007 G-Seat: Ultra Compact/Servo Based

For those using my arduino script, here's the SimTools axis setting using Axis Assignments(b) as (a) is used for my 3DOF
Axis 1 & 2 are for the Heave flaps and 3 & 4 for the Surge. I'm also mapping roll/sec to these flaps and experimenting with sway too. I can't vouch for the tuning !

And here's how SimTools talks to my Arduino script. Intreface1/2 are used for my 3DOF, so I'm using #3.
Note that Axis1b, Axis2b etc might be Axis1a,Axis2a if you used Axis Assignments(a) above. The R,L,S,T are how Arduino knows which servo we're talking to.

Thanks for that Phil. I now have movement out of the servos. However, they seem like a quite low amount of movement. Especially the Surge. Not much at all. I can get pretty good movement on the Heave, but it still seems small. Of course I still do not have my servo arms on yet, so I am just looking at the shaft.

Think anything is wrong, or is this pretty normal?

Andrew

Check the tiny pots on the servo board. Rotate them all to the right to get largest rotation for the input data.

Try adjusting the values in the Arduino code, lines 17-20, though it doesn't mean much until you're attached to the servo arms and flaps.

Thank you both. It seems like it is taking forever for the servo arms to get here from China.

Andrew

They have interesting logistics from China. When I've bought expensive items (like the servos) they were shipped to the UK via DHL in about 10 days, although tracking shows them not leave China for about 5 days. If I buy cheap things they come on the slooooooooow boat. I'm still waiting for some cables ordered 9th December, an amplifier ordered 25 November, and some of the same servo arms you await ordered 17th November.

Sorry if that isn't what you wanted hear

I get a lot of parts for my other business from China. Yes, it seems like the smaller parts are shipped by e-packet and can be slow. Also, this time of year they have a lot of Holidays, they seem to shut everything down for weeks at a time. Wish I could take vacations like that. LOL

Mapping G-Seat Servos / Arduino to SimTools

Someone asked about this as below and I thought the answer might benefit others.

Question
I am a little confused here and need some advice. I am still waiting
on the servo arms, but I had a buddy of mine draw one up in CAD from the
drawings, and I 3D printed some. They are working awesome!

Anyway, SimTools works a little differently than I thought it would. I
figured out how to set the max motion in one direction, but how do I set
it in the other? I want to put about a 20* angle in the flap to begin
with. Right now it is actually pulling down some, which I don't want.
I figured there would be a setting someplace in SimTools to move the
servo, then click on a button or something to say, "this is 0 point, do
not pass". I can't find anything like that though. Is this something
that needs to be done on the arduino?

Answer
Yes its an Arduino thing. Once you do SimTools tuning which determines your realistic max/min thresholds for the telemetry data received from the game, SimTools outputs 0 to 255 for values -ve max and +ve max. My Arduino code excludes 0-127 as we can't do -ve (ish) and then maps 128-255 to values which on my seat corresponded to level-to-max lift, and you will need to work those out for your servo placement.

See the extract below from the code I provided. For right heave 134 is neutral (actually a bit up from flat), 90 is max lift.

const int kActuatorScale[kActuatorCount][4] = { { 134, 90 }, // Right Heave Actuator scaling NB: 6 up from neutral
{ 82, 126 }, // Left Heave Actuator scaling NB: ditto
{ 115, 70 }, // Right Surge scaling NB: Starting point is 30 forward of flat
{ 65, 110 } // Left Surge scaling NB: Ditto
};

So forget Simtools for a while and work out what Servo value= neutral (or 20% up) and what = max and then adjust the values above using that testing script I provided. Note that these Wingxine servos are a bit odd in terms of how they respond to values. They say its 0-360 they accept as input, but I found they clipped, i.e. 340 may be the same position as 360, so experiment first and see the range it really responds to. Also there are two jumper switch modes which affect the way they respond to input range. I think I changed the jumpers to the non default ones - I forget which it is now. The schematic shows this:

I’m using standard servos and plan to do a variant of that as well. I will first use the test RC code to set all the servo positions to zero and only after that, connect my Servo arms so that the flaps are in the desired position at rest. Then I will determine the max value and adjust the upper range as per @Spit40 ‘s explanation.

Hmmm.... No matter what I change, it still seems to be pushing way too far. I will keep playing.

Maybe I can limit it with the poton the control board. Still seems strange though that I can't get any change in what it does when I edit the "TestServoWrite". I tried changing all setting, just in case I was looking at the wrong servo, but still does not change anything.

Update: Found it! At least to limit the movement. " int deg=45;" At 45* it moves more like 60*, way too much for how I have this put together. I tried 10, just to make sure, and sure enough, it limits it. So, now to find out the max I can use, set that, and maybe I will be able to actually get something out of it. LOL

I have been doing a lot of playing around, trying to get settings that feel right. I was able to get a lot more movement out of it once I did the tuning. It helped a lot!

So right now, I am working on the Surge only, heave will come later when I get legs on the chair. I have found that I get little to no output from roll or yaw. Roll is fine, as the Extra 2 seems to make up for that. Yaw is a bit confusing, and I am disappointed that I am not getting much of anything out of it.

Even still, I think it is getting there. I am running:
Surge: 30%
Extra 2: 40%
Extra 1: 30%

This gives a good feel when rolling into a turn, as well as a sense of gravity when pulling up. Doing a stall, actually feels about right. Pushed into the seat while climbing, then let off at the peak. Pretty cool!

Do these settings look about right compared to your seat. I know they are a little different, but very similar.

Andrew

Roll is pretty much broken in FS2, but it isn't much use anyway. With a gseat (and others generally) you want acceleration forces rather than absolute angles.

Surge and heave work
Extra1 and extra2 for pitch/sec and roll/sec
Extra3 for yaw/sec

Does the smoothing do anything for you. Washout works, but I can feel no difference with smoothing off or 100%. The servos seem to jump from one point to the next, not a fluid movement, especially small movements. Are you seeing this too?

Andrew

Work on your tuning - manually widen the range between max & min via the Tuning Centre, watch the numbers as you fly (non VR needed) and you can see what is happening to the numbers which should correlate to what you experience.

I swear, every thread I click on in this forum blowns my mind. Now my Ikea chair is looking like a mod candidate. Thanks!

Awesome project! Do you have any recent videos?

I have finally finished my new rig (or let‘s say its first fully functional version) and did some first tests. The result is positive: I like the forces applied by the heave flaps. The distance of the hinges is about 22 cm, and for me the effect is convincing.

Can I double check that hinge placement for heave flaps? Is it like below? On my heave flaps the hinges are on the inside edges but are only 5cm apart so it is much more of a lift effect than a squeeze effect.