![EB Games Expo 2015 - Forza Motorsport 6](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b3/EB_Games_Expo_2015_-_Forza_Motorsport_6.JPG)
A simulator racing steering wheel is a control device for use in
racing video game
Racing games are a video game genre in which the player participates in a racing competition. They may be based on anything from real-world racing leagues to fantastical settings. They are distributed along a spectrum between more realistic rac ...
s,
racing simulators
Simulated racing or racing simulation, commonly known as simply sim racing, are the collective terms for racing game software that attempts to accurately simulate auto racing, complete with real-world variables such as fuel usage, damage, tir ...
, and
driving simulator
Driving simulators are used for entertainment as well as in training of driver's education courses taught in educational institutions and private businesses. They are also used for research purposes in the area of human factors and medical rese ...
s. They are usually packaged with a large
paddle
A paddle is a handheld tool with an elongated handle and a flat, widened distal end (i.e. the ''blade''), used as a lever to apply force onto the bladed end. It most commonly describes a completely handheld tool used to propel a human-powered wa ...
styled as a
steering wheel
A steering wheel (also called a driving wheel (UK), a hand wheel, or simply wheel) is a type of steering control in vehicles.
Steering wheels are used in most modern land vehicles, including all mass-production automobiles, buses, light and ...
, along with a set of
pedals
A pedal (from the Latin '' pes'' ''pedis'', "foot") is a lever designed to be operated by foot and may refer to:
Computers and other equipment
* Footmouse, a foot-operated computer mouse
* In medical transcription, a pedal is used to control p ...
for accelerator, brake, and
clutch
A clutch is a mechanical device that engages and disengages power transmission, especially from a drive shaft to a driven shaft. In the simplest application, clutches connect and disconnect two rotating shafts (drive shafts or line shafts). ...
, as well as
transmission controls. An
analog
Analog or analogue may refer to:
Computing and electronics
* Analog signal, in which information is encoded in a continuous variable
** Analog device, an apparatus that operates on analog signals
*** Analog electronics, circuits which use analog ...
wheel and pedal set such as this allows the user to accurately manipulate steering angle and pedal control that is required to properly manage a simulated car, as opposed to digital control such as a keyboard. The relatively large range of motion further allows the user to more accurately apply the controls. Racing wheels have been developed for use with
arcade game
An arcade game or coin-op game is a coin-operated entertainment machine typically installed in public businesses such as restaurants, bars and amusement arcades. Most arcade games are presented as primarily games of skill and include arcade v ...
s,
game console
A video game console is an electronic device that outputs a video signal or image to display a video game that can be played with a game controller. These may be home consoles, which are generally placed in a permanent location connected to a t ...
s, personal computers, and also for professional driving simulators for race drivers.
One of the earliest racing wheels for the PC
mass market
The term "mass market" refers to a market for goods produced on a large scale for a significant number of end consumers. The mass market differs from the niche market in that the former focuses on consumers with a wide variety of backgrounds with ...
was the
Thrustmaster
Thrustmaster is an American-French designer, developer and manufacturer of joysticks, game controllers, and steering wheels for PCs and video gaming consoles. It has licensing agreements with third party brands as Airbus, Boeing, Ferrari, Gra ...
Formula T1, released in 1994. It had no force feedback, only some form of spring-based centering resistance proportional to the steering angle. Two of the earliest FFB wheels for the consumer PC market were the Microsoft Sidewinder Force Feedback Wheel, released in 1997, and the Logitech Wingman Formula Force.
Force feedback
Racing wheels started off as simple plastic wheels hooked up to a rotary potentiometer, which were sprung by springs or bungees. These spring-based wheels had a reactive torque that increased proportionally only to the steering angle, without regard for the simulated vehicle dynamics.
[
Dell’Amico, M., Marzani, S., Minin, L., Montanari, R., Tesauri, F., Mariani, & Tango, F. (2007) ]
Design of an adaptive feedback based steering wheel
', p.181, in Marvin J. Dainoff (Ed., 2007)
International Conference on Ergonomics and Health Aspects of Work with Computers
' (pp. 180–188). Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg.
Eventually manufacturers began to use electric motors in the controllers, in place of springs, in order to achieve a level of
force feedback
Haptic technology (also kinaesthetic communication or 3D touch) is technology that can create an experience of touch by applying forces, vibrations, or motions to the user. These technologies can be used to create virtual objects in a computer ...
(sometimes abbreviated ), first seen in Microsoft's Sidewinder wheel. At first this technology simply provided the centering force and other artificial effects such as shaking the wheel in a crash or other vibrations. However, as driving simulations have evolved, their physics engines have become more accurate, allowing also for linking the force feedback close to the simulated
vehicle dynamics
For motorized vehicles, such as automobiles, aircraft, and watercraft, vehicle dynamics is the study of vehicle motion, e.g., how a vehicle's forward movement changes in response to driver inputs, propulsion system outputs, ambient conditions, air ...
of the in-game physics.
This allows the user to truly feel what forces go through the steering rack, instead of just artificial effects, and genuinely enhance the realism of the game. A fundamental factor for an adequate subjective steering-feel and perception of drivability from a force feedback wheel, is the transfer function from steering torque to steering angle.
In 2015, a preliminary comparison of gear-driven and
direct-drive wheel A direct-drive simulator steering wheel (sometimes abbreviated "DD") is a Racing wheel, simulator steering wheel with a direct-drive mechanism between the drive and output, i.e. without gear ratio, gearing (as opposed to simulator steering wheels wi ...
s in the 0–30 Hz frequency range, for a study on hard real-time
multibody simulation Multibody simulation (MBS) is a method of computer simulation, numerical simulation in which multibody systems are composed of various rigid body, rigid or elasticity (physics), elastic bodies. Connections between the bodies can be modeled with kine ...
and high-fidelity steering wheel force feedback, concluded that direct-drive wheels are preferable.
[Pastorino, R., Desloovere, M., Vanneste, F., Degezelle, P., Desmet, W., & Optidrive, N. V. (2015) ]
Development, implementation and validation of a hard real-time multibody simulation for high-fidelity steering wheel force feedback
', in Proceedings of the ECCOMAS Thematic Conference on Multibody Dynamics, Barcelona, Spain (Vol. 10).
Buttons
![Logitech G29 steering wheel](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ed/Logitech_G29_steering_wheel.jpg)
Sim racing wheels, like real-world racing steering wheels, can have many buttons. Some examples are
cruise control
Cruise control (also known as speed control, cruise command, autocruise, or tempomat) is a system that automatically controls the speed of a motor vehicle. The system is a servomechanism that takes over the throttle of the car to maintain a ste ...
or pit-lane limiter for the
pit lane
In motorsports, a pit stop is a pause for refuelling, new tyres, repairs, mechanical adjustments, a driver change, as a penalty, or any combination of the above. These stops occur in an area called the pits, most commonly accessed via a pit lan ...
, button for
flashing lights,
windscreen wiper
A windscreen wiper, windshield wiper, wiper blade (American English), or simply wiper, is a device used to remove rain, snow, ice, washer fluid, water, or debris from a vehicle's front window. Almost all motor vehicles, including cars, truck ...
s, radio communication with the team, adjustments to the
racing setup In motorsport, the racing setup, car setup or vehicle setup is the set of adjustments made to the vehicle in order to optimize its behaviour (performance, handling, reliability, etc.) for specific conditions. Vehicle setups are variable for a vari ...
(such as
brake balance The brake balance or brake bias of a vehicle is the distribution of brake force at the front and rear tires, and may be given as the percentage distributed to the front brakes (e.g. 52%) or as the ratio of front and rear percentages (e.g. 52/48). Th ...
,
brake migration,
differential braking
Landing gear is the undercarriage of an aircraft or spacecraft that is used for takeoff or landing. For aircraft it is generally needed for both. It was also formerly called ''alighting gear'' by some manufacturers, such as the Glenn L. Martin ...
(entry, mid+, exit, hi-speed; to make use of torque effectively at different points in a corner
What all the controls do on a modern day F1 steering wheel
/ref>), traction control
A traction control system (TCS), also known as ASR (from german: Antriebsschlupfregelung, lit=drive slippage regulation), is typically (but not necessarily) a secondary function of the electronic stability control (ESC) on production motor vehicle ...
(amplitude and sensitivity), anti-roll bar
An anti-roll bar (roll bar, anti-sway bar, sway bar, stabilizer bar) is a part of many automobile suspensions that helps reduce the body roll of a vehicle during fast cornering or over road irregularities. It connects opposite (left/right) wheels ...
adjustment (front and rear), engine program (strat mode/ engine mode to get extra power or conserve fuel and engine life), engine braking
Engine braking occurs when the retarding forces within an engine are used to slow down a motor vehicle, as opposed to using additional external braking mechanisms such as friction brakes or magnetic brakes.
The term is often confused with sever ...
(the engine's throttle or absence of throttle when there is no input from the gas pedal, i.e. whether the engine contributes to the car slowing down or is keeping its speed), etc.), seeing sideways or in the mirror, or to browse various menus (for example using a 7-way «funky switch»).
Comparison of racing wheels
Subsections by motor type: no FFB, gear- or belt-driven, and direct-drive wheels.
No FFB
Gear- and/or belt-driven
Earlier products
Gear-driven
Hybrid gear and belt-driven
Belt-driven
Direct-drive bases or wheel + base combos
Other types / uncategorized
Pedals
Other features by which pedals can be compared are whether they can be inverted (hanging pedals), build material (plastic, aluminum), adjustability (position, pressure, travel), measured pressure, travel length, sensor resolution.[The 5 Best Sim Racing Load Cell Pedals](_blank)
flowracers.com, 2020
Potentiometer-based brake
Loadcell brake
Shifters
Notes
References
See also
* HOTAS
HOTAS, an acronym of hands on throttle-and-stick, is the concept of placing buttons and switches on the throttle lever and flight control stick in an aircraft's cockpit. By adopting such an arrangement, pilots are capable of performing all vit ...
(''hands on throttle-and-stick'')
* Linkage (mechanical)
A mechanical linkage is an assembly of systems connected to manage forces and movement. The movement of a body, or link, is studied using geometry so the link is considered to be rigid. The connections between links are modeled as providing i ...
* List of Logitech Racing Wheels compatible games
* Sim racing
Simulated racing or racing simulation, commonly known as simply sim racing, are the collective terms for racing game software that attempts to accurately simulate auto racing, complete with real-world variables such as fuel usage, damage, tire ...
* Sawtooth wave
The sawtooth wave (or saw wave) is a kind of non-sinusoidal waveform. It is so named based on its resemblance to the teeth of a plain-toothed saw with a zero rake angle. A single sawtooth, or an intermittently triggered sawtooth, is called a ...
{{Sim racing
Game controllers
Racing simulators
Driving simulators