270 replies to this topic

[Propnut]

Important News!

We have accepted an offer on our home and will soon (spring) be starting work on our new house (and shop).

This means that the enclosed Mechpit will have to go.

I am willing to sell it as is without the electronics for 500.00 if you want to pick it up in the vicinity of Grand Rapids MI.

What stays in: Anything made of wood, the seat, the controllers (joystick, throttle, rudder pedals and the Teensy++2.0), the trackball, AC light and switch, and AC fans.

If you want the entire pit as it sits I will take 1200.00 as is.

Thanks everyone for following along.
















My design is not exactly original, I got the basic idea from a pit built by Choowy and posted on several forums. Here is his thread on SimHQ:

http://simhq.com/for...or_Cockpit.html

While inspired by Choowy's pit mine is very different, mine has a rear door that tilts down and the chair rolls out the back so the pilot can stand up and exit. I thought this would be more immersive, etc. I was thinking of having the entire pit tilt up and forward but eventually I want to add motion to the pit (2 degrees of freedom [2DOF]) and it would need to be more solid.

I have a CNC table, this makes it a bit easier to cut the parts out.

The electronics will consist of a Leo Bodnar BU0836 controller card. This card will provide 8 Axis (12 bit) and up to 40 buttons (32 standard and 8 more from the 4 way hat inputs). I have used several of these cards over the years in other simpits that I have built.

My other simpits can be viewed here:

http://simhq.com/for.../3488474/1.html
http://simhq.com/for...tml#Post3283545

The PC is up in the air yet, have not decided between building an AMD 8 core or an Intel i5 2500 (I dont overclock so no need for the K version). My main PC is an i7 3930K but I really do not need that much power for the Mechpit.

Hinged hatches with pneumatic lifts will allow access to the PC, monitor housing and wiring.

The Monitor will be a 28" 1920x1200 Hannsfre (same one from my previous simpit) with a secondary at 10-14"

I will either scratch-build a joystick and throttle or use a Thrustmaster Cougar if I can find one for a reasonable price. I have a Warthog right now in the office but that will stay there.

The entire pit will sit on a wood base (MDF framed in) which will in turn sit on a metal framework for the motion assembly.

I will post pictures as I get things done, feel free to post helpful comments.

CAD image that I created to work from:



Ribs being assembled






The basic structure:



The seat without upholstery (faux leather and memory foam soon to come). Hard to see but the sides of the chair have latticework similar to that found in Choowy's build.





More to come as I get it assembled.

I used planed 2x4s on the nose assembly but I have a better system designed that needs to be cut out on the CNC using 1/2" MDF.

One major "Woops" that I have come across so far.....the Mechpit is designed to give plenty of headroom....unless you are like me. At 6'4 I whack my head every time I roll into it. I might add a few inches to the bottom before I sit it on the base.

Edited by Propnut, 19 February 2013 - 08:19 AM.

[Illuzian Pryde]

Looks a but tight but very epic! If I had the room I'd try something like this.

[Propnut]

Thank you. As I mentioned, I will add a bit to the height before I put it on the base. The pit is actually too wide. I over estimated what I would need in my design so I need to make the control panels along the side "grow" inward. The seat is also very wide but I was thinking of long term comfort when I designed it. Sitting in the pit for a couple of hours or more you want something as plush as possible. I learned this from my last pit.

Speaking of sitting inside for hours, this will have full environmental controls. In the winter the heat will be provided by fans from the PC area and in summer cooler air will be piped in from the base. I will have an environmental control panel set up to open and close the panels and adjust the airflow.

[Moodysea]

To be fair dude... good project. But do you have a girlfriend?

I mean you could turn that upside down and make a pretty good boat and take her out for a row on a lake.

Imagine this:

Jane "Hey Dave what shall we do today?"

Dave "Go in my Hunchback Cockpit... it's got three monitors"

OR

Jane "Hey Dave what shall we do today?"

Dave "Go in my boat on the boating lake... some wine, a picnic, the stars in the sky"

I'm okay, my GF loves Mechwarrior and I have a boat. (TRUE)

Actually I want that cockpit...

[Propnut]

My wife is very tolerant of my hobbies. I am a lucky man.

Let me get the bugs out and I will sell you a kit, lol.

Edit: How did you know my name was Dave?

Edited by Propnut, 11 August 2012 - 08:02 PM.

[Zavadan]

your project is really awesome, i want one too.

[Foust]

This looks great! Can't wait to see this build progress.

[Propnut]

Thanks gents, I am working on the base today. I had to add a few inches to the bottom as I am taller than I thought I was, lol. The design is actually easier than what I am doing. The CNC cut pieces fit together like a jigsaw puzzle then you just lay a plank on the bottom for a floor. In this case I had to cut the bottom off (see the CAD picture) and add more room for my huge noggin (wife's description).

More pictures tonight

[Aleks Hazen]

Wow! This looks amazing!! Can`t wait for new Pics!!!

Greetings

[OmegaMinion]

With this pod... I can...KILL ALL THE CLANNERS!!!

[Propnut]

I do not want to kill them all OmegaMinion....just make them into Bondsmen

[Kael Murr]

I wish i had the skills to make something like this. can you imagine? a computer inside just for running mech warrior. get that razor controller and if the game supports multiple moniters, simple shibby, lol.

one hint... that chair dosn't look very comfortable. consider popping over to your local staples and ask if they would sell you a chair return. a computer chair with a broken gas cylinder is best, just take the wheels and cylinder off and you are good to go. comfort and style.

[Propnut]

I actually have several very comfortable office chairs that I can "mod" but this chair, when the cushions are on, is very comfortable. I was thinking more of how a recliner is made rather than an office chair. I have the memory foam and need to pick up the "faux" leather to finish them. I have built one very similar before for my simpit (see the SimHQ link) and it was like a lazyboy, lol.

Thanks for the suggestion though.

[Propnut]

Update: Todays effort.

I added 3" of height for my noggin by adding a frame along the bottom.

Added the base to tie things together.

Did the armor plates (sheeting) and the front access panels.

I am in somewhat of a quandary...I have the MDF plates to finish the sides but I also have a great deal of 1/4" black, green, red, yellow, white and clear plexi (Craigslist find) that I could use instead. The idea would not be to see out for myself but it would make it look more like a cockpit. What do you think?

The access panel on the front bottom is for the PC, it will slide up and out like a power core...forget which movie I saw that in, but I have 20" full extension slides that will work perfectly for that. I plan on text saying something like "Danger! Power Core!" and safety stripes, etc. Or some such. I will decide for sure when I get there.

Tuesday will see the completion of the exterior including the rear door and storage compartments (the sticky outy place on the top back).

[Tarl Cabot]

Fully Immersive Mechwarrior Cockpit Simulator ...

An IT tech friend played the video of this for me Thursday...just dang....

Edited by Tarl Cabot, 12 August 2012 - 06:03 PM.

[Foust]

That is just incredible work. I am all at once, inspired and shamed.

Awesome, awesome work. Keep it coming.

[Samuikaze]

Okay, when will you start selling them? You taking orders yet? Great work, great work there.

[Propnut]

Foust has inspired me to try some thing new; I ordered a Teensy++2.0 USB project board to run my controls. This will be the brain behind my buttons, switches and joystick axis. Usually I use the LeoBodnar devices in my simpit builds but the prices on his equipment is a little steep right now with the exchange rate between British Pounds and Dollars (I buy the BU0836X boards).

Additionally, like Foust, I found a used set of outdated Thrustmaster controllers (F-16 TQS, F22 Pro Joystick and their Rudder Control System) on Craigslist. These will be rewired using the Teensy controller. I usually build my own controllers from scratch but these would look so cool in a mechpit.

Here is an example of the stick I built for my Generic Simpit, DIY hall effect sensors, cherry grip, u-joint for a gimble. I designed it based on the Spitfire grip and borrowed ideas from the IL-16 grip as well.

Edited by Propnut, 14 August 2012 - 06:26 AM.

[Foust]

That ring stick is cool, not seen one of those before.

[Propnut]

Update:

The Teeny++ 2.0 USB HID controller arrived this afternoon. This thing ROCKS!

It is so easy to work with, and the possibilities seem endless.

I was able to easily configure the controller to have 64 buttons (8x8 matrix) and 8 axis. I plan on a button for each hat switch for 4 buttons each rather than using 8way hats. I never use the angles anyway.

Notice the white connector strips in the background, I will need 8 of those for my matrix (with an extra 4 terminals left over as these are 12 terminal strips).

I purchased the pin version so it would plug into a breadboard. Lots easier to experiment with it that way.

I plugged buttons and pots into it for testing and messing around.

Thanks Foust for the suggestion and links to information.