DIY yoke. The journey begins...

[CarstenLP 3]

The steel rod and rod supports arrived today. The rod is 12mm in diameter and really heavy duty and I can hardly flex this thing even though it's 1 meter in length. Obviously I need to cut this shorter. The supports are really nice as well and use a hex bolt to tighten on the rod.

Rod:https://www.dropbox.com/s/gsnrknxgi7wdeec/Steel_rod.jpeg?dl=0
Rod supports: https://www.dropbox.com/s/fbpb0gj7i1n4i3g/Rod_support.jpeg?dl=0

I've also found a steel shaft for the yoke handle however I couldn't find one locally other than a white painted one. Also it's only 19mm diameter so it doesn't quite fit the yoke handle which is 21mm but that will be fixed with a spacer of some sort.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/8h0xhtsomxw48y7/Steel_shaft.jpeg?dl=0

Regarding the Yoke handle I find the options extremely limited but I'll be going with the VRInsight Yoke Handle. This has a 21mm diameter mounting hole.

[CarstenLP 3]

More stuff arrived today from Leobodnar.

Board enclose with installed BU0836A board: https://www.dropbox.com/s/yg8rhnnntqwn5z2/Board_enclosure.jpeg?dl=0
Hall effect sensors: https://www.dropbox.com/s/ho6snwsb1kapwtp/Hall_sensors.jpeg?dl=0

Unfortunately the allen nut on the other enclose has been overtightened from the factory so it's completely rounded off which means I cannot open it.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/zogcu1shi16r4of/Board_enclosure_busted.jpeg?dl=0

I've written to Leobodnar asking for advise but I don't see any other option that to bore out the allen nut.

I'm still waiting for the ball bearings for the shaft and the bearings for the support rods. The former should be here tomorrow so I can get started building this weekend. Not sure about the latter.

Oh, gears for the pitch axis are on their way too.

Edited August 13, 2020 by CarstenLP

[MaSi 6]

Hi,

 

I have built hall pots visible here: https://simhq.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/3674791/DIY_Sealed_Minature_Hall_Pots,#Post3674791

Very robust and working ok. Looks good and rather easy for preparing. I use aluminium pipe not pen plastic handler as axe.

 

Marek

Edited August 14, 2020 by MaSi

[SergeyPe 92]

The sensors built around the single Hall elements are simple, but unfortunately this is the only benefit they provide. I've explained it in the thread here: 

Having built a lot of different sensors based on the single Hall elements, I won't recommend them to anyone since AS5600 chips became available.

[CarstenLP 3]

On 8/14/2020 at 4:07 PM, MaSi said:

Hi,

 

I have built hall pots visible here: https://simhq.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/3674791/DIY_Sealed_Minature_Hall_Pots,#Post3674791

Very robust and working ok. Looks good and rather easy for preparing. I use aluminium pipe not pen plastic handler as axe.

 

Marek

Nice work Marek - thanks for sharing 👍

[SergeyPe 92]

Here is an example of using an AS5600 for the pot replacement in an old pre- USB ELITE TPM throttle quadrant. The sensors are calibrated after installation exactly for the required working angle.

[CarstenLP 3]

I didn't have time to build anything this weekend but I did today. I've started working on the "carriage" which will be the main moving part inside the yoke. While I like the concept of these linear ball bearings they are not that smooth and quite noisy when going back and forth. The wood is used is 8mm plywood.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/mihga9cwlh1qw9s/carriage1.jpg?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/l0gmn0rmx70bj6j/carriage2.jpg?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/8v4o72w1hz0cgxk/carriage3.jpg?dl=0

I've tried to put some grease inside the ball bearings however that doesn't seem to make any difference. The alignment of the rods was a pain and maybe later down the road I can make a new baseplate on my CNC. Circular saw, jig saw, mitre saw and drill press was used today. For the next few days I'll be doing a drawing of the front and rear plates which will house the ball bearings for the shaft. These ball bearings will not perfectly align with ones used for the rods but it's going to be close enough I reckon.

 

[SergeyPe 92]

2 minutes ago, CarstenLP said:

I've tried to put some grease inside the ball bearings however that doesn't seem to make any difference.

Don't expect it to be completely silent and smooth- it's a feature of this bearing type; Honeycomb Alpha yoke behaves the same in the pitch axis, as it's using the similar bearings. However it doesn't distract too much while flying...

[MaSi 6]

take attention that linear bearing are not greased. Have security lubricate only. You have to use special grease. Ask mr. Google about greasing linear bears. You will have more smooth and silent moves.

 

Marek

[CarstenLP 3]

On 8/19/2020 at 9:50 AM, MaSi said:

take attention that linear bearing are not greased. Have security lubricate only. You have to use special grease. Ask mr. Google about greasing linear bears. You will have more smooth and silent moves.

 

Marek

I'll check that. Thanks.

[CarstenLP 3]

Here's the front plate of the carriage done with the ball bearing inserted for the shaft and cutouts made for the rods. The ball bearing is just pressed into the wood without any adhesive:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/w7z7glx5mfdq8bu/carriage4.jpeg?dl=0

And here's the CNC (Shapeoko 2) in action cutting out the back plate. This particular piece was actually not long enough so I had to scrap this piece:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/ypi54j5kxglwyia/cnc_in_action1.jpeg?dl=0

You don't need a CNC machine for either of these. I just don't have a drill bit/hole saw that fits these particular hole dimensions. I'm going to wait doing the sides of the carriage until I have the gears for the pitch axis in place.

Edited August 20, 2020 by CarstenLP

[CarstenLP 3]

A small setback regarding the gears. Unfortunately the gear ratio is not correct. I only have about 10cm of total travel before exceeding the 180 degrees of the hall sensors. Total distance should be around 14-15cm. So either I'll try source some other gears which would be here some time mid of next week or I wait for the AS5600 sensors to arrive. These can go beyond 180 degrees. They're in Belgium at the moment so they should be here soon.

[CarstenLP 3]

Some more stuff got purchased today and I created a small support bracket on my CNC for the shaft:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/vwi6hvqgeglxihm/shaft_support1.jpeg?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/796vcyu82hono1z/shaft_support2.jpeg?dl=0

This is made from 5 x 8 mm plywood glued together and covered with two coats of varnish for durability (I will do this for all wood pieces when it's done). I bought some bungee cords at my local home depot which will be used for both axis. Here's how the bungee will be fixed to the shaft:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/mx5rbakzl731nw9/carriage_bungee1.jpeg?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/qameexprev2xk8h/carriage_bungee2.jpeg?dl=0

The bungee will be held in place by the sides of the carriage once they are mounted.

It's slowly coming together now. The AS5600 sensors should be here by early next week so I'm going to experiment with those. I need to figure a way to mount those sensors and I've got a sheet of PEHD which I can use to build a bracket of some sort.

I hope you're enjoying MSFS2020. It looks incredible and I've promised myself not to purchase it until my yoke is complete 😉

[SergeyPe 92]

Great progress!

56 minutes ago, CarstenLP said:

I need to figure a way to mount those sensors

Which version have you bought? If they are already soldered on a PCB then it will be easy enough to mount them, but most probably you'll have to remove one of the installed resistors to let them work in analog mode (most of the version from AliExpress are configured for a digital output). If you bought separate chips then they need to be mounted on an intermediate PCB with two additional capacitors.

1 hour ago, CarstenLP said:

I hope you're enjoying MSFS2020. It looks incredible and I've promised myself not to purchase it until my yoke is complete 😉

Good decision, as the initial version is quite buggy (while very promising). The date of the first patch will be announced next Thursday, so you'll be able to get a more stable version (hopefully)😁.

[CarstenLP 3]

13 minutes ago, SergeyPe said:

Which version have you bought?

I got these: https://www.ebay.de/itm/10PCS-AS5600-Absolute-Value-Encoder-PWM-I2C-Port-Brushless-Motors-12-Bit/174322866491?pageci=a277d645-3cb2-472f-b598-2bdda9287686