Tutorial XPlane 11- Setup Guide SimTools

Hi all,

Just starting this thread as a guide for users on how to setup X-Plane 11 through Simtools and depending on your motion system, how best to set it up for maximum realism. I will try and update it as new things come along.

Thanks to @Archie @noorbeast and @SixDegreesOfFlight for their contributions thus far.

https://www.xsimulator.net/community/threads/x-plane-11-6dof-motion-platform.10542/page-13

Getting SimTools to talk to X-Plane 11

Download SimTools and apply for or purchase the license. When it asks if you want to start SimTools with Windows click Yes to both the Manager and the Engine.
Download the game plugin for X-Plane. Even though it is quite old now, it still works with the latest version of XP11

Using the SimTools Manager apply the patch to XP11.

To install the plugin use the "SimTools_PluginUpdater" located in the root Simtools installation directory

Step 1: Getting SimTools to talk to X-Plane

To get SimTools talking with X-Plane, start XP and Click on Settings > Data Output
Now that you have the screen with all the checkboxes, check the following items in the last column "Network via UDP"
3 Speeds
4 Mach, VVI, g-load
16 Angular velocities
17 Pitch, roll, & headings
37 Engine RPM
38 Propeller RPM

Check the box, 'Send network data output' and enter IP Address 127.0.0.1 and Port 4123.
Set the UDP rate to maximum (99.9 packets/sec)



NOTE: After you patch the game you may need to relaunch and check the dataoutput settings in X-Plane 11 ,as it added many more data points no.s 0,1,2,13,14,15 etc when I patched it. Untick these as it seems to make the game engine crash if they are all ticked. Stick with the data outputs above only.

For the time being, that's all you need so you can close X-Plane.

Step 2: Setting up the Arduino with SMC3.

Download the SMC3 sketch with soft start.
Edit the code at the top of the sketch to select the MODE you will be using
Upload to the Arduino Uno. Note: some variations of clone Unos have been reported to not work with SMC3.

Download and run the SMC3 Utility

http://www.xsimulator.net/community...3dof-motor-driver-and-windows-utilities.4957/

Initially set PWMmax=0, PWMrev=0, Kp=400, Ki=0, Kd=0, Ks=1. Click on -->M2 to copy the settings for the second motor.

Click on the radio button for Manual mode. Drag the blue slider up a bit and see if the actuator begins moving up to meet it. If it doesn't, reverse the 0V and 5V wires on the feedback pot and try again.

Gradually increase PWMmax and watch how the actuator tries to follow your manual input. The higher the PWMmax value the harder the motor will work to try and reach the new position you set by the blue dot. If it is jerky while trying to get to the new position, try and reduce Kp, this will smooth things out but make the actuator less responsive. The goal is to get the actuator moving to the new position as fast and as smooth as possible. Once you are happy with the settings, click on -->M2 to copy them to the other motor. If you have more than two axis you will need to change the SMCUtils ini file for it to talk to another port. Then set that Arduino up with the settings you established are best for you.

Note: the autobaud command that the Arduino sends to the Sabertooth may be lost if the Arduino is started before the Sabertooth. So ensure that you power on the Sabertooth first, then the Arduino Uno

Step 3: Game Manager

X-Plane profile - set Extra 1,2,3 in the middle of the slide bar and Main Level to 0%.

This can be turned up to 100% later but a low setting will help prevent something breaking when you are initially getting it all to work. @noorbeast wrote: The Main % globally lessens the movement of the sim, it is handy if you want to run say the F138 around Nords, which is really bumpy, so you can turn things down a bit so it does not rattle your teeth out (I turn mine down to around 92%), then turn it back up for something like the Xbow, which has more suspension movement.

(Screen shots coming)

Step 4: Game Engine

Initially, set the Axis limiting to 10% on all axis. You will see the actuators move but they won't drive past the limits switches and cause damage if something goes wrong. Eventually, you will want to increase this limit slowly and watch where the ball screw is. The goal is to get a percentage value that moves the ball screw between the limit switches but without actually hitting them. It may be as low as 30% or as high as 100%

Additional information -Flight Sims in general

for other flight sims like Prepar3d may help in your settings see post below from @Archie


https://www.xsimulator.net/community/threads/getting-the-most-out-of-p3d-and-your-sim.6889/


Setting up for Simtools:

If you use traditional roll and pitch (as you would for Racing games) when you do a 180 roll in an aircraft the sim will reset the Roll axis and "snap" the simulator back to the opposite angle, so you get "rocked" around when it should be a lean to the right or left, not "bounced" left and right.


To fix this, you use EXTRA2 for ROLL and EXTRA1 for Pitch.

The behaviour has changed so that as you lean into a right roll for example, the sim will lean to the right, but as you make the roll faster, the sim will take advantage of the axis and lean even further. As you exit the roll, the sim will slowly level out (using smoothing.. will get to that soon) and the roll feels much more natural.

My settings for Prepar3D are:


Extra 2 - 90% - Smoothing 25% (ROLL)
Extra 1 - 90% - Smoothing 25% (PITCH)
Heave - 20% - No smoothing
Surge - 20% - No smoothing


Now, those numbers don't add up to 100%, however in a flight sim the axis movements are much more subtle, so in a roll or climb I want to get the full range from my sim, so I have it set to 90% and then tune the "tuning centre" to get the feel that I want. This is a personal choice and you will need to experiment.

In short, if you are using 90% pitch and 90% roll at the same time in a plane, you're likely in trouble!!

(I don't use Sway, but might experiment with it soon to give the sideways movement you feel in turbulence.)

The smoothing enables the sim to return to "level" in a controlled manner. This makes a huge difference to pitch because if you get this value right along with heave it will give the sensation of the plane "settling" as you level off. Planes don’t reach height and just stop, they reach an altitude and then level off, in a curve. These two settings help with that

Ciao John,
grazie e complimenti per il Tutorial, ho costruito il mio simulatore 3 dof ma utilizzo 4 motori, posso utilizzare Arduino con SMC3. per il mio simulatore?
Grazie per la risposta

Hello friends,
I'm using smc3 as described in the tutorial e
finally I was able to move all 3 engines but I have a bad result.
It shakes everything, the engines are jerky and I have tried many different settings.
I changed Kp pwm max and min and all the other settings but nothing to do is not good.
Do any of you have any ideas?
I use x-plane and both in turns and in the pich moves jerkily.
On the track it does not simulate acceleration and braking.
An engine heats too much while the other two remain cold
I'm confused!
Can someone put screenshots of settings that work well?
Thanks for your help

Hi John 458,
Meanwhile, thanks for the tutorial and I would like to ask you for advice.
Also I have XPLANE 11 + Simtools + Smc3 + Sabertooth + 3dof but I have several problems
1) on the runway and during the takeoff run the Sim remains stationary, in practice it does not see the small movements
2) if anzo the Pid or the PWM engines overheat
3) the Movimeti of my Sim are jerky, not very fluid

What do you advise me to do?

Thank you

hello, well, I would have to re-program the software on the arduino, you have his plague from xplane, if you could give me a pass, I'd do a test here to see

Hi,
I'm not getting any data coming through for Sway and surge, and read that others have had this issue too.
Does plane output that data?
For example, I'd like to feel a push in the back when accelerating and a jolt forward when braking hard on the runway.

What is your project?

6DoF motion Rig with linear actuators using hexPod integration.

Hello, I really appriciate the work you've done. You explained pretty much everything ! I still can't get my sim to work.. I don't know what's the problem exactly, I couldn't patch the game (XP11).. Please what do you think I should do ?

Hello friends!

I have a 6dof platform and configured XPLANE on it.

Everything is working very well, and the sensation of acceleration / brake, sway, roll, picth, etc.

The only problem is that during the flight, and even on the runway, the sensation is very shaky, as if on a dirt track, or in the air, with a lot of turbulence. The movements of the flight itself, roll, pitch, sway, serge are excellent and soft, but this "shake" as a turbulence is stronger than the real one. What can I do?

in simtools Interface Settings what its must to be serial or network?

Can anyone send me game manager setting screenshot? becuase i tryied to use extra1,2,3 and its not move but when i use pitch and roll its move but when plan go down the motor rotate in strange way and go forword and stuck their help.

I just encountered the problem of engine crash because of installing xPlane 11. Your post helped me solve this problem. Thank you very much.

I have solved the problem according to this explanation.

why there is no heave effect?