AMC1280USB Motion Simulator Controller

For @Thanos,
in contrast to your advice (upgrading to FW v3.5 rev 1b and your settings) the board is not working. The homing function of 2DOF is strange for me. Please see - - (the link is tested and working for me).
The board is the red one from 2016 "Thanos TronicGR 2016 | AMC1280USB 6DOF v1G" with FW v3.5 rev1b".
Please, can you give any further advice!

Some parameters on the latest firmware can have different values on older hardware and may not default to normal ones during upgrade. Go through the lcd menu and check each value and save each one manually. Ill be releasing soon new firmware that will allow restoring factory default parameters to easy fix these legacy issues.

Btw, your video says it unavailable to watch. Make sure you post your videos as unlisted if you dont want them public.

New trial:



I hope, it's working now for you.

Ok, I see, the second potentiometer wiring is wrong. You need to swap the +5v and Gnd connections on it to make it measure the other direction as right now the motor runs away from the potentiometer instead of following its position.

Try it and let me know.

Thanks
Thanos

For @Thanos,
swapping the cables (red{+5V} and black{GND}) of actuator 2 is not an improvement - as you can see:

On the video, the yellow cable does not look like its secured well in the screw terminal...

Also take a video of the LCD screen when you apply power to the motors. I want to see what is the reading of the potentiometers while the actuators are moving. If possible take a video that shows the parameters you have in the LCD menu please as well. I want to see the sensor direction.

Did you check the potetiometer with a multimeter to see if the resistance is moving when you move manually the potentiometer rod? What is the resistance value between the +5v and Gnd wires (black and red) of the potentiometer?

Thanks
Thanos

For @Thanos,

here is the video:



The Dupont-cable are refitted, they are fixed; no improvement.

Enclosed you can find the excel-file with the settings of your board and the DIP-switch settings of the sabertooth 2x32.

Hi @ChrisCobra nice project , we all go through teething problems initially so hang in there , one thing I thought I'd add and this is just my thoughts , I never fully trust the bread board connector because I have found a few where they seem intact but in fact they are open circuit , Not saying this is your issue , but you are using the same interconnection method as me ( Spring loaded terminal blocks and Bread board M/M or M/F jumpers ) these work great for developing the system but once its working im looking to put a more Robust and reliable fit n Forget solution for my application .

as a precaution ( you may have already done this) I always do a continuity test to check the whole path where these jumpers are used .. They may even fail due to vibration fatigue so be aware , what was ok to start could fail shortly after with these Jumpers .. always add, this is just my 2 cents worth based on lesson learnt but might be something to consider

Hi @wannabeaflyer2,
nice to hear from you. Thank you very much for your hints. I totally agree. The Dupont-jumpers are scrap&junk&rubbish, but I've to use them. In the first test for the linear poti and the actuator in combination with the AMC280USB it was not working in a correct manner. So what was the reason? I've soldered brand new female Dupont-jumpers to the three cables of the poti - and the one for the signal was dead. That's for Dupont-jumpers!

I'm using one CUI-encoder AMT 103-V for one of the two DC-motors BL42-63 from Granite Devices in conjunction with their IONICUBE_4x for a belt driven G27. It's a real incremental encoder (https://www.cui.com/product/resource/amt10.pdf). I had to print an adapter for mounting the encoder. Everything is working fine.

As I've seen from your postings in this thread I want to go to #96 where you describe that you have an AMC1280USB working in combination with BFF. So, my question is: which version (green or red)?
If red: how is the board marked?

My intention is:
6 actuators -> seat mover -> AMC1280USB -> sabertooth 2x32 -> BFF
working for me!

For me it seems to be a lucky combination of AMC1280USB-hardware-version and firmware-version, if they are working successfully.
Not every Thanos-hardware-version seems to be working with every Thanos-firmware-version.

Going to #291 of this thread @SeaTime is writing:
"The kickstarter 1280 is happy to work properly on V2.4 and the older 1280 will only work up to 2.1c."
From the published picture I can identify a red board like my one, but I can not identify the version.

Do you want to share your experiences with your predecessor of the kickstarter board (= barbone version)?
Do you want to share your settings of the predecessor board?

Ok based on the video, you need to set the Sensor direction to Neg 1-2-3-4-5-6

Then, you might have to Swap the motor M1 and M2 connections from the sabertooth to your motors until the motors start to follow the linear potentiometers and stay in middle position.

Right now I think the motor that moves all the way up has wrong direction because of the M1 and M2. But change the sensor direction first and then do one by one the motor connections until they move to center position correctly.

Also make sure to remove these two LM324 chips from the 6DOF ext board!!!! They draw down the voltage of the signals you are using!!! I circled them in the next photo:



Thanks
Thanos

@Thanos,
thank you for your recommondations. I'll give them a try.

@Thanos,
I've done your recommondations, there is no improvement, see video:



I think the best next step for me will be to send the board to you including a sabertooth 2x32 for the right setup by you.

Please confirm that this is the right address:

Athanasios Kontogiannis
9655 Jimzel Rd
La Mesa, California
91942 USA

Hi @ChrisCobra sorry it took so long to get back to you , Ok have to admit I had some real hair pulling fun and games trying to get The AMC128USB ( Red) barebones working , this was mainly due to me trying several feedback options and software at the same time , and confusing myself let alone the system LOL

Was very happy with the AMC128USB with earlier Firmware as it worked great with Ians BFF, which at the time was me favoured Motion controller software but took a chance and decided to upgrade the system,

Some new Motion Kinematics Players Came onto the scene with Hexpod and FlyPt and also the change of AMC firmware to latest version, so I got really mixed up messing with new encoders / software / firmware... To be fair to Thanos his Patience and Guidance helped me track down and fix a lot of self inflicted hassle ( mainly due to lack of printed info in one place ) so at the moment I have a test bench setup working while I ensure its all safe to go before moding all the other 6 actuators

anyways My Green Original AMC is still connected to a control unit if I need it but trying to keep up to date with new stuff , so Optical encoder are my goal for feedback ( hopefully a bit less maintenance and better reliability)..

To Date the Combination im aiming for will Be AMC / Sabertooth 2 x 60's / Encoder2Pos Interface / FlyPT / Simtools

I will need to Power up and dig out the Firmware version and Parameters of my Old Green AMC and also Print out the Same info for the new AMC128USB barebones , as soon as I have done that i'll post them here for any one interested . pargliding weather so head for the hills to get some air time but will be here and upgrading the actuators once I cough up for another 5 AMT103/v Wide sensors ..

Cheers

For @Thanos,
I've reflashed to FW v2.1c. I am only want to test "homing" in the moment. For actuator1 it seems to work in 2DOF-mode but not for actuator2; and so in 6DOF it is not working for the other five actuators. Please see video (the video is public):



To @wannabeaflyer2,
thank you for answering. Im looking for recommondations for the red board (Thanos TronicGR AMC1280USB v1G). I've enclosed an excel-file with my settings for the red board (above mentiond).

Hi everybody,

Check out my latest Blog Post here:
https://motionsim.blogspot.com/2019/05/new-firmware-for-easy-aasd-15a.html

Great things are coming!

Thanks
Thanos

thanks thanos, you are a great professional

Hi,

I have seen many times, when you upgrade the firmware of the older AMC boards, it does not restore correctly all parameters needed.
To fix that download and install the firmware 3.5 rev1c I posted below:
https://github.com/tronicgr/AMC1280USB_Firmware/blob/master/enc_6dof_AMC1280USB_v3.5_rev1c.hex.zip

The first time it runs it should restore the default parameters, if not, you can use the button combination shown on the video to manually restore every parameter to factory values. Reset the board after its restored to initialize correctly.




More here:
https://github.com/tronicgr/AMC1280USB_Firmware

Thanks
Thanos

You should try with this new firmware I just posted...

https://github.com/tronicgr/AMC1280USB_Firmware

hi thanos im planning to buy pt actuators i heard i need a controller from you for those to work with sim tools can you direct me to the necessary components i need to buy
thanks

Hi,

If you want to use "PT-ACTUATOR" actuators with AASD-15A servomotors, get this controller here: https://www.tindie.com/products/tronicgr/amc-aasd15a-servo-motion-controller/

If you want to use the more expensive Syntron servomotors, email me for a AMC-MDBOX controller for that ( I offer this directly not via Tindie). Email me at (without the spaces) tronicgr @ gmail . com

Thanks
Thanos