We make a steering wheel and pedals to the computer. Encyclopedia of radio electronics and electrical engineering

Encyclopedia of radio electronics and electrical engineering / Computers

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To make a steering wheel and pedals, it is enough to buy a few parts, read the instructions and tips, and do a little bit of manual work.

If you look at the sound card, you can easily see the game port, as in this picture. The blue color indicates which needles in the port correspond to the functions of the joystick: for example, j1 X means joystick 1 axis X "or btn 1 - button 1". Needle numbers are shown in black, count from right to left, top to bottom. when using a gameport on a sound card, connections to pins 12 and 15 should be avoided. The sound card uses these outputs for midi for transmit and receive, respectively. In a standard joystick, the X-axis potentiometer is responsible for the movement of the handle to the left / right, and the resistance of the Y-axis is responsible for forward / backward. With regard to the steering wheel and pedals, the X-axis becomes the control, and the Y-axis, respectively, the throttle and brake. The y-axis must be split and connected so that 2 separate resistances (for gas and brake pedals) act as one resistance, just like in a standard joystick. Once the idea of ​​a gameport is clear, you can start designing any mechanic around the basic two resistances and four switches: steering wheels, motorcycle grips, airplane thrust control... as far as your imagination can go.

steering module. This section will show you how to make the main wheel module: a desktop casing that contains almost all of the mechanical and electrical components of the wheel. the electrical circuit will be explained in the "wiring" section, and the mechanical parts of the wheel will be covered here.

Movement consists of two aluminum plates (2), 2mm thick, through which the steering shaft (5) passes. These plates are separated by four 13mm bushings (3). A 5mm hole is drilled in the steering shaft, into which a steel rod (4) is inserted. 22mm bolts (1) go through the plates, bushings and holes drilled in the ends of the rod, fixing it all together. The rubber cord wraps between the bushings on one side, then over the top of the steering shaft, and finally between the bushings on the other side. The tension of the cord can be changed to adjust the resistance of the wheel. To avoid damage to the potentiometer, it is necessary to make a wheel rotation limiter. Almost all industrial steering wheels have a 270 degree rotation range. However, a 350-degree rotation mechanism will be described here, reducing which will not be a problem. A 300mm long steel l-bracket (14) is bolted to the base of the module. This bracket serves several purposes:

- is the place of fastening of the rubber cord of the centering mechanism (two m6 bolts of 20mm at each end);

- provides a reliable stop point for wheel rotation;

- reinforces the entire structure at the moment of cord tension.

Bolt-limiter (7) m5 25mm long is screwed into a vertical hole in the steering shaft. Directly under the shaft, a 20mm m6 bolt (11) is screwed into the bracket. To reduce the sound when struck, rubber tubes can be put on the bolts. If you need a smaller angle of rotation, then two bolts must be screwed into the bracket at the required distance. The potentiometer is attached to the base through a simple angle and connected to the shaft. The maximum rotation angle of most potentiometers is 270 degrees, and if the steering wheel is designed to rotate 350 degrees, then a gearbox is needed. A couple of gears from a broken printer will fit perfectly. You just need to choose the right number of teeth on the gears, for example 26 and 35. In this case, the gear ratio will be 0.75:1 or a rotation of 350 degrees of the steering wheel will give 262 degrees on the potentiometer. If the steering wheel rotates in the range of 270 degrees, then the shaft is connected to the potentiometer directly.

Pedals

The base of the module is made similarly to the handlebar module from 12mm plywood with a hardwood cross bar (3) for attaching the return spring. The sloping shape of the base serves as a footrest. The pedal post (8) is made of 12mm steel tubing, to the top end of which the pedal is bolted. A 5mm rod runs through the bottom end of the post, which holds the pedal in mounting brackets (6) bolted to the base and made from angle steel. The crossbar (3) runs across the entire width of the pedal module and is securely (must withstand the full extension of the springs) glued and screwed to the base (2). The return spring (5) is attached to a steel eye screw (4) that goes through the cross member just below the pedal. This mounting design makes it easy to adjust the spring tension. The other end of the spring is attached to the pedal post (8). The pedal potentiometer is mounted on a simple L-bracket (14) at the rear of the module. The rod (11) is attached to the actuator (12) on bushings (9, 13), allowing the resistance to rotate through a range of 90 degrees.

(click to enlarge)

Gear shifter

The gear lever is an aluminum structure, as in the picture on the left. A threaded steel rod (2) is attached to the lever through a bushing (1) and passes through a hole drilled in the L-bracket on the base of the handlebar module. On both sides of the hole in the bracket, two springs (1) are installed on the rod and tightened with nuts so that a force is created when the lever moves. Two large washers (4, 2) are located between two microswitches (3), which are screwed one on top of the other to the base. All this is clearly seen in the figures on the left and below.

(click to enlarge)

The picture on the right shows an alternative gearshift mechanism - on the steering wheel, as in Formula 1 cars. Here, two small joints (4) are used, which are mounted on the wheel hub. The levers (1) are attached to the hinges in such a way that they can only move in one direction, i.e. towards the wheel. Two small switches (3) are inserted into the holes in the levers, so that when pressed, they rest against the rubber pads (2) glued to the wheel and work. If the circuit breaker is not pressurized enough, then the return of the levers can be ensured by springs (5) mounted on the hinge.

Wiring

A little about how the potentiometer works. If you remove the cover from it, you can see that it consists of a curved conductive path with contacts A and C at the ends and a slider connected to the central contact B (Fig. 11). When the shaft rotates counterclockwise, the resistance between A and B will increase by the same amount as it decreases between C and B. The whole system is connected according to the standard joystick scheme, which has 2 axes and two buttons. The red wire always goes to the middle resistance pin, but the purple one (3) can be connected to any of the side pins, depending on how the resistance is set.

Pedals are not so easy. Turning the steering wheel is equivalent to moving the joystick left / right, and pressing the gas / brake pedals, respectively - up / down. And if you immediately press both pedals, then they mutually exclude each other, and no action will follow. This is a single-axis connection system that most games support. But many modern simulators such as GP3, F1-2000, TOCA 2, etc. use a two-axis throttle/brake system, making it possible to practice the control methods associated with the simultaneous use of gas and brake. Both diagrams are shown below.

Scheme of connection of a single-axis device. Wiring diagram for a two-axis device.

Since many games do not support dual axis, it would be wise to assemble a switch (figure on the right) that allows you to switch between single and dual axis systems with a switch installed in the pedal module or in the dashboard.

There are not many details in the described device, and the most important of them are potentiometers. First, they must be linear, with a resistance of 100k, and by no means logarithmic (they are sometimes called audio), because they are intended for audio devices, such as volume controls, and have a non-linear resistance trace. Secondly, cheap potentiometers use a graphite track, which will wear out quite quickly. More expensive ones use cermet and conductive plastic. These will last much longer (about 100,000 cycles). Switches - any that are, but, as it was written above, they must have an instantaneous (that is, non-locking) type. These can be obtained from an old mouse. A standard 15-pin D-type joystick connector is available at any radio hardware store. Any wires, the main thing is that they can be easily soldered to the connector.

Connection and calibration

All tests must be carried out on a device disconnected from the computer. First you need to visually check the solder joints: there should be no extraneous jumpers and bad contacts anywhere. Then you need to calibrate the steering potentiometer. Since a resistance of 100k is used, it is possible to measure the resistance between two adjacent contacts with the instrument and set it to 50k. However, for a more accurate setting, you need to measure the resistance of the potentiometer by turning the steering wheel all the way to the left, then all the way to the right. Determine the range, then divide by 2 and add the lower measurement. The resulting number must be set using the device. In the absence of measuring instruments, you need to set the potentiometer to the center position as far as possible. The pedal potentiometers should be turned on slightly when installed. If a single axis system is used, then the throttle resistance must be set to the center (50k on the instrument) and the brake resistance must be off (0k). If everything is done correctly, then the resistance of the entire pedal module, measured between needles 6 and 9, should decrease if you press the gas, and increase if you press the brake. If this does not happen, then it is necessary to swap the external contacts of the resistance. If a bi-axial connection is used, both potentiometers can be set to zero. If there is a switch, then the scheme of a single-axis system is checked.

Before connecting to a computer, it is necessary to check the electrical circuit so that there is no short circuit. Here you will need a measuring device. We check that there is no contact with + 5v power (needles 1, 8, 9 and 15) and ground (4, 5 and 12). then we check that there is contact between 4 and 2 if you press button 1. The same is between 4 and 7, for button 2. Next, we check the steering wheel: the resistance between 1 and 3 decreases if you turn the wheel to the left, and increases if you turn it to the right. In a single axis system, the resistance between pins 9 and 6 will decrease when the accelerator pedal is depressed and increase when the brake is applied.

Final stage - computer connection. After connecting the plug to the sound card, turn on the computer. Go to Control Panel - Game Controllers, select Add - Custom. We put the type - joystick", axes - 2, buttons 2, write the name of the type LXA4 Super F1 Driving System" and press OK 2 times. If everything was done correctly and the hands grow from where they should, then the field state "should change to OK". Click Properties, Settings, and follow the instructions on the screen. It remains to launch your favorite toy, select your device from the list, if necessary, further configure it, and that's it, good luck!

Publication: cxem.net

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