oh how i wish i had a machine shop. i could make some cool stuff. the mechanical engineering aspects of a full motion sim are easy, the electronics and computer interface are the hard part. i could do it if i had some extra money to spend. if i were to do one id get like 4 large lcd screens (most likely used ones that i can get cheaper, i wouldnt want to gut a brand new lcd screen), which i would arrange as a canopy to cover the pilots head to give the player as much immersion as possible. i think most of the microsoft sims support multiple displays for just this purpose.
i would of course do a 3 axis system. they yaw axis would consist of a circular rail elevated 4 feet off the floor, on top of which would rest a octagonal steel frame with rollers that would ride on the track. this frame would probibly need to be about 6 feet in diameter and would be articulated directly by an electric motor and its orientation would be monitored by a sensor. for pitch a second octagonal frame, between 5 and 5.5 feet across, would mount inside the larger frame with berings on either side. also this frame would mount both electric motors for pitch and roll, as well as positional sensors would be monuted on this frame. being 4 feet off the ground it would be capable of a complete roll. the 3rd frame, which would contain the pilot seat, controls, monitors, and probibly computers as well (as it would be hard to run stuff like monitor cables through a 360 articulatabel frame, maybe the monitors and controls connected wirelessly so the computer may remain on a non moving serface) would be mounted on a 3 foot square frame. everything in this box would need to be placed as close to the center of gravity as possible in order to give the 3 motors the least resistance. the pilot, consisting of most of the weight, would need to sit at dead center. for a seat a steel racing seat (as often seen on monster garage) with 5 point harness should work well. the monitor hood would also be made with steel tubing, and would slide open on rails to allow the pilot access. when closed it should cover the pilots whole head. all 3 frames need to be able to rotate into any position freely without collision. for cool factor id completely enclose the interior and put in fully working aircraft controls. id probibly use a 5th monitor for gauges, or use real ones if possible. youd probibly need 2 computers for this, one being an industrial robotics controller, which would handel motors, sensors, controlls, and any gauges for the interior. the other being the game computer with an sli array in it for the various screens. you could probibly forgo the robotics controller if you knew enough about electronics. it would be a massive undertaking and id need a machine shop, some major cashflow and
of time to build it. oh how i wish i was rich.
