DIY 2DOF Budget Build

Marco,
The pots I have on order are these https://uk.farnell.com/bi-technolog...sensor-hall-0-2v-20v-to-10v-180deg/dp/2319661
Someone suggested that they were more durable than conventional pots and would last a lot longer so I went with their advice.
If the worse happens and it tries to drive over centre it will first hit the base, then it shoud shear the bottom of the 6mm. allen head bolt that I ground down to the size if the key slot in the motor shaft
which is 4 mm. and that bolt is only low tensile and should prove the weakest link after the gearbox I suppose.

This is the part that I don't understand.
When you first set up the software don't you start with very low values to gauge the travel and speed etc.
I am used to tuning CNC machines in Mach3 where you can tune to hearts content, plus you do have physical axis limits and limit switches that can override the software limits

yes ok, but these are not stepper motors, they are brush motors, smc3 to come to the aid and block the engine uses an electric reverse gear, but not always it is sufficient to stop the engine stroke, for example in the case of a strong impact so you have to think about the mechanics with 360 degrees of freedom. my dof when it happens you exaggerate with the settings runs beyond the electric brake threshold and makes a complete turn back to the starting position. these are errors that are resolved with good tuning parameters and limits. however, you do not have to think like a CNC. but a feedback feedback motor given by the potentiometer, which indicates the exact position of the axis. while in the CNCs only the steps and any electric end stops are sent to zero.

OK, so just don't crash and I will fine, lol.
I crash all the time, but if it is going to be out of control that is a dangerous position to be in and something will get broken which could be expensive.
The easiest out for me would be to remake the motor arms to a length that extend past the base which is easily done.
I don't know how violent these machines can be, but I am only after a mild experience and don't need to be thrown from it and head butt the monitor every time I have a crash.

simtools is a great software, allows you to adjust an infinity of parameters, following the exhaustive guide you find on this magnificent forum you will understand that you can adjust the width of each effect and limit the excursions, you just have to handle a little at a time parameters and understand what effect they return. it takes a little training or an already experienced friend to guide you

OK.
So is there a basic 2 Dof setup file for sim tools or a setup wizard of some sort or is all done manually which is going to be interesting if that's the case.
I still can't setup the electronics until those Hall sensors turn up and the extra 12V battery that I have to use with the 2x25 Sabertooth Driver so am I just waiting, reading posts , and getting more confused in the process

Will do Noorbeast, but a steep hill to climb.

I can confirm, it seems an impossible mission at the beginning, then slowly you see the light and master all the parameters. I read a lot on this forum, it helped me a lot ..

Well I listen to what others say and I thought it advisable to extend my motors arms by 45mm. to give me some clearance if the arms travel too far down and possibly hit the frame.
A good friend came for a visit today and he bought me along a brand new Hi-tec 12V 350CCA battery for my supplementary power supply as suggested by the Sabertooth info ,
My mate Paul is a manager for the Hi-tec Oils group and batteries are another line that they carry, so he came for a visit at an opportune time for me and he saved me some $$'s
and the traveling to buy one.

Just for the record I did pay for the battery but at a better than trade price.
It pays to have good mates who can help you out when they can and Paul is one of those, I have known since we were both about 18, so 44 years roughly and we both worked in the same auto spare parts dealership and we have friends ever since.
You can usually count the number of true friends that you have had in your lifetime on two hand s or less. I have many friends, but very few true friends.

I need to extend the top mounts out a little to lessen the angle and eliminate any binding of the heim joints, so I will machine up some tapered spacers.
I am annoyed that the sensors that I have on order have still not arrived, so I am still waiting to complete the wiring and get it up and running.









Thanks to Hi-Tec Oils for the discount on my battery

First and foremost a big thank you for the developers of Simtools for granting me a free DIY license to use on my sim and that is a much appreciated saving for a true Budget DIY build.

OK, so still waiting for my farking pots to arrive so maybe tomorrow with any luck before the long weekend here in Oz .
So I did a few mods to what I did yesterday by extending my motor levers outwards by 45 mm. to gain clearance from the base frame in case of an over-travel.
I did away with the washers and multiple nuts and machined up some thick wall tube into spacers and also machining a nice concave radius on the lock nuts to
minimize the heim joints going into bind which is something a lot of people overlook.

I forgot to mention.
For better or worse I bought a el cheapo Occulus Rift DK1 VR Headset off Fleabay today as the temptation of trying motion and VR was just too much.
I realize you get what you pay for but I just want to see if I can cope with VR as some video games make physically ill with nausea such as FPS games.
So wasting $120AUD on a used set is worth the risk and I can always resell it if it doesn't appeal to me or maybe save my pennies and get a better set at a later date.

I also just realized that my build thread has blown out to two pages already, woohoo !!

Wow!
You have made excellent progress.
Well done!
So....how is it?????

I'm still waiting for a few parts, my G2 JRK's should be arriving today.

On the other hand, I dunno if it's because of where I live, or what, but finding a set of heim joints/rod ends is nearly impossible.
Actually, they are around, but my true "White Whale" is finding a 12mm or equivalent fine threaded rod to match the fine threads on all of the joints I am able to find.

I still can't believe that you completed yours so quickly, and NOT a botch-job by any means.
I am greeeeen with envy!

Like you I am still being held up by the non arrival yet of the Hall Effect Pots so that I can finish off and get it moving under it's own power.
I thought I gave you a link for the 12mm. rod ends https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/2x-M-F-...var=461360426488&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649
I'm not sure off hand what pitch the rod ends are as I have a tap of the right size but you can't read the markings on it any more but I'd take a guess at 1mm. pitch

Why not just use some 10k pots until you are able to get some hall effect sensors?

Amazon should have some 10k 5w wire-wound pots for a fair price.
I grabbed a 5-pack for under $12 CAD.
If they end up being OK, then I'll order another 5-pack for a bunch of spares for when they wear-out or break.

Oh, I did see that link for the rod ends (thank you), but I'm in Canada, and eBay.au would be far too expensive.
Earlier today I've managed to get a bit closer to finding what I need, as in possible entire rod assemblies for a decent price.
Turns out the proper term for the complete unit is "Adjustment Rod Assembly".

https://www.summitracing.com/int/search/part-type/adjustment-rod-assemblies?SortBy=Default&SortOrder=Ascending&retaillocation=int&tw=adjustment rod assembl&sw=Adjustment Rod Assemblies

Two of these ones, or something similar may work well for an under-the-seat mover:
https://www.summitracing.com/int/parts/sum-420302/overview/

What I need to do on my end is decide upon what length I'll need once I mount the motors/levers and the u-joint/seat platform.
Unfortunately I can't do much until then.

As of today, I have everything I need other than those...very frustrating!

I hope you receive your hall effect sensors soon.

I have the sensors on order from the U.K. but the royal Mail is like Oz Mail, slow.
I went for them as I read that the regular pots break or just wear out and these were meant to be more durable and more expensive as well.
Rod Ends, Heim Joints, Spherical Rod ends, etc they have many names but all do the same thing.
Normally used in aircraft and race cars and good quality ones are expensive but for our needs the cheap Chinese stuff does the job.

My Hall Effects Pots finally arrived from the U.K. and I think they came on the first fleet they took a month FFS.
Anyhow I made up some mounts and connectors and wired them up as per the instructions in the tutorial https://www.xsimulator.net/communit...ket-serial-pid-motor-driver-w-softstart.9277/
And as I expected I have screwed up somewhere as I am getting SFA movement when I try setting it up in the Windows SMC3 Utility.
So it looks like another day of starting from scratch to work out where I went wrong.

My wiring is always a rat's nest so I will clean it up once it works

Your build is very similar to what I had in mind for mine. This has given me some great info. Thanks for sharing it.

It is just a budget build made with crap that I mostly had lying around, like the WRX CV joints and I still have a spare
I have a spare new 12V 30A power supply if you need one.
What do you use for your sim a monitor or VR headset ?

Mine is budget build too but all i really need now is the steel for the frame. I'll start my own build log when it starts coming together (which is soon).
I am running 24v Wheelchair motors and a hacked wheelchair controller for the Motor control (Running a modded version of the SMC3 code). It is good for ~100A @ 24v

I have 2 X HP DPS-800 power supplies in series which are good for 24v @ 80A so I should be fine for power, hopefully without the need for a battery.

I currently have a 42" tv for the display which ideally I wanted to move with the sim but i think the mass will be too much so i'll probably mount it like yours for now but VR headset is on my wish list.

Edit: I so wish Hills still had their factory outlet at Lonsdale - Super cheap steel supplies but they closed it down ages ago. Not keen on paying retail/low qty prices...