Your racing "office"

DashmeterPro. Works well for me

Jan Kowalski wrote:

DashmeterPro. Works well for me

I'll buy something like that soon. I don't need much info, most importantly tyres, fuel and water/oil temperature. This certainly can be displayed by this app. But there's one more crucial info - percentage of engine life left, as shown in XD plugin. Can this app do it as well?

Soooo, as a married man, i finally started to build my rig It's nothing special, really. Just a wooden frame with a table around it. The seat is from e34 BMW 5 series, bought it for 8 euro. I might change it for something more fancy later. Anyway, it took one day of work and it's mostly done. The only thing that needs major improvement is position of pedals. It has to be in a different position than flat, it just doesn't work (tested today at Thruxton). Otherwise the seating position, angle of the wheel and placement of the monitor is exactly what i wanted. All i need to do now is to do something with pedals, make all the wires a bit more organised and give it some better look.

https://goo.gl/photos/dCXj4KNNemM18skr8

Petr Hlavac wrote:

Soooo, as a married man, i finally started to build my rig  It's nothing special, really. Just a wooden frame with a table around it. The seat is from e34 BMW 5 series, bought it for 8 euro. I might change it for something more fancy later. Anyway, it took one day of work and it's mostly done. The only thing that needs major improvement is position of pedals. It has to be in a different position than flat, it just doesn't work (tested today at Thruxton). Otherwise the seating position, angle of the wheel and placement of the monitor is exactly what i wanted. All i need to do now is to do something with pedals, make all the wires a bit more organised and give it some better look.

https://goo.gl/photos/dCXj4KNNemM18skr8

as a married man...enjoy last few months

I've finally finished that thing. I'm quite happy with it But i'd like to add vibrations in future. And highly probably VR.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/ZaBgl7zAjlV6Lh2m2

Really, really nice.. you are just motivating me continue with my "racing office" project..

very nice, congrats

Raul Jereb wrote:

Really, really nice.. you are just motivating me continue with my "racing office" project

Do you have something ongoing? Would you share it? I'm curious

Petr Hlavac wrote:

Raul Jereb wrote:

Really, really nice.. you are just motivating me continue with my "racing office" project

Do you have something ongoing? Would you share it? I'm curious

Acctualy I dont

I had an idea to make something like that RedBull racing seat.. but it is still only on paper.
Id like to avoid real car seats, becose those wont fit my apartment interior design.

at this moment, I have a new PC and 3 monitors, which is big step forward from where I was a year ago

And maybe the bigest quest will be how to make one PC and one monitor usefull for others who use it too..

A lot of headich!!!

I can provide a nice design I created to make that kind of F1 cockpit with L shaped drilled profile if you are interested. It is designed to bolt a race seat on it, but you can use more profile to make the back of the seat if you want.

Alberto Ibañez wrote:

I can provide a nice design I created to make that kind of F1 cockpit with L shaped drilled profile if you are interested. It is designed to bolt a race seat on it, but you can use more profile to make the back of the seat if you want.

That could be helpfull, if nothing, to get a wider picture, which I miss right now.
Though, I intend to make all out of plywood.

thank you Alberto!

Raul Jereb wrote:

And maybe the bigest quest will be how to make one PC and one monitor usefull for others who use it too..

A lot of headich!!!

Thankfully, mine is for gaming only, there's another ooold PC for watching movies and surfing on the web. But if the whole frame was raised by half a meter, it could be easily used by someone else for other purposes (it not that easy to get in and out as it is now sitting on the floor). That seat is fully adjustable and actually very comfortable, much better than most office chairs. The wheel is detachable and I'm planning a removable keyboard support for playing other games. It should be a 20s transformation. So maybe you'll have to step back from your F1 style rig and make a compromise, but it definitely can be done

I should be constructing it in the next days, and will then provide pics. But this is the material I'm doing it from, so basically bolts and nuts to hold together and a metal saw to cut the pieces are the only tools required.



And this is how the concept looks like (Red are bolts):



The nice thing about it is that you can adjust the angle of seat and pedals before bolting the steering wheel support that holds it in position.

This is a "3D" view of ONE side of it, there is another one opposite to it (not painted):

Mr. Ibanez, this is great!

Do you maybe have any measures?
The main obstacle for me is having the right measures for elements positioning - seat, pedals, wheel, and finaly, monitors...

I was trying, and my daughter helped me, to "simulate" the racing postion of the body, with some coushins, chainrs etc, and than trying to measure all, but it allways turned out pretty sloppy, and I dont feel like to make a protoype first. With materials like you plan to use it could be much easyer, but I insist on wood as a material, which is not so sutable for multy drilling/glueing!

Your schemes helped me in some thinkins, though..

thank you!

office

Alberto, that is a nice concept, minimalistic and elegant. But i see some issues...

First, it is inspired by RedBull Seat, but there's one major difference. RB has a central pilar for the wheel, while you have the supports on the side. What i'm saying is that you can roll out sideways from RB, but you won't be able to do that with your setup. You'll have to slide your body backwards and lean on the seat on order to pull your legs out. And as you have it planned, the whole rig will roll over. IMO it needs a support to avoid that, like a dragster

First and a half, as it's also related to getting in and out. I'd move the wheel support back and use a T-shaped desk, so that it sticks out. As i see it now, you simply would't get your knees in there. Not very well described, i'll post a picture of what i mean later today.

And second, i'd definitely prefer wood over these metal L profiles. Wood is easier to work with, it's easier to make additional changes if needed, it looks better (just my opinion, as you can paint/customize it) and most importantly, i believe it profides better stability and stiffness of the construction. That "table" of mine was very solid, then i strenghtened it with a heavy duty 15/10cm metal L profile and it's rock-solid now. With those profiles, nuts and bolts and all that non-stop movement while driving, i'm not sure it would last without constant tightening.

You can do the structure in drilled metal like I showed, and then use thin wooden panels to cover the outside and paint/decorate it.  

Quote :

The main obstacle for me is having the right measures for elements positioning - seat, pedals, wheel, and finaly, monitors...

I was trying, and my daughter helped me, to "simulate" the racing postion of the body, with some coushins, chainrs etc, and than trying to measure all, but it allways turned out pretty sloppy, and I dont feel like to make a protoype first.

The good thing about my design is that you cut it only as you progress, so it is easy to have it suit you.

First you place the lower rails without cutting, and bolt the seat support (rear arms) with your seat (1). You set then the angle of the seat you like. Next you bolt the pedal arms, trying different distances and angles until you find what you like (2). Then you cut the excess (3).



Also, if you look at the design you will notice that the steering support locks it, but if you don't have it installed, the frame is articulated and will move the angle of seat and pedals in paralell forward or backwards. You can that way find the angle you prefer best, and then bolt the steering arm that locks it in place.

Quote :

What i'm saying is that you can roll out sideways from RB, but you won't be able to do that with your setup. You'll have to slide your body backwards and lean on the seat on order to pull your legs out.

No, the steering wheel support is angled from the front to you, so you can raise your leg in direction of your chest and move it sideways to step out. It is a bit tight indeed, but you can do it.

Quote :

And as you have it planned, the whole rig will roll over. IMO it needs a support to avoid that, like a dragster

I already though of that, the arms that go to the ground have the L oriented outwards, and if it is sill unstable I would add cross members front and rear to provide a wider base.

Quote :

i believe it profides better stability and stiffness of the construction

Initially yes, but bolts and nuts that go through it will with time cause loose play. It also is much heavier.

I see you have it planned properly. Looking forward to some pictures  Just one remark regarding finding the perfect driving position. It's a delicate thing. My initial plan was decent, but it needed minor adjustments. So minor, like lowering the wheel base by 2,5cm, adjusting the angle by close to nothing, moving pedals by 3cm... Yet it really made a big difference. And the last advice  - move the monitor as close to the wheel as possible. Having it even 20cm, let alone one meter away from the wheel base kills the immersion. It's a very frequent mistake.

Got a request to show my cockpit and little Al's one, so here we go. For expediency, I ended up buying a Simetik K1 recently instead of building something as I do not have the time or space to do the build right now.

So I use a TSW720 set for 360º of rotation, coupled with Clubsport pedals which I recently modified to eliminate the load cell, replacing it with a magnetic sensor as in the other pedals, but keeping the foam/spring combo that makes it feel stiff enough as a real brake pedal. I also added DSD pedal pads and wrapped some parts in carbon fiber look vynil. On the Simetik cockpit I put my Sparco R100 seat, which is not just for looks, but because I have a hernia in the lower back and need something comfortable enough and adjustable to seat in (Sounds like a plausible excuse, at least my wife bought it )









When I got the Simetik, I passed my old Gamepod to little Alberto, for whom I got a used ECCI steering + pedals from Timo Vermeersch, who was kind enough to bring it down here on his yearly trip to the southern Spain's beaches. (Thanks again Timo!!)







So that's it, now you know how we race here 

Wow, very cool!

Kinda want to move on from my G27 and Wheelstand Pro

Alberto Ibañez wrote:

When I got the Simetik, I passed my old Gamepod to little Alberto, for whom I got a used ECCI steering + pedals from Timo Vermeersch, who was kind enough to bring it down here on his yearly trip to the southern Spain's beaches. (Thanks again Timo!!)

You're most welcome.

Timo

great

Oh, Ive been bussy

Holidays with no races.. what a perfect combination. Even my wife lost some wight due to questioning where the hell am I going to park that!!

Any ways, not over yet, now Im on the v1.1 and still some modifications are needed + mouse and keybord places, PC-unit location, cables, MGU-K, etc, etc... , and a biggest question overall - where and how to mount-put three monitors! Unfortunately triple stand is out of the question at the moment (one of my monitors cant be mounted, and stands itself is quite expensive).. so, any suggestions are very welcome.

Very impressive Raul  

With those skills, you can easily build a coffin and put it next to the rig as a warning against further complaints

Alberto Ibañez wrote:

Very impressive Raul  

+1