Tampere, Finland – March, 30th, 2016, A Finnish Company, Granite Devices, has released a new kind of Direct Drive Force Feedback Controller for professional class motorsport simulator market.
Today’s high-end professional force feedback wheel simulators use direct drive technology. Direct drive means that the simulator steering wheel is directly attached to an electric motor’s shaft without any gears or belt transmission. With direct drive wheel, the driver can sense even tiniest bit of details from the road, such as gravel and temperature changes. In addition to direct drive technology, one major difference versus a commercial wheel is the extended range of wheel torque. SimuCUBE systems typically yield torque of 20 Nm while typical consumer products are limited to torque of 3-8 Nm. Extended wheel torque increases the realism to a level comparable to a real race car. Today’s market does not completely lack a product like SimuCUBE, however the existing products may lack in simplicity and are only available to high paying customers.
The purpose of developing the SimuCUBE is the simplification of the simulator construction and improvement of the simulation realism by the means of adding artificial physics effects such as wheel inertia and friction. In addition to wheel control, SimuCUBE also features input ports for pedals, shifters and buttons. By utilizing modern technologies and smart construction, Granite Devices has been able to push everything into a significantly lower price class compared to earlier and existing solutions. “Such technologies could make professional grade simulators finally affordable also to a casual hobbyists”, says Tero Kontkanen, the leader of the SimuCUBE team.
SimuCUBE product will be available for OEM & DIY customers from June 2016. The retail price of the controller board is 169€ excluding the other parts necessary for a working simulator system.