FFB Yoke v1 Beta

kukmasta wrote:Hi Jay,

I noticed that in a couple of posts ago, you said "I'm glad the effort is worth something:)". Well I can assure you that from my perspective you have done an absolutely amazing job. I have been stricken with the 'spanish dancer' and I'm having daily radiation treatment, this project has really got me up and going again with flight sim and has taken my mind off my ailment.

I have tamed 'the wild cat' by connecting all of the pcb's as you suggested and I have included a switch to cut out the sensor. I have also changed the cog on the elevator pot with one that I found in my dead printer junk and reinforced it. I also reinforced the aileron motor bracket. The purchase of FS-Force 2 and the Yoke add-on seems to be  a good investment or will be when I finally get it set right.

I have really enjoyed doing this project and I sincerely thank you.

Regards,

Chris

Hi Chris

Thanks for your kind words. I hope you're lot better now. Things like this keep me well above the water though:)
I'm glad you sorted the wild cat problem. To be honest I'm not very impressed with the printed pitch cog wheel my self as the teeth are very fine for low res printer. I'll try to source nylon replacement that can be obtained on eBay. Would you mind to share some pics of your build? I'm really curious how you guys managing to reproduce and upgrade the yoke;)
FS Force is a great add on however it will probably never support Aerofly FS2. I really need to find solution how to get FFB working with this sim. AFS2 has stunning performance in VR and whole development is goin just the right direction.

Best regards
Jay

Hi Jay,

First of all- your project is absolutely amazing; thanks a lot for your hard work!

I'm currently waiting for the last batch of parts from eBay to start putting together a "clone"- with some differences, like AS5600 magnetic contactless sensors on both axis and metal guide rail supports mounted on a base plate. While you are working on more detailed plans, is it possible to get the external dimensions of the yoke case as a reference? From the Fusion 360 model I'm getting something like 230x135x360 mm- is it close?

Thanks again and best regards,
Sergey

SergeyPe wrote:Hi Jay,

First of all- your project is absolutely amazing; thanks a lot for your hard work!

I'm currently waiting for the last batch of parts from eBay to start putting together a "clone"- with some differences, like AS5600 magnetic contactless sensors on both axis and metal guide rail supports mounted on a base plate. While you are working on more detailed plans, is it possible to get the external dimensions of the yoke case as a reference? From the Fusion 360 model I'm getting something like 230x135x360 mm- is it close?

Thanks again and best regards,
Sergey

Thanks Sergey

The Fusion 360 preview allows for precise measuring (I double checked now) and it reads 230x134x358mm.
I would be really glad to see your results here at "showcase your pit" thread

Regards Jay

Hi Jay,

Thanks for the info. And of course I'll post the photos after everything is up and running.

Regards,
Sergey

I've printed the parts, but realize I don't have what is labelled part51 from the fusion model view...

is it missing from the zip file of stl models?

Looking at that, I seems to be one of the fine pitch...not sure how well it would print.  MIght have fiddle around with  cutting that on my glowforge instead after I sort out the dimensions and pitch.  I bed I could make a nice adapter on the 3d printer that would splice into a finely cut gear from the GF.   I could probably cut out a couple of the other gears that way as well, but will need to sort out how to laminate plexy so that I get  the required thickness.

and looking at the current inventory of printed parts, I do have body1, which seemed to print well enough that if I had the models for body51 and body53, I could probably print them. I'll try them both ways, cut and printed.

Body 51 and Body 53 are the stock gears in MSFFB2 joystick gearbox (they are identical to Body 269 and Body 268). You'll get them with the joystick, as well as Body 48 and Body 63 parts.

Thanks for the info!!

Well, the joystick arrived, and is not largely dismantled...that took a little bit of work .

I gather that the parts body48 and body63 are scavenged as well, albeit with a little bit of metal removal?    There are two of those in my joystick, one marked X and one Y, and neither appear to match completely those two body parts.  

Btw, there is a screw behind the large toothed wheel.  there appears to be some sort of compression fitting that holds that on that you'd need to remove to get to the screw.  is the there a straightforward way to remove that without damaging it so that I can reuse it?

I really like the inside of this thing, and I'm even more impressed with the fact that you managed to use the guts of this beast...

myoung5655 wrote:Well, the joystick arrived, and is not largely dismantled...that took a little bit of work .

I gather that the parts body48 and body63 are scavenged as well, albeit with a little bit of metal removal?    There are two of those in my joystick, one marked X and one Y, and neither appear to match completely those two body parts.  

Btw, there is a screw behind the large toothed wheel.  there appears to be some sort of compression fitting that holds that on that you'd need to remove to get to the screw.  is the there a straightforward way to remove that without damaging it so that I can reuse it?

I really like the inside of this thing, and I'm even more impressed with the fact that you managed to use the guts of this beast...

Hey guys

I'm sorry but I can't dedicate any time to this project now as I've had really bad time moving house and dealing with stolen work tools.
I would very much appreciate if somebody could help answer the questions above.

Kind regards
Jay

Hi Jay, hi myoung5655.

I'm still waiting for the last pieces of eBay- ordered parts to arrive in Moscow (Chinese New Year has made quite a blow to the delivery schedule))). It will probably take a week. After that I'll be happy to share my experience in assembling the device. BTW, the yoke I've mentioned in another thread is waiting for me at the post office- it took just five days to arive from the Nederlands to Russia. I'll post some close-up pictures- most probably tomorrow.

Regards,
Sergey

Actually, I can probably just wing it....I was just surprised that here was no mention of having to cut down metal motor brackets.

Hi Guys,
I have built Jays FFB yoke and it is quite an amazing achievement by him to develop it to the stage that he has. I changed a couple of parts to make it a bit stronger. It works but still needs a bit of tinkering to bring it up to its full potential. I have been unable to pursue it further for a few months now (illness), i am however willing to assist anyone in whatever way that I can.

Regards, Chris

@Jay great job on this and thanks for sharing! Sorry to hear someone stole your tools. I hope things are going better now and you are getting settled with your move.

@Chris - did you get yours working (no more cat in the box)? Can you post some pictures of your internals? Maybe a video of it in action?

I'm going to make a few changes to the design in order to support more locally accessible parts. I'm going to use a saitek pro yoke as the donor. I'll post some pictures of mine as I progress.

Brendin

For whatever reason the timing belts don't seem to be available on ebay at the time of this post.  I can find 10mm wide belts on aliexpress  which I think I can make work on the roll axis but not the pitch.  Still searching...

The Bochen WXD3-12 5 turn Potentiometer [10KΩ] are hard to find for 5 turn. I am searching "Bochen WXD3-12 5 turn Potentiometer" but can't find 10K at 5 turns. I can find lots of 10K "Multiturn" ones but the number of turns isn't listed. They are cheap enough to take a chance and hope that they are 5 turns but it's the 6 to 8 week wait which is a problem. I'll keep searching...

xnaron wrote:For whatever reason the timing belts don't seem to be available on ebay at the time of this post.  I can find 10mm wide belts on aliexpress  which I think I can make work on the roll axis but not the pitch.  Still searching...

The Bochen WXD3-12 5 turn Potentiometer [10KΩ]  are hard to find for 5 turn.  I am searching "Bochen WXD3-12 5 turn Potentiometer" but can't find 10K at 5 turns.  I can find lots of 10K "Multiturn" ones but the number of turns isn't listed.  They are cheap enough to take a chance and hope that they are 5 turns but it's the 6 to 8 week wait which is a problem.  I'll keep searching...

Hey gang..
For some reason, searching via "eBay.co.uk" gives different results than "eBay.com".
I think this is the pot we're talking about:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2W-10K-ohm-5-Terminals-Multiturn-Wire-Wound-Pot-Potentiometer-WXD3-12/382418771454?epid=1844176932&hash=item5909ef5dfe:g:AjYAAOSwMEBatfOQ

Here are the belts:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/501-3M-06-HTD-Timing-Belt-501-mm-Long-6mm-wide-3mm-Pitch/321061906790?hash=item4ac0c7e966:g:HScAAOSwc1FXcCs9

and

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/405-3M-06-HTD-Timing-Belt-405-mm-Long-6mm-wide-3mm-Pitch/221181783359?hash=item337f762d3f:g:pY4AAOSwbYZXcgPN

Keep it up;)
Jay

Hi Jay,
I'm really impressed with your work. Great job !!!!!
I'm a Argentinian retired IT Engineer, and with much more time now, I'm making my own Sim Cockpit. I do use 3D printers and design with Fusion 360.
I wanted to make the yoke but with no Microsoft Joystick components.
Can you send me please or post the link of the files regarding the FFB yoke that you designed ?
Once I'll finish I will repost the modified files, so if somebody wants to use them they would be avalaible.

By the meantime I am finishing a modified design that I found for an altimeter, after a few test I can say it works pretty good. (works with a mini step-motor)
If you want it, when its going to be finished, i could post the files so anybody can use them.

Best regards.

Juan

juanbe wrote:Hi Jay,
I'm really impressed with your work. Great job !!!!!
I'm a Argentinian retired IT Engineer, and with much more time now, I'm making my own Sim Cockpit. I do use 3D printers and design with Fusion 360.
I wanted to make the yoke but with no Microsoft Joystick components.
Can you send me please or post the link of the files regarding the FFB yoke that you designed ?
Once I'll finish I will repost the modified files, so if somebody wants to use them they would be avalaible.

By the meantime I am finishing a modified design that I found for an altimeter, after a few test I can say it works pretty good. (works with a mini step-motor)
If you want it, when its going to be finished, i could post the files so anybody can use them.

Best regards.

Juan

Hi Juan and thank you.

All files and instructions, available so far, are being published at VR FlightSim web as they come.
Just follow the link below and go to "finished stuff" page.

https://vrflightsim.wixsite.com/mysite

I don't quite understand what did you mean by "I wanted to make the yoke but with no Microsoft Joystick components".
Can you explain your plan a little?

Best regards
Jay

Hi Jay,
What I mean is that I am not going to use the electronic nor the servos that are in the Microsoft Sidewinder Force Feedback Joystick.
I am going to use a Classic Arduino with a RAMPS shield, and classic Nema 17 stepper motors, T5 belts that can be easily find, and using hall effect sensors for sensing the axes of the yoke. I've made a lot of test before and now I'm going to make the mechanical design.
I also finished printing (in 4 parts) my own designed Yoke that is very similar to the cessna yoke.
For the only thing I asked for your design is for the dimensions (example: vertical axis displacement measurements, rotation angle, etc) because I never bought a commercial yoke, up today I only used sticks.

Best regards

Juan

juanbe wrote:Hi Jay,
What I mean is that I am not going to use the electronic nor the servos that are in the Microsoft Sidewinder Force Feedback Joystick.
I am going to use a Classic Arduino with a RAMPS shield, and classic Nema 17 stepper motors, T5 belts that can be easily find, and using hall effect sensors for sensing the axes of the yoke. I've made a lot of test before and now I'm going to make the mechanical design.
I also finished printing (in 4 parts) my own designed Yoke that is very similar to the cessna yoke.
For the only thing I asked for your design is for the dimensions (example: vertical axis displacement measurements, rotation angle, etc) because I never bought a commercial yoke, up today I only used sticks.

Best regards

Juan

Hi Juan

Really impressive! As you probably noticed I'm trying to achieve a similar result with the OSCL system. Unfortunately, don't have the programming skills to do this on my own.
Would you be willing to share more info about your concept?
I like the idea of Nema 17 steppers, they are not so expensive to buy and also come with optional driver "box" which can take a wide range of signals.
And yes, T5 belts are more common but will require larger motors and overall more durable mechanism. I needed to go with HTD belts because of the delicate design and limited sidewinder motors power.
I'm actually starting the second generation DIY Yoke with totally different approach now.

As for the axis displacement and forces.
I've found most versatile axis travel to be 180 degrees on Roll and about 120mm on Pitch.
It's little more complicated when it comes to values of maximum forces. Would there be a dedicated driver to limit the output power, you can go nuts with your transmission and tune the force down. However, without proper software, you want to design your transmission so its maximum output force is somewhere close to comfortable flight.
Personally, I'm quite happy with the following numbers as my second project reference:
Pitch - 2.8Kgf (27.5N)
Roll - 1.8 N.m

Mind you, larger yoke wheel requires bigger torque on the roll axis. 1.8 N.m is fine for Cessna style wheel.

Best Regads
Jay

Hi All, I just joined the forum love this site, you are doing great work jay. I just placed an order for all parts on ebay this morning for the build but what size hose clamps do I need to order and what bolts screws are required for the build I dont see those listed. What did you use to fasten the yoke to the pipe did you place a set screw epoxy etc? Very excited to start printing the parts, I have a prusa MK3 I plan to use, What material is best ABS or PLA

Sorry for all the questions guys just very excited to get the parts and get this going.

Does any one have a good place to send files to for cutting for acrylic and mdf in california? that is reasonable?

MrPharmer2012 wrote:Hi All,  I just joined the forum love this site, you are doing great work jay.  I just placed an order for all parts on ebay this morning for the build but what size hose clamps do I need to order and what bolts screws are required for the build I dont see those listed.  What did you use to fasten the yoke to the pipe did you place a set screw epoxy etc?  Very excited to start printing the parts,  I have a prusa MK3 I plan to use,  What material is best ABS or PLA

Mr Pharmer and Others..

I am currently in a "full steam" development of the v2 but I'll try my best to finish needed documentation of v1 as soon as possible.
I appreciate, that it makes the build little more tricky but everybody please understand if I prioritize v2 development over this, as the time I can dedicate to the project is fairly limited.

If you guys get stuck on any detail, I would recommend using the 3D preview HERE
It allows you to isolate or hide any part, take measurements and so on...

Well, back to your original question.
The hose clamp needs to fit over 34mm in diameter. Try to get one as narrow as possible.
To fasten the wheel handle onto the tubing, I printed custom bracket, which was bolted on the inside of the "wheel". Another printed part was glued onto the pipe with two-part epoxy resin. These two components are held together with three additional bolts.
This bracket is not included within the STL files because it was designed for the exchange of two different "wheels" that I own.
I'll try to redesign the Saitek bracket and upload it amongst the STL's if I get the time.
All printed parts were done with PLA, however, I would highly recommend using ABS if you're comfortable printing with it.

Regarding the bolts and screws, this might help a little  (if I've missed something, please refer to the 3D preview or ask again  )






Stay airborne
Jay

Thank you Jay for your response, this is very helpful, cant wait to get this put together, still waiting in the rods and potentiometer to come from china, states can be as late as sept 18th for delivery ridiculously slow.

Jay another question, for the rods, what length do I need to cut them down to, the 400mm is way to long what is correct length needed, Also the links posted for the shaft and the triangular pieces with bearings to hold it dont fit, so either the supplier messed up or it is the wrong link