DIY Project: Simracing Spotter Lights (SimHub / Arduino with 30 LEDs)

DIY Project: Simracing Spotter Lights (SimHub / Arduino with 30 LEDs)

After the recently published test of the new Anycubic kobra 3D printer, it’s time for another small DIY project: The Spotter Lights from this project are SimHub-compatible and contain 15 controllable RGB LEDs per side, which are enclosed in a slim housing.

Materials required

The project basically only requires an Arduino Nano in combination with standard RGB strips, which are cut to size and connected to the data line of the Arduino. In addition, you only need the appropriate USB cable and material for the wiring (most people will probably already have some parts in stock). This results in a total price of approx. 10 to 20 euros, not including the costs for the filament and the required tools (3D printer, soldering iron and wire stripper).

Other tools that may be required: Soldering iron with solder, wire stripper, 3D printer (ideally with multi-colour function).

3D print

The underlying design for this project naturally consists of 3D-printed parts again, this time made from two combined filaments.

There are three print parts:

• Body: This can be printed in any color and without support structures.
• Cover: Two different filaments are used here, whereby the first two layers are printed in white to enable a diffusion layer for the LEDs. This can be achieved either by manually changing the filament after the second layer or by coloring the model when using a multi-color printer.
• Cover with border: In this case, the cover is supplemented by a frame on the underside, which more clearly delineates the individual LEDs, especially when switched off.

The total printing time is between one and two hours, depending on the printer, and only very small amounts of filament are required. In principle, there are no requirements for the filament material and there is no need to worry about supports. If LED strips are used that differ in one dimension, the two printed parts can simply be adjusted accordingly in the same ratio.

Assembly / cabling

No additional material is required to assemble the housing, as the housing is designed in such a way that the cover is held in position by itself. The following procedure is recommended, but can of course be modified as required. The following sequence must be observed when wiring

[Arduino  5V]  --->  [5V  - RGB Stripe -   5V]  --->  [5V  RGB Stripe] 
[Arduino GND]  --->  [GND - RGB Stripe -  GND]  --->  [GND RGB Stripe]
[Arduino  D2]  --->  [DIN - RGB Stripe - DOUT]  --->  [DIN RGB Stripe]

The individual components can either be permanently connected to each other or built up modularly, e.g. with 3-pin JST connectors. dupont cables are used for the connection to the Arduino, alternatively a fixed soldered connection can also be used there.

The connections for the LED strips should be soldered to the rear after cutting them into sections of 15 LEDs each. For this purpose, a corresponding recess was provided in the housing on both sides to lead the cables out to the rear. In principle, this design also makes it possible to use more than two modules in a row, but an external power supply should then be used. When assembling the housing, make sure that the LED strip is positioned in the middle of the housing so that the cut-outs are centered accordingly.

In principle, any method can be chosen for mounting on the monitor, as the individual spotter lights are extremely light at less than 50g. In this case, 3M Dual Lock was used.

Important: All electronic work should only be carried out under the supervision of trained electronics engineers, no liability is accepted for errors / damage. DIY at your own risk.

Software

On the software side, the popular and versatile SimHub software is of course used again, which can be downloaded here: https://www.simhubdash.com/

Arduino

Thanks to SimHub, no in-depth programming knowledge is required to flash the Arduino with the appropriate firmware for the project. An easy-to-use interface is available for this purpose, which makes it possible to carry out this process in just a few seconds.

The following points must be selected correctly for proper function:

• Board: Arudino Nano (new bootloader)
• Arudino serial port: Attention: To be on the safe side, all other USB devices such as steering wheels etc. should be disconnected. These could otherwise be affected by the flash process, which is then unsuitable for the device, if the wrong selection is made.
• WS2812B RGB LEDs:
  • LED count: 30
  • Data digital pin number: 2
  • RGB encoding: GRB (depending on the LED strip, the setting required for correct color rendering may vary)
• Name of the device: As desired

LED profile

To get you started, here is a customised LED profile for the project. It is designed so that the two spotters are attached to the monitor in such a way that they start at the bottom right of the Arduino and then continue in an anti-clockwise direction (15 LEDs on the right and 15 LEDs on the left). The following functions are supported and can be activated or deactivated as required:

• Spotter
  • Car left
  • Car right
• Flags
  • Green
  • White
  • Blue
  • Yellow
• Delta (in no race sessions)
• Pit limiter animation
• Car starting breathing effect

Driving impression

Here you can see the Simracing Spotter Lights in action.

Conclusion

The Simracing Spotter Lights are another small but nice DIY project that can be completed in an afternoon and is a real bargain at a price of 10 to 20 euros. Thanks to full SimHub support, it not only complements your own rig visually, but also offers some nice little features such as the name-giving spotter function or, for example, flag effects and a dynamic delta display.