So what are our next steps? Through the prototyping process, we were able to identify areas needed for improvement. Without taking the steps to create a physical prototype, many issues would have flown under the radar as this design is scaled up. In this week’s article, we'll talk about the reiterative process, some of the issues we encountered, and what we are planning to do to solve them.
Issues in Prototyping
During the initial assembly, a few quality-of-life items were identified. The first one, the need for assembly jigs. The initial thought was to provide an assembly jig to locate critical parts on the sim rig. We chose to use 3D printing to manufacture plastic jigs. However, using these jigs really didn’t seem to align with the experience we wanted to offer when building a motion simulator. Inventum strives for a seamless customer experience, from immersion to assembly. Therefore, a more intuitive design was needed. Now plates and extrusions butt up to one another and critical locations are located by machine processed to take out any guess work.
Major Design Changes
Optimizing performance is a primary function of a prototype. It’s a great accomplishment to have something tangible, yes, but it’s much more satisfying to have something that also performs. We are constantly exploring changes to squeeze every drop of performance out of our design.
Stewart Platform Optimization
Looking at the height of the rig, the park height, which is the level you would be entering into the rig. The step into the rig was probably equivalent to climbing into a lifted truck. That’s not feasible when you're climbing in and out. It gets old real quick.
To solve this, actuator arrangement and design has been optimized as well as actuator points connecting to the chassis. Effectively lowering the park height by 310mm, and increasing the overall motion capability.
Part Elimination
With any design of a machine, the part count is always on the designer’s mind. My philosophy has always been, keep it simple and make it effective. While handling the parts, we identified portions in the pedal assembly, actuator mounting points, and actuators that needed to be optimized for part count. This resulted in parts and assemblies being combined into single pieces, and other portions were just plain out eliminated after a careful review. When you think about it, reducing part counts lowers the risk for failure and unintended part interactions.
Triple Screen
Immersion is everything when it comes to our Project Hex simulator. There are a couple of paths for immersion. It’s either VR or triple screens. As you'll find in the previous videos we've shared on our social media (Nurburgring Lap), we’re able to demonstrate immersion using the VR experience. That's my go to environment for sim racing, but it honestly isn't for everyone—especially for those that are sensitive to motion sickness.
In that case, triple screens really are the answer for most people who wish to experience a similar level of immersion. This type of screen setup offers you peripheral views like you were surrounded by an actual car. What sets our triple monitor mount apart from the rest, is that it is mounted directly to the motion chassis, and moves with the simulator. The separation between a motion rig and monitors can hamper immersion and true simulation of brake points.
Universal Motion Base
Project Hex is intended to be packaged in kits or stages. Inventum offers a static frame with upgrade options to full motion. Our Static Chassis is specifically designed to be used as a motion rig and has reinforcement at key points to ensure a structurally sound chassis that can be manipulated dynamically. Along with the Static Chassis, we’ll also be offering the motion base as a separate kit. The motion base can be used with anything from your imagination. The motion base will be offered with a plate to mount or bolt to, to suit your needs
As I’m writing this we’re sifting through new parts as they are completed, and there's a shipment of carbon parts making their way to us. Over the next few weeks we’ll be updating Project hex to its final form. So stay tuned for more updates and videos as we go through our testing procedures again!
