me asking, how much did it set you back? (don't worry, you're wife's not going to read this.)

[GadgetGeek]

When I first saw the sketch, the "yellow" on the drawing looked like an air-bag.  Now that is taking your driving sim a little too far!

[theCoder]

Seat Purchase

Today I picked up a nice seat.  It took a few hours searching my local wrecking yard.  In my research someone recommended going with an older model seat because they have flat mounting brackets, making them easier to mount than newer ones.  So, I was in search of a dark (my cab will be dark green), sporty seat with flat mounting brackets.  All I could seem to come up with were light blue, light tan, or pimped out maroon crushed velvet.  Also, most all were rotted from the sun and rain.  I really didn

[NightGod]

Shoulda bought two seats in case you end up making that second unit-going to be a nightmare trying to find another one to match two months down the line...

[Crafty]

... I fell upon a Crusin USA Jamma Cab that set me back a little bit.

What kind of shape is it in, and, if you don't mind me asking, how much did it set you back? (don't worry, you're wife's not going to read this.)

Well it appears in pretty good shape...
There is some minor screen burn in the top left corner, (apparently common with these units as the logo displays fairly regularly) 50" Rear Projection Screen
The Screen is probably 5/10 but the rest is 8/10.
The steering wheel is a happs active drive (Or something similar) and its really fun to play. I had Crusin USA on the N64 and it was nowhere near as fun. There is just something about sitting in front of a big screen steering wheel in hand, gear shift in the other, racing.
If and when the screen craps out I will replace it with a more standard size unit and modify the unit the Rear Projection currently sits in to size.
As for cost it set me back $450 Australian Dollars, which at the time seemed a lot but Ive already spent countless hours playing it in the last month...
Secondly a gutted Ridge Racer Cabinet was purchased by myself prior to this cabinet for $200 so overall, I'm happy with the price.

[theCoder]

Shoulda bought two seats in case you end up making that second unit-going to be a nightmare trying to find another one to match two months down the line...

Good call.  I just went and picked up the drivers side seat.  I forgot to mention, if you need just one, get the passenger seat because they typically see much less use than the drivers seat.  Even if I don't use it in another cab, it is darn comfortable as a gaming chair.  My daughter prefers it over the $49 gaming rocker chair.

[theCoder]

Hacking a Fanatec Speedster 3 Wheel

I want to mount the wheel in my cab flush to the dash.  With a little encouragement from markvp's Pole Position project, I decided to take the plunge.  Ultimately I needed to remove all functional components from the housing then come up with a way to mount it into a flat dash board.  This write-up describes the steps involved in dismantling a Fanatec wheel. 

Remove Bottom Plate
The bottom section is held on with 11 Philips head screws.  Remove all screws and remove the cover.




Mark Connectors
There are two PCB's inside, each with lots of small connectors.  Using a Sharpie pen, make various marks on the connectors and their mating sockets.  I sometimes did one line, two, or three.  Sometimes on the corners, sometimes on the long edge, sometimes on the short.  Just make them different.  I made a mistake by not marking the plug portion.  When I removed my first plug, I noticed it was not marked.  I had only marked the PCB and socket.  Make sure to bring the pen all the way to the top (near the wires).  BEFORE YOU REMOVE ANY WIRES, take a couple of pictures, from different angles.  This way, if you can't figure out your markings, it will help in the re-assembly.  Also, make sure the pictures are not blurry before you proceed.  Using the macro mode of your camera usually helps for pictures like this.


Remove Connectors
Gently remove the plugs.  Some require a little persuasion, but they do come off.  I had the best luck by just grabbing it with my thumb and forefinger and pulling up while wiggling.  With all wires unplugged, you will need to cut a couple of larger wire ties to separate the wire bundles.  The picture only shows the green PCB, but you need to mark the wires and remove the connectors for the brown PCB as well.  I left a few connectors on that go to other components not associated with the main assembly.


Remove Wheel
The wheel is held in place with one large Philips head screw located on the bottom side of the steering wheel, where it goes into the housing.  Remove this screw.  Gently wiggle the wheel while pulling it off.  Once it initially separates, feed the wires through the hole as you pull the wheel.  Do not pull too tightly or else you will break a wire or connection. 




Remove Main Assembly
Removing the wheel exposes 4 screws that hold the metal housing in place.  Remove these screws and the main assembly comes off.




Rumblers
There are two rumble motors mounted in the wheel.  You do not necessarily need to get at them, but if you do, you remove the silver ring, then three screws behind that, then the two green strips on the bottom portion of the wheel.  The center plate can now be lifted.  The wires are kind of tight so don't lift it too high.  I was initially disappointed when I didn't see the rumblers when I removed the bottom.  I'm planning on mounting a series of them in the seat.  I was very pleased when I found them in the center portion of the wheel.  Each motor takes two wires, one pair is red/black and the other is blue/green.  Each pair has a 2-conductor plug that plugs into the green PCB.  These two sets of wires are wire-tied together near the PCB.  I'm planning on cutting these wires, using them to power a small relay that will drive the series of other rumblers I hack from other controllers.  In general, there is no need for you to go into the wheel unless you need to hack the buttons or replace the rumbler motors.



Fabricate a mounting plate.
The mounting plate needs to be made of thin metal, of a similar geometry as the area circled in the picture.  The plate will be attached to the backside of the dashboard.  I'll post pictures of the completed plate and dashboard interface when completed.

[Crafty]

Thanks for the detailed photos and description, you are inspiring me to hack apart my steering wheel controller when I get to my driving cabinet...

[markrvp]

I forgot to mention that you still need that black circular piece of plastic in your picture above. 

The project looks great!!

[Santoro]

Sound like a cool project, can't wait to see the finished product.

[theCoder]

Seat Effects
I really want to max out the sensory stimulus on this project.  The drivers seat will provide two physical effects.  Both involve vibrations.  This entry describes a low frequency sound effect driven by the audio of the game and an array of rumbler motors driven by the rumbler outputs of the controller.

ButtKicker
In my research for this project I came across a thing called a bass shaker.  It is basically a subwoofer minus the paper cone.  Instead of creating sound waves in the air, they produce sound vibrations in whatever they are physically mounted to.  The net result is the chest thumping vibrations (or rear-end in my case) you get while cranking up the volume without blowing out your family or neighbors.  The Guitammer Company has a bass shaker product called the ButtKicker.



http://www.thebuttkicker.com/ButtKicker%20Gamer_home.html

It comes with its own 100-watt amplifier!  They regularly sell for $100 plus shipping, but I picked on up on Amazon for $39 ($89 minus $50 rebate plus free shipping).  I mounted it inside the chair, on the lower frame.

Seat Rumblers
I'm not sure if anyone else has done this, but I knew I wanted to do it when I first started brain storming this project - get the rumbler effect out of my hands and into my seat; just like a real car.  I'm a big fan of buying discounted or used electrical components to hack-up and reuse components from.  A discount outlet was selling discontinued PS2 controllers for $6.00.  I picked up three. 



Each controller has a low intensity and a high intensity eccentric motor. 



This got me three rumbler motors for the low effect, and three for the high effect.  Now the trick was how to drive three motors from the controller signal originally designed for one.  I assumed that the motors were 5vdc because that is the standard USB signal.  I decided to use the controllers 5 volt rumble signal to drive a relay, and use the output side of the relay to drive the three motors using a more beefy power supply (hacked transformer from Goodwill - $2.00)



I used two 5vdc relays from Radio Shack.  The circuit above was doubled, one for the low intensity motors and one for the high.  There are three incoming wire pairs, low and high plus & minus 5vdc from the controller to drive the relays and plus & minus 5vdc from the hacked transformer to drive the motors.



I really appreciate having the zipper on the back of the seat.  It really came in handy when mounting this stuff.  I epoxied the motors to large Popsicle sticks to make them easy to mount to the chair.  Each motor/stick is mounted against the foam rubber, held in place by the seat springs and hot glue.  If I don't get enough sensation from this layout, I'll try adding 6 more motors.  If that doesn't work, I'll try to track down a Lazy-Boy vibrating massage motor assembly.  I put quick connectors on the relay board and brought them to the lower end where the zipper closes.  This will allow me to mount and connect the seat without having to solder in-place. 





A number of ideas were recommended by my co-workers for this aspect of the project.  One important consideration was I did not want AC motors in the seat.  If I have a failure with a 5vdc circuit, no problem.  If I have a failure with 110 volt AC, in the back of a foam rubber seat, I might lose my house & family to fire. 

With the zipper closed you can't tell there is all this vibrating hardware mounted in the chair.  So there you have it, low vibrations when driving in the grass, high vibrations when driving on gravel, and rock'n vibrations from the sound system when you wreck.  I can't wait to try it out !

[Luigi]

That's an amazing idea.....I'll consider it when I start to build my driving cab

[Glaine]

Wow, awesome project. Keep us posted.

[brack]

I had a similar idea with the rumble packs that I know I won't get to for quite a while.  I also have something like this that I wanted to use.

http://www.crutchfield.com/S-QiPuv6tKMYZ/cgi-bin/ProdView.asp?i=127SK1S&cc=01&g=229650

Since I likely won't be using the idea, I figured I'd throw it out there for someone to use.  Can't wait to see the project progress.  Maybe it will inspire me to get to my sit down some day.

[theCoder]

... I also have something like this that I wanted to use...

That audio controller looks cool.  I'm not sure if I can use it on this project, but thanks for the input. 

I really want this thing to be an experience to play.  To that end, I'm planning on:

1)  Putting rumble motors in the seat to get the low and high vibration feedback from the game. (done)
2)  Put a bass shaker in the seat to get the low frequency vibrations from the sound system without having to crank the volume. (done)
3)  Limit visual distractions by making the doorway openings small.  Hopefully this will keep down the visual "noise" you get with other stuff and people in the room.
4)  Put in a 100 to 200 watt stereo system.  I'll probably go with an old school, 3 way speaker system.  You can get very high quality speaker stacks (12-16" woofer, 6" midrange, and tweeter) from Goodwill for $20-40 a pair.  I was considering the newer 5.1 systems, but I'm not sure about the quality of the speakers.  A friend recommended using carpet on the inside walls to improve the acoustics.  I'm thinking of having the woofers behind the seat, the midranges down at the pedals, and the tweeters near the top of the monitor. 
5)  Using a very comfortable chair.  I understand why commercial driving cabs have hard plastic seats (wear & cleanliness), but mine won't get 1/20th of the use, and I can clean the seat myself.  Small price to pay for comfort.  (done)

I NEED YOUR INPUT
We're a creative bunch of people.  What other systems might I put into this thing to increase the driving experience?  Lets think crazy, laughable, grossly impractical.  Or maybe even cool and functional.

[Glaine]

Impracticle? Put in all the car functions you really don't need: headlights on the front of the machine (point the cab right into the living room so you can blind everyone), put a musical car horn in (with truckers pull-chain), rear-view mirror (with fuzzy dice) and side mirrors, turning signals, sun roof, small fans to simulate wind blowing in your hair (don't know how you could tell it when to activate realistically).

As far as somewhat practicle things that might be nice:
Hand brake, 6 gear shifter with reverse, extra buttons somewhere easy to reach to map to specific games needing radio and view buttons, light gun for player two (I can't think of any simultaneous driving/lightgun games, but it would be awesome), 2 or 3 part construction (meaning you can take the monitor of seat section apart from the main body to move it around).

[original_maxlamer]

While we are on the topic or whacky ideas for driving cabs why not.....

- Add a "car phone". hands free, or old skool handset "like the original car phones"

- Maybe audio controls for the cab controled by a car sterio unit, or even load the game DVD's from the sterio if you wanted a real challenge

- Cup holders would be easy and in keeping with the theme if sourced from a a car

- Cigarette lighter socket so you can run 12volt car accessories

- Interior light out of a car would work nicely, or even neons if you prefered

- Air conditioning, all you would need is a small fan/heater blowing in through the dash vents (sourced from a car again)

- Make the roof of the cabinet retractable like a convertable/roadster roof

[arcadefever]

  that is a very nice project
good luck
 

[gamecreature]

Add a tray from a drive in (like "Sonic") so you have someplace to put your snacks while you're driving.

[Crafty]

Crazy Idea

How about some ability to when you select rear view in the game what you actually need to do is look in to a real rearview mirror because the image is behind you on another screen..

Dont know if is is feasible or even practical but it sure sounds real....

[theCoder]

Thanks for the input.  Feel free to contribute more.  In a month or two I'll consolidate all ideas and write up the good, bad, and ugly.  Some of which will make it's way into this build, others of which are fun to laugh at.

[theCoder]

Pedals
A few weeks ago I picked up a used set of Happ pedals on eBay ($28 US delivered.)  The seller said they came from a Crus'n USA cab.  Today I wired them up to the Fanatec pedal assembly cable.  I really lucked out because the resistance on both the Fanatec Speedster 3 pedals and the used Happ pedals are 5K ohms.   This really simplified the job.  I just to needed document which wires from the Fanatec cable went to which posts of the pots, then solder them to the appropriate wires on the Happ pedal pots. 

These Happ pedals are stout!  Notice the heavy duty springs in the second picture.  You can't see it but the rack & pinion gears are also made out of metal.  This puppy is going to be able to handle lots of abuse, unlike the plastic Fanatec pedals. 

On this post, there is little text for each picture, so I've just attached them (saves on the page size).  On more detailed posts, I embed the images within the text.  Anyway, Pic1 is the original, as purchased Happ pedal assembly;  Pic2 shows the internals of the pedals;  Pic3 (sorry for the focus) is the internals of the Fanatec pedals; and Pic 4 is the Happ pedal assembly with the Fanatec cable wired and ready to plug in to the wheel.

FREE to good home - Original Fanatec pedal assembly, minus the cable.  You pay shipping from 97321.  It will probably be somewhere around $10.  Drop me an PM if interested.

[masamunex]

Along with the different sized weights the PS2 rumble motors have they are also powered by different voltages. So I'm unsure if you will feel the dramatic difference in force feedback that you pursue.

[dweebs0r]

Great job on the pedals.  Those are going to be perfect.  This project is looking great.

-D

[Lutus]

Will the seat be adjustable and I didn't notice if anyone else mentioned it but:

- Air freshener

-Turn key to start up the whole dealio!!!

[dweebs0r]

-Turn key to start up the whole dealio!!!

I like that idea.

-D

[theCoder]

Will the seat be adjustable and I didn't notice if anyone else mentioned it but:
...Turn key to start up the whole dealio!!!

The seat will be adjustable both forward/backward & recline.  I'm a hair short of 6 foot tall, so I'll mount it all the way back minus one "click" of the seat (one more for any really tall friends that come over).  This will make it so it can move forward another 9" for small kids.

On the ignition switch topic...  I thought of this, and have already drawn up the circuit.  I'm concerned that it would confuse people however.  In the off position, all power is off.  In the center position, the power strip is energized.  In the "start" position, the Xbox reset button is pressed.  The power strip is energized when the key is in either the center position or the start position.  So the basic operation is:  sit down, turn key to start position then let go.  Key springs back to center position.  All systems power up including Xbox.  Navigate to prefered game and play.  When sick of playing a game, and want another, turn switch to start position which powers down the Xbox.  (With a mod'ed Xbox the reset is the only way to exit a game.)  turn switch to start position again to boot Xbox.  When done playing, turn switch to start position to power down Xbox, then turn key to off position to kill all power.  The custom circuit will need to isolate the two different systems via relays.  This would be pretty cool, but will a guest be able to figure out to turn the key to the start position to exit a game?  Is it worth the additional time and money for a little "gee wiz" factor.  I'm leaning more towards a well labeled toggle switch and reset button.  I could compomise and just use the ignition switch for the main power switch and have a reset button to cycle the xbox (no custom circuit required).  What do you think?

[Lutus]

Turn switch for power and a button for reset would do both...

"Oh sweet, you turn it on with a key!!!"

and

"How do I go to another game?  Oh, just press this button, got it"

and

"How do I turn this thing off?  Oh, just turn the key, no problem"


 

[clanggedin]

Pressing both triggers and the start and back button will take you back to your dashboard on a modded xbox if you have in-game reset (IGR) turned on. Then you don't have to shut down and restart your Xbox every time you want to switch games.

[theCoder]

Turn switch for power and a button for reset would do both...

Now that I think about it, I'll probably go with the key.  I can just forget to put in the key when the kids forget to do the dishes.

Pressing both triggers and the start and back button will take you back to your dashboard on a modded xbox if you have in-game reset (IGR) turned on.

Thanks, I'll look into it.

[Lutus]

Hacking an Xbox controller and soldering to the buttons is super easy.  You could hack a cheap controller and run all the "reset button combo" into a single switch!

[theCoder]

Hacking an Xbox controller and soldering to the buttons is super easy.  You could hack a cheap controller and run all the "reset button combo" into a single switch!

I was thinking the very same thing.  combine all buttons into a single one.  Actually, I was thinking about hacking into the switches on the steering wheel.  I seem to recall that the first controller used during a single player game is the only one the system recognizes.  If that is the case, I'll have to hack the wheel.  I'd much rather use a second port and hack a cheap controller and leave the wheel alone.  I'll play around with it to see what will work.  Thanks for the recommendation.

[GadgetGeek]

I think working turn signals would be a fun addition.  Or you could have it permanently signaling for a left turn, just like the car in front of me this morning.

[Glaine]

I think working turn signals would be a fun addition.  Or you could have it permanently signaling for a left turn, just like the car in front of me this morning.

If you think its a fun addition that must have been one heckova fun ride then.
I just kindly help those folks get over to the left they seek by pulling up besides them and nudging them to the curb.
PS: Thanks for sharing, that line just seemed LOL funny.

[theCoder]

I'm going for the all out sensory experience.  I think I've got one for the sense of smell.  I can harvest a bunch of 6 month old french fries from under the seat of my car and put them under the seat of the cab.  Ah, that old familiar smell...

I'm hoping to cut wood in the next couple of weeks.  In the mean time I'm picking up more accessories, and playing with the controls.

I found out last night that I can reset games (IGR) from any controller plugged into any port, regardless of which one is "in control" of the game.  Maybe (??) I can get away with not hacking the wheel any more than I already have.  If so, I'll hack up a cheap controller, plug it into port 4, and call it good.

[theCoder]

More Toys
Today after work I dropped by my local wrecking yard and then to the pawn shop for more goodies.

Amplifier
I picked up a 230 watt Pioneer power amplifier for $49 from my local pawn shop.  In the shop, I plugged in my Xbox without a monitor, plugged in a small pair of cheap speakers, hooked the Xbox to the amp, pressed my memorized sequence of down twice, the A twice.  Up came the roar and thunder of the intro to Need For Speed - Most Wanted.  It really lite up the pawn shop with the sound of a car blazing from what felt like front left to back right.  The smile on the pawn shop guys face was priceless.  I can't wait to hear it through a nice set of speakers (still looking) in a space 1/3 the volume of my car.  230 watts of audio plus 100 watts of buttkicker low frequency seat vibration.  This thing is going to rock!  I've now got to rip into it and de-solder the volume pot so I can mount it in the dash.  <<Edit:  Went with a pot between the Xbox and amp, no de-solder required.  Written up on page 2 of this thread. >>  I'm not up for the challenge of putting in a cannibalized radio, hacking in my pot, and an Xbox DVD.  Perhaps on the next project.  Thanks for the suggestion anyway original_maxlamer.

Cab Light
The inside of the cab will likely be dark.  I picked up a dome light to light things up when I need to read something or point out the on-wheel buttons to a friend.  I was thinking about putting one in, and original_maxlamer recommended it as well. The plastic molding has a slight bow to it to match the profile of the car it came from.  I'll grind it all flat.  I suspect it requires 12vdc which I'm planning on having in the cab anyway.  I'll probably paint the molding flat black to match the seat.  << Edit:  Yep, it is 12vdc >>

Air Conditioning Duct
A co-worker friend of mine as well as Glaine & original_maxlamer recommended putting in a fan.  This one makes sense given the closed in nature of the cockpit.  I'll come up with a nice way to mount this register into the dash and put a small CPU fan behind it.  I don't want to pull air from the front compartment of the cab because it will likely be hotter than elsewhere.  I'll probably make a small piece of duct and pull air from just below the dash.  I'm also concerned about the white noise that fans produce, so I might put a resistor in series with the fan to slow it down, making it quieter.  A little soap and water and this will clean up nice. 

Thanks for the compliments and keep those recommendations coming.

[NightGod]

Air Conditioning Duct
A co-worker friend of mine as well as Glaine & original_maxlamer recommended putting in a fan.  This one makes sense given the closed in nature of the cockpit.  I'll come up with a nice way to mount this register into the dash and put a small CPU fan behind it.  I don't want to pull air from the front compartment of the cab because it will likely be hotter than elsewhere.  I'll probably make a small piece of duct and pull air from just below the dash.  I'm also concerned about the white noise that fans produce, so I might put a resistor in series with the fan to slow it down, making it quieter.  A little soap and water and this will clean up nice. 

Just wire in a pot so you can adjust the speed of the fan on the fly (or buy one of those nice light-up fan control units). There are about a million places to go to buy/find info on doing that.