Tutorial SMC3 Arduino 3DOF Motor Driver and Windows Utilities

If you use the windows SMC3Utils program for the initial setup then all values are automatically saved to arduino EEPROM and you don't have to worry about it from then on.

Wow thats awesome - didn't realise you could save the numbers to the eprom !

: )

Hi Rufus thanks For your replay.
Hi Rufus, thanks For your replay. The PWMMMAX is how fast rum my motor. If the motor rub fast also with PWMMMAX at 255 but without inverti in of direction no problem. The problem appeal where the motor rum fast and i invert manually or with with smc3 the direction. Anyway I post my question to smc3 sabertooth.
Another question for you. To run the motor i push "on" button. But For stopping the only way is move the pot out of the range. I I push off or close smc3 utility the motor not stop. Can you confirm that is correct? Thanks

I've read a few of your posts. I use a 2x32 as well. Your smc3 sounds right. That is typical behavior. It should work even after closing the utility.
About your power supply. Have you setup the voltage clamp resistors? They should help with the ps kicking off.
You can invert each axis with sim tools so as long as your pots are set right, it should be ok. For mine one starts at the bottom of the graph the other starts at the top. Not an issue.

Hi Matthew and thanks for your support, really appreciate
- If I correct understand you confirm me that the only way to stop the motor and close smc3 utility is to move the pot out of the range that I set. The botton on/off in smc3 work only in "on" but not in "off". Correct?
- regards the psu is very strange problem. the psu have 1400w 94A. In the video test i use sabertooth 2x32 (64A peak for each motor) with connected only one motor ZYT90 (23A rated and 40Apeak)....his peak is less than half of the ratde current of the psu. This evening I will try to amperometric caliper to see how many Ah there are when the psu shotting down in peak protection.

I attached the datasheet of psu. As you can see there are output 12.0V 90.4A and 12.0VL 14.06A
Wich is the difference beetween 12.0V - 90.4A and 12.0VL - 14.6A??

just test with amperometric caliper. the psu shutting off in peak protection when motor need moore than 20A more or less. this happen over 85 PWMmax , triangle outmode and only one motor connect. So I tried to instal 2 resistor 10A each but the situation not change a lot. the PSU shutting off over 28A and 103 PWMmax and the same mode.
The videos show the limit. over thes value PSU shutting off
sighsigh

RufusDufus, I am trying to port your Arduino code to Brush-less motors homemade actuator with hole sensors (ticks 9 times per rotation). for 4-6 DOF system Can you share the source of windows SMC3Utils program ?
My plan bisides brush-less motors support is to 1) make it available for Arduino Mega for more motors.
2) fix the issue of UNO third motor PWM lock frequency to 30khz only as budget drivers can't go beyond 20. and for third motr i have to use second Uno.
3) make SMC3Utils program available in monitoring mode - to path through commands revived from SimTools via UDP/TCP port display them on chard and pass via COM to Arduino and display actual motor position on same chart.

Sorry the Utils source is not available.

SMC3Utils already supports this (SMC3Utils UDP port number is setup in the .ini file.) Setup simtools the same as you would for serial except use a Network UDP interface with the same port number as setup in the .ini file.

I'm only realizing that probably my posts are out of thread. My psu problem has nothing to do with simc3. I apologize to the administrators and other members of the forum

I have a question, if put in manual eh for the motor to rotate independent of the sensor?

I finally managed to solve the problem of my psu Using a switching psu server with a parallel battery The psu does not go in protection. Now I have another problem. I have configured simtools exactly as indicated in the instructions I set all the parameters but the motor not move. In tuning center all valle are 32767 and I can not reste or modify. i think that motor can not move sa these value are too high but Simtools don't let me change them
How fix?

Hi noorbeast, thanks
My new thread here https://www.xsimulator.net/community/threads/simtools-not-work.10577/
Thanks for support

@RufusDufus I have a very strange problem, by accident a sensor hall was shorted and the pc started beeping, the sensor was burned, now with only one sensor I move the three outputs of the motor and does not recognize the new sensor in the motor 2, I tried Another usb and another arduino and does the same thing, what can be happening?

edit. For now it has been solved only ...

I went through these days. Are you using IBT_2? Did you put MODE 2 in the arduino code? In my case it was that.

I am not understanding max limit, would be in% in relation to what? 0 to 512 and 512 to 1023?

I have another question too, what is the ideal difference between max limit and the input clip?

The data sent to the SMC3 is 10 bits, so positions 0 to 1023. Setting a max limit of 85 (for example) means you are going to shut down the motors if they go past this "band" at either end of the range. So the motors will shut down if the position (feedback signal) goes lower than 85 or above 1023-85.

It works the same way for the clip limits except the motors are put in reverse (hard braking) in this range instead of shutting down.

The easiest way to understand is just look at the chart on SMC3Utils. The red lines are the max limits and the orange lines are the clip limits - easy.

The ideal settings depend on:- the motors, psu, mass of rig, simtools settings, pid settings, your acceptance of risk of damage, the POT ranges used, as well as other things... In other words there is no one ideal setting for all systems and can even be ignored completely if that is your preference (set them to zero).

For me, the aim was to set them as small as possible *but* so that if the SMC3 is sent commands to rapidly move to the maximum extremes the clip limits are large enough to brake the motion with someone sitting in the rig before it reaches the max limits and the motors shut down. If this is the case then the max limits can essentially be 1 or other small value. If the clip limits become too large to achieve this without limitting range of motion then you might increase max limits some more at the expense of possibly having the motors shut down more often.

If you hardware can't get damaged under these circumstances then you can set them to zero. If you have a low "care factor" you could set them to zero and just see what happens. If you are an extremely cautious person then use larger values.

Hi, I'm haveing a lot of problems configuring my 2dof, I starts with 400Kp and grow PWMmax to 70 and motors moves like Blue Sline, but if I sit down in the seat the motors don't have enougth force to move it, when I step up the PWMmax, the motors move the seat but the motors start to hit. If the seat is empty and there're less weight in the motors it's more violent and it can't stop. When I could upload links I could show you in video.
I use 24v wiper motors and Hbridges.

I still do not understand, I'll put an example here.

I put Max Limit at 255, does that mean my axis goes from 255 to 512 okay? So in the simtools when I put that axis is 100% it goes from 255 to 768 (1023-255)?


So if I set max input at 150 and clip input at 200, if I get a value between 200 and 250 it makes the reverse force to n let off if possibly pass 150?