Needing a powerful wiper motor for my sim.

Are some wiper motors stronger than others? The reason I ask is that my iRacing addiction is getting workse and I'm now looking at DIYing a full motion sim cockpit, like this

The wiper motors are basically being used as robotic servos, it's a cheap way to get 2 - 6 degrees of motion.

Anyhoo, that brings me to the question of where should I look for a beefy wiper motor? 18 wheelers? City buses?

Damn, that looks like fun.

I took a look at some of the full motion, DIY home built as you've suggested. I'd personally stay away. Too many are made without proper structural support and either 'bounce' too much, or could fail resulting in damage to the occupant or equipment.

I'm in the simulation business and long ago the industry moved away from motion, not because it's hard or expensive (both of which are true) but because many studies have concluded the minimal gain you get in simulation from motion vs non-motion is less than improving the realism of the user interface, in this instance the cockpit of the car. Some will argue that commercial aircraft trainers run motion, and that's because of the relatively low g maneuvers they make. In a race car, as in a fighter jet the lateral and forward accel/decel can be much greater than the sense the addition of motion can give you. Personally, I would invest in creating a simulator out of the cockpit of a car, fully enclosing the occupant , and removing all visual queues they are in a room, i.e. enclose the occupants full field of view within the sim by placing monitors around their field of view. You'd be surprised how easy it is to trick your mind into 'feeling' motion when there is none when you remove all visual queues to the contrary...

You'd be surprised how easy it is to trick your mind into 'feeling' motion when there is none when you remove all visual queues to the contrary...

which is when you need to remember to keep a bucket close by...

Raze, thank you for your thoughtful post. After reading it I Googled "motion simulator research" and what you say is correct. The topic was interesting reading as my Masters Thesis was also performance of a simulated work task.

For reference, here's an excellent article on (flight) motion simulators with some decision analysis: http://www.hqda.army.mil/ari/pdf/TR1176.pdf

For $150 I think I'll probably still build the motor controllers and add motion to my rig, if only for the "wow" factor :)

I'll let you all know how it works out.

Maybe add some bass shakers for tactile feedback and call it an event.

OKk after watching the triple screen in the video that looks like way to much fun. Plus with 23' monitors being super cheap and 32 inch LCD's even cheaper how much computer horsepower does that take.

I

wearymicrobe wrote: OKk after watching the triple screen in the video that looks like way to much fun. Plus with 23' monitors being super cheap and 32 inch LCD's even cheaper how much computer horsepower does that take. I

I already have the triple screens - what it takes is (a) softTH (Google it) or (b) an ATI Eyefiniti based graphics card (which at $100 for the card is the route I chose).

That monitor setup is un freakin belieavable. The motion - eehhhh maybe not. Definitely has the wow factor but if my real car moved like that I'd be buying shocks and struts.

How many autocrosses can you run for that much $$?

The issue I see with the use of motion is the game really needs to be set up for it as well. If you watch the video @ 1:14:-- the driver is rounding a left and take the kerbing the screens show it but the seat stays static, yet it pitches 2* for a shift change. I would invest in a video room built from a retired Cup Car personally ;)

Throw away "real" racing seat, some square tubing and a MIG, an xBox360, 65" LCD TV, 1000w Denon Amplifier, some bass shakers, some spare time and your favorite console racing game makes for a pretty good time!

Here's a pic of my first attempt:

ww wrote: Throw away "real" racing seat, some square tubing and a MIG, an xBox360, 65" LCD TV, 1000w Denon Amplifier, some bass shakers, some spare time and your favorite console racing game makes for a pretty good time! Seat is rich...Corinthian...leather... $30 at the Ladies Parking Lot aka the junkyard. Here's a pic of my first attempt:

NIce! Looks like the "Playseat" brand, only better :)

Here's my first attempt. Height and length of everything (seat, screen, wheel) are adjustable. 3 x 21" monitors;, bought from Craigslist. Old pic, I now have a Fanatec wheel and a homebrew set ofthese pedals