Yet another 6dof project - 12Vdc gear motors, custom controller hw/sw

BACKGROUND
Almost 10 years ago i visited the Hannover Industrial Fair with some fellow students. Here I was introduced with motion simulator projects using rFactor as game platform. There where so many creative ways of making a motion platform and it was such a cool experience to ride them. Back then we joked about building our own, but we never started. But now it begins! With the latest years development in VR technology and driving simulator games, a 6dof system must be a killer! I started searching the web and found this fantastic community and is very impressed by the work you are doing. So now it is my turn to contribute a bit.... i will not write a tutorial or anything like that but will upload pictures along the way.

Decisions Decisions Decisions ..
I started researching a couple of months ago and, atleast in my head, i have a plan. Here are some general information so far:

• 6 x 600W 12VDC 50:1 gear motors with lever in a steward configuration
• Custom build motor controller PCB using VNH5019 chip (3.3v version of the MM chip) and with PWM FAN control, i2c adc for current sense, position feedback and temperature monitoring.
• Platform controller using a MicroZed development board to handle motor control and PC interface.

Building linear actuators are beyond my skillset (embedded software developer) and therefore i choose the simple option of using 6 gear motors, as many of the other successful projects in here. I decided to make my own motor controller so i could add some usefull stuff (temperature monitoring and fan control) and make a simple setup with less wireing. My hope is to use the platform for more than just a racing simulator. I have three kids and i have promissed them that this also can be used to make a wild-bull machine ... lets see..

Current status
This week i will make some tests of the motors. I need to see if they can lift 56kg, in the 10cm lever position i am planning to use, and monitor heat and current consumption during step responses. I have not decided how to handle heat yet, so i have a couple of solutions to try out before building the platform.

hi mongolracer, welcome and I wish you all the best with your project. Would you kindly share the source of the motors you mentioned above? BTW 600W motors using a 10cm lever will lift 56KG without "flinching".

The motors are china stuff, got a deal through alibaba.com for 100$ per motor (i have some other projects where i need the same motor also). I have attached the datasheet to this reply.

Here are the motors with the levers which should be sufficient for a prototype i hope:

All digital tests are done on the motor controller board, and now its time for load and thermal testing. Mounting the position sensor is bugging me.......

Here are the first version of the motor controller (32$ for 15 PCB´s using 3pcb.com and components are bougth from farnell, total cost per board is around 20$ (not including the time it takes to solder it . Below the motor controller are the main processing unit which controls all the motor drivers and interfaces to the PC using ethernet.

Welcome and great project!
What are the specs of the motor controller and main processing unit? It would be really interesting for the community (for me for sure!) to know if you will share the design or maybe do some at a price for members interested in doing 6dof units.

Welcome!
That is an ambitious project

I will share all files and design files once i get to a point where it is "finished".

Good work

Wow nice project will sTay tuned

Very interesting. I look forward to your progress.

soooooooooo, long time since last update. I finally allocated some more time for this project and so far i have assembled most of the machine and setup the 6 axis settings in Simtools. I still need to tweak the settings as well as the speed of the motor control. I scared off my son (3 years old) when he tried to sit in his childseat and i was moving the platform around And i still need to make a decent platform, but thats gona be the project for the next month.

I dropped the integrated motorcontroller used by MM 'vnh2sp30', and made my own h-bridge with some good FETs handling 180A contionous and +800A peak currents ( IPB180N04S4-H0), so far they are doing well. I have a small issue where the regenerative power from the motor is pushing the supply voltage too high. To solve this i will first try to add a 33mF cap or else i have to go with a braking resistor solution.

Ahhh more wood coming along slowly but nicely

Wow thats some Amp's you can handle lovely job dude.

How much did they cost you to make ?

[QUOTE="How much did they cost you to make ?[/QUOTE]

I havent got the total cost per board yet, the FETs where 1,5£ each (4 on each board) and the HIP4081 was the most expensive at 3£ each (1 on each board). The PCB itself i got from 3pcb.com to about 2£ each with extra copper. But that is nothing compared to the time spent soldering and making all the wirering

Would you mind sharing the *exact* link to the Alibaba seller / motors you are using?

It's like negotiating a minefield shopping on Alibaba, so I'd like to get the exact seller (whom clearly delivers) and the exact motors you purchased. Thank you

I might finally get my 6 DOF dreams happening....

You are correct, there are many to choose from. I mailed them and said i was interrested in the cheapest and most powerfull gear motor they had and got a good offer (6 for 5 price). The link are:

https://www.alibaba.com/product-det...60297622499.html?spm=a2700.7724838.0.0.pBKVvJ

Excellent. Thank you! So you got the 500w / 12v / 50:1 motors??? (90W/ZYJ08)

They are beasts!!!

Actually i got 600W as they make/sell them aswell for same price but i have never run them with 100% power yet.

just borrowed a oculus dk2 to see if it would work with my computer (960GTX, so below recommended specs). Nolimit2 was running "ok" and the oculus demo was smooth.