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Writing a motion cueing software from scratch.

Discussion in 'DIY Motion Simulator Projects' started by Dirty, Feb 28, 2019.

  1. Dirty

    Dirty Well-Known Member Gold Contributor

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    You pretty much got the idea :thumbs

    I hope the filters are tuned in a way that it does NOT hit the axis limit.

    You get the idea :) At the end of all this, the rig gently settles back to the neutral position, just as gently as the yellow line settles back to zero. The very purpose of this washout is to NOT run into the endstops, but return the rig to the center, even though the input signal stays at 1.

    Cheers,... :)
    • Like Like x 2
  2. gianlu320

    gianlu320 Member

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  3. Builder

    Builder New Member

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    My Motion Simulator:
    DC motor, 6DOF
    Read the topic and basically I understand what you are doing, great. Since I am quite fresh in the simulator world I have a few questions (hopefully correct topic):

    1. Can I use the Nutkicker from @Dirty for any simulation software, or do I need different interfaces (software)? Now only coupling with DCS is discussed.
    2. Can someone perhaps indicate in a block diagram how things connect. For example, do I need simtools as an interface, or is this only needed with FlyPT Mover from @pmvcda.

    In other words, this beginner doesn't quite understand the connection between the different software options and the hardware yet. ( I plan to use the AMC-AASD15A from @Thanos to control servo motors) :sos

    Hope you can help me understand.
  4. Gadget999

    Gadget999 Well-Known Member

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    My Motion Simulator:
    2DOF, DC motor, Arduino, 6DOF
    I have started building my own control system and software for 6DOF - so far it outputs a sine wave in 8192 steps of resolution

    i hope to try and get it working with simtools asap
  5. Dirty

    Dirty Well-Known Member Gold Contributor

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    Hey, :)

    Nutkicker is a standalone software. I have closed the source on it a few months ago, but you can have a copy anytime (let me know if this link ever breaks). Also, if you are really interested, I'd be happy to open it for anyone willing to help out. I just don't want it to be uncontained in the public domain. Just a little C# programming knowledge required, that's all. This is the first program I ever wrote and am learnig through it everyday :)

    So far, I support DCS and X-Plane. FS2020 does not yet provide the required data :confused:, but I am hopeful that it will at some point. In general, it can suppport any sim as long as you can get that sim to talk to a TCP connection. Or are willing to write a little program that does that.

    Run right on you Sim PC and get data via TCP localhost.

    Nutkicker local.png

    Run on another PC or Mac and get data via TCP network.
    Nutkicker network.png

    It works. Actually surprisingly good! It does have a few rough edges still here and there and I am making some improvements, but mainly...

    ...I am writing a successor already in which I will put everything I learned from Nutkicker and that's a LOT. For comparison: Nutkicker needs 3-5% of the CPU and GPU. What I am writing now needs less than 0.1% of either.

    From a functionality standpoint it can not compete with Mover, but it had some clever thoughts going into it.
    I usea different structure of the filters that I couldn't implement in Mover and I use a structure of many more nestet transforms to mitigate false cues.

    I can proudly say, my user base consists of 100% aviation professionals :)
    ...on the oher hand, it's ony three people :grin

    Cheers,... Dirty :)
    • Funny Funny x 1
  6. Builder

    Builder New Member

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    My Motion Simulator:
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    I am very interested in your software. I cannot say that I can directly contribute to your code, am also a beginner in C # myself. But I would like to learn.:nerd

    I am not an aviation professional but maybe I can become number 4 of your user base.;)

    Builder.
    • Like Like x 1
  7. cubexxx

    cubexxx Member

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    My Motion Simulator:
    3DOF, AC motor, Arduino, 4DOF
    But there are useful cases, like the predetermined motion in rollercoaster games, where one could record the telemetry data for one ride and determine offline an "optimal" motion cueing for a specific motion platform and then just replay this motion synchronously while playing the ride. No prediction necessary, everything would be determined before the ride even begins.
  8. hexpod

    hexpod http://heXpod.xyz

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    My Motion Simulator:
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    Sure, Makes sense
  9. cfischer

    cfischer Active Member Gold Contributor

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    So much excellent work going into this effort. Have you considered a gseat in your long term game plan? I wonder what kind of cueing would carry over, or be invented for gseats.