Cessna 172 VR/Physical Reality SimPitI have been building things from a very young age. When I create machines, mechanisms and interfaces, time flies.
As a high school freshman. I joined FRC Team 2485 and my fate was sealed: I knew a career in mechanical engineering were in my future. After starting flight lessons, I set out to create a Cessna 172 "simpit" for use with Oculus Rift that would offer a far more realistic experience than the WWII Simpit I'd created previously. My goal? To provide an immersive virtual experience through the introduction of physically responsive components that would mimic the Cessna 172 aircraft I would fly in reality. |
As featured on the Daily Planet show on Discovery Channel Canada.
|
Technical Overview
The videos below were shot with an iPhone during the Discovery Channel's technical interview.
|
What makes this "sim pit" different than other flight simulators? (:31)
|
What components did you use to create your simulator? (1:11)
|
What were some of the challenges you encountered? (2:07)
|
What are the electronics behind the force feedback system? (2:20)
|
|
How did you make use of Arduino microcontrollers (1:46)
|
What does adding the physical element do for virtual reality? (:24)
|
What are those extra switches for? (:28)
|
Is your entire simulator D-I-Y (Do It Yourself)? (:59)
|
My Approach
|
First I created the switch panel by cutting, drilling and painting pieces of acrylic then mounting the appropriate switches. I retrofitted a TPM throttle, prop and mixer system onto one of the panels. I then started the construction of the frame of the cockpit. Once complete, I began work on the main panel, which is where the instruments are in virtual reality.
To connect the switches to my PC, I used 2 Arduino Megas as joystick emulators that would return the switch values as button values, potentiometer values as axis values, and would count encoder clicks and return that number as an axis value. I then used LuaScript to access the necessary registers in the Prepar3d software to move the appropriate simulator components correctly. I used FlyInside P3D to integrate Prepar3D with my Oculus Rift DV2 (developer edition). My simulator cockpit features a force feedback yoke, as well. To create this, I began by “CADing out” the basic design of the yoke using SolidWorks. Once complete, I researched and ordered proper power transmission parts from McMaster-Carr. I then assembled the parts according to my design. |
For the force feedback electronics, I disassembled an old force feedback joystick and decreased the power mix applied to it. I then connected the motor outputs to 2 separate H bridges, which were powered by two separate power supplies, which in turn output to the motors. I mounted one potentiometer on the gear rack and another to the roll axis.
The potentiometers returned values both back to the force feedback controller in order to calculate the necessary motor values and to an Arduino Mega which could take a more accurate reading. I then found a used Cessna 172 yoke for a very affordable price and attached that yoke to aluminum shaft. The shaft had a large gear on one end which connected to another gear, which then connected to a gear box and RS550 motor. This “block” slid on drawer sliders for the pitch axis. The whole block was moved by a motor attached to a gearbox attached to a gear rack. |
Featured Media Stories
When I decided to build my cockpit, I had no idea anyone else would care. I just wanted to make a better VR experience for myself. I showed it at a local Maker Faire and the invention seems to matter to other people, too.
Here are some recent articles and videos about it.
Here are some recent articles and videos about it.
|
|
|
|
