Simucube wireless wheel support

[morpwr]

Ill definitely be looking for them to be released. Hopefully early next year.

[Loft]

I don’t have wireless devices as such so maybe this is obvious, but can the battery status be reviewed somewhere or is there a notification of sorts, like a popup in SimuCube?

[Mika]

Yes, both the signal strength and the approximate battery level will be directly shown in the Simucube configuration tool.

Screenshots will be shared soon.

[Manfredk2]

Will that transmitter module replace for example a bodnar bu0836a which is already built in my wheel? Or is the transmitter board additionally?

[Mika]

Yes, it will replace that type of board.

For DIY users, our board is indeed designed to be installed on to a larger PCB, and does not have any holes for mounting the board with screws.

[diablo2112]

I’m definitely interested, this is a great idea. Here’s my suggestion: that this is small enough to place in a 5cm extension on the wheel shaft itself. I can wire my own wheels into your module via my through-hub quick release, and this way, I can swap my 5 rims and use only one transitter.

Thanks, I’ll look forward to this release.

[morpwr]

Arent those mounting holes in the two opposite corners on the transmitter? Sure looks that way.

[Mika]

No, those are just two additional grounds.

[Joe]

I saw it mentioned earlier that the Simucube case needs an opening for the signal to work well.
Do you need to have some sort of opening on the button plate for the signal?

[morpwr]

The way they are positioned they looked like mounting holes.

[Mika]

Yes, a radio transparent window must also exist somewhere on the button plate.

[Dennis_Karlsson]

I don’t get it!? Will the receiver be placed up by the steering axle or down in the SimuCUBE?

[Joe]

I would guess transmitter is located in button plate and the receiver plugs into the simucube board?

[phillip.vanrensburg]

Correct, there are 2 modules, a receiver (Simucube side) and transmitter (button-plate).

[Tommi]

I don’t get this, if you want to bring this out only in combination with other vendors or only integrated in wheels, whats the point of this announcement, you’d better keep it quiet until the integration in the first wheel is a fact.

One reason is to get publicity and traction towards this direction, customers want to buy these wheels from our partners, it is marketing, second reason is to get more B2B contacts, we have already received several button box mfg contacts that we did not know that they existed.

Those statistics are probably off because of what osw is. I could have built this myself but wanted something that worked out of the box because my time is limited. … … Not saying the stats are wrong but you may want to rethink how accurate they are. Us OSW users are a handy bunch.

Well, based on the statistics that I can see, is that the hard core people who do most by themselves are about 5-9% of the community / customer base, I mean those that want to use time with soldering iron are interested how things work and already have some understanding of electronics. The customer base that bolt things together with tools is up to 100%, like buy their rig and assemble it by themselves, that’s large proportion, like all of them are and have to be capable for that sort of DIY. So all OSW users are handy bunch for sure, but it seems to be that majority of the customers want their electronics “fully assembled” without the need to use soldering iron. That’s how I would describe it.

You want to extend the product line of the brand Simucube with wheels also?

Likely so. It also helps the customers to know which wheels are SimuCUBE compatible out of the box.

What’s the price increase, or cost for a DIY version for that matter?

There’s actually quite many small or big things that add costs for DIY from business point of view. Packaging, accounting, collecting (warehousing), shipping and product support. Ie. pack 1 in a box, vs pack in bulk, accounting for bulk order vs. accounting 1 unit per order, shipping in bulk vs. shipping 1 unit per order, product support on individual basis vs. product support for b2b. So it is not that can it be done, but it is a question that how to do it cost effectively.

The only thing I’m meanwhile wondering about - why you didn‘t add an STM32 board (or something compatible) and sell it as standalone USB solution for non Simucube users; I think there is a bunch of people that would choose this solution on their existing wheels as replacement for the wired connection.

I think firmware could be generated by simply disaing wheel support in the existing one.

hmm… interesting idea. I wonder / think such a box could combine more than one function, such as connecting pedals shifter etc etc. need to think about it.

[TommyD]

I have a few questions, what if you have multiple wheel rims and button boxes like myself. Do they all connect as individual wheels? Do they all stay connected at all times? If I switch wheels (on the fly) during a game will I have to restart the game? Are the batteries in the rims running all the time? Will there be a option for a rechargeable battery device?

[Mika]

• wheels are recognized individually. Manufacturers can even show the product name in Simucube configuration tool.
• only one can be connected at a time
• no need to restart game when switching wheel. You will have to do disconnect paddle combination with out going rim and connect combination on the new rim.
  The button plate module documentation, supplied to interested parties, includes a suggestion on which input pins to have on right thumb / left thumb etc, so NO NEED TO REMAP between wheel rims.
• batteries are running all the time. We recommend a power switch, but that is just because any depressed paddle shifter causes the module to not go into deepest sleep mode.
• if a button box manufacturer decides to implement charging and regulation circuitry, then yes.

[morpwr]

Well, based on the statistics that I can see, is that the hard core people who do most by themselves are about 5-9% of the community / customer base, I mean those that want to use time with soldering iron are interested how things work and already have some understanding of electronics. The customer base that bolt things together with tools is up to 100%, like buy their rig and assemble it by themselves, that’s large proportion, like all of them are and have to be capable for that sort of DIY. So all OSW users are handy bunch for sure, but it seems to be that majority of the customers want their electronics “fully assembled” without the need to use soldering iron. That’s how I would describe it.

I agree with what you are saying but as you are seeing there are many of us that would be willing to take on converting our old wheels instead of just replacing them.

[Mika]

there are many of us

that only accounts for the same 5-9% of total demand, especially as converting old wheel rim will not be a simple DIY job either.

[Dennis_Karlsson]

Wouldn’t it get better reception if the receiver was placed near the steering wheel?
I have my SimuCUBE pretty far away from the rig.