Hi all.

I have been googling like a madman for hours, and haven't found anything regarding these 2 things, so I caved in and decided to ask here.
First off, I know very little about electronics, but I do have a basic understanding about how it works, and can read schematics to an extent etc. A "curious hobbyist" some might say
Second, english is not my native language (I'm from Denmark) so there might be some lingual barriers to cross for me.

Ok, question 1 :

I have several sets of pedals to use with simracing, all of which use potentiometers on the clutch and the throttle (brakes are made with loadcells)
Due to the physical construction of these pedals, none of the potentiometer-based pedals are able to turn the pots completely from zero to max, but only use something like 40-50% of the pots rotation.
Connected to a 12bit board (it has analog inputs with signal/ground/+ connectors for direct use with pots) that connects via usb to the computer, this translates to min/max values that are something like 1200/3400 or something like that.
This actually works fine, and things can be calibrated so all is good.
BUT... I was thinking if it is somehow possible to wire up a couple of extra pots per pedal, to adjust the lower and upper "deadzones"?
Like an analog calibration, that will set a zero- and max-resistance-point of the "main" potentiometer?

Question 2 :

I am trying to construct a two-step clutch mechanism for a F1-style wheelrim, and each clutch-paddle has it's own pot (connected to a similar usb-board as mentioned above)
Those 2 pots combined should provide "full" resistance, but I would really like to wire an extra pot in there somehow, to adjust the bitepoint or crossoverpoint or what should I call it?
Is it possible to wire up 2 pots in series (I guess) with a 3rd pot to adjust where one pot ends and the other take over?

Thanks in advance for any help

Lars/Dime

 

hi,
Its possible to connect a pot in each end of the main pot, say value 5% or 10% of the main pots resistance value.
E
I am assuming this is for a car racing simulator, not a real car.?

 

Yes, for use with racing simulators, like rFactor and iRacing etc.

 

This link shows a range of trim pots.
Connect the centre pin to an adjacent pin and connect two wires.
One on the linked pair of pins and one to the other pin.
Depending which pair of pins you link will determine if the pot value increases for CW or CCW rotation of the screw


https://www.google.co.uk/search?tbm=isch&source=univ&sa=X&ei=TI3DVNSPPIau7gbtlIG4Aw&ved=0CCQQsAQ&biw=1411&bih=919&q=trimpot images

 

The software is likely calibrated to accept only the range that the pot can physically achieve. The software is likely to be programmed to something that essentially says (if pot value is less than 1 volt, assume 1 volt). Or, (if pot value is more than 3.5 volts, assume 3.5 volts)

The simulator designer likely just simplified the pedal/pot design and corrected with software. If it is a 12 bit ADC, then I am sure the 30% of pot range give about 1300 positions. Pretty a curate pedal control! It could be even more (4096) if the designer uses ADC voltage references from the max and min voltage levels of the pot instead of supply voltages (e.g. 0 and 5v likely).