@Steely’s G-Seat: FAQs

By May 20, 2020 May 25th, 2020 G-Seat, Sim Rig

Are you mad? Thinking about building one? Well hopefully I can answer some questions for you

I want to get in touch/ask questions

Use the discord here just for this project (it’s accessible to all). Please don’t PM/random friend me on Facebook.

Alternatively ask a question in the comments and I’ll get back to you & update this page if relevant for all.

Can I buy one from you?

Sorry – no; for a number of reasons (1) I don’t have enough time (2) to provide a “turn-key” G-Seat would require supplying AASD-15 drives + Servo’s. Certainly in NZ to supply this commercially is a hard no. DIY, well that’s your responsibility. They’re industrial units and need to be wired up by someone who knows what they’re doing.

I’m sure someone enterprising will come up with a NZ legal solution that can be offered – won’t be me.

Can I/will I be able buy one from someone else?

Yes. They have to follow the copyright and open source license terms here credit the design so can’t pretend it’s theirs. But are totally okay to supply kits or whole units. But see above ^^^ if they’re supplying those drives as a commercial unit – going to get real messy if anything goes wrong, especially if there are little to no provisions for safety in wiring [transformers, fusing etc]. DIY your own responsibility.

Note: While I’ve been part of the SFX-100 team for documentation, the license terms of this g-seat are *different* to the SFX-100. I am not the designer/creator of the SFX-100 system – that’s @Saxxon66

When would fabrication files be available?

About end of June. I’m waiting for a servo to turn up (shipping this week from China) then I can get the whole lot working in concert and test/ensure it’s all working in harmony. Then I’ll release the files.

So how easy this to build?

It’s not, well not yet anyway. Could potentially be in future – there are a number of areas that require specialist tools (see half way down that post) and fabrication skills, along with potentially some Fusion 360 modelling skills if you need to tweak some parts.

If the SFX-100 is a 3 out of 10. This is a 11 out of 10 on the scale. 10 being hard.

What weight has this been tested upto?

75kg (might be 78kg with the extra covid lbs). No idea what will happen at 80+ kg, it’s reasonable to expect there will be snapping/bending components.

How many hours of testing?

For May 2020 prototype – About 3. I’ll let you know when it gets to 30.

Why are you open sourcing it?

Well (a) I can’t/won’t sell it and (b) thanks to open source I ended up with an epic sim rig in the first place. So (c) giving back to the community.

How much would a build cost?

It would be highly variable depending on the fabrication of the aluminium panels/brackets. I put in a service online in the UK to compare from my NZ supplier and it was an easy 3x. Easily more than a SFX-100 setup.

Control software – how does that work?

So SimFeedback is what I’ve set this up with – it works really well and is quite intuitive. You have simfeedback 0.9 + with 2x arduino’s, 1 for your platform, and 1 for the G-seat. You need a special build of the simfeedback arduino firmware for g-seats; you can get that in the official discord. (it handles home position differently)

I’m sure in time other control systems will come to be. The major thing is with a platform mover you’re going to need 8 independent servo controls.

I’d suggest to support SimFeedback, it works…

EMI?

It’s a thing. No getting away from you’ve got more high voltage cables. What’s happened in my setup? A few disconnects on the 2nd arduino, but repositioning cables resolved it (what the actual f….)

10khz whine?

It’s a thing. You’ve been warned.

Geez; starting to feel like there’s a few obstacles here?

Yep. She’s not easy. I really want to illustrate this isn’t the SFX-100, and this is bloody complicated to build and there’s a good chance you’ll spend a lot of money and have some issues to overcome.

So why?

I’m going to do this only once.

via GIPHY

How does this compare to ??? G-Seat

Sorry, not going to go there. This is not a product advertisement and it’s not a commercial product, so it would be wholly unfair to do a comparison. ??? Make a good product and you can save a whole of ball-ache by just buying something off the shelf (/shipping crate)

How does this compare to a platform mover?

In the case of the SFX-100 which I have it’s complementary. They do different things and are a great combination together (a number of people with G-Seats and Platform Movers say the same thing).

Platform mover is best for : Heave/Roll/Pitch i.e. what the car’s chassis is doing
G-Seat is best for : Sway (Lateral G) and Surge (Accel/Braking G) cueing the G-force effects

If you switch one or the other off you really notice the absence of each.

So does it replicate G-Forces?

No – what it does is provide ‘cueing’ where it provides cues of G-forces would be doing. When you turn left, G-forces push you right, but you don’t really feel the g-forces (to a point..) what you feel is you squishing into the seat on your right side. So the G-Seat does the opposite, instead of you meeting the seat, the seat meets you. For those that have driven and felt those G-Forces it starts cueing your brain into thinking that’s what’s going on and a simulator starts feeling more immersive.

2 Comments

  • Raúl says:

    I respect you wouldn’t like to compare to any other commercial product, but how do you compare it as and standalone solution, running it with and without SFX100 motion platform?

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