Formula 1 Style Steering Wheel

This project was inspired for my love of racing. I had taken an interest in sim racing on my computer, but quality equipment was well outside of my price range. My solution to this problem was to build my own steering wheel which not only had all the features I wanted, but was much more affordable then buying an actual product.

The first wheel I made used a design I found online, however there was no guidance on what hardware was used for electronics, or on wiring. The entire wheel was 3D printed in PLA. Although I was able to get everything working correctly, me being new to soldering caused several problems with connections breaking inside the wheel after it was assembled. In total the wheel had 10 push buttons, 7 rotary switches, 2 paddle shifters, and 2 clutch paddles, which are converted to keyboard inputs over USB through 2 Arduino Pro Micros. The LCD Screen is able to display car telemetry data outputted from whichever game is being played. Since this first version of the wheel faced many problems with wiring and durability, I decided to use what I had learned to start over with a second version.

The second version of the steering wheel I made used another design found online. The face of the wheel was modified to fit the LCD screen and from there I designed it to fit as many buttons as possible with the space I had. Because the original model was not intended to house a screen, the possibilities for mounting buttons was extremely limited, and I was forced to use buttons that were very small and harder to press when driving. Despite these challenges, I made a big step forward with the durability of the electronics, and in comfort. I experimented with printing the handles in TPU, and wrapped them in tennis grips. This made the wheel much more comfortable to use over long periods of time than the first wheel, which had bare PLA plastic handles.

The third steering wheel was the culmination of everything I have learned from the last two, and is the one I currently use for sim racing. This version has the most features out of the three with a total of 12 push buttons, 9 rotary switches, 2 paddle shifters and clutch paddles, an LCD screen, and LED indicator lights. The handle design has had no comfort issues during extended use, and there have been no issues with durability. The extensive amount of inputs allow me to easily make changes to the car's settings as I drive. Overall, my self-taught 3D printing and electronics skills have allowed me to pursue a hobby that would have otherwise been out of reach.