An upgrade to my driving rig to make it tilt and shake even more.

Also discussed on isrtv in July 2015.

This is a rebuild of my spring-mounted SimVibe overkill rig. I’ve been intending to build a proper 80/20 rig but this is not that; instead I quickly sketched out an idea for an intermediate design so I can at least get some new equipment installed and try out some ideas for the framing. This went from concept to execution in about 5 days, so it’s a mishmash of parts I had on-hand and what I could get fast without spending a lot. There’s Unistrut, 80/20, and a bit of plywood involved.

plans
old rig disassembled
more parts

A major design change is that instead of putting the springs at the corners, they’re moved closer to the seat and arranged in a diamond pattern. This should give the ButtKickers more leverage, and let the entire frame tilt front-to-back and left-to-right more easily. An underlying base of Unistrut keeps them in position and makes it possible to slide the entire rig around on the carpet. The main part of the frame that will be supporting the weight is steel Unistrut as well.

spring layout diagram
diamond base
base with frame
base with frame rear

The front portion holding the controls is a simple frame made out of some spare 10 series (1”) 80/20 extrusions I had lying around from previous projects. It should really be 15 series (1.5”) with more bracing, so it does end up flexing a bit but not enough that I’m worried about anything breaking.

connecting to unistrut
a frames
mounting cspv2
connecting g27 to
controls mounted
entire rig corner
rig with shelf
spring base left detail

The upside-down cup is just there to cover an adjustment bolt for the spring mount, which ended up in a prime clothes-snagging location.

Of course the day after I order the parts for this I finally get the ship notice for my AccuForce steering wheel. I considered waiting to build a sturdier rig before mounting it, but then about a nanosecond later decided to go for it – so off comes the G27 and on goes the AF.

accuforce mounted
rig with accuforce

Yes, I put an AccuForce onto 10-series 80/20, and yes it does flex – however the flex is mostly due to the extrusions in the frame twisting rather than bending, so the resulting movement is just left-to-right and is (to me) basically imperceptible when I have the DK2 on and can’t see it moving around.

I also finally set up some speakers. I’d been using full-ear headphones but it’s always difficult when giving a demo because the person wearing them can’t hear anyone else in the room, and with the DK2 VR headset you have to be sure to put the equipment on and off in the right order, and so on. So I grabbed some old speakers, amps, etc. and fashioned some stands out of whatever was on-hand.

front speaker shelf
rig with front speakers from rear
rig with front speakers
entire rig with speakers

The final result shakes and tilts and flexes a lot, even more than it feels like while wearing the VR headset. The Geko G-seat and AccuForce also cause you to throw your weight around, which makes everything tilt and bounce even more.