I'm interested in using the motor kit for a 737 control column in P3D/MSFS, the most important part for me is to be able to simulate trim adjustments accurately and the 'heavyness' of controls - is this currently supported by the software or is further development needed?
I think it should be possible to simulate the "heaviness" using the inertia/damper/friction combination. Trim is also not a problem if the sim supports native FFB. I do not know how well P3D supports FFB, for MSFS, XPForce plugin should allow for pretty good FFB. The mechanics for the yoke should be interesting :) To summarize - out of the box experience should be pretty good and some improvements will be definitely possible to implement via firmware updates with your feedback.
Are you aware if anyone has tested the motor kit with Prosim? controls communicate with Prosim and not directly with the sim, an interface may be needed to drive the motor kit. I assume that the software is for configuration only and doesn't need to be running?
Not yet, this endeavor is in quite an early stage. I'm planning to implement an API to directly send requested torques to the device. That will open up many capabilities to interface external software with the device. Yeah, the GUI software is a configuration front end, all the processing is done in device firmware.
Hi @walmis , first of all great job! Flight simmers community really needed a FFB device! Since I'm quite proficient in mechanics and electronic stuff, I'm very interested in buying the Kit. Can you please recap of what is included in the kit and how I can buy it?
yes, I noticed there are two motors and a controller, but in another picture I see a different motor size... So was wondering if is there an option to order different types of motors...
Hi @eaf51_havebug ! Yes the motor pictures are featured in the showcase. The whole thing is plug and play, you only need to attach motors to your mechanics and calibrate axis range.
@7hoshino The Rhino uses the 57 type motors. A base with the larger motors is on my roadmap, but meanwhile the larger ones are available as a kit to anyone willing to build mechanics of their own.
what are the main wear and tear problems for ffb in general? For normal sticks I'm guessing springs and cam bearings and stuff like that, but what's the main worry for ffb?
I can't think of any actually, there are no wearing parts (Apart for the leather boot on the Rhino LOL). Bearings and motors should last a lifetime if driven within specs. A blown MOSFET could be one failure point, but that should not happen normally.
Gearing helps a lot, since it multiplies the torque directly - for example 5:1 gearing will generate 5Nm with 1Nm motor.
Gearing of course lowers the speed the stick can move itself, but does that have a meaningful effect when you're just trying to generate force right then and there?