PT-1 Pedal Set - Discussion

GTFREAK

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PT-1 Pedal set Features:

● Aluminum and Stainless Steel Construction
● 50KG Load Cell – Brake Pedal
● Industrial Quality Potentiometers (rated for millions of turns) – Throttle and Clutch Pedals
● Multiple Pedal Face Positions
● Adjustable Pedal Height
● Adjustable Spring Tension
● Adjustable Pedal Travel
● Adjustable Potentiometer Travel
● Adjustable Clutch “Feel”
● Can Be Inverted or Placed Right Side Up (with each pedal separately)
● Many More...

We are very proud of what we've accomplished over the past 3 years. Even though we've had multiple setbacks, and things haven't gone as smoothly as we would have liked, we took that extra time to improve upon things that we felt warranted improvement. We've said this multiple times, but it's always better to take the time to get things right. We've only got one shot at making a good impression with the public, and even though our pedals aren't 100% perfect (nothing in this world is), we now feel that they're ready to finally find their new homes.

This is our very first product. We don't have a wealth of experience in the areas of business or manufacturing. With that said, we've tried to do our best to give you a product that is reliable, durable, and adjustable in many different ways. We hope that our customers will enjoy our products for as long as they own them.

Along with this announcement, we've finally released the "Adjustment" series of videos. We've developed a separate page on our website called "PT-1 Adjustments", which can be found by mousing over the "PST" menu item at the top of our homepage and choosing "PT-1 Adjustments" from the drop-down menu. On this page you will find three separate videos, each discussing a different pedal. We have also provided time-stamps that should allow you to find the section you are most interested in.

We created these videos for the sole purpose of helping the public make adjustments to their pedals. We have tried to be as detailed as possible, but that doesn't mean that we haven't left something out. If you find that there is something you do not understand, or you'd like for us to make a notation at some point in the video, please let us know. We want to be sure that you have as much information as possible.

On a more personal note, I would like to thank a few people:

First and foremost, I'd like to thank my father for sticking with me throughout some of the most difficult times these past three years. He has not only been responsible for most of the financial support, but has supported any and all ideas surrounding this project. Without him, none of this would have been possible. Thanks, dad.

I also want to throw out a special thanks to Martin Enzmann ( aka - "The Details Man"), our beta tester. We really struck gold with Martin. When I first contacted Martin last spring, I had no idea how valuable he would ultimately turn out to be. His feedback regarding the design and functionality of our prototype pedals, has helped us to make improvements on certain mechanical portions of our PT-1 pedal set. We never expected the level of detailed feedback that Martin would eventually give us. On top of that, he has become a good friend. Thank you, Martin.

And last, I'd like to thank the community for all of the kind words of encouragement. We started our YouTube channel back in November of 2013. After posting the very first video in the iRacing forums, the feedback was overwhelmingly positive. I'm very grateful to be a part of this community, and no matter what the public thinks of our pedal set, I'm certain I always will be.

A few others I'd like to say "Thank you" to:

Slaven Corluka (my old modding buddy)
All my fellow members of Virtua_LM (thanks for giving my 3D skills a shot!)
Shaun Cole (thanks for the article last summer!)
Shawn Purdy (one hellavu web developer ;-) )
DSD (for the circuit boards)


Chris Smith - Co-Founder - ProtoSimTech
http://www.protosimtech.com
 
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Hi Chris!

Good luck. Looking forward to see the final product :)

alex
 
Our website has now been updated. We added a couple new pages that include pictures and our first video. We hope you'll check it out!

We will be constantly updating it as time goes on and as we continue to progress on our build process. You can check it out here: http://www.protosimtech.com

More to come very soon!

Chris
 
Great effort guys!
I remember a while when you introduced your pedals I was pretty keen to see how will the progress go. Bummer about the let down, I hope the things will get better. I will follow the progress for sure.
 
Thank you for the kind words of encouragement. Persistence is key in any business venture. We had some dark days back then, but we managed to pick ourselves up and give it another go. This time around, though, we're doing things slowly and progressively. We hope that these videos will bring new customers in, where we couldn't have before.
 
Brand new video is online!

You can view it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUh8T9E9Fd0

This is the very first "build" video we have done, and this is the first in a long series of build videos we'll be doing over the course of the next few months.

You'll get to see the entire process, and we hope you'll have as much fun watching as we do building. You won't get to see what these pedals look like until they are completed, so it's important that you watch the entire process.

Check the first post for our Twitter and YouTube pages. You can follow along with us to get an inside look at what goes into making these pedals.



Chris
 
It's a pleasure to follow your progress. Thank you for sharing and good luck with this nice project!
 
It's a pleasure to follow your progress. Thank you for sharing and good luck with this nice project!

Thank you! Good to see you again =)

We posted a new video online today. We just wanted to put something out since we haven't had too much going on in the shop the last couple days. We're waiting on a drill chuck to show up so that we can make our new jig for the side plates.

You can check out the new video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNJ5hRjtjCI

Enjoy!
 
Hey guys,

We just posted a brand new video this evening. This time around, we're showing you how we are making our side plate jig. This is a crucial step in the process of building our pedals. This is going to be a two part video, as we haven't finished the jig just yet. You can watch the first part here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLpIlolgo2g

If you haven't yet, you can follow us on Twitter so that you can be notified when a new video goes online. You can follow us at @ProtoSimTech. Or you can visit our Twitter page here: https://twitter.com/ProtoSimTech
 
Hey guys,

We just posted the second part (finale) of our side plate jig series. As stated before, this is a crucial step in the development process. This jig will be responsible for holding the side plates in place while we drill all the holes for construction of our pedals.

You can view the video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v04shme9sWg

Enjoy!
 
Hey guys,

We're so excited to bring you this next pedal build video! In this video you'll get to see what the side plates will look like. This is a major step in the development process. The side plates are the main housing for all of the structural pieces and mechanisms that will allow the pedals to function. We hope you enjoy watching and we hope that you'll continue to follow along with us as we move forward towards the next major step in the process. Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gqgc9dNEqa8
 
Hey guys,

We ordered some more tools needed to complete the band saw jig that we're currently working on. So, in the meantime we wanted to give you some info on what we are working on and a little info on how this band saw jig will work.

 
Hey guys,

Here's an interesting little side project we decided to tackle while we waited for tools to arrive. Enjoy!

 
Hey guys,



Here's a video discussing the advantages and disadvantages of using Hall Effect sensors vs. using Potentiometers. We are heavily leaning towards using Hall Effect sensors, but there's a lot of research and testing needed before we make a final decision either way.

 
As a guy who has made my own pedals (CSTesque) I am really enjoying your videos. :)
 
As a guy who has made my own pedals (CSTesque) I am really enjoying your videos. :)

Thank you, Jamie! That means a lot to us.

We hope you enjoy all of our future videos. We're almost done with our band saw jig. This jig will enable us to cut all of the angles on the side plates much more easily. After this jig is finished, you'll start to see some very cool stuff!
 
Hey guys,

We just completed a new video that shows how we built our latest jig. This is a jig for the Band Saw, and this will allow us to cut the angles for multiple side plates at a time. This is important because it will save us countless hours of work when it comes time for production. Enjoy!

 
Hey guys,

In the last video, we showed you how we built our band saw jig, but we didn't get a chance to show you how it works. In this video, we show you the jig in action. We're also taking this video, and the rest of our videos, in a different direction. We're going to be shooting live from now on. We feel it gives the public a better understanding of what goes on in our shop. It will ultimately be a much better experience. The editing and voice overs were OK, but they were taking an awful long time to produce, and we just feel that this will give you a better experience overall. We hope you enjoy it and we'd love to hear what you think!


Cheers!
 
Hey guys,

We've been working on some things behind the scenes and wanted to give you a sneak preview of what we've built so far. This video concentrates on the making of the pedal arms, but there's a little something extra in there for you to enjoy. We hope you like it!

 
If you're going to be cleaning up the ends of those arms anyway you could use an abrasive wheel to cut the aluminum as well. Of course it should be rated for non ferrous/aluminum. :)
 
If you're going to be cleaning up the ends of those arms anyway you could use an abrasive wheel to cut the aluminum as well. Of course it should be rated for non ferrous/aluminum. :)

Yes, we've found a cutting wheel that should be able to do the job. The wheel we used in the video was completely wrong and should never have been used. Our mistake.
 
Hey guys,

This is the 5th part of our pedal build series. In this video, we're focusing on the radius that we need to put on the end of the pedal arms. This is to allow the arm to move in it's full range of motion. We had some difficulty with this setup, so we will be revisiting this in the future.

 
Hey guys,

In this video, we show you how we built the pedal faces (the part your foot presses against). We're excited to show you this because it's been in the works for quite awhile. The shape of these pedal faces aren't curved in the traditional sense. We decided to be a little different and use different angles to create the curvature. We hope you like the design!

 
Hey guys,

In this video, we show you how we built the pedal faces (the part your foot presses against). We're excited to show you this because it's been in the works for quite awhile. The shape of these pedal faces aren't curved in the traditional sense. We decided to be a little different and use different angles to create the curvature. We hope you like the design!


I would be concerned about increased shoe wear with this design.
 
I would be concerned about increased shoe wear with this design.

That's a good point and definitely something to consider.

Just as a reference, though, here's an image we put together showing the angles from the side. The grey area represents the pedal face, and the red line is connected to each edge on the face. Let us know what you think.

View attachment 11823
 
Yeah, interesting design on the pedal faces. I wouldn't be too quick to judge though on it being good or bad. Looking forward to see and hearing about those pedals in action!
 
Yeah, interesting design on the pedal faces. I wouldn't be too quick to judge though on it being good or bad. Looking forward to see and hearing about those pedals in action!

You won't have to wait a whole lot longer. We should have a working prototype by the end of this month, perhaps sooner. We'll keep you updated.
 
We just announced on Twitter that we'll be releasing a video this weekend.

The current plan is to give you a nice preview with this upcoming video, and then we'll put together another video or two that will allow us to go over each and every feature with much more detail.

We're very excited, and also very nervous. We hope that you guys like all of the changes we've made, and we can't wait to hear what you think :)
 
Hey guys,

We are very excited to show you what we've been working on for the past couple of weeks. Keep in mind, though, that what you're about to see is still very much a work in progress. There is still a lot of work left to do, and there may be changes to this design as we get into the testing period. We hope you like what you see and we can't wait to hear what you think! Enjoy!


 
It's probably a good idea to go ahead and post some images for those that don't want to watch the video. So, here's some images taken from the end of the video...

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IMG_0656.jpg
 
I hope the frame's sharp corners get radiused like the pedal pad when you go to production.
 
It's probably a good idea to go ahead and post some images for those that don't want to watch the video. So, here's some images taken from the end of the video...
Wow, I've skipped the last few videos, didn't saw that coming, looks good!
 
GTFreak I'm really still digging the videos and the design looks really, really rock solid.

However, something caught my curiosity straight away as I saw the pedal assembled. The little connection piece you made between the
potentiometer and the pedal arm looks pretty out of place between all the beefy parts around it.

You probably have a reason for this, but isn't a potentiometer like this easier to install, harder to break, and has less moving parts
which can succumb to wear (the extra joint)?
CLWG.gif


I'm really eager to see the brake pedal and see how you tackle that and secretly wishing I had the funds for it too ;)
 
Hello wgeuze,

The setup for the potentiometer is identical to the CST pedals. Those pedal were extremely popular, and his design was rock solid. However, what you saw in the video is a bit deceiving. We aren't going to use a plastic arm for the POT. We'll be using metal instead. However, the tie rods on both ends are very solid. Even though they are plastic, they have a metal core, which means they won't wear out. If the CST's can do it, I think we can get away with it as well. That being said, we're actively testing our components right now. The testing period will be lengthy and thorough. We'll be making sure that our pedals will stand up to the everyday wear and tear.

Also, you won't have to take out a loan to buy our pedals. We think the public is going to really like our price :)
 

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