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Recent PostsNow that I think about it... I believe Buttons on the wheel, was one reason why I didnt start
building the device, early on. Mostly, because of the desire to play Spy Hunter properly.
Today, things are a little different. You can get pretty good Wireless interfaces / Wireless controllers.
As such, you could make a wheel that had all of the wireless electronics, self contained, within the center
of the wheel.
One thing about Spy Hunter... is that you NEED a very strong wheel to play it properly. You see... in order to
be able to Bash the Armored cars off of the road... you have to turn the wheel as quickly as possible.
The game actually Calculates the acceleration of your Wheel-Turn.. as well as the Degree/Amount of turn...
and combines that with the data of how fast your car is going, and all of the same data... against the baddies car.
If the you and the baddie bumped at the same time... but he had more "Acceleration" in his wheel turn...
then he would "Win" the exchange... and your car would be bounced away.. instead of you sending him
off the road.
In order for the wheel to handle this level of Stress... they created one of the most Durable wheel assemblies, that
Ive ever seen. There are two CM thick metal arms, that each have a thick 1" diameter Rubber Bumper on them.
When you turn the wheel to the end of its travel... the rubber bumper hits a Trapezoidal shaped metal shape... stopping
the wheel from turning any further. The Rubber Bumper absorbs most of the Impact forces... preventing
damages to the metal "Stop-Block". And those CM thick metal arms... are super strong, with Zero flex, and there is
no way that a human could bend them, no matter how hard that you slam the wheel.
There were however... two issues with the wheel design.
1) The Centering Spring method that it used, wasnt perfect. Eventually the springs would lose some of their tension... and
the wheel wouldnt always return to the exact center of the wheel. This really isnt that big of an issue, because you are
never removing your Grip from the wheel... and are constantly steering, evading things.
2) The Assemblies used higher Tooth Gear sets, and a higher resolution POT... to give much greater
analog control values (ranges). The smaller teeth on the gears... wasnt an issue... until some assembly screws
got loose... and then the teeth didnt line up 100%. Once that happened... the misaligned teeth Grinded into each
other.. and wore down, and or broke some Gear-Teeth.
If the Arcade Op kept up on Maintenance... then the thing probably would have lasted forever. But, because an
Arcade OP is a very busy person... it was common for such a thing to end up happening. It might have took a
good 5 years for those Assembly screws to work their way loose... but once it happened, the gear wear and destruction,
probably took place in less than 2 months time.
As far as Direct Drive goes... The only direct drive wheel that I dealt with (As an Arcade Manager / Repair dude), was
on the Atari "Race Driving" sit down arcade machine. It used a MASSIVE motor, that was like the size of a Washer/Dryer
motor. I think it weighed 50 lbs. Was like 1ft long, and +9 inches in diameter. It was a Brushed Motor... so you had to
replace the Carbon Blocks, every decade (or longer, depending on usage).
That particular wheel... had a decent amount of Magnetic Resistance / friction... when you turned the wheel... even when
it wasnt powered on. Looking into the motor, there were like 100 contact pads on the motor itself, that the Carbon Blocks
rode over. You could "Feel" resistance of each of those spots, as you turned the wheel... even when the wheel wasnt
powered.
It definitely couldnt have been used to play a game like Super-Sprint... where you have to Spin the wheel as fast as possible,
let it free-spin for like 4 turns.. before stopping it with your hands, at the correct car angle. Way too much friction, for
free-spinning type games.
Maybe the motors in the modern PC wheels... dont have nearly as much resistance. Maybe they use Brushless motors.
Not sure.
building the device, early on. Mostly, because of the desire to play Spy Hunter properly.
Today, things are a little different. You can get pretty good Wireless interfaces / Wireless controllers.
As such, you could make a wheel that had all of the wireless electronics, self contained, within the center
of the wheel.
One thing about Spy Hunter... is that you NEED a very strong wheel to play it properly. You see... in order to
be able to Bash the Armored cars off of the road... you have to turn the wheel as quickly as possible.
The game actually Calculates the acceleration of your Wheel-Turn.. as well as the Degree/Amount of turn...
and combines that with the data of how fast your car is going, and all of the same data... against the baddies car.
If the you and the baddie bumped at the same time... but he had more "Acceleration" in his wheel turn...
then he would "Win" the exchange... and your car would be bounced away.. instead of you sending him
off the road.
In order for the wheel to handle this level of Stress... they created one of the most Durable wheel assemblies, that
Ive ever seen. There are two CM thick metal arms, that each have a thick 1" diameter Rubber Bumper on them.
When you turn the wheel to the end of its travel... the rubber bumper hits a Trapezoidal shaped metal shape... stopping
the wheel from turning any further. The Rubber Bumper absorbs most of the Impact forces... preventing
damages to the metal "Stop-Block". And those CM thick metal arms... are super strong, with Zero flex, and there is
no way that a human could bend them, no matter how hard that you slam the wheel.
There were however... two issues with the wheel design.
1) The Centering Spring method that it used, wasnt perfect. Eventually the springs would lose some of their tension... and
the wheel wouldnt always return to the exact center of the wheel. This really isnt that big of an issue, because you are
never removing your Grip from the wheel... and are constantly steering, evading things.
2) The Assemblies used higher Tooth Gear sets, and a higher resolution POT... to give much greater
analog control values (ranges). The smaller teeth on the gears... wasnt an issue... until some assembly screws
got loose... and then the teeth didnt line up 100%. Once that happened... the misaligned teeth Grinded into each
other.. and wore down, and or broke some Gear-Teeth.
If the Arcade Op kept up on Maintenance... then the thing probably would have lasted forever. But, because an
Arcade OP is a very busy person... it was common for such a thing to end up happening. It might have took a
good 5 years for those Assembly screws to work their way loose... but once it happened, the gear wear and destruction,
probably took place in less than 2 months time.
As far as Direct Drive goes... The only direct drive wheel that I dealt with (As an Arcade Manager / Repair dude), was
on the Atari "Race Driving" sit down arcade machine. It used a MASSIVE motor, that was like the size of a Washer/Dryer
motor. I think it weighed 50 lbs. Was like 1ft long, and +9 inches in diameter. It was a Brushed Motor... so you had to
replace the Carbon Blocks, every decade (or longer, depending on usage).
That particular wheel... had a decent amount of Magnetic Resistance / friction... when you turned the wheel... even when
it wasnt powered on. Looking into the motor, there were like 100 contact pads on the motor itself, that the Carbon Blocks
rode over. You could "Feel" resistance of each of those spots, as you turned the wheel... even when the wheel wasnt
powered.
It definitely couldnt have been used to play a game like Super-Sprint... where you have to Spin the wheel as fast as possible,
let it free-spin for like 4 turns.. before stopping it with your hands, at the correct car angle. Way too much friction, for
free-spinning type games.
Maybe the motors in the modern PC wheels... dont have nearly as much resistance. Maybe they use Brushless motors.
Not sure.
icon) and optional height/width modifiers.
