Pmcfadden

Hey Zeddock! Actually yes we are now taking pre-orders for the remaining first batch units directly on our website: http://www.irisdynamics.com/index.php/force-feedback-yoke-pre-order I apologise for the current layout, a new website is currently in the pipline. Also if you havent yet, be sure to sign up on our mailing list here: http://eepurl.com/KYGGT All the best! -Pat

$77,859!!!!! Well all, looks like with 21 hrs left we just made target! Thanks again for all the support and assistance everyone. This would not be possible without you guys! Also for reference we have 23 units left at $600. Sale price after they go into production is projected to be at a minimum $800. Cockpit2computer: It has been a very interesting experience over the past 30 days, I would be more than happy to share my insights, go ahead and drop me a line whenever is convenient id be happy to help in any way I can! -pat Hey thanks Waterman! We do apologize about the timing on the project, it was originally supposed to be run in early Nov, however we ended up encountering delays with the patent side of things. When we were finally given a green light to go public we were already almost through Nov (and if before Christmas was a bad idea, after would have been even worse.)

Hey all, just thought id mention we've had an awesome run the last 2 days (Over $21,000!!!) Right now just sitting a little shy of $60,000, which means only 25 yokes left until were at our target! T minus 2 days remaining! http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/irisdynamics/affordable-force-feedback-flight-sim-control-yoke

Hey Andy sorry for the delay, the last 2 days have been a little nuts as we've brought in more than $20,000 in that same time frame! Right now were sitting at just a hair under $60,000, which means we only need to find ~25 more backers and were a go! Anyway to answer your question regarding the roll actuator, so far we've only built a singular power control board with an integrated stepper controller (the rest of the prototype control boards are only pitch). We sent the singular 2 axis unit off a few weeks ago (with a PSU, Pi, actuator, and stepper) to get the ball rolling on CE/FCC/CSA certifications. Because were dealing with some very abnormal magnetic/EMF stuff we've been told we wont be allowed to self certify so everything has to go through an independent lab. Because were still in the design stages (and looking at a tight schedule) the decision was to send it off and see what findings are made before any final design decisions are set in stone. VS having 100 1/2 built units and then find out we need to beef up shielding, include a second bank of fly back diodes, include secondary shielding for the Pi & Teensy etc. AND alas I didn't bother to get a video of the stepper turning about before it was sent off. For full disclosure however I should note that the singular 2 axis system that we've built was NOT using a polyurethane belt (as production units will), it was just using a simple V belt. Additionally when testing force inputs with the proto we were just feeding it raw information IE it wasn't pulling data from the simulation environment and translating that to a roll response. And additionally to that when we were testing it it was not attached to a yoke, it was going through a load cell. All that being said steppers are pretty common items, and the software involved to deal with them already exists in a variety of forms. If its a make it or break it for you Id be happy to get a mockup together and filmed for you before the campaign ends! Anyway, never the less, still 2 days and only 25 more yokes to go!

Hi Andy, good question! We investigated 3 main ways to do CL on a rotating shaft: Servo - cheep, silent, but very low torque so you must run it through a gearing system (which means you will get "cogging" or "bumps" as you roll it over) Steppers - cheep but you need more complex electronics, they DO make noise (some more than others) but they are very high torque for their package so a direct drive is possible. They are still considered to have "cogging" but only when free wheeling and even at that it is much much less than a traditional servo. Ring Motor-Big bucks (bulk rate which was quoted to us when we looked at them for this project was $450/unit), smooth as butter and stupid amounts of torque. They are used in biomedical robots and the like. The cheapest force feedback yoke that we are aware of (retails for ~$2000) uses a geared servo. While servos are much more silent the reliance on gears means its a major point of failure. Additionally the cogging on this specific unit when its in freewheel mode is not something which you could get away with in a commercial environment (you might be able to get away with it in a consumer product, but I would have a hard time believe a government inspector would let it pass certification for a commercial simulation system.) As you mentioned ultimately we went with a stepper in this design as it kept inside the price range we were shooting for, but also kept us away from having gears which could be stripped etc. It DOES make some noise, however seeing as its just a NEMA 17 (very small) it's negligible even when the unit isn’t in a case (here are some Nema 17s running) . The Stepper is mounted to a UHMW bracket (with a foam liner to absorb vibration) and is then fully enclosed in a 15 gauge (0.0571”) aluminum enclosure. Although I’m sure the noise from the stepper would be detectable it’s substantially less than the cooling fans on the PSU and the case. It most certainly will not be able to do this: As for smoothness and force resolution, we actually came up with an interesting way of dealing with that issue (as steppers are not usually meant to be used in a "variable" torque application.) We are using a fairly abnormal design when it comes to power handling on the stepper. We are using of all things a PWM to supply the power side of the stepper controller. Because we already have shaft roll tracking from the optical sensor we don't really care if the stepper "misses" steps (as we don't need to count them.) This means that we can provide not only variable speed (from step frequency) but also variable torque by changing PWM timings! Now as stated this is NOT how most steppers are operated (or any that we are aware of.) but it does seem to do a pretty good job with giving us variable torque! We are currently using a 12 bit PWM controller, which gives us 4096 steps between 0% power and 100% power. Now of course this is not a fully linear frequency to force curve but to illustrate the mathematical resolution on this device at a max rated torque of 48N/cm that equates to an individual step torque of 0.011N/CM or 0.0000854 Foot/Lbs Hope that answeres your question! -pat

Hi Gizmo, Your actually pretty close, the POST Kickstarter price will be $800+ (considering comparable non FFB yokes from GoFlight/PFC start in that range.) Our materials, components, and assembally costs are roughly $400/unit (at the moment). So once you factor in tooling, certification, packaging, programing, QA, reserves for RMAs, overhead, etc you are totally right the Kickstarter pricing of $550 is actually well below costs. That being said its a good way to quickly raise funds and validate demand for the unit. As for 3D printing, at the moment it isn't viable for production quantities as it takes far too long and the resin is far too expensive. That being said it IS awsome for prototyping and mold making! Our yoke handle mold positives will be printed on an SLA machine.

Hey all, Doing the rounds with all the fourms (I'm one of the developers on this project.) If anyone has any questions Id be more than happy to answer them here or on the KS page. We need to find roughly 60 more people in the next 5 days interested in placing a pre order for this unit in order for it to move ahead. If theres anyone you think may be interested in this but doesn't frequent forums all that often please feel free to pass the news along. Also if your interested in reading a bit more about the origins of the project I recently did an interview over at FlightSim.com http://www.flightsim.com/vbfs/content.php?14475-Interview-With-Patrick-McFadden-Iris-Dynamics all the best -pat