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Think I've found a good steering wheel integration design... opinions needed.
garwil:
I'd have to agree with bkenobi that having somewhere to stash the wheel/pedals would be a nice/important touch.
What I meant about having the wheel supported from the top and the bottom is probably best explained with a diagram... but I drew one and I realised that trying to slide the "base" of the wheel back under the CP would mean you'd end up with the wheel at crotch height as the bottoms of the joysticks and other CP internals would be in the way. I'm sure there's a line on the crapMAME pages somewhere about penis driving! ;D
On the subject of PC wheels, can you recommend any in particular or point me in the direction of someone who sells them in the UK? I've had a look around online and only seem to be able to find out of stock stuff on Amazon or wheels for the PS2 or Xbox.
Turnarcades:
--- Quote from: garwil on October 26, 2009, 06:41:59 pm ---I'd have to agree with bkenobi that having somewhere to stash the wheel/pedals would be a nice/important touch.
What I meant about having the wheel supported from the top and the bottom is probably best explained with a diagram... but I drew one and I realised that trying to slide the "base" of the wheel back under the CP would mean you'd end up with the wheel at crotch height as the bottoms of the joysticks and other CP internals would be in the way. I'm sure there's a line on the crapMAME pages somewhere about penis driving! ;D
On the subject of PC wheels, can you recommend any in particular or point me in the direction of someone who sells them in the UK? I've had a look around online and only seem to be able to find out of stock stuff on Amazon or wheels for the PS2 or Xbox.
--- End quote ---
Hence the intention of making it fully removable - having any kind of fixed wheel assembly would mean either a monstrosity of a mounting mechanism and tons of spare internal space. Creating a viable storage option once unclamped may be viable though if I play around with the dimensions a bit. I may end up building it to my existing sketches first to test the practicality of the design, then sell it to a friend once I've made notes and go back to the drawing board once I've been able to assess the results 'in the flesh'.
With regards to wheels, most PS2 wheels are USB and work fine on a PC, which opens up your selection somewhat. I have 3 different wheels I may use for various projects but the main contenders are between the first-generation PS2 Gran Turismo force feedback wheel and the Tevion modular wheel kit, which very handily has a seperate gearstick unit, pedals and even a seperate handbrake unit that would allow easy cabinet integration and be great for racing games with more emphasis on simulation. I intend to run a PS2 in mine for Crazy Taxi and Gran Turismo 4, though I may still create a sit-down or enclosed cockpit cab for the hell of it and keep it at the workshop just for console racers.
--- Quote ---I personally consider having a bunch of panels or other components sitting around with no home just as bad as having too many controls on the CP. The big problem I see here is that there is no "home" for the wheel and pedals once you are ready to switch back to a normal setup. I think you need to be able to:
unclamp the wheel
put it and the pedals next to the PC
shut the door (without unplugging even)
If you can make that happen, I'd say you have a winner.
--- End quote ---
The wheels I have all have clamp mechanisms with easy removal, so all this would be a case of is increasing the gap between the PC and keyboard shelf, or ditching the keyboard shelf altogether as I'm not that bothered about it. That way the PC shelf could be made to go a bit deeper too and both the pedals and wheel could be stored inside. The storage issue will probably not be a problem anyway as this is going in my games room which will have storage for these kinds of things anyway.
garwil:
Cheers mate, I'll look into some PS2 wheels!
Turnarcades:
After discussing the ideas here a customer has approached me and asked us to build a cabinet for them, so this 'project on paper' is now being tested in reality as we are going off my initial design as shown above. The dimensions for the overall size are loosely based on the proportions of the UAII cabinet to accomodate a 27" monitor the customer has already purchased. Construction is well underway so here are some pics of the build in progress:
This shows the cabinet cut, assembled and with the drawer test fitted before being shaped:
This shows the drawer mechanism close-up, with the PC shelf (fixed) and keyboard drawer above it:
This shows it cut to shape, with the corners taken off to reduce the shelf weight that protrudes and leave an area just wide enough for the steering wheel unit:
And here shows the drawer framework and runners. The driving shelf fits between two thick runners, with a solid rear stopper and a couple of roller catches to hold it in whilst closed, and with 4 catches on the front edge to hold the shelf firmly whilst pulled out to the exact shelfdepth needed to fit the steering unit:
The coming week will see the cabinet sanded and painted now the drawer mechanisms have been tested, and I will try and get some comparison shots done with a steering wheel test fitted.
Turnarcades:
Not had chance to post much until now with all the Christmas orders, but for anyone curious as to how this would turn out here are a few pics of the finished cabinet shell (the customer will be fitting the internal electronics themselves):
The 'driving shelf' mechanism shown fully retracted and fully engaged for play:
And finally a shot of the control panel with the shelf engaged, to give an impression of the space available, which was set according to the wheel unit's dimensions: