FlyPT Mover

FI, even though I initially though it was OK, I cannot get a similar good response out of these filters with FS2020. Even the Vertical Speed does not work that well. Obviously the available data quality is having a great effect on this.

I'm having some trouble getting Flypt Mover working correctly with some hobby servos. I'm using the arduino hobby servo sketch from EARobbie and have it working in Simtools.

In Mover, I've setup a serial output and a 'Just Pose' Rig. I can get the first servo working as intended using A<Axis1b>] in the serial output but when I change this to A<Axis1b>]B<Axis2b>] Both servos will move but with a significant delay of around a second or so. I'm not sure if there is some incompatibility allowing the servo code to work on Simtools but not with Mover.

Anyone got any ideas? Thanks

Hi,

by default, Mover sends data at 2ms.
This might be the problem, try to increase the sending interval in the output to 5. This makes sends at 10ms

Thanks for the reply. I increased the interval loops to 5 to give 10ms to match Simtools already, but it still has this behaviour.

OK,
I'm on the street. I will look at it better when I go back home.
Will look at the sketch.

Thankyou, much appreciated. Also thanks from the DIY simulator community for all the time and effort you have put into the Mover software, it's been a godsend for many!

@GWiz ,

Can you point me to the sketch?
I want to take a look.

I'm using this one:

Code:

//********************************************************************************************
// RC Model Servo
// Original code By EAOROBBIE (Robert Lindsay)
// Completely mangled by aarondc
// Tweaked by Spit40 for G-seat with uplift only
// For free use for Sim Tool Motion Software
//********************************************************************************************
#include <Servo.h>
//#define DEBUG 1                                    // comment out this line to remove debuggin Serial.print lines
const int kActuatorCount = 2;                       // how many Actuators we are handling

// the letters ("names") sent from Sim Tools to identify each actuator
// NB: the order of the letters here determines the order of the remaining constants kPins and kActuatorScale
const char kActuatorName[kActuatorCount] = { 'A', 'B' };
const int kPins[kActuatorCount] = {4, 5};                       // pins to which the Actuators are attached
const int kActuatorScale[kActuatorCount][2] = { { 50, 110 } ,    // Right Actuator scaling - set for Spit40's seat
                                                { 179, 0 }      // Left side Actuator scaling - not yet set
                                               };    
const char kEOL = ']';                              // End of Line - the delimiter for our acutator values
const int kMaxCharCount = 3;                        // some insurance...
Servo actuatorSet[kActuatorCount];                  // our array of Actuators
int actuatorPosition[kActuatorCount] = {50, 50};    // current Actuator positions, initialised to 90
int currentActuator;                                // keep track of the current Actuator being read in from serial port
int valueCharCount = 0;                             // how many value characters have we read (must be less than kMaxCharCount!!

// set up some states for our state machine
// psReadActuator = next character from serial port tells us the Actuator
// psReadValue = next 3 characters from serial port tells us the value
enum TPortState { psReadActuator, psReadValue };  
TPortState currentState = psReadActuator;

void setup()
{
    // attach the Actuators to the pins
    for (int i = 0; i < kActuatorCount; i++)
        actuatorSet[i].attach(kPins[i]);
   
    // initialise actuator position
    for (int i = 0; i < kActuatorCount; i++)
        updateActuator(i);
   
    Serial.begin(9600); // opens serial port at a baud rate of 9600
}
 
void loop()
{

}

// this code only runs when we have serial data available. ie (Serial.available() > 0).
void serialEvent() {
    char tmpChar;
    int tmpValue;

    while (Serial.available()) {
        // if we're waiting for a Actuator name, grab it here
        if (currentState == psReadActuator) {
            tmpChar = Serial.read();
            // look for our actuator in the array of actuator names we set up
#ifdef DEBUG          
Serial.print("read in ");          
Serial.println(tmpChar);          
#endif
            for (int i = 0; i < kActuatorCount; i++) {
                if (tmpChar == kActuatorName[i]) {
#ifdef DEBUG          
Serial.print("which is actuator ");          
Serial.println(i);          
#endif
                    currentActuator = i;                        // remember which actuator we found
                    currentState = psReadValue;                 // start looking for the Actuator position
                    actuatorPosition[currentActuator] = 0;      // initialise the new position
                    valueCharCount = 0;                         // initialise number of value chars read in
                    break;
                }
            }
        }
       
        // if we're ready to read in the current Actuator's position data
        if (currentState == psReadValue) {
            while ((valueCharCount < kMaxCharCount) && Serial.available()) {
                tmpValue = Serial.read();
                if (tmpValue != kEOL) {
                    tmpValue = tmpValue - 48;
                    if ((tmpValue < 0) || (tmpValue > 9)) tmpValue = 0;
                    actuatorPosition[currentActuator] = actuatorPosition[currentActuator] * 10 + tmpValue;
                    valueCharCount++;
                }
                else break;
            }
           
            // if we've read the value delimiter, update the Actuator and start looking for the next Actuator name
            if (tmpValue == kEOL || valueCharCount == kMaxCharCount) {
#ifdef DEBUG          
Serial.print("read in ");          
Serial.println(actuatorPosition[currentActuator]);          
#endif
                //No -ve on G-seat : 128 = middle
                if (actuatorPosition[currentActuator]<128) actuatorPosition[currentActuator]=128;

                // scale the new position
                // Range is now 128 - 255
                // Maps between min and max
                actuatorPosition[currentActuator] = map(actuatorPosition[currentActuator], 128, 255, kActuatorScale[currentActuator][0], kActuatorScale[currentActuator][1]);
                //
#ifdef DEBUG          
Serial.print("scaled to ");          
Serial.println(actuatorPosition[currentActuator]);          
#endif
                updateActuator(currentActuator);
                currentState = psReadActuator;
            }
        }
    }
}


// write the current Actuator position to the passed in Actuator
void updateActuator(int thisActuator) {
    int safePos;
    safePos=actuatorPosition[thisActuator];
  //  safePos=100;
    actuatorSet[thisActuator].write(safePos);
}

@GWiz ,

Just to be sure:
Are you using 9600 in the speed?
Are you using decimal output?
Are you using 8 bits in the rig/actuators? (from a fast look, it seems to use 1 byte to set the position)

Yes, that's correct; 9600 Serial Speed, 8 Data Bits in both the serial output and Position bit output and Decimal set as output in the serial output.

And in the rig module?
Did you change from 10 to 8bits?
See attached image in the last post

Yes I did, to give (0 to 255 in 1 byte)

Ok, then explain me what you see hapenning.
I'm without ideas right now...

@GWiz ,

Wait, I have one idea.
Please try to hide the actuators info:

I can hide the actuator info, but it doesn't seem to help.

I have an idea that it might be due to the way my arduino code is set up, it expects a value such as A050B075 rather than A50B75. I wonder if the missing filler zeros are playing havoc when the output is less than 100? I had a similar issue when trying to setup a Wind sketch which wouldn't work below 100 and so the fans kept 100 as a minimum value. I botched my way around it by subtracting 100 in the sketch and remapping Mover for values from 100 to 255. (There's probably a more sensible way of doing this!)

Oh, ok. Might be that.

Mover is not sending the numeric values with zeros to make it a certain amount of digits.

I made a fast sketch. Did not test, no idea if it works:

Code:

// Position of the servos is set from 0º to 180º degrees
// We define the servos in Mover as 8bit servos, with a value from 0 to 255
// So the values are mapped from the bit range to the angle range

#include <Servo.h>

// Initialize servos
Servo servoA;
Servo servoB;

char lastReceivedLetter = '';
string lastReceivedValue = "";

// Serial speed to use
const int serialSpeed = 9600;

void setup()
{
    // Select Arduino pins for each servo
    servoA.attach(4);
    servoB.attach(5);
  
    // Set servos to initial positions (min=0 max=180)
    servoA.write(90);
    servoB.write(90);

    // Open serial port
    Serial.begin(serialSpeed);
}

void loop()
{
    while (Serial.available())
    {
        // Get byte from the serial
        var receivedByte = Serial.read();
        // Test if we received a number (numbers go from byte 48='0' to 57='9')
        if(receivedByte>=48 && receivedByte<=57)
        {
            lastReceivedValue += receivedByte;
        }
        // If we are here, we received a letter or something else
        else
        {
            if(lastReceivedLetter=='A')servoA.write(map(lastReceivedValue.toInt(),0,255,0,180);
            else if(lastReceivedLetter=='B')servoB.write(map(lastReceivedValue.toInt(),0,255,0,180);
            lastReceivedValue = "";
            lastReceivedLetter = receivedByte;
        }
    }
}

So this should use with the same settings, but the serial string should be:
A<Axis1a>B<Axis1b>

If you want to, please test. I can test it tomorrow and correct bugs. Not right now. Sorry.

Thanks so much, my arduino coding is not good but I managed to get a variation of this code working more or less. I still need to play around with it a bit to get it 100%, but I'm no longer experiencing any strange or delayed movements so I'm fairly confident that my initial problem was due to values below 3 digits not being read correctly and the error being compounded with each additional servo I attached.

Many thanks again for going above and beyond.

Hi @pmvcda ,
First , thanks a lot for your project and your Time . ( Sim and Program Mover ) .
After two years with this project , my Sim ( with little changes ) Work Again perfecly !!!
I do my best to learn all Filters from Mover but no easy!!! May be with some expériences and two years again will Yelp me to anderstand 50% from them ! Thanks!


1- Now I know that my Rig Goes well .Can I do that :
Q- When I close ( shut off) my Pc , I lost all set up with my Esp32 ( Calibration and OVRMC ) I need to do a new calibration of my rig and set up of OVRMC with open VR Motion on Steam VR . ( like 7-10 min of set up). Normaly my PC stay standby and I can skip this set up !!!
But it's tiring!!!!
Arduino uno have this option to stay live with a Adapter Power Supply - 9VDC 650mA and not ESP32 . Finaly i will try to find a adapter to fit 5-9 vdc on it !!!
What do you think ?
2- I’m a new Rookie on Iracing , miss some data télémétrie for suspension , Is it normal ?
Or I must use only noise data ?
Thanks

I really like the idea of the Black Box Pose. I think it simplifies things to allow FlyPT Mover to be exposed to a larger audience like it deserves.

I need some more time with it, but it sometimes gives motion I don't understand. I'm using DiRT Rally 2.0 as a source, and sometimes I get Pitch and Roll when I don't think my car is either tilted by the road or by surge or sway.

I haven't been able to pinpoint what the car might be doing to cause it, but I will be tilted back and to the right and left there until I drive to cause enough movement.

I know it's early days for it, but just wanted to give a little feedback.

My "Pose :: From Motion" is working great, so I don't need this fixed to enjoy Mover, just mentioning in case it helps.

Is it possible to receive RPM telemetry from the DCS lua plugin? I'd like to simulate helicopter rotor blade vibrations. I think I may have seen RPM in the sources module, but this is always zero.