Regarding the design of the 6dof Motion Platform: There is nothing super complex about its design. It is modeled after the typical hexapod type design. What is critical however, is deciding on the orientation/layout of the hexapod components. These factors largely determine the size, complexity, and cost of the Motion Platform system. I decided to use a Gearbox/Lever system to drive the hexapod actuators. The main reason for this was ease of construction and low cost. In my case, I purchased a 160:1 dual-reduction gearbox made by Grove Gear. This gearbox incorporates a 1st stage Helical reduction, followed by a 2nd stage Worm reduction. The Worm reduction prevents any “back drive” movement for safety reasons. These gearboxes are very robust, having about 10 times the needed torque requirement. Both the Motion Platform structure and the upper Flight Deck structure are weldments made with steel tubing. The six Actuators are made using thick wall steel tubing, with 1” size steel Rod Ends on each Actuator. I decided to use a 6” radius for the Actuator Lever on the output shaft of the gearbox. There are many ways to design a Hexapod, and the approach that I have taken represents just one way of accomplishing the design and construction of a 6dof Motion Platform. My approach to the design challenge was mainly constrained by my personal resources to build such a system. Fortunately, I have my own personal machine shop, so machining and welding, etc. was not a problem. As far as cost is concerned, I have about $15,000 invested in the motion platform material and system components. This is relatively inexpensive compared to buying a commercial 6dof Motion Platform. My Motion Platform is more of an experiment to see if I could build such a motion system on a “beer budget” that would yield an incremental level of Sim immersion to give a realistic sense of motion for ground/air flight operations using the 737-800 flight model. I am very pleased with the results thus far, and I consider the time and cost worth the investment. The input drive to the gearboxes is accomplished with six Servo motors. These are very powerful servo systems, with high resolution encoders. Each Servo motto is rated at 2.2 KW. The Servo system is controlled by the Thanos AASD-15A Servo Controller, which in my case, is fed by the BFF 6dof Motion Control-software for outputting motion cues from the P3D flight simulator. The Servo system is so powerful that careful “tuning” of the motion cues are required to prevent radical platform movements and related jolts that can induce extreme shock and vibration into the motion platform and related structures. Because people ride in the Sim Cockpit, it is to be considered a “life support system”, with related precautions and safety measures applied anytime the Motion Platform is in a “Powered ON” mode. This type of setup needs to be taken seriously to prevent injury or worse. I never work under the Motion Platform when it is powered is applied to the Servo Systems. When starting and/or shutting down the Motion Platform, I always use a Check List to ensure it is done correctly each time.
a great work .... still thinking of you about yokes!lol! I know the big project day after day get's very hard! I started mine on 2012 and still working on that. I can understand great mate!
Halfway through the video I was still thinking this is an actual professional simulator, and only looking at the comments made me realize this is a private build. Just wow. Impressive on all levels.
I should also mention that when I first started this 737-800 Sim Project, I knew from experience with other big projects, that I wanted to fast-track the Sim build as much as possible. In that regard, I chose Flight Deck Solutions for all the main Panel instruments and MIP structure. Flight Deck Solutions are known for their high quality Sim components and systems. I am proud to be a FDS customer, and from my personal experience, FDS customer service and product reliability is outstanding. I also purchase the FDS Nose Section and Interior Panels. All this gave me a huge head start on the 737-00 Sim construction. Then I got the bright idea to add a 6dof Motion Platform to the Sim. Designing and fabricating the Motion Platform greatly complicated the Sim Project. However, I am now in the final stages of building the Sim, and expect to have it fully completer this year 2020. This has been a 4+ year project.
I've always wanted to have one of these unfortunately my garage isn't big enough. I spent time at flight safety using their full motion gulfstream sims and it was amazing
Regarding FS2020... I learned a long time ago that it’s best to to stick with one solution that works and is reliable. Everyone has their own ideas about such matters. For me, P3D v4.5x has been a fairly stable Sim software for use with the 737-800 flight model Sim-Avionics. I do not plan on touching FS2020 in the near term. Fantastic scenery is great, but for a full-scale 737-800 Sim, flight deck management is the main challenge, and for me, most of the fun. Also, at my location, I have a very slow Internet connection of less than 8 Mbps, which may be a serious restriction using FS2020. Anyway... I have my hands full right now finishing up this Sim, so it is not wise of me to introduce new Sim software into the mix.
Regarding the question on ATC in the video... I enjoy using PilotEdge for real-time ATC. It’s very much like the real ATC environment, and requires serious flight deck management to keep up with the flight, as is the exact same for real world IFR flying in the ATC System. Even more challenging for me personally, is trying to properly fly the 737. I have been in General Aviation for over 30 years. I am Commercial/Instrument pilot, fixed wing and helicopter rated, but flying the 737 has been a real challenge in an actual ATC environment. Especially challenging are short routes in the Los Angeles area, making it difficult to keep up with the aircraft and ATC...😀
Absolutly amazing. Congratulations! Really. It is very impressive by itself but perhaps most impressive is that your flight controls seems to be a cheap logitec joystick. You know what to ask for Christmas. As CPL/Multi/IR, I dream of having a great setup for when I retire. However, I don't dare to dream like you... it is absolutly amazing! Fun days ahead, enjoy!
hello, I'm a student and I plan to make a driving simulator much like this one with 6dof and with geared motors. I would like to know the reference of the motors that you use please, that would help me a lot.
What kind of Gear Motors are you using? I have a Cessna 150 fuselage in my house and have built a small 6dof platform with small servos but have pondered trying to find gear motors that will handle the weight of the fuselage.
Hi, I've been following your project for a while and congratulate you on your excellent achievements. I'm involved in a similar, but smaller scale, project building a Cessna 172 cockpit on a 6DOF motion platform using BFF motion software and X-Plane 11 and would like to ask if you would be willing to share any experience you might have in resolving the problem of platform vibration affecting your projectors ? Did you need to use some form of anti-vibration mounting or damping arrangement? Thank you and thanks for sharing your project in the way that you have. Regards David
This is amazing, could you please show the specs for the motion platform, is it custom build by yourself or bought ready made? Do you have a step by step available anywhere if its made by yourself
Curious if you'll play with Flight Sim 2020 on this? I bet you'll want to wait for a 3rd party to release a study model 737 for you (which I know are being worked on now). Just amazing!!
Curious on your platform and what got you there, would you be willing to share build plans or anything? Building one for myself have the cockpit mostly done. Look forward to more vids!
Hello Sir, I really like your simulator setup and really do enjoy watching your sim flight especially communication with live sim ATC very much! By any chance, would you mind sharing with your audience on how much this entire system cost you and how long did you take to complete this project.
@@shoham11220 Actually, I haven’t received any info regarding to his unit yet! I was told by one of YT audiences that similar unit like his costed around $100K+ .
I apologize for not replying to the comments sooner. I’ll try to answer the questions... Regarding vibration affecting the projectors: After deeply considered the potential problem of vibration and how it might affect the Projectors and Projection Screen frame structure, I decided to use a “truss” type of design using thin wall steel tubing, which I bolted together with 1/4” hardware. The main attach point of the Projector Screen frame system is the FDS Nose Section, which is bolted to the Flight Deck frame structure. This makes for a fairly rigid assembly for support of the projector screen and the projectors, which are located on an upper platform. The main concern was that the projection screen support structure was extended out from the center of the Flight Deck by about 6 feet, which opens the door for low frequency resonant vibrations to develop. To minimize the effect of vibration that might be induced into the projectors, I mounted the three Optoma GT1080HD projectors to a base board made from 3/4” Baltic Birch plywood, which is very stiff, yet light in weight. This base board “floats” on a cushion of foam and is constrained within a steel angle frame structure. This has the effect of eliminating any shock to the projectors, while at the same time, the projectors are held in precise alignment on their mounting board. Any slight movement of the projectors is unnoticed during motion platform movement during a flight. As a side note... The Optoma GT1080HD projectors are of the “bulb type”. I have not had any issues with these projectors in this application as mounted on the Motion Platform. That said, I plan on replacing the GT1080HD projectors with Optoma’s new ZH406ST Laser projectors. These new projectors have the ability to receive 4K input. The laser light source is much more stable compared to the bulb type lighting system. I plan on installing these new projectors in a month or so.
Thank you for your response, it's much appreciated. We are about to start testing projector/screen configurations on our motion platform and plan a similar approach to yours. i.e. a combination of rigid support assembly and vibration-absorbing mountings, but it's also reassuring to see your comment that any slight projector movement is unnoticed during platform movement. Your comments about possible low frequency resonant vibrations due to the screen support structure extending off the platform are noted, and this is something I will bear in mind. Thanks again and best regards
I want to build one for commercial purposes. Have this open for all to experience piloting. Is there any default program in the motion where it can mimick runway imperfections? I thought it is awesome when you speed up for takeoff, the entire sim cabin would shake and bounce like a real aircraft! Where the vibration could throw you up and down left right like riding on a bumpy road. You get what I mean right?
really interested in the details of your 6DOF platform, allot of hard work and learning ..I am just starting to design my building to house my 737 simulator and would love to get in contact
15 grand amazing! I bet you could sell the whole setup for 80 am I wrong? Those race Sims cost 30 grand some of them this is way more impressive. Excellent work.
Regarding the design of the 6dof Motion Platform: There is nothing super complex about its design. It is modeled after the typical hexapod type design. What is critical however, is deciding on the orientation/layout of the hexapod components. These factors largely determine the size, complexity, and cost of the Motion Platform system.
I decided to use a Gearbox/Lever system to drive the hexapod actuators. The main reason for this was ease of construction and low cost. In my case, I purchased a 160:1 dual-reduction gearbox made by Grove Gear. This gearbox incorporates a 1st stage Helical reduction, followed by a 2nd stage Worm reduction. The Worm reduction prevents any “back drive” movement for safety reasons. These gearboxes are very robust, having about 10 times the needed torque requirement.
Both the Motion Platform structure and the upper Flight Deck structure are weldments made with steel tubing. The six Actuators are made using thick wall steel tubing, with 1” size steel Rod Ends on each Actuator. I decided to use a 6” radius for the Actuator Lever on the output shaft of the gearbox.
There are many ways to design a Hexapod, and the approach that I have taken represents just one way of accomplishing the design and construction of a 6dof Motion Platform. My approach to the design challenge was mainly constrained by my personal resources to build such a system. Fortunately, I have my own personal machine shop, so machining and welding, etc. was not a problem. As far as cost is concerned, I have about $15,000 invested in the motion platform material and system components. This is relatively inexpensive compared to buying a commercial 6dof Motion Platform. My Motion Platform is more of an experiment to see if I could build such a motion system on a “beer budget” that would yield an incremental level of Sim immersion to give a realistic sense of motion for ground/air flight operations using the 737-800 flight model. I am very pleased with the results thus far, and I consider the time and cost worth the investment.
The input drive to the gearboxes is accomplished with six Servo motors. These are very powerful servo systems, with high resolution encoders. Each Servo motto is rated at 2.2 KW. The Servo system is controlled by the Thanos AASD-15A Servo Controller, which in my case, is fed by the BFF 6dof Motion Control-software for outputting motion cues from the P3D flight simulator. The Servo system is so powerful that careful “tuning” of the motion cues are required to prevent radical platform movements and related jolts that can induce extreme shock and vibration into the motion platform and related structures.
Because people ride in the Sim Cockpit, it is to be considered a “life support system”, with related precautions and safety measures applied anytime the Motion Platform is in a “Powered ON” mode. This type of setup needs to be taken seriously to prevent injury or worse. I never work under the Motion Platform when it is powered is applied to the Servo Systems. When starting and/or shutting down the Motion Platform, I always use a Check List to ensure it is done correctly each time.
a great work .... still thinking of you about yokes!lol! I know the big project day after day get's very hard! I started mine on 2012 and still working on that. I can understand great mate!
Halfway through the video I was still thinking this is an actual professional simulator, and only looking at the comments made me realize this is a private build. Just wow. Impressive on all levels.
You can actually go to the website that sells the motion platform and they also sell the enclosures. VERY similar to what is actually a certified sim
I should also mention that when I first started this 737-800 Sim Project, I knew from experience with other big projects, that I wanted to fast-track the Sim build as much as possible. In that regard, I chose Flight Deck Solutions for all the main Panel instruments and MIP structure. Flight Deck Solutions are known for their high quality Sim components and systems. I am proud to be a FDS customer, and from my personal experience, FDS customer service and product reliability is outstanding.
I also purchase the FDS Nose Section and Interior Panels. All this gave me a huge head start on the 737-00 Sim construction. Then I got the bright idea to add a 6dof Motion Platform to the Sim. Designing and fabricating the Motion Platform greatly complicated the Sim Project. However, I am now in the final stages of building the Sim, and expect to have it fully completer this year 2020. This has been a 4+ year project.
flght deck 737 is about 100k USD. MYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY
F'n hell!!! The vibration on rotation gave me shivers!!! Amazing!!! 🙌
I've always wanted to have one of these unfortunately my garage isn't big enough. I spent time at flight safety using their full motion gulfstream sims and it was amazing
Regarding FS2020... I learned a long time ago that it’s best to to stick with one solution that works and is reliable. Everyone has their own ideas about such matters. For me, P3D v4.5x has been a fairly stable Sim software for use with the 737-800 flight model Sim-Avionics. I do not plan on touching FS2020 in the near term. Fantastic scenery is great, but for a full-scale 737-800 Sim, flight deck management is the main challenge, and for me, most of the fun.
Also, at my location, I have a very slow Internet connection of less than 8 Mbps, which may be a serious restriction using FS2020. Anyway... I have my hands full right now finishing up this Sim, so it is not wise of me to introduce new Sim software into the mix.
Very nice job on the build. I was wondering are you located in SoCal? I have a 737 sim from FDS as well and once contemplated 6dof .
Regarding the question on ATC in the video... I enjoy using PilotEdge for real-time ATC. It’s very much like the real ATC environment, and requires serious flight deck management to keep up with the flight, as is the exact same for real world IFR flying in the ATC System. Even more challenging for me personally, is trying to properly fly the 737. I have been in General Aviation for over 30 years. I am Commercial/Instrument pilot, fixed wing and helicopter rated, but flying the 737 has been a real challenge in an actual ATC environment. Especially challenging are short routes in the Los Angeles area, making it difficult to keep up with the aircraft and ATC...😀
This is Amazing. Please do a more in depth video of your flight simulator and the motion 8 4 20. Thank you.
Absolutly amazing. Congratulations! Really. It is very impressive by itself but perhaps most impressive is that your flight controls seems to be a cheap logitec joystick. You know what to ask for Christmas. As CPL/Multi/IR, I dream of having a great setup for when I retire. However, I don't dare to dream like you... it is absolutly amazing! Fun days ahead, enjoy!
Great job 👏 I hope one day I can get this far with my sim project. Really enjoyed this video, thank you sir!
This is some amazing work. Thanks for sharing.
Very impressive work! You must feel very accomplished.
That’s definitely a professional controller
Sick project brother. Invite me to fly it someday. Michigan US here.
This looks amazing in the first place but.......since when is a boeing equipped with a joystick? 😅
Incredibly impressive! Nice work on the platform.
This is top notch. Im building 3 smaller 6 DOF simulators. All the real like action without burning company gas.
Amazing project!! Congratulations!!
hello, I'm a student and I plan to make a driving simulator much like this one with 6dof and with geared motors. I would like to know the reference of the motors that you use please, that would help me a lot.
Amazing work you guys are fantastic.
What kind of Gear Motors are you using? I have a Cessna 150 fuselage in my house and have built a small 6dof platform with small servos but have pondered trying to find gear motors that will handle the weight of the fuselage.
Hi, I've been following your project for a while and congratulate you on your excellent achievements. I'm involved in a similar, but smaller scale, project building a Cessna 172 cockpit on a 6DOF motion platform using BFF motion software and X-Plane 11 and would like to ask if you would be willing to share any experience you might have in resolving the problem of platform vibration affecting your projectors ? Did you need to use some form of anti-vibration mounting or damping arrangement? Thank you and thanks for sharing your project in the way that you have. Regards David
This is amazing, could you please show the specs for the motion platform, is it custom build by yourself or bought ready made?
Do you have a step by step available anywhere if its made by yourself
Curious if you'll play with Flight Sim 2020 on this? I bet you'll want to wait for a 3rd party to release a study model 737 for you (which I know are being worked on now). Just amazing!!
Curious on your platform and what got you there, would you be willing to share build plans or anything? Building one for myself have the cockpit mostly done. Look forward to more vids!
Hello Sir, I really like your simulator setup and really do enjoy watching your sim flight especially communication with live sim ATC very much! By any chance, would you mind sharing with your audience on how much this entire system cost you and how long did you take to complete this project.
have you received or collected additional information related to this question?
@@shoham11220 Actually, I haven’t received any info regarding to his unit yet! I was told by one of YT audiences that similar unit like his costed around $100K+ .
I apologize for not replying to the comments sooner. I’ll try to answer the questions...
Regarding vibration affecting the projectors: After deeply considered the potential problem of vibration and how it might affect the Projectors and Projection Screen frame structure, I decided to use a “truss” type of design using thin wall steel tubing, which I bolted together with 1/4” hardware. The main attach point of the Projector Screen frame system is the FDS Nose Section, which is bolted to the Flight Deck frame structure. This makes for a fairly rigid assembly for support of the projector screen and the projectors, which are located on an upper platform. The main concern was that the projection screen support structure was extended out from the center of the Flight Deck by about 6 feet, which opens the door for low frequency resonant vibrations to develop.
To minimize the effect of vibration that might be induced into the projectors, I mounted the three Optoma GT1080HD projectors to a base board made from 3/4” Baltic Birch plywood, which is very stiff, yet light in weight. This base board “floats” on a cushion of foam and is constrained within a steel angle frame structure. This has the effect of eliminating any shock to the projectors, while at the same time, the projectors are held in precise alignment on their mounting board. Any slight movement of the projectors is unnoticed during motion platform movement during a flight.
As a side note... The Optoma GT1080HD projectors are of the “bulb type”. I have not had any issues with these projectors in this application as mounted on the Motion Platform. That said, I plan on replacing the GT1080HD projectors with Optoma’s new ZH406ST Laser projectors. These new projectors have the ability to receive 4K input. The laser light source is much more stable compared to the bulb type lighting system. I plan on installing these new projectors in a month or so.
Thank you for your response, it's much appreciated. We are about to start testing projector/screen configurations on our motion platform and plan a similar approach to yours. i.e. a combination of rigid support assembly and vibration-absorbing mountings, but it's also reassuring to see your comment that any slight projector movement is unnoticed during platform movement. Your comments about possible low frequency resonant vibrations due to the screen support structure extending off the platform are noted, and this is something I will bear in mind. Thanks again and best regards
Super cool Mike. Nice work here.
Very impressive, whats the ATC ?
I want to build one for commercial purposes. Have this open for all to experience piloting. Is there any default program in the motion where it can mimick runway imperfections? I thought it is awesome when you speed up for takeoff, the entire sim cabin would shake and bounce like a real aircraft! Where the vibration could throw you up and down left right like riding on a bumpy road. You get what I mean right?
Will it be sold
Amazing !!! Thanks for sharing !!
How much would this platform cost? Could you connect the platform up for the prosim 737 model?
What kind of money goes into this kind of thing. My gosh!
Is that MSFS 2020 and VatSim you’re using for the visuals and ATC?
I m interested to purchase this
Where did you buy that motor and actuator?
Hey there, hope you doing great, where did you buy the Sim 6dof Motion Platform?
Nice work
Did you build the 6 DOF yourself or did you purchase it?
really interested in the details of your 6DOF platform, allot of hard work and learning ..I am just starting to design my building to house my 737 simulator and would love to get in contact
Excellent!
15 grand amazing! I bet you could sell the whole setup for 80 am I wrong? Those race Sims cost 30 grand some of them this is way more impressive. Excellent work.
good
MATE!! Excellent work. Add Fs2020 graphics and it'll be better than the real thing!! :)
Better, but real airplane is cheaper, man
how to do the projection thing
is it hard to build?
That whole setup is most likely $250k
あなたがとても羨ましいです。（I'm very jealous of you.）
incredible
only holy bank can make such a great sim. in holy name of money pray. amen