Created this thead because i decided to make my own H-Shifter like i think a dozen ppl have decided too. Since i live in Brazil, G25 are too expensive here ( about US$600 ) and ACT labs shifter are to expensive to import, so i decided to make my own one. here's my idea.

Buy a $5 USB PS2-like controller, a cilindrical magnet, 8 push buttons, and fab the rest. the thing is.... most of the USB controllers in market, has that inductive rubber button system, similar to PC Keyboard buttons, so i need to know how can i convert it to simple 2 wire button system, so i can hook the wires to the buttons, or any other better idea.

My project ( already moddeled it in 3d so I can define button positions and dimensions so the fabbing becomes easier ) is to put 1 push button in each gear position (7+R) attached to an iron plate, and a magnet in the leaver, so that when you put the leaver into any gear position, the magnet presses the gear against the button so the button keeps pressed till you take the leaver out of the position.

besides the button connections, i have another doubt. What system can i use so the leaver returns to the center position always ? Gonna attach an image of the 3d project so you can have a taste.

Cool. Looks interesting. I will consider to try this.

Can somone make this type of think il pay ? about 20 - 30 paund chap one because the one in the pic looks esay to make but still its not for my hands


Act-labs they cost too much

Looks nice in the design stage, now make one and test it over a year and then I'll buy one..

How dose it work? I know about butons but the gear stick would hold on the button or what? where is the spring ? please tell me or more pics of it

1 - Do not intend to make for sell purpose, jst want to make to enjoy myself since i can't afford a ACT one.
2 - The gear leaver is going to stay pressing the buttn because a magnet will press the leaver against the button using a iron plate near the button.
3 - The spring system i didn't came to anything yet. accepting suggestions.

Quote from Dudles :

1 - Do not intend to make for sell purpose, jst want to make to enjoy myself since i can't afford a ACT one.
2 - The gear leaver is going to stay pressing the buttn because a magnet will press the leaver against the button using a iron plate near the button.
3 - The spring system i didn't came to anything yet. accepting suggestions.

when your done with it you should post directions and stuff
or take some pictures of the process and post it here
i might seriously consider making one of these

looks great dude. hope it turns out nice

EDIT: a really cheap and easy way for a spring system could be some heavy duty rubber bands but they probably wouldnt work for long

like g25 when the gear stick is in midle it Neutral is it the same in there?

The thing is... i believe LFS understands a gear in shifter asa button constantly pressed. So if a gear is engaged in the shifter, and the leaver is pressing a button, there's a gear engaged in the game. So the moment you get the leaver off the gear, it's in neutral. So even if i don't use springs ( wich I'm trying not to ) if there's no gear engaged, it's gonna be neutral... even if the leaver is jst lying to the side with no gear on.

can you please write in a nice list for me what do i need to make my own shifter i have a logitech controler will it be good enaugh ?

http://compareindia.in.com/med ... ech_precision_gamepad.jpg

i'm a newbie in this game too ( the game of DIY ).. i have no idea what will i need becxause i know nothing about electronics, só i can figure just the hardware stuff ( the leaver, the plates, the box, and stuff...) the electrical part i'm a total loss... but if i take this further, i'll make this thread a diary of the progress...

the only thing is, with 8 gears on an H shifter system, for 3-4-5 and 6, it will be really hard to get the proper gear.

Quote from Dudles :

besides the button connections, i have another doubt. What system can i use so the leaver returns to the center position always ? Gonna attach an image of the 3d project so you can have a taste.

Simple 4-way spring system should do the trick.

Quote from DeKo :

the only thing is, with 8 gears on an H shifter system, for 3-4-5 and 6, it will be really hard to get the proper gear.

just as hard as getting a 6 speed from 2nd to 3rd to 4th

Quote from spankmeyer :

Simple 4-way spring system should do the trick. H - Shifter.jpg

but what happens when he goes into 1st and and the springs bend and warp

http://users.hfx.eastlink.ca/~mackaypenny/shifter.html
http://members.chello.nl/~a.hitman/shifter.htm
home made h shifters

Quote from spankmeyer :

Simple 4-way spring system should do the trick.

Thought about that but using like some kind of rubber band... just because of the bendind and warping problem.

I think I can come with a solution... gonna work on this a little more... talking about the gears, o thought about doing only 6+R, but the effort is the same... gonna think about supressing 1 gear...

Awesome!

Another thing, are you going to try get so it will be in Neutral when you dont have any gear in?
Might be kinda tricky ...

how is it improved yeat?

I actualy built the internal workings for a shifter out of k-nex and made a lego case and gates for it, for centering I used rubber bands.

Rubber bands work well, but if you pre-load the springs, they won't warp or bend when you move the stick. They have to be stretched so that when the stick is in any possition they are still loaded.

I've improoved a little the project conearning the center-return spring system... gonna use pre-loaded springs as said before. About the neutral issue, got my other steering, configured it's 6 buttons as gears in a shifter on LFS, and confirmed what I've said earlier. When you have no button pressed, it's in neutral. The fabbing should take a while because i use the college's lab to fab some pieces, and i'm on the break at college... gonna return in midle march, so I have a little time to finish projecting and start the fab process... need some help about the buttons connections tho... have no clue how to hook them to the USB universal controller...

Dudles,

I hope you can get this going the way you like. You might consider using micro-switches instead of regular buttons. They require less force to stay de-pressed so this will help keep your shifter from coming out of gear.

As far as the wiring for the usb gamepad they might all be different. You also need to consider a lot of USB controllers use buttons wire in series.. kinda. Not sure how to explain it. Example: Lets say on circuit the there are five buttons, but only 3 wires to terminate to. So when you press button one it terminates wire 1 and 2 together to make the usb send button 1 and button 2 is 1 and 3 wires terminated together to make the usb chip send button 2. Kind of confusing, but I bet that is what you will be up against. I would recomment buying a USB chip for custom controllers. You should get a wiring scamatic with it.

You are also going to need a way to make the shifter stay in position. You might try putting the button on the below the pivot point of the shifter handle or at the bottom of the shifter. It will be easier to keep the button de-pressed there. This is how the Lighting SST's buttons work.

Jay

Quote from sk8line69 :

just as hard as getting a 6 speed from 2nd to 3rd to 4th

No, it isnt. on a 6 speed gearbox, when in neutral is snaps to the centre, which is inbetween 3rd + 4th. where would it centre if it had 8?

Don't get it? please post pics of your improvement

Took one more print to show my return system. Supressed all th parts that were disposable in this print so you can see better... my idea was to put 2 anchor points in the main axle and 2 in the bottom part of the leaver so i could hook 2 pre-loaded extension springs in each way ( did only 2 instead of 4 sprins just to show my idea ). In the print you'll undersand better than my explanation.

comments are welcome.