Bergison

Hey everyone, I am struggling to export engine parameters like RPM via export.lua. As I understand, the LoGetEngineInfo() function does not work anymore and the alternative would be to get parameters via the cockpit indications using get_argument_value(). I already found out that arguments 104 and 105 are left and right thrust lever positions. But what are the arguments for engine RPM? Does anyone know or has any alternative method to get engine parameters to export? Thanks for your help!

Well, we're still in talks with some interested companies as potential manufacturers, but it is not easy to find one who has the required know-how AND production facilities to launch a commercialy available (and reasonably affordable) version of the seat.

Thanks for all your nice replies! Here's a quick update to this project: I've teamed up with a fellow simmer and aviation engineer who helps me with further development and possible commercialization of the seat. We're currently in talks with a company which is interested in producing and selling the Motion Integrated G-Seat. Besides that we also plan to release a DIY version with a kit, plans and building instructions. I'm going to post any news and progress here and on my website to keep you updated.

Thanks for your nice replies guys! I am evaluating means of bringing the seat to market right now, but it will take some time! I'll keep you updated! In the meantime, I plan to shoot a video showing the seat in DCS. What would you like to see preferably?

As promised, the 3rd video of the Motion Integrated G-Seat, where I take it for a ride in my F/A-18 Super Hornet flight simulator, is now online. Enjoy!

DigitalEngine, a do-it yourself kit is certainly an option if a market launch of the full system should turn out unfeasible. I doubt however, that any available chair could be fitted to the system, as the seat needs to change it's geometry and is therefore closely linked to (is rather a part of) the force distributing mechanism.

Thank you guys! The motors in the prototype are not acoustically screened at the moment, which could reduce the noise level. But like DeatMeat already wrote, any noise from the seat is easily drowned out by any simulated motor, jet-engine or whatever other sound source. As for smoother movements, that is solely a software setting. For the 2nd video, I had a 1:1 acceleration pass-through from the ralley car without any damping. If that felt too rough, a smoother tuning with more damping or spike-cancellation would of course be possible. I can: the limited view of the real cockpit with a VR headset on was annoying to me when I first tried VR. I solved this by cutting away the plastic on the lower side of the rift to just short of the lenses. With the headset on, I can now see my real cockpit right up to the glareshield, from where on I see the VR world through the lenses. For me, that is the best combination achievable until a suitable solution with augmented reality gets available.

Thanks for your nice comments and also your questions! Mounting a stick and throttle to the moving part should be no problem. Rudders would cause too large a lever and would also be moved too much for a fixed cockpit. However, using the seat with fixed controls (not mounted to the moving part) feels good and natural, as the shifting of the body corresponds to the shifting one would get under real accelerations! In video #2 I use a fixed steering wheel and I didn't find that distracting, despite me being moved relative to it - it felt just like in a real car. @ BlacleyCole, the seat could be built in any other layout I guess, be it car or helicopter seats, so UH-1s too. I just built it like an ejection seat because I want to use it in my F-18 sim. Regarding space requirements: the seat needs only about 2,5 cm / 1 in to the left and right, so not that much. It should fit easily in any cockpit or car simulator. Costs: do you mean what it cost me to build, or for how much I would sell it? Well, due to A LOT of trial and error during development (mainly finding suitable motors and drivers), I did had some costs. The sole components finally used in the prototype as shown cost me about 1400 €. As I also state on my website, I neither possess the resources nor the time currently to produce the seat for others to buy, so it is not for sale at the moment - sorry! If there is demand for such a system, I might consider selling the design/patent to a company willing to produce it.

Hi everyone! I came up with a new method to induce the sensation of motion and acceleration in seat-based simulators! I call it the Motion Integrated G-Seat as it combines the strengths of a motion platform with those of a G-Seat and integrates them into one single system. It is able to deliver an unprecedented sensation of intense, swiftly reversible and sustainable feeling of motion and acceleration in all axes. Find out more about the seat on my website: https://bergisons.simpit.info/motion-integrated-g-seat. There are some youtube videos I made so far to show the seat in action: *NEW* (14.05.2020) Teaser: part 1: Introduction part 2: Racing Rars part 3: Flight Simulators Enjoy, Bergison UPDATE 24.10.2022 Dear follower of the Motion Integrated G-Seat project, after many struggles and countless hours of work put into this project, I am happy to announce the release of the non-commercial DIY license. Individuals will finally be able to build their own copy of the seat for their private use. Please visit https://makers.bergison.com for more information. Thanks for your patience and determination up to this moment! Best regards, Chris

many thanks neofightr for taking the time to answer all those questions and sharing your experience! there is nothing like first hand information from a real professionalI I am very grateful for that! May I ask one more: briefings, debriefings, courses and other ground stuff aside, how many hours did you actually spent flying as a fighter pilot per year/month?

I have published some additional information to the "how-to" section of my g-seat website now: [http://meintourenbuch.net/simpit/g-seat-how-to] I don't know if more information or details are still needed!? If so post your questions here, or on my website: [http://meintourenbuch.net/simpit/comments] As far as I know, there have been plans to rebuild the G-Seat by some. Could you let me know, if you're still on it and how it worked out for you? Thanks!

Hi everybody and thanks for your nice replies! I try to give more explanation on the G-Seat on the "how-to" section of my website (http://meintourenbuch.net/simpit) as much as my spare time allows, as I learned that there are already some fellow simmers trying to rebuild the G-Seat! I am going to answer all questions reaching me via mail or pm, but please be patient with new content on my website as I am quite busy with other things at the moment! If you want me to explain anything specific here or on my website, then feel free to contact me!

Yes, to my knowledge, this is possible! There are plenty of diskussions and tutorials for this kind of setup on the X-Sim forum.

Thanks everybody for your nice comments! I am definitively going to publish more information on the seat and more details about the mechanics soon! I am however quite busy with other things at the moment (my last flight in the sim was more than two monts ago... :( ) - so please give me some time. Feel free to post specific questions here or on my simpit website: http://meintourenbuch.net/simpit/comments Regards!

Hi everybody! To answer the many questions reaching me regarding the G-Seat, I've created some "how-to" pages on my simpit-website: http://meintourenbuch.net/simpit/g-seat-how-to Some are still under construction - more is to follow! Please let me know on which topics you want me to go into more detail!

Hi everybody! The seat currently works with DCS and FSX and theoretically with any other sim that can export telemetry data to the x-sim software. For DCS, I use acceleration and engine data exportet via the export.lua. As the seat simulates acceleration in all (x,y,z) axes, one can feel everything the aircraft does: rumbling down the runway, Gs, turbulence, the landing bump... it even shakes when I fire the gun in the A-10. You can get an idea of the movement in the video I made: http://meintourenbuch.net/simpit/g-seat-video For a high performance fighter I tested the F-18 in FSX. Pulling 7.5 Gs in the G-Seat is intense enough to make you only do it when you have to... (like you do in the real jet I guess!)

Hi guys and thanks for all your posts! @ recoilfx: You mean a list of all the parts I used, right? I don't have one but if wished I can give a more detailed description of the seat and the parts I used on my website meintourenbuch.net/simpit @ SafetyTurtle: as the seat is mainly made out of wood its loadability is of course limited, but it doesn't have to withstand real acceleration or movement either. The motors are quite strong and as there is one motor per flap/belt, they are able to perform without delay or difficulty. I weight about 75 kg and neither the motors, nor the motor controllers get warm even after long usage! I guess up to 100 kg of body weight should be no problem.

One big advantage of flying simulators compared to the real thing is that it is all about having a good time, which real world flying is definitely not all the time (believe me). So in my opinion, everything you invest in your sim-experience, may it be money or time or both, is absolutely worth it - as long as it makes you feel better, doesn't hurt anybody and you enjoy doing it! The limit of reasonable immersion in my opinion is, when you spend more time building/expanding your simpit than actually flying it. On the other hand, if that is what makes you happy - then go for it! (speaking as someone who spends a lot of time in an immersive simpit: http://meintourenbuch.net/simpit/current) However, with all the simulation technology now available, one thing that should not be forgotten is this: immersion primarily takes place in your head! I've had some flights in real aircraft, which felt absolutely unreal after landing! And I remember flying LHX attack chopper as a boy in the 90s with a helmet on and feeling totaly real! My advice: stick to what makes you enjoy it the most!!!

video of the seat in action Hi everybody! Like requested, I removed the seat cover again, and made a short Video of the seat in action: Enjoy :smilewink:!

@ mhe: It took me about 5 months from the first thought to the finished seat. However my spare time is rather limited with a busy job and two kids, so there were weeks in between with no time at all for the project. With all necessary parts ready and a decent workflow plan, I'd say two weeks of vacation should be sufficient to build a seat like mine. The software is from the x-sim project: http://x-sim.de/software.php?lang=eng Combining VR with tactile feedback like the G-seat should be really interesting. Hmm, but on the other hand... this would render the rest of my simpit useless I guess. I think I'll rather stick to real buttons and switches for some time. @ sydost: The seat simulates acceleration in all three dimensions, lateral too. I didn't include them in the drawings on my website though. During lateral acceleration (e.g. during sideslips or turns while taxiing), the flaps move mirror-inverted. To my knowledge, there has been one approach using seat flaps for racing sims: http://www.racingfr.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=40582 I have not found any projects featuring seat belt tensioners so far.

I am not planning to build more than one, or sell one of these. But of course I can provide detailed descriptions if wished. Yust let me know which part (mechanics, electronics, software) would be most useful to you.

Thanks for your replies! @ MacFevre: the difference to a non-moving sim is (in my opinion) remarkable! I figured the seat would improve immersion but I didn't expect it to be so strong and realistic! Especially "pulling Gs", where all four flaps move together is great fun! I am also very happy that I did include the seat belts (they tension under negative Gs or when decelerating). When flying inverted it really feels like hanging upside down in the seat! @ Bushmanni: I haven't measured or calculated latency. If there is any, I'm not able to recognize it while flying. The onset of Gs and all other forces is instantaneous, so is for example the kick at a not-so-smooth touchdown. I do know pretty good how accelerations feel in real flight, so I knew what to aim for when constructing the seat. But of course it will never be 100% realistic! What G-seats completely lack is the acceleration felt by the head, or in the stomach for example. You won't black out too, but as already said - it feels quite good! @ slowhand: a video of the seat is in progress, I'm going to post it here when its finished!

Hi everybody! I was planning to add motion to my simpit for a long time, but since the SimXperience GS-4 G-seat is a bit too expensive for me and I didn't get any reply from the guys at Ivibe, I decided to build my own DIY G-Seat: It is able to simulate acceleration in all three dimensions: positive/negative Gs, acceleration/deceleration and yaw. You can find a short description and some more pictures of it on my simpit website: http://meintourenbuch.net/simpit/g-seat Anybody with similar projects (or the wish of building a seat like this for him/herself) and in need of some help or advice, feel free to contact me!

Thanks Abnaxus, looking very much forward to it!!! :thumbup:

I was trying exactly the same thing - export data from DCS World / Huey to Helios for my instrument panel. towsim, you say it works, could you please explain, how to do this? Thanks a lot in advance!