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Check intel for the latest drivers, they seem to update them quite often. Also check how much memory you have reserved for graphics - probably in bios

Normally the trees/hedges are set well back on a modern circuit for safety, but here they literally the track edge and you will see a lot of them even at speed, i think they do need to be detailed enough to feel 'dangerous' if you hit them - just to get the atmosphere of the place. Where they are set back from the track or behind barriers its not a problem as its more typical of other tracks. Probably the most detailed area for trees is on the run down the hill after the hairpin - this really need to feel really tight and closed in - especially at speed

Thanks to nouvaics excellent photos i have started to look for some textures, the control tower has had some dodgy paint jobs - should we leave 'as is' or touch them up?   It could do with a lick of paint to hide the old signwriting  Personally quite like the rustic look  Left image is front, right image is podium side


How are you going to handle the tree details? The detail is great, and trees like this run along many of the embankments, must be a way to get them to look good This one is right on the track edge. I have seen the 2 planes at right angle tree model, but i am not sure it would work for these...

Its a serious concern, on the main roll axis i have fitted a solid stop block to limit the travel to +-60 degrees, this also has limit switches that will stop the servo controller in that direction as well. I will do the same for the steer axis as well.

I will add a bit of code to the control signal send to trap any really crazy stuff that comes from GPB, trapping the peak values in software does suggest that occasional spikes occur on the steer torque axis that are 10x (350Nm reported) the normal magnitudes you would expect, i guess this is just a computational thing though if could possibly explain some of the 'freak' crashes people observe in game. MaX has seen similar with his logger so he might know if they relate to any specific activity in the sim environment.

The intention is also to have a master kill/panic switch on the servo enable line - i was thinking dead mans handle style so that if you let go of the grips it will stop but can't figure an easy but elegant way to do it - a 'push to enable' foot switch might be easier to implement.

Hopefully once the bugs are ironed out it will be reliable and confidence will build .

Going to concentrate on finishing the hydraulic stuff first though. Latest plan is to have the load cylinders move with the bars - this will mean the hoses and banjo bolts are not flexed so less chance of leaks developing. Wish i had used the alloy cylinders now as the cast ones are fairly heavy but i was concerned about bore wear at the time i ordered them, in hindsight i doubt this will be an issue. Maybe i will upgrade them in the future if the system works out OK.

The scheme is to simulate 'normal' bike steering, or at least discover if it is possible. This motor/gbox will rotate the bars to simulate the lean angle of the bike using the output from GPB. The reason for it needing to be fairly powerful is so that the 'rider' cannot influence the lean by bar force, it is only ever driven to the correct angle as calculated by GPB.

Another separate motor/gearbox assembly will be used to provide the 'force feedback' signal computed by GPB for the bars steer angle, the input to the system will be the torque applied to the bars by the rider.

It will also feature hydraulic force sensing brake and clutch.

Thats the plan anyway, i'm sure it will take a bit of development to get right but it's an interesting technical exercise 

Good advice to anyone experimenting with higher toque motors and i will certainly be removing the bar vertical axis assembly for testing and set-up, the idea of the handlebars flying round at 180rpm is very sobering.

I think you could probably drive a sit on frame with this thing!
Power is not as bad as it seems as i have gone 24volt to keep the amps to something that does not need welding cable to connect it up. Biggest concern is keeping it under control and safe, be a bit worrying if it just ended up spinning round! Limit stops/switches and e-stop are high on the list of tasks before i even think of powering it up. It should do 120 degree sweep (lock to lock) in about 0.5 seconds  if you let it

It also weighs a ton 

Might have got a bit carried away with the roll axis motor  It was a 'bargain' from one of those bankrupt stock type warehouses. Bit bigger than expected  Trying to convince myself that it was a good purchase....



Output shaft is 25mm dia so i suspect it may have a 'bit' of torque available 

After a lot of research in the back end of last year i decided that this was probably the best balance for price/performance and longevity;
Intel Core i5-4590 3.30GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor

Have to say its more powerful than anything i have found to throw at it so far

Its those track elevations changes and short crests that will make this short track fun to ride, hopefully a real trial of the bike physics

Fast ram is only really needed for on board graphic solutions where memory bandwidth hits performance quite hard. The new AMD integrated boards have to use it to recover performance compared to a discreet solution.

If your doing a lot of rendering or really put 32GB ram to work you might see a gain though.

Don't like the concept for steering but might be a reasonable way of inputting rider lean into the sim.

Second thoughts, this is not the way you move side to side on a bike-probably have to look at foot peg loads instead

No doubt Intel have it at the moment, AMD are relying on software designed to use its architecture and it just does not seem to be happening, in an instructions/clock race it intel every time. Shame i was a big fan of AMD budget processors at one time.

AMD graphics cards draw ridiculous amounts of power, double check total power draw before you commit to a PSU. Not the best for OpenGL support either

The stock intel cooler is indeed noisy under load, quiet when idling though

H its not about ONLY using a rear brake for stopping. Its about using it for control. I bet most who put rear braking down have never really used it and dont even know how to properly in different situations!!!

DD

More an observation of how relatively weak the braking is on the rear, even on a gp bike- no argument that it can be used to steady in a corner or regulate the bike when the fronts airborne but its absolute stopping power is low compared to whats on the front, and the suspension is always against the rear brake doing much to slow the bike down. Digital control (as in sim button) make it difficult to use with any finesse.

Hmm....
2 of these

against 1 of these