Just got my racesim working for the first time.  Here is a really quick vid of the basic movement.  Needs alot of tweaking and more assembly but its working!

Here is a quick overview:

- Built almost entirely with MDF Sheets (no metalwork or welding required)

- Seat mover design

- Uses Ropes and Pulleys to transfer motor output to seat movement

- Use the “Big Wormgear” motors available from motiondynamics

- Uses single 360W cheap power supply from China off eBay (sold as LED lighting PSUs)

- Uses H-Bridges from China off eBay (Sold as 43A units, probably more like 20A continuous?)

- Uses Arduino X-PID controller

- Max 125mm linear movement at seat connection point (equivalent to 250mm linear actuator at shoulder height)

- Max 300mm/sec linear speed at seat connection point (equivalent to 600mm/sec linear actuator at shoulder height)

- By adjusting drive and feedback pulley sizes can change speed and max movement

- Drive and Feedback pulleys also made of MDF using hole saw

- Have currently backed off motor power to 80% and restricted movement to 80% travel (via XPID software)

- Motors don’t seem to be stressed at all, H-Bridges run cool enough to hold finger on drivers (Although haven’t run for more than about 5mins at a time so far)

- Electronics neatly housed in the base assembly

- Uses a 1/2in Universal Socket adaptor as the universal joint

- It is solid but heavy!

Still to do:

- Add traction loss – Have modified X-PID software to drive three motors with one Arduino – hasn’t been tested though

- Finish the front end console

- Paint and decals

- Look at reducing the weight

- Learn how to drive properly

  

Drum Trigger to MIDI to PC Audio Out

Here are some measurements of the delays in my edrum setup:

The overall delay from the piezo trigger input to the audio out of the pc sound card.  Showing a delay of 10.8ms in this sample.  (blue is the piezo trigger input and yellow is the pc audio out) 

The delay from the piezo trigger input (blue) to the edrum serial comms MIDI transmission (yellow)

The time to send the MIDI command over serial at 115200baud.  (note it is showing there are some non-optimal gaps between the transmitted bytes so could be slightly faster, but not much.

I am actually surprised at how long the computer takes to process the MIDI and produce an output.  Will need to investigate further.

eDrum Kit

Here is a picture of my eDrum kit.  It is a converted acoustic kit.  I was lucky enough to win an ebay auction for AU$25 for the entire kit minus stool.  It was advertised as not sounding very good and having a broken snare stand so I guess there was little interest in it?  Anyway I wasn't interested in the sound as my plan was to convert it to an eDrum and the stand was easily fixed anyway.

 

The trigger to MIDI module is my own hybrid design.  It is based on a PIC16F877A micro as are many designs on the internet.  The analogue inputs are taken from Admir's project site here http://www.edrum.info/.  The software is developed from scratch by myself - just because I was interested.

It currently has 8 trigger inputs and 8 buttons that I use to start/stop songs within the DAW on the host computer.  It connects to the computer using serial interface running at 115200baud to assist in reducing latency.
 

A Prototype "Quiet" E-Cymbal Design

OK, so the first project I have to share is an experimental quiet e-cymbal design using a mesh covered frame.  I thought this would be quieter than other cymbal designs and still enable some sort of cymbal swing that is experienced from a traditional cymbal design.  The test results are promising, so if you are interested perhaps see if you can improve on the design.  Here is a photo of the finished product and a video comparing noise levels from different e-cymbal setups:

For more info go to the design page: Experimental "quiet" e-cymbal

The Beginning

An electrical engineer by profession I have always enjoyed experimenting with various things,  looking for new projects that capture my interest and increase my thirst for technical knowledge and learning.  From software development, electronics, carpentry, construction, anything requiring creative thought and hands on involvement really.

So I have decided to invest some of that energy into recording the more interesting (from my point of view) of those projects for others that may have similar interests.

Blogger seems to be one of the quickest ways to achieve this so here we go.  I have only just started looking into blogger so I'm not sure I fully understand how all the pages, posts, static pages, etc fit together - this post is part of the learning curve.