New Vibration System for home cockpit (or any flightsim setup)

[Roland]

Hi guys,

I have been beta testing Ian Hopper's new BFF Shaker System, and I find it can provide really great vibration cues that you normally cannot generate with Audio driven Tactile Transducer vibration setups.

Please have a look at the tutorial video I made regarding Vibration Systems for Flight Simulators.

edit: for some reason the previous uploaded video gave error message when trying to playback, below new link:

Vibration system for Flight simulator tutorial - updated link: Vibration Systems for Flight Simulators Tutorial - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctYQd9Yu5v8)

Further info:
BFF Shaker System (http://www.simprojects.nl/bff_shaker_system.htm)
BFF Shaker Flight Simulator Vibration and Rumble Card (http://bffsimulation.com/BFF_Shaker.php)

[iwik]

Hi Roland,
Thanks for the Video, it was extremely well done and you have done Ian proud.
Hope you allow him to use it.
Definitely would build one if i hadnt done his Platform and FFB yoke.
Anyone out there that has any doubts as to how good Ians(BFF) gear is then dont.
I dont have any affiliation to BFF but have found both the Force Feedback Yoke
and Platform and After sales support has exceeded my expectations and for the cost, it phenominal value for money.
If you are serious about getting true realism at a realistic price the try Ian's Software/Hardware.
With this Shaker and Rolands Video what else can one say.

Regards
Les

[Roland]

Hi Les,

Agree with you 100%, Ian has made some really great software and hardware for flight simulation.

BFF 3DoF motion platform hardware and software does a pretty good job on general accelerations, runway bumps and the more coarse turbulence effects (depending on PID settings)

The BFF shaker offers good additions to a motion platform, as it adds some cues that the motion software does not provide, like engine start/stop, the finer details of touch down, vibration effects during stall ect.

But for most static sims, the vibration system alone will bring a huge improvement with relatively little effort.
For those already in possession of an audio driven tactile transducer system, the BFF shaker card can be quickly implemented, you could even mix the BFF Shaker PWM signal with the audio signal via a couple of resistors.

The software settings may look a bit daunting, but going step by step (one cue at the time) got me up and running pretty quickly.

[iwik]

Roland,
Some very interesting comments you have made. Are you going to fit one to your motion platform?.
Thanks agin for very imformative video and comments.
Les

[Roland]

Hi Les,

Yes, I'm planning to add the BFF shaker system to my motion platform, but due to the heavy vibration cues, it really needs the separate floor board, otherwise the visuals and panels will shake apart. I tested the floorboard BFF shaker solution separately.
Adding it to my motion rig needs some changes to the rudder pedals, so takes a bit longer. I'm also trying to design a more compact high power transducer. Of course you can also buy these, but DIY is more fun :-)

[iwik]

Thanks Roland,
Will keep a eye out on your site to see how you implement it. You have some great ideas.
Take Care

Regards
Les

[Roland]

Hi guys,

For upcoming FSWeekend I have been tweaking my vibration system, now using 3 transducers : (two transducers driven by the BFF shaker card and one transducer driven by the Flightsim audio signal.
The result is pretty awesome, and I dare to say it really outperforms my motion platform.

You are welcome to try it out during FSWeekend show at Lelystad Netherlands on Nov 2 & 3, 2013.

This year's FSWeekend setup will include:

- Modular cockpit (http://simprojects.nl/modular_simpit.htm) with 5-screen visual system including fresnell lenses.
- 3DoF motion platform IV (http://simprojects.nl/diy_motion_platform_iv.htm), this time completely powered by BFF motion driver and PID servo card and MD03 motor drivers.

- DIY Force feedback yoke (http://simprojects.nl/forcefeedback_yoke_ii.htm)driven by hacked MS Sidewinder and FSForce software
- BFF Shaker system (http://simprojects.nl/bff_shaker_system.htm) with 3-channel transducer setup.
- I'll also bring the first prototype of the balanced linear actuator, to be used in Motion Platform V (http://simprojects.nl/diy_motion_platform_v.htm).

Looking forward to seeing all you fellow simmers, and don't forget to bring your kids! I always love to see those youngsters enjoying a ride in my rig!