The HMI for the real driving simulator.

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I love playing Gran Turismo, a PlayStation video game that purports itself to be the “Real Driving Simulator.” The game has a very realistic physics engine, it has over 1000 different cars that are tunable with different tires, suspension, and aerodynamic modifications. Even weather can be simulated in this game. The graphics are unbelievably good – the car models are often digitally scanned in order to create a more realistic representation. Players can drive on dozens of real racetracks like the Nurburgring and Laguna Seca, as well as fun fictional tracks. For a car enthusiast like myself, the game is a dream. You can have as much fun collecting all the cars and tuning them as you can actually racing them.

But what good are the tens of thousands of hours of development work, the millions of lines of code, and the excellent physics engine if your method of input is a dinky little joystick? That’s not realistic, and it’s a shame for the game. I set out to create an awesome racing cockpit for myself. An HMI worthy of Gran Turismo.

First, I looked for the best steering wheel available. In particular, I wanted a steering wheel that had a full 720 degree turning radius, with pedals with realistic feedback/resistance. I also knew that Gran Turismo could support a manual gearbox, so a setup with a 6 speed gearbox and a clutch pedal would be required. The Logitech G27 was the product that met all of these needs – realistic steering wheel, manual gearbox, great pedal feel, and compatible with Gran Turismo 5.

That was the input device, and so many people have been satisfied with attaching their wheels to their desks and putting their pedals on the ground. But a truly great HMI does more than simulate the controls – it creates an overall natural experience. For that, I needed the seating position and control positions from a real car. I took measurements from my 2001 BMW 330i.

I recorded several key points:

• Distance from seat-back to steering wheel

• Horizontal distance from seat to gearshift

• Height of seat

• Height of wheel relative to seat

• Distance from seat-front to pedals

• Height of pedals from ground

With these measurements in mind, I realized that no regular office chair or couch would offer the proper experience. So I went to a junkyard and pulled a seat from a 90’s Toyota. I was careful to retain the seat rails as a mounting platform. I then took an old wooden bedframe headboard as the ‘floor’ of the frame. I then attached several pieces of wood in an odd configuration to attach the rails of the seat to the floor. With the rails attached, the seat’s tilt and fore-and-aft adjustment mechanisms still worked!

I then used an end table as my steering wheel mount. The table sits on top of the frame. I used a small display shelf as my center console/shifter mount. I weighted it down with a dumbbell so it didn’t slide around all the time. The pedals I simply put onto the frame. The setup works well, but I have to be gentle with the wheel, because the table can move around. I also have to be careful with the pedals, as they have a tendency to slide around as well.

All together, the experience while driving has been excellent. It’s incredibly engaging to have such a fine degree of control over the car. I enjoy driving many of the slower and older cars in the game because controlling the transmission and finely playing with the throttle and steering to handle over steer is so much fun. The supercars like the McLaren MP4-12C are fun to set lap records with, but the granularity in control is replaced with quick reaction. The steering wheel’s feedback mechanism is excellent – it delivers feedback in the form of torque on the wheel, just like a real car, and also in the form of vibrations on the wheel. I don’t really play the drifting mode in Gran Turismo, but this setup would be well suited for that as well.

Further improvements:

• Make a real frame for the steering wheel. Attach the wheel with bolts to the frame.

• Make a real frame for the shifter. Attach the shifter with a bolt. Somehow secure it so it doesn’t move on the bolt’s Z-axis during aggressive use.

• Figure out a way to better attach the pedals to the frame. Maybe reverse mount them? Put them on some kind of slope to hold them in place with a bolt.

• Add carpet to the floor. Just to make it more realistic.

• Change the seat to an electric heated car seat. To make the experience even more realistic.

• Add a cup holder so I can enjoy a drink while driving.