You can post general questions or comments regarding the simpit here, I'll try to answer them if I can. Post questions on specific items on the respective sub-page (e.g. making of). Of course, you can also send me an email to bergison@simpit.info if you prefer.

ET posted on 23.10.2022 at 20:33

Today is a good day ...;)
Lets go from here...

Thanks Chris

kzkazlaurn

Cool, I've been looking for this one for a long time

Kennethkit

+ for the post
 

Tancha posted on 20.10.2022 at 4:07

Hello, I discovered your project today and I really liked it. If I had known before I wouldn't have bought the NS430 :( Please, how can I use one window over the other? I only have one window. Does this mod work for AC DCSW? Thank you so much for existing

Bergison

Hi Tancha, I am not exactly sure to what you are referring. Do you mean the DCS MovinMap software? It can not show more than one window, but should work with all DCS models.

 

Phantasmo posted on 03.10.2022 at 5:41

Love the work you've done here. I am also enjoying your moving map program as well.
The question I have is how you were able to create the UFC and IFEI. I am looking to try and build a super hornet profile for DCS Helios and was wondering if its possible to do something similar to what you have. 

 

ET posted on 07.8.2022 at 21:14

Any news about the blueprints jet?
Thanks

Bergison

Hi ET,
I am working on the DIY release of the seat every minute of my free time. A lot of re-design was necesary to avoid the need for CNC cut or welded parts and also to enable compatibility with the French version. Therefore I am building this version myself to proove everything is working and to make plans, part lists, pictures and videos for the instructions. Alongside this I am working on the website where all this will be hosted as well as on the licence. You see there is a lot of work involved but things are progressing good and I hope to be able to release the DIY licence soon.

 

James D posted on 02.2.2022 at 8:36

Dude, just shoot me the design files and Ill build this thing in three months in my free time.  I have a few engineers abroad who can refine the build process/components once constructed. We can outsource the CE certs later.. Seriously. This is obviously not a priority for your contacts.  From a biz perspective you are going to miss the opportunity  

 

Ben posted on 25.12.2021 at 14:26

This looks like a brilliant idea.
I think there are two widely separate markets for your Motion Integrated seat, hence why the French company is concentrating on the commercial market.
1. Commercial users need a robust, reliable model that can withstand 10000's of hours of use with very little downtime from component failures, this is why their price is so high.
2. Home users need an affordable product that only needs to last a couple of hundred hrs of use per year, so the components could be much cheaper.
Building a seat with the best components for commercial use is, in some ways, easier than finding the balance of affordability/durability for a home user on a small budget.
I hope you can find a company to produce units for home gamers... I would guess this will NOT be the same company building for commercial/defence markets in mind, they are vastly different engineering propositions.
My very best wishes for your success!
P.S. I hope you have a good commercial lawyer looking after your intellectual property.

Bergison

Hi Ben, thanks for your thoughts. I completely agree with you, however it is not easy to find companies willing to produce and market a new product like this, especially nowadays.
We are happy that the french company has gone all the way with the CE certification and everything and want to give them the best support for a successful market launch by not giving licences to other companies.
However if they establish themselves in the professional market and we find another company which wants to take over the consumer market in the future, than I guess that would be a good match.

mojoheadz

At its best!...
 

Dpgindy posted on 10.12.2021 at 18:02

With the new news of the price being too expensive for the consumer market, are there plans to release some of your plans on how to do it ourselves? Or is that out of the question? Thanks!

Bergison

Hi Dpgindy, that was my initial thought when the french changed their plans towards business customers. However they still fear that a release of plans to the public would affect their chances of sales. I had to postpone this for them to be able to continue but still want to do it someday in the future.

 

Monkeydonut posted on 27.10.2021 at 22:49

Hi there,
I've been following this project with great interest - thank you for all of your hard work!
Aside from wondering if there is any further update on current progress, I was hoping you might be able to share more information on the flight variant:- how does or will it differ from the pictured race variant prototype?- will it arrive soon after the race variant, or will there be a significant delay?
Thank you for any update or information.

Bergison

Hi Monkeydonut,
the latest info I received is that they plan to offer the basic unit first (without any exterior casing), in an effort to expedite the market launch.
Variants like "fighter aircraft" and "race car" will follow as optional updates, easy to add to the "basic unit".

Monkeydonut

Thank you for the reply - that sounds smart, I know a lot of us want to get our hands on it as soon as possible and the idea that we'll be able to upgrade and not miss out on subsequent updates is great.
Do you have a steer on timeline at all?
 

MudMoverGSH posted on 26.9.2021 at 2:02

Hello, nice work on the production model. However, I wonder how good is the support for joystick with the extension. Compare to your original version, the french company's version doesn't have much of center cutout? Or should I say in your original version the sitting position appears to be more forward so that you can put the stick(with extension) more forward to avoid conflicting with the seat front wall/edge when it is at the most backward deflection angle, while sitting comfortably. The french version seems to be having a more backward sitting position which means you can't put the stick more forward to avoid the conflict, nor having enough center cutoff for the extension when you're not putting the stick that forward. Thanks.

JamesGoogy

Your idea is magnificent

Bergison

Hi MudMoverGSH, I understand your concern about the seating position. Without having tried the french seat myself (which will be possible soon I hope), I can't say anything about it.

However I have faith that they considered the seating position vs the need for a center cutout. They told me to have omitted the latter due to cost efficiency and they found the seat performing well without it.

MudMoverGSH

Roger. Looking forward to hear more from you.

Andrewgaf

I would like to talk to you, to me is what to tell on this question.
 

Cédric posted on 01.9.2021 at 17:34

Hello, Great Job for everything you make. I'm french and i'll follow your kickstarter project. I'm wondering. Do you use a motion compensation with VR for the GSeat ? Thanks for your answer. Cédric

Bergison

Bonjour Cédric,
motion cancellation is not required with my seat. This is one of its many advantages over other systems. Your head is moved exactly as it would move under real acceleration: back when accelerating forward, left when rolling/turning right and downward when pulling G's. The only thing you may want to adjust is the artificial 'natural head movement' option that many sims like DCS or P3D offer, because our head will already move like that in the real world!

 

Rod Standiford posted on 16.6.2021 at 17:05

Hello,
i currently have the YAW VR.  I have a friend who would like to buy it, but the only thing I have any interest in changing it for is your seat.  Any information about if or when we might be able to get or build one?  Your work is amazing!!!
Rod Standiford

Bergison

Hi Rod,
thanks for your nice post! At the moment, it looks promising that the seat will we available commercially before the end of this year. I will add all updates to the G-Seat page of this website as soon as I get them. Please stay tuned!

 

Marco posted on 29.4.2021 at 9:06

Hi,my name is Marco and i’m from italy! Your creation is very amazing and i also build my f18 cockpit. My question is: Where i can find a gauge instruments??

Bergison

Hi Marco!
You can by gauges from different companies (e.g. www.simkits.com), or you can easily make them yourself (as I did) using mikro server motors and software interfaces like DCS-BIOS for DCS World or MobiFlight for FSX/P3D/MSFS2020.
All the best with your build and let me know if you need more help!
 

Franck posted on 26.4.2021 at 8:52

Hello,

I’ve found your website searching info about G SEAT in Europe and found out that there was a French company who would probably release a G SEAT soon.

Will you also add a link on your website when the kickstarter will be available ? Any idea of when it will be available ?

I’m really interested by this !

Will it be the same as your prototype ? A G seat and a moving platform ?

Regards,

Franck

Bergison

Hi Franck,of course I will post all updates here and a link to the kickstarter as soon as it is alive. The french version is like my prototype in it's function (motion platform + G-seat), but will have a different look. They are planning to offer a flight and a car-racing variant. Stay tuned!

 

Felix posted on 22.4.2021 at 10:31

hey moin ! 

der sitz is wirklich geil , inwiefern ließe der sich mit einer 6 DOF motion plattform kombinieren - wäre es böglich den sitz auch nur als G-seat zu bekommen ?  oder wäre dann das "sustained forces" feature nicht möglich ? Und wann geht Kickstarter los ? :)

Bergison

Hallo Felix, ich verstehe deine Frage nicht ganz. Den Sitz mit einer 6-DoF Plattform zu kombinieren wäre ja genau das Gegenteil von dem was er beabsichtigt. Der Sitz ist ja schon die Kombination aus Motion-Plattform und G-Sitz, mit dem Vorteil, nicht den Aufwand, Platz und VR Motion-Cancellation einer Plattform zu benötigen.

 

Johnny Leite posted on 26.2.2021 at 18:56

Hi Bergison, maybe you can help me. My right throttle from thrustmaster hotas warthog is moving from 0% to "full" 100% just with a small movement. Do you have any idea what could be causing this? Do you know specificatios about  digital hall potenciometer for this throttle? obs. I already instaled drivers and softwares to calibrate but doesn't work.  Thanks for your attention !

Bergison

Hi Johnny, I assume you have already tried to recalibrate the throttle using the Windows game controller settings? When doing so, click on "Display Raw Data", this will show direct values from the potentiometers for you to check. If these values jump like you described, than the potis are either broken or contaminated. Beeing hall effect sensors, they sense the field from magnets, which means they are very sensitive for e.g. metallic chips accumulating in the system. If your throttle still has warranty, turn it in, if not you may try to open it and clean the sensors.

 

MAc posted on 01.10.2020 at 1:41

Hiho,
Ich denke mal du bist aus Germany, daher einfach mal auf Deutsch.

Dein G Seat ist genau was ich suche.Ich habe schon mit Eldros, Excentersteppern und Elektrozylindern rumexperimentiert.
Pneumatic und Hydraulik ist einfach nix fürn Keller. Alles was ich probiert habe war bisher zu langsam in der Reaktion machte einen Höllenlärm und war zu groß. Zudem ist die Ansteuerung ja auch noch eine echte Herausforderung. Das habe ich grad mal rudimentär gelöst. Aber wem sage ich das? :)
Ich bin nicht der Typ der das Rad neu erfinden muss. Deine Lösung ist richtig klasse und bevor ich noch mehr Geld in Experimente versenke...

Darum eigentlich nur eine Frage(n) :
Wann kann man den Sitz erwerben? Baust Du im Auftrag?
Gibts ein Kit zum selber bauen?

Es grüßt...der Mac

Bergison

Hallo Mac,Danke für deine Nachricht! Ob es den Sitz irgendwann zum Kaufen gibt kann ich noch nicht sagen. Es gibt immer wieder Gespräche mit interessierten Firmen, aber bis jetzt ist leider noch nichts Konkretes daraus geworden.
Ich selbst baue ich den Sitz nicht im Auftrag, da mir Zeit und die rechtliche Grundlage dazu fehlen.
Ein Kit bzw. die Veröffentlichung der Pläne für Bastler zum Eigengebrauch ist geplant, wollen wir aber erst nach einem eventuellen Marktstart eines vollständigen Produktes raus bringen.Leider keine Besseren Neuigkeiten bis jetzt... aber grad heute hat sich wieder eine Firma (in Frankreich) gemeldet, die de Sitz eventuell auch für Kunden bauen möchten. Mal schaun.

 

David posted on 03.9.2020 at 9:14

Hi, Exceptionally amazing work, can't think of a compliment that is strong enough to describe how l feel about what you have achieved. I have only one question, how much and when. Do you have a ball park figure for a fully functional sim pit? Kind regards David

Bergison

Hi David, thanks for your nice post!
I think I don't fully understand your question regarding "how much and when". Just to be clear, I don't do commercial stuff (at least not yet), so I don't intend to build a simpit to be sold at the moment.
Regarding a "ball park figure", I've invested about 5.000 € in the pit until now. Plus around 1.500 € for the G-Seat.
 

Juha posted on 22.5.2020 at 10:26

Have you thought about kickstarter for this? As the prototype is already running, just needs to get the edges smoothed for production. Just a thought. 

Propably you are aware of these, but a few spherical motion sims collected both about 250kusd in the recent years, ofcourse with the promise to deliver 100-200 units, which is pending(YAW is delivering). Different designs to a g-seat, but it´s cool to see development on many sides. YAW really looks like a toy, but definately has potential in a sense that it´s a really compact device which packs with the seat into the half sphere (without controls) and weighs a mere 26kg´s. Most people need to keep these things somewhere visible anyway, so I can see the market.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/feelthree/feel-three-virtual-reality-motion-simulator
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/346206518/yaw-vr-compact-portable-motion-simulator

For me, looking for carsim, a G-seat sound the best, so I´ll join the waiting list..

Bergison

Hi Juha and many thanks for your post! I was aware of these bowel-style VR platforms, they're definitively cool products!
Launching a kickstarter is in fact becoming more and more of an option for me to get this going. I hope I will be able to provide tangible updates very soon!

 

Avidflyer posted on 17.5.2020 at 21:38

Hello I like ask are there any plans for your seat? I like to build your kind of seat without the motion only the shape which will nicely fit in my pit. At this time I have only a car seat inside but he didn’t work out because of the missing slot for the stick. Some pictures from all sides would be perfect when there are no plans. Thank your very much. Kind regards Christian

Bergison

Hi Christian, thanks for your post! I cannot share plans of my seat at the moment, because we are just about to start production for a market launch. A DIY version with plans and instructions is however part of the strategy.
If you are just looking for ejection seat builds (without the motion) there are some great projects over at hornetpits.org!

 

VRA_Delta posted on 14.5.2020 at 16:27

Hi Bergison,
I fly with the Virtual Red Arrows, we have been looking for this type of set up for when we attend flight sim conventions or performing at real and virtual airshows. We are currently sponsored by Thrustmaster and would be very interested in using this at our events.

Bergison

Hi VRA_Delta, thanks for your message! Me and a partner are just looking into the possibility of producing and launching the seat commercially. There is a good chance that it will be available to test and buy in the near future. Please stay tuned!
 

Blackey Cole posted on 27.1.2020 at 21:47

Are you going to have a display at the 2020 fltsim expo?  If so I might pickup one then if it is as you say.

Bergison

Hi Blackey,
not sure yet. The company I teamed up with is currently working on the prototype for production but it is too early for estimates when the seat will be available or ready to show on an expo.

 

Yuri posted on 22.12.2019 at 14:12

Christophe, agree that F18 in VR is great, but having to deal with VR cockpit spoils part of the experience. I was thinking about mixed reality (real cockpit \ outside world in VR), but all MR solutions are still in prototype. 
Could you share some pics how did you cut the VR helmet? 

Bergison

Hi Yuri, thanks for your post! I totally agree with you in that a VR cockpit is nice to look at, but is no match for a real hardware pit, where you can look at what you touch, see displays and associated buttons and read checklist.

I was, like you, searching for a MR solution for a long time but have not found something usable so far. 
So I decided to cut my Rift to use it in "hardware MR mode"... ;) The results are great and as I frequently receive questions about it, I'm going to write a dedicated page here with explanations and pictures. Stay tuned.

 

Christophe posted on 08.12.2019 at 16:25

Hello,
You made a fantastic job. I'm very interested by the plan you use to design you cockpit shell. I find a lot of plan on internet but not with the precise quote for each different part. I'm looking on a 2D drawing to put on a wood plate in order to cut it and then assemble all the part.
Can you tell me how you realize your drawing?
Thanks a lot.
Christophe.

Bergison

Hi Christophe,I used the 3D model by k-lu from hornetpits.org and printed some views I needed from it for reference. There is no such thing as a parts or assembly template for the F-18 yet, I'm sorry. Every Hornet simpit is unique.

 

Andrew posted on 09.11.2019 at 8:18

Hi, very interested in your seat and I can say I will buy when when available. If they don’t come to market as a whole you should definitely sell plans. The only concern I might have for you is a “possible” conflict. Check out ACME Worldwide (https://www.acme-worldwide.com/) and their seat. Granted they are on a completely different level as far as customer base, I would just hate to see them come after you if your seat infringes on anything they have going on. Excellent work so far and I seriously look forward to having one in my home!

Bergison

Hi Andrew, thanks for your post and your concerns! I know of the ACME seats but unfortunately never got to try one.
As far as I can see, they use moveable elements in the seat to provide pressure and motion feedback, but do not move the seat as a whole. I therefore conclude that our technical approaches are rather different. I also doubt that they use only three motors to drive all their movement, like my seat does. Should my seat get commercialized somehow, it would not even be a direct competitor, as the ACME seats are not aimed at the consumer or civil markets to my knowledge.
Apart from all that, the successful patent application review that I received, lets me rest assured that my mechanism is new and unique.
 

Stephen Harris posted on 22.10.2019 at 10:22

This seat looks extremely impressive. I really hope you can get it to market because I would love to own one. 
Question. Have you ever thought about simulating g-force to the head in a similar way to how f1 drivers train by adding weight or pull and push in the direction of force. This would really add to the overall sense of force while flying/driving even to the point of being uncomfortable but that is what high G manoeuvres are all about isn’t it. 
Incidentally I know 2 very high level people from 2 separate F1 teams and I would be very happy to make an introduction. I was only talking to one of them about the problem of g-force simulation over the summer. Let me know. 
Kind regards
Stephen 

Bergison

Hi Stephen, thanks for your kind words! I have thought about this but as it requires some complicated mechanisms in order not to massively interfere with the ability to still be able to move your head around freely (which you need in flight simulation as opposed to F1), I abandoned the idea. I also found that the motion part of my design moves the head around quite a bit and this suffices for the effect. Yes, please – feel free to forward my email, website and videos to people interested in this. I’ll be happy to provide more information!


 

Jejestylix posted on 24.8.2019 at 12:18

Bonjour, je suis fou de ton travail. Vous n'avez pas essayé de le mettre sur DCS? Je veux faire une fosse mais depuis que je vole en VR je ne peux pas sortir. Je veux toujours en faire un mais ce sera beaucoup moins beau. Seulement fonctionnel et avec des interrupteurs aux bons endroits. Et je n'ai pas de place dans mon bureau pour faire une fosse complète. Je vais fortement inspiré en tout cas. Merci beaucoup Jejestylix

Bergison

Bonjour Jejestylix and thanks for your post! My french is a bit rusty (to say the least) so I used Google-Translate to get everything right:

"Hello, I'm crazy about your work. You did not try to put it on DCS? I want to make a pit but since I fly in VR I can not go out. I always want to make one but it will be a lot less beautiful. Only functional and with switches in the right places. And I have no place in my office to make a complete pit. I will strongly inspired anyway.
Thank you very much Jejestylix."

So, well - I do use my pit with DCS, although it is an F-18 "E" and not a "C" like in DCS. But I have the C-Model UFC panel displayed on my UFC touchscreen using Helios and that works quite fine. The G-Seat works nicely with DCS too, although dogfighting feels much like a workout ;)
Let me know if I can be of any help with your pit!

Jejestylix

I just saw for the translation. it's Google that translated into French what I translated into English ... lol thank you for the proposal for help. currently I do not know how to do it. as I fly vr I do not need a high quality pit. I think to print the panels in 3d. just have the switches in the right places :D
 

Alexey Tokarenko posted on 29.5.2019 at 9:01

Hello. it is strange but i can not mail to you because 'Email rejected due to known spaming operations'. Left message here: Long time ago i've visited your site with detailed discription of building g-seat. i plan to build g-seat to Prepar3d flights but for now i can't see that info. could you provide g-seat electric schematics with components nominals and sketches for arduinos? Thank you.

Bergison

Hi Alexey, sorry for the email inconvenience. As I receive mails via bergison@simpit.info daily without problems, I suspect it being something with your mail account. Maybe try to send from another adress?
The infos you once saw were from my original G-seat. I removed all outdated pages with the build of the new Motion Integrated G-Seat and plan to release DIY building information in the future. In the meantime, you can find many infos on my original and other G-Seats projects over at x-sim.de

 

Wouter posted on 18.3.2019 at 14:55

Hi! Your pit looks amazing. What displays do you use for your MFCDs? Thanks!

Bergison

Thanks Wouter! For the left and right DDIs I use 7" display-sets bought from pollin.de. For The MPCD and the standby instruments I found some used 10" VGA displays on ebay. The UFCD is a 7" touch monitor by faytech.

 

Rami posted on 03.2.2019 at 16:13

Would you build a joystick and throttle unit for the F-18 and sell it to me?  I live in the US.

Bergison

Hi Rami! Sorry, I can't do that. Check out throttletek.com for high-grade F-18 throttles. I also hear that Thrustmaster is planning to launch an F-18C flight control stick in the near future.

Ankan

Hey, check this out. 
https://www.winwing.cn/en/JOYSTICK

 

sydost posted on 02.2.2019 at 20:22

Hello, very impressive work with the new motion seat. I have a couple of questions about it. What kind of motors did you use? Still windshield wiper motors? Is the software in use x-sim?
Are the seatbelts attached to the fixed part of the seat and thus tighten / loosen when the moving part moves or do you use some kind of belt tensioning mechanism.
I have four windshield wiper motors waiting for me to start building a copy of your first G-seat but I think as I haven't yet started the build I might as well change to similar design that you have in your new seat.

Bergison

Hi sydost! Thanks! No, I don't use wiper motors in the new seat as they are not near strong enough to include vertical lift.The lap belt is indeed attached to non-moving parts as this results in adequate tensioning, the shoulder harness has its own mechanism for adjustment.
Sorry to say, but at the moment I am not going to disclose any more details on the internal mechanism that drives the seat, as I hope to find a suitable company willing to produce and bring the seat to market in the near future, as I don't have the time and resources to do that my own.

sydost

I had thought about making a g-seat first and then add 2d motion to it but that would have resulted in 6 motors total and it wouldn't have given the heave (up/down) motion. Nice to see it it is doable with only three motors. Unfortunaly I have trouble finding the time to actually get building all my projects. Good luck trying to get your seat to the market. I'll probably end up buying it as I haven't accomplished anything worthwhile in the meantime ;) .
 

Cristian posted on 18.1.2019 at 1:37

Hello, your work its incredible, thank u for share this to the community. A friend and i was talking about  built a G seat, But we just have random ideas and thousands of questions. Can you help us with a start point ? we fly FA18C from DCS. thank u! regards!!

Bergison

Thanks Cristian! I removed all info about the G-Seat from this site, as I am about to publish an improved version of Motion/G-Seat here in a few weeks.
Check out https://x-sim.de, there is much information about G-Seat projects over there: link
Also my original G-Seat thread from 2013: link
If you have any specific questions, feel free to contact me! All the best with your build!