Motion-Platform - Festo Fluid Muscle Activated or Pneumatic Office Chair

[PilotoX]

I just signed up to this group and hoping that someone here can collaborate on this, perhaps this has already been done, and if so, maybe someone can direct me to a web page that indicates so. But I am having a hard time finding something, along some ideas, that have been lingering in my head, for many years, of wanting to build a simple, yet realistic flight sim cockpit using common items found in hardware stores.

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After some research on DIY flight sim platforms, I came across this Festo Flight Sim platform (http://www.festo.com/INetDomino/coorp_sites/en/ded5d1663e4760f1c12572d00035d10d.htm), that offers, more in line to, what I want to build, but perhaps there is even a simpler, maybe not as elaborate, solution.<O:p< font O:p<>
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After pondering on ways to make motion platform, very simple and having built a few mechanical motion contraptions, using springs and bungee cords, I was thinking that perhaps a pneumatic $100 office chair can be modified to give the feel of the up/down motion by modifying the mechanical lever of the chair that controls its up/down motion. <O:p< font O:p<>
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Does this sound doable? Of course it is! but I am asking here so I don't reinvent the wheel. I am sure this idea has cross many other people, and I would like to know if anyone has gotten far with it or not. <O:p< font O:p<>
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For starters, UP/DOWN motion is better than no motion!. <O:p< font O:p<>
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I was thinking of mounting this pneumatic chair on a fixed sturdy platform, so the chair doesn't swivel on the wheels, but I need to think on how I am going to rig the pneumatic cylinder to be activated from the FSX software. <O:p< font O:p<>
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If anyone is interested, Ideas, suggestions are welcome. IF this has already been done, please let me know who and where. Thanks.<O:p< font O:p<>

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[AndyT]

Welcome to the forum!

Of course you can use the lifting arm of the chair but I'd say that it would not be practical. It would require too much in the way of counter springs or something to be able to lift you and the controls and screen with a small pneumatic arm.

There are SO MANY options to choose from when it comes to motion platforms. And the list is getting longer every day.

My personal favorite is a combination of Jim's platform and another one.

Jim's:
http://www.jimspage.co.nz/where.htm

The other one:
http://digilander.libero.it/tornadoblu5/index1.htm

I'm using Jim's idea for Yaw with the other platforms pitch and roll design. I expect to have a pit fully capable of 75-80 degrees pitch and roll with unlimited yaw that can carry two people.

I also have an idea to add heave to it, but that is down the line.

You could build a joyrider very easily and add motion to it pretty simply.
http://www.acesim.com/ready.html

Then we have a fairly new entry:
http://www.flightemotion.com/

One by Dutchboy:
http://www.simulatormotion.com/

There is Rolands design:
http://www.simprojects.nl/diy_motion_platform_iii.htm

And Thanos' motion Joyrider:
http://ptyxiouxos.net//greekbotics/user_projects/Flight_Simulator/thanos_home_motion_flight_simulator.htm

And there are others that I do not have links for. But these will give you an idea of what you can build with off the shelf hardware store parts.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask.

[PilotoX]

AndyT. I was already familiar with those links, but thanks for posting them, they are great reference, indeed.

I started with pneumatic chair thought, because this seems to be the simplest to give the user some feel of up/down flight motion, something that needs a little more thought, perhaps. The lever activation on these chairs is very simple, actually, and I would not be carrying a lot of weight on the platform, not even the monitor, just pilot, so I think it is doable with a bit of elbow grease mechanical modification to it and some surplus and hacked electronic controller parts to drive it up and down.

If anyone else is a step ahead of me on this, please join in.