A budget friendly - DIY Racing simulator, powered by an Arduino Leonardo and a beefy 500w motor!!
I made this as a budget friendly alternative to popular sim wheels:), and when your doing this stuff DIY, the possibilities are endless!!, you can literally slap on Wind Sim, Rev Lights, Speedometer, H-shifter, rumble pedals and literally whatever you can think of!!
These are the pedals. Whenever a certain pedal is pressed; its corresponding potentiometer underoges rotation and sends that analog signal to the Arduino, and communicates with the sim/game.
I didn't add the plates as there was enough area on the pedals to apply force onto them without it. You can add the plates if needed though:)
Pretty straightforward. You rotate the Steering Wheel, the encoder reads the movement and sends it to the Arduino, which communicates it to the sim/game, and sends back a signal to the motor drivers, which induces a movement in the motors accordingly and moves the wheel. There you go, Force Feedback!!
I've used one motor driver as that is able to handle my motor load well. You can add one more if you feel the driver is heating up a lot.
FYI: I've custom made the symbols for Arduino, BTS7960, and the Rotary Encoder:)
I've used EMC Lite, which is a popular firmware among the SIM Racing community. Obviously, you can use any other firmware depending on your microcontroller (I'm using an 8bit Arduino Leonardo). This firmware has all the essentials for providing proper Force Feedback, supports 3 pedals, and can handle upto 16 switches with a leonardo. You can definitely add on functionality by using other softwares like SimHub in addition to this for more immersiveness (such as: adding wind sim or rev lights).
Yep!! a fully detailed build guide :))
Head to Detailed Build Guide to access it!
| SR. No: | Name: | Quantity: | Unit Price: (INR) | Total Price:(INR) | Unit Price: (USD) | Total Price:(USD) | Link: | Merchant | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| STEERING WHEEL: | |||||||||
| ELECTRONICS: | |||||||||
| 1 | 24V 500W 2500RPM MY1020 EBIKE Brush Motor | 1 | ₹4,400.00 | ₹4,400.00 | $46.11 | $46.11 | https://robu.in/product/500w-24v-dc-2500-rpm-for-scooter-bike-go-kart-minibike-e-atv-my1020/ | Self Sourced | A DC motor to drive the wheel |
| 2 | Double BTS7960 43A H-Bridge High-Power Stepper Motor Driver | 1 | ₹300.00 | ₹300.00 | $3.14 | $3.14 | https://robu.in/product/double-bts7960-43a-h-bridge-high-power-stepper-motor-driver-module/ | Self Sourced | The motor driver for controlling the motor |
| 3 | Arduino Leonardo R3 Board | 1 | ₹500.00 | ₹500.00 | $5.24 | $5.24 | https://robu.in/product/arduino-leonardo-r3-board-micro-usb/ | Self Sourced | Microcontroller for running the firmware and integrating all components |
| 4 | 1000 PPR AB 2-Phase Optical Rotary Encoder | 1 | ₹2,500.00 | ₹2,500.00 | $26.20 | $26.20 | https://robu.in/product/orange-1000-ppr-ab-phase-incremental-optical-rotary-encoder/ | Self Sourced | Rotary encoder for detecting turns in the steering wheel |
| 5 | 24VOLT 41AMP 1000WAT SMPS | 1 | ₹6,000.00 | ₹6,000.00 | $62.87 | $62.87 | https://tridevpowersupply.com/product/my-tridev-24volt-41amp-1000wat-switching-power-supply-universal-regulated-transformer-ac-110v-220v-to-dc-24v-41a | Self Sourced | Main power supply to power up everything |
| 6 | Cooling fans - 24V | 2 | ₹150.00 | ₹300.00 | $1.57 | $3.14 | https://robu.in/product/a423-fs4020x24v-brushless-dc-cooling-fan-with-2pin-cable-for-3d-printer/ | Self Sourced | Cooling fans to dissipate heat from motor driver |
| HARDWARE: | |||||||||
| 7 | Threaded Metal rod (10mm) | 1 | ₹150.00 | ₹150.00 | $1.57 | $1.57 | Sourced locally | Self Sourced | For the steering shaft |
| 8 | Steering Wheel | 1 | ₹2,500.00 | ₹2,500.00 | $26.20 | $26.20 | https://www.amazon.in/AUTO-MT-Tractor-13INCH-Steering/dp/B0B7BLK5XZ/ref=sr_1_2 | Self Sourced | Reduces rpm of motor and provides more torque in a 1:4 ratio |
| 9 | big timing pulley (XXL-60teeth) | 1 | All pulleys with belt costed 7500 | All pulleys with belt costed $78.80 | Sourced locally | Self Sourced | |||
| 10 | small timing pulley(XXL-15teeth) | 1 | Sourced locally | Self Sourced | |||||
| 11 | medium timing pulley(XL-22 teeth) | 2 | Sourced locally | Self Sourced | Detects rotation of steering by connecting to encoder in a 1:1 ratio | ||||
| 12 | timing belt(XL) | 1 | Sourced locally | Self Sourced | Connects the pulleys | ||||
| 13 | timing belt (XXL) | 1 | Sourced locally | Self Sourced | |||||
| 14 | bearings (25mm OD, 10mm ID) | 2 | ₹150.00 | ₹300.00 | $1.57 | $3.14 | Sourced locally | Self Sourced | Helps the motor shaft move more smoothly |
| 15 | Nuts (m10) | 10 | ₹10.00 | ₹100.00 | $0.10 | $1.00 | Sourced locally | Self Sourced | For fastening |
| 16 | Self drill screws | 12 | ₹5.00 | ₹60.00 | $0.05 | $0.60 | Sourced locally | Self Sourced | For fastening |
| 17 | Wood Mount for steering shaft (10*9cm) | 2 | $0.00 | Sourced locally | Self Sourced | The shaft goes here along with the bearings | |||
| 18 | Wood Base (40*65cm) | 1 | $0.00 | Sourced locally | Self Sourced | Wooden base of the wheel base, for mounting everything | |||
| 19 | Nuts and Bolts (M8) | 10 | ₹20.00 | ₹200.00 | $0.21 | $2.10 | Sourced locally | Self Sourced | for fastening everything |
| PEDALS: | |||||||||
| 20 | 10k rotary potentiometer | 3 | ₹30.00 | ₹90.00 | $0.31 | $0.93 | https://robu.in/product/10k-ohm-3pin-15mm-shaft-potentiometer-pack-of-3/ | Self Sourced | For detecting intensity of pedal press |
| 21 | spring | 3 | ₹200.00 | ₹600.00 | $2.10 | $6.30 | Sourced locally | Self Sourced | Gives resistance in the pedals |
| 22 | Metal L brackets (19cm) | 6 | ₹150.00 | ₹900.00 | $1.57 | $9.42 | Sourced locally | Self Sourced | For a rigid pedal frame |
| 23 | Metal L brackets set (22cm) | 6 | ₹150.00 | ₹900.00 | $1.57 | $9.42 | Sourced locally | Self Sourced | |
| 24 | Nuts and Bolts (m8) | 18 | ₹20.00 | ₹360.00 | $0.21 | $3.78 | Sourced locally | Self Sourced | To fasten everything |
| 25 | Nuts and bolts set (m10) | 3 | ₹20.00 | ₹60.00 | $0.21 | $0.63 | Sourced locally | Self Sourced | |
| 26 | Self drill screws | 10 | ₹5.00 | ₹50.00 | $0.05 | $0.50 | Sourced locally | Self Sourced | |
| 27 | pvc pipe (3/4inch) | 3 | ₹10.00 | ₹30.00 | $0.10 | $0.30 | Sourced locally | Self Sourced | Springs are housed inside this |
| 28 | pvc pipe (1inch) | 3 | ₹10.00 | ₹30.00 | $0.10 | $0.30 | Sourced locally | Self Sourced | |
| 29 | Machining Costs | 1 | ₹600.00 | ₹600.00 | $6.29 | $6.29 | Sourced locally | Self Sourced | Machining, such as cutting the wood and metal pieces |
| 30 | Wood base (30*36cm) | 1 | Sourced locally | Self Sourced | Wooden Base for mounting the pedals. |