I was wondering what technique people use to create physical friction/resistance in homemade throttle quadrant controls and the like? I am not a flight sim builder myself, but I built a Kenworth truck simulator cockpit for American Truck Simulator and I am having trouble creating physical resistance in the turn signal stalk. It is connected to a 3 way pot, but the weight of the handle keeps making it fall out of position, so I am looking for a way to make it a little tougher to move like a real turn signal stalk. It occurred to me that the throttle quadrant controls are about the same resistance level I am looking for. I think I saw someplace before someone used stiff brush bristles to create friction. Anyone tried this or have a better idea?

Mike

Hi Mike,

I made an adjustable resistance on my collective lever. The lever fits in to the side of a wooden disc. There is an aluminium band with felt glued to it the goes a quarter of the way around the disc. One end is fixed and the other has a nut on it. A threaded rod goes through it and is mounted top and bottom with a knob attached to the top. When you turn the knob it turns the rod and moves the nut up and down. This in turn tightens or loosens the friction on the disc and therefore the lever.

I've recently changed it over after seeing a different set up on YouTube by another pit builder. A 20ML syringe is attached between the lever and a pivot on the casing. There is then a plastic tube from the tip of the syringe that goes through a clamp block with a knob. When you tighten the knob it restricts the flow of air to/from the syringe and give you resistance.

Hope this helps.

Cheers

Andy

Hi Andy,

Those are good ideas! I will have to consider these!

Mike

HI Mike,

I should have read the whole post before replying ...... Dooh!

How about a cork washer on each side of the pivot, or a piece of felt glued to a fender washer on each side. If you really wanted to push the boat out then you could make a plate with three semicircles on the side corresponding to the three positions and a spring loaded roller on the shaft.

Full of bright ideas me !!!!!

cheers,

Andy

Hi Andy,

No problem! All the ideas you shared have given me some things to consider. I've been kicking around some ideas based on these. By all means though, any additional ideas are welcome. I'm hoping something will work in my case!

Mike

I use "foamy rubber" (E.V.A. in portuguese) in mine: https://SimHQ.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/4507544/diy-tqs#Post4507544

Any sort of soft or springy material is unusable to create friction. The reason is simple: elastic deformation and load stress fail due to plastic deformation / sheering.

Basically if you'd use e.g. foam when load gets applied it will deform but try to get back into it's original shape. Thus the control will feel mushy. You can move it but it will have an effect of springyness.

For something like the signal stalk you don't want analogue positioning though. So using the techniques for throttles is not delivering the best results.

For your specific case I'd recommend notches and a spring loaded roller to lock it into position. You can 3d print this. Alternatively you could use a real signal

That said, a normal turn signal returns to position on wheel rotation. That'd be a complex device to craft so I suggest, if doable, to just use a momentary switch like done here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5ky446ns2I

I hope I didn't misunderstand you completely - sorry if I did - I'm not a native speaker.

In GLV224 throttle mechanics is used felt disks.


http://SimHQ.com/forum/files/usergals/2015/07/full-39179-105895-.jpg
http://SimHQ.com/forum/files/usergals/2015/07/full-39179-105894-.jpg

https://www.youtube.com/user/GVL224/videos