DIY Pendular Rudder Pedals

So, I wanted a new set of rudder pedals; my Siatek combat pro set were getting on my final nerve.

Then I saw something that made my heart bleep dedey bleep. The new Thrustmaster Pendular Rudder System.

Wow, I really liked the way they look....and then I saw the price. And I gulped, gasped, and coughed. 550.00 USD.....ouch.

So. I made my own for 20.00 USD :D

The black 3D printed bits here and there are mostly housings for heavy duty flange bearings that I had a box of in the shop. More bearings inside the brake pedals to keep things smooth. The center hall effect pivot is a 1/4" bolt with skate bearings supporting it on both sides of the steel arm.

This thing is unbelievably smooth and strong. The adjustable springs make it easy for me to dial in the tension that I want from none at all to some type of Russian interwar years experimental biplane experience (think East German Womens weightlifting leg exercise machine)

The brake pedals are equally adjustable from tension to the angle position. Took me two weeks to reverse engineer thrustmaster's design and build this but well worth every second. If my own rough work is any indicator of how good the Thrustmaster pedals are, and you can afford them, go get em. This thing is amazing.

Started with some pictures of the spendy set, and created a solidworks model to see how to make things fit.

Realized that I needed some linear hall effect sensors...so I designed some using a magnet and hall effect IC.

Tossed in yet another Teensy ++ 2.0 and kicked it with a touch of MMJOY2.

Adjustable throw for the rudder and tensioning system.

Total out of pocket? 20.00 USD :Ddid I mention that?! :D

I might cannibalize my Saitek combat pro's for the really nice brake pedals and install them on my new rudder system. My pedals look a little crude...but they really do a nice job. Need to think about that for a while.

Holy crap Propnut! Incredible work!

Great work. I will be saving for the crosswind pedals someday....

nicely done

Nice work Propnut and good to see you back in the Home Cockpits section :smilewink:

Cheers

Hans

Nice work Propnut and good to see you back in the Home Cockpits section :smilewink:

 

Cheers

Hans

Thanks buddy, now that this project is done I can start adding motion to my VR simpit.

Impressive work!

Nice work, I'm thinking of gutting those same pedals off my combat pro for my scratch build pedals although I used the really hot melt glue gun for mine AKA TIG. :thumbup:

Here's my MK 1 pedals, don't laugh they do work. Link here. :D

Oddly my cost was about AUD $60 bucks most of that was for the damper.

Propnut,

Great job. I have been thinking about building a pair similar to the thrustmasters also. Would be interested in your 3d printed parts and the frame that you built to mount the pedals.

Instead of using your saitek pedals, hempstick's site (http://www.seedling.org/The_Official_Hempstick_Site/Flight_Sim_3D_Models.html) has a fully editable model of f16 rudder pedals. I was able to import and edit them in fusion360. Let me know if you want the file.

Hi Blewis, that is kind of you but I enjoy creating my own models. And of course 17 hours to print each pedal is a bit too much printer time for me ;)

I am not really a "perfect" scale kind of guy anyway, you might have seen my own viper pit and F/A-18 panels around.

I have been sharing the build files here:

https://www.xsimulator.net/community/threads/diy-pendular-rudder-pedals.13130/#post-174257

No problem. I have had some long prints before, over 24 hrs, so 17 is not a problem.

Thanks for the link to the build files.

Blewis, I included an edited version of the left pedal (someone printing them can just reverse the left as you mentioned) in my files over on the other website.

There is a guy there creating his own set with issues that he ran into to help others.

Holy Batcrap! I have been thinking of doing the exact same thing. Had them apart completely yesterday raising the pedal height. Now I can see what needs doing! Here are pics of the Combat Pro's taken completely apart. Easy enough. The wires between the brake pedal pot and the internal control board are metal and tough but you need to try and keep them from being kinked or pinched. I had enough wire lead to cut them and put a new ferrule on but I chickened out.

Having reworked the pedals rather extensively, I will use the in the pendulum system which will save me quite a bit of time and effort since I don't have the ability to print in 3D.