My 2-3DOF Scale build Basics - get up and running?

Hey everyone,

I am itching to build my own motion sim, however I know very little about coding or electronics in general. I can easily follow instructions thou and have come quite a long way since I started. I have been through many a thread and have found little bits here and there that I can understand, and a lot I cant.

The first project is a 3DOF system. However just to get my head around things I am starting with a 2DOF scale build so I can work out how the electronics and coding work to the best of my abilities. So far with @RufusDufus help on this thread
http://www.xsimulator.net/community...3dof-motor-driver-and-windows-utilities.4957/

I have managed to build a basic electonics rig with 2 little dc motors .I have got the code installed (SMC3 v0.7) and have used the simtools utility and it seems to be working and showing me the pots are sending a signal etc.

I then went through the setup guide for the sim tools game engine and manager. Patched LFS and then went through and setup as per the instructions. http://www.xsimulator.net/simtools-quickstart/

However I cannot get the motors to move at all.... nothing happens... im so close and ill post some pictures (my current wiring diagram) here and a video I created to show you where Im up to.

Looking for some help to make it finally work! and then move onto making the third motor move as well

Cheers and I'm hoping this thread will help others who want an easy get up and running guide

1.interface settings are wrong

Simtools Setup

Setup for Simtools is very straight forward:

[A<Axis1>][B<Axis2>][C<Axis3>]

Set for 10bit binary output

Baud rate 500000 , N , 8 , 1 (10ms delay)
from here http://www.xsimulator.net/community...3dof-motor-driver-and-windows-utilities.4957/

2.you need to configure a profile for live for speed in game engine under game list(this is my profile yours might be different )

Hi @insanegr Thanks for your help,

I have tried changing those settings to the correct ones but still nothing. Have also created a profile and tried using the default ones, no luck. tried plugging in my 9v to the monster moto.. no go...

I did notice that when I selected the test output section in the game engine the RX light on my arduino board comes on.

Do you think nothings happening because I only have 2 motors wired up instead of 3? and should I need a 9v battery connected to run the small motors?

after that I did try and put just [A<Axis1>][B<Axis2>] removing the C Axis to see if that would work but no luck..

here are some screenshots to show the changes..... hmmm no idea

Cheers

if you want to see some motion you have to connect yous pot's on motors shaft but you have to configure it in SMC3 first and then move in simtools

Hi @insanger

Thanks for pointing that out, and i appreciate your patience ...feel like an idiot for missing that... it feels like drinking from a firehouse sometimes.

update..ok I tried all of that and still no motors moving, I did even plugin another monster moto board I brought just incase it was that.... still no movement.... I'm going to have a good read through again and check all my wiring to make sure its all in the right spots to the diagrams.

Fingers crossed and ill let you know how I go

Have a great weekend ahead

post pics of your wiring and the rest of your project we can assist you better that way. there are some good eyes here. they may even see stuff that wont be a problem until later in your build.

Very interesting Topic! Thank you!

Yes you will need the 9v battery (or similar) connected to the H-Bridges battery supply input to drive the motors.

If the POTs aren't mechanically connected to the motors all you will notice is the motors seem to get faster and slower or change direction.

Do you have the MODE setup in the arduino code correctly for use with MOTO Monster H-Bridges... MODE1 from memory - check the SMC3 post to confirm.

There are many things you can do wrongly, in any case go slowly forward and step by step. The SMC3 manual is easy to follow and for an analysis of your hardware please upload more pictures like the wiring etc.

Eureka! Finally my 2 motors are spinning when I increase the PWMax settings within the utility. Now I excitedly tried it with the game engine and used the correct interface settings provided. tried the output testing under DOF and Axis output but no movement.. interesting... one step at a time... more reading and studying to follow..

not sure about the startup and shutdown arguments. those fields are blank in my setup.

Hi @RufusDufus Thank you for your help thus far. I have successfully got the 2 motors running and working with the utility tool. I am now trying to add the third motor, but am unsure of the wiring. I have found one for 4 motors but it is so different to the 2 motor setup in your thread im not sure where to start. adding the pot is fine, grounding and adding the 5v connection is now stright forward to me. Just wondering where pin 11 PWM goes to the 2nd monster moto as well as pins 7 and 6 for the third motor. Please see diagram attached its the pink lines. Cheers and thanks again for your help. Once working I will post another screen shot of the connections for others to follow in the future

This is copied from FAQ

SMC3 code can access up to 3 motors using one Arduino. If you want to connect 3 MM please wire described as follows:

Arduino -------- Monster Moto
2 (Motor 1 H-Bridge ENA) ---------------7 and 8 (INA1 and INB1)
3 (Motor 1 H-Bridge ENB)----------------4 and 9 (INA2 and INB2)
9 (Motor 1 PWM) --------------------------5 and 6 (PWM1 and PWM2)

Arduino -------- Monster Moto 2
4 (Motor 2 H-Bridge ENA) ---------------7 and 8 (INA1 and INB1)
5 (Motor 2 H-Bridge ENB)----------------4 and 9 (INA2 and INB2)
10 (Motor 2 PWM) --------------------------5 and 6 (PWM1 and PWM2)

Arduino -------- Monster Moto 3
6 (Motor 1 H-Bridge ENA) ---------------7 and 8 (INA1 and INB1)
7 (Motor 1 H-Bridge ENB)----------------4 and 9 (INA2 and INB2)
11 (Motor 1 PWM) --------------------------5 and 6 (PWM1 and PWM2)

The outputs:
A1 and B1 will have the SAME polarity
A2 and B2 will have the SAME polarity, too.

Hope this helps

I know it's for 3 monsters but it does illustrate where the wires come off of the ard. The only thing is they are doubled up at the monster.

Ok thanks Bruce,

yes I saw that but got confused with the doubling up on the moto.

so if I have got this right

Arduino -------- Monster Moto 3
6 (Motor 1 H-Bridge ENA) ---------------7 for (INA1)
7 (Motor 1 H-Bridge ENB)----------------4 for (INA2)
11 (Motor 1 PWM) --------------------------5 for (PWM1)

then the motor will run off the a1 and a2 left hand side of the board

opps thats not right... a1 and b1... hmmm motor is only moving one way...

ok have got it...
Arduino -------- Monster Moto 3
6 (Motor 1 H-Bridge ENA) ---------------7 for (INA1)
7 (Motor 1 H-Bridge ENB)----------------8 for (INB1)
11 (Motor 1 PWM) --------------------------5 for (PWM1)

success!

Sweet glad you got it going.

also remember you can hook up a pot to a5 and use pot scaling with SMC3. essentially its like a realtime volume control for your motion.

Cool thanks @bruce stephen i'll give it a go.

Just a little bit more help if I may

I just had a bit of a realization today .( As long as it has taken me to figure this stuff out so far, and build this and finally get it working), its maybe not gonna work for the scale model. It will for the final build I'm using worm gear motors so thats fine for that.

But because I'm building a 50% scale model out of 3mm MDF (very cheap) the little DC motors i was going to use dont have enough torque to move the thing... so i got a motor with a gear box that had 2.1kg torque but only 70 rpm... so slow... then I realized I need a motor with high rpm and high torque which is hard to find for that hobby size,(well that I can't seem to find)

long story short it seems servos that can move 15kg at .18 at 60 degrees would do the job, however I cant seem to find out how to connect them to the moto shield as they are not + and - connections like a motor.. they have 3 wires i think... the GND the POWER and the PWM

hmmm where to from here.... is there a way to connect them to my current setup?

this is the one Im looking at?

Model: HDKJ D3015 (15KG metal gear, wide-angle, high torque, digital, waterproof servos)
Dimensions: 4 x 4 x 2 cm
Cable length: 30cm
Weight: 60g
Deadband setting: 4 microseconds
Maximum rotation angle: 300° (The plug, output gear and remote control system are compatible with Futaba, JR, HITEC)
Working Torque: 14Kg.cm. at 6.0v
15Kg.cm. at 7.2v
Speed: 0.18sec / 60° at 6v
0.16sec / 60° at 7.2v
No-load current: <500 mA
Working voltage: 4.8 - 7.2 V

Use my RC Model code and reuse the Arduino and you can save the MM's for the full build, plus reuse the Ard again for the full build but using SMC code.