400 Users – SimFeedback insight

We have reached a big milestone, the number of people who have built our project has climbed above the 400 mark.

A big thank you to all who have put their trust in us and helped the next generation with their experience and support.

As the project is now 18 months old I would like to look back at the beginning and give you a little insight.

How it all started

It all started in spring 2018. We, a good friend of mine and me are real nerds regarding sim racing and motion simulation, like many of you, and tried various motion setups in the last decade, but at that time we found something we were searching for a long, long time.

But wait, no, this extrusion profile was something we were looking for at least for one year. It was the missing part, the key to build our own actuator and it was the beginning of the SFX-100.

A short time later we have had some kind of working actuator

The first motor was too week but I immediately felt the potential of this solution and we started our research for a stronger motor.

We found the one we are using now in the SFX-100 and this time the prototype felt really great, and I knew, we had a winner!

After we got our rigs assembled and the first games tuned in, we asked our self, how can we share this fantastic setup with others?

It was just too good that only the two of us should be able to enjoy it.

The plan was to find a handful of enthusiastic sim racer, let them build their own setup, learn from their build process, let them test and refine the setup, create manuals and build instructions and after the release, these people, Generation-0, could help others to get started. The dream was that every generation could help the next one.

In June 2018 we made a call in the German Virtual Racing Forum (https://forum.virtualracing.org) for Beta Tester https://forum.virtualracing.org/showthread.php/109282-DIY-3KW-Motion-Sim-Rig-Coming-Soon?p=2366814&viewfull=1#post2366814 and found a very great Team of talented and experienced people. These guys helped to build the Github wiki, did the final cut for the 3D printing parts and tested intensively the first public release of SimFeedback.

Three months later in September 2018 just before the SimRacing Expo the first public release was ready.

SimFeedback started as a free, open alternative for DIY.
No need for expansive, custom hardware, it uses only of the shelf and 3D printed parts so everybody could source everything needed.
I implemented several interfaces to open the software as much as I could and still maintain the abuse protection capabilities (license).

These interfaces are all open source, you can create your own Telemetry Provider (a game plugin) for any game and extensions. I have released my sources on github for many games.
We do have now support for many games created by other users, all open source and extensions like button mappings, network interfaces (REST-API) to control the software, service modes for maintenance, MODBUS extensions to configure your servo drives, …

This project is an opportunity for everyone, so many have done it and You can do it too.

The story continues … we do have now G-Seat, Seat-Belt tensioner, Wind, Surge sled and traction loss setups, stay tuned …