[WIP] Steering Device for indoor bike training (emulates xbox360 gamepad)

thingiverse

This is a device which allows, in the cheapest way possibile, to steer while bike training indoor in GTBike V (and all the platform which use Xinput). It simulates the left X axis of a xbox 360 controller using the top hex bolt of a threadless stem as pivot point. It's very basic as you can see, but in my test has been quite reliable and precise, I can easily steer in the traffic, and feel quite confident. I can even disable (and Highly suggest) Avoid Obstacles option in the GTBike option, but your mileage can vary. The device is composed by 3 parts: - A frame support, with a 10mm strap support tu secure on your bike frame. I also suggest to put some rubber (or an innertube piece) under the base to avoid scratches on the bike frame - An arduino and potentiometer support, which can slide in the base allowing height adjustment based on your bike. The top part is slimmer because it's supposed to flex a little bit, since the hex nut on top is not complanar with the top tube, and this angle change according the bike geometry. It also keep the system well pressed together, avoiding backslash - An hex to potentiometer adapter, supposed to work with 6mm potentiometer shaft, and 5mm hex nut, which should be quite standard. For the assembly it's needed: - M4 bolt and nut, I've used one but you can put more it you have a lose fit (mine is quite tight, I don't even need a nut) - Arduino Pro Micro - 1k LINEAR potentiometer (this is what I had laying around, other might work as well but not tested) - Floppy disk wire to wire everything. - 10mm wide Velcro strap, used generally to organize cables - OPTIONAL: switches to simulate some buttons As I've mounted the Arduino pro micro I stripped the usb port in my first ride by bumping with the hand, since there is a bit of stress on the port, so to fix this I solderedit back with some wires the usb port, and no problem since then. I place and glued the port in the side. You might want to epoxy the usb port, or glue the usb cable somehow with hot glue to eliminate the stress on the port. Maybe mounting upside down makes the things better, but I cannot really test it as it is now. I also hotglued 2 simple switches, one is to simulate the brakes (left trigger), the other just to reset the arduino in order to simplify the flash of the Xinput file, since you need to press it twice to flash it everytime you want to update the firmware. I suggest to follow this guide: https://www.partsnotincluded.com/how-to-emulate-an-xbox-controller-with-arduino-xinput/ As the guide describes, to flash my code you have also to download Xinput first from the arduino libraries, in the IDE. The buttons are not really necessary, but sometimes GTBike V want to go backwards and braking seems to fix it. Anyway it's convenient to have the brake somewhere on the cockpit. There is not a real place for the buttons, but hotglue eliminates hours of 3d modelling, at least for me, and works well enough. This is a WIP so take as it is. For the wiring it's quite straightforward, take the 2 external potentiometer pins an connect one to ground, the other to 5v pin, and the middle one in A0 arduino pin. I've soldered the L trigger in pin 3 (the other side to GND of course), so if you follow this schematic you have not to touch any code. Pin 2 is coded to press A button, if you want to use you have only to wire a button. One thing I'm not superhappy with is the axis curve, since GTA put some deadzone in the middle I should tweak it a bit more to eliminate that, but works well enough for now, in my case the steering it's almost 1:1 with the game, and you can see while using the first person view. It's quite sensitive, but the deadzone is a bit annoying, to compensate that I should make it a bit more sensitive in the middle, but I don't know if I've enough resolution since we have only 1024 values to work with, and we are using only a range of that. To first install on the bike, just keep the potentiometer in the middle of it's range, and put the hex plug in the bike, with the steer well centered. Than insert the potentiometer shaft inside the plug, and adjust the height of the slide in order to have everything nice in place. It doesn't need any further adjustment in most cases. For the print, I've used PLA with 20% infill, I've used some supports for the arduino plugs, they seems to work good enough, but I've used double side tape to ensure the arduino.