Tutorial SMC3 Arduino 3DOF Motor Driver and Windows Utilities

I got a few 10k ohm, from diffrent brands. I got the + and - connected to the + and - from IBT and the to the UNO board 5v and gnd and then the signal to the first A on the UNO board

You can check it with a multimeter, and check if the olms change as you turn the pot. It it doesn`t, you have found the two external pin. Then the other pin should be the center.

So, its alive, kinda
Why does it look like this?
The pots are attached and turning with the shaft now

Hi everyone. I hope there are still listeners. We are working on a 3dof rig relying on thanos amc. But this device prooved unreliable, slow and intransparent which makes debugging nearly impossible. So we are looking for an alternative and found this attractive solution. But here comes the trouble: we use 3 AC-motors with vfd´s. These vfds require 0-10 V as directing signal which means that 0-5 V are reverse turning and 5 to 10V is forward turning of the motors. So I got a arduino UNO R3 and 3 dollatek pwm to 0-10 V translators. Would this be compatible to SMC3 since it uses direction signals in it modes. I tried for some time with a poti and without motor (they are mounted in the rig) but no cigar. Feedback is showing up as well as some reaction on pwm in the win software but the multimeter shows no satisfying results. Can someone more experienced comment?
Thank you for every hint
Stefan

I have done this - I added a 3rd option to the code so that PWM 50% is 0 movement which seems like it should be perfect for your needs. I can't remember the specifics of how the electronics were driven but It was to interface a wheelchair controller.

There were some bugs when it came to the calibration software (values were halved) but it worked. I have not shared it previously but I wrote it 5 or so years ago. Can share if you like but not really willing to support it since it was from so long ago.

Hi Elnino.
Thank you for your reply. Yes, i´d love to try your solution to take a look into your code. Your answer alone is much appreciated support
Btw, have been to adelaide, Barossa Val n took the Ghan back in the 90ies, you live in a nice place.

Here is my version - I had a quick look over the code and I remember now a bit.

My controller had an 'enable' pin and then a 0-100% PWM signal. 50% being no movement so it should do exactly as you want.

As I recall though, and as mentioned, when entering values into the tool for configuration it would work odd. You'd have to set it to double the value or something - When you read it back, it would be the actual value though. Just use some caution.

Also - From memory, the PWM outputs or the enable pins (I only ever used 2) possibly activate the motors on a reboot of the arduino. This can be specifically dangerous because when the serial port is opened by software, it reboots the arduino. I removed a component from the board to prevent auto resets. Please use extra caution!

Thank you a lot, i will try to understand your code and try too not to bother you We got a separate motor with vfd so we can give it a shot. I will let you know.
Thx,
Stefan

No probs. I'm not opposed to helping you, it's just that I have limited ability to test as I don't have any of that hardware anymore.

Whaat, you quit such a toy Ok, I get that it is a huge pile of scrap metal, literally in our case since we got the old motors and vfr´s from a factory after an upgrade there. However, we´ll set up a separate vfr and motor tonight and se what reaction we get. After that i hope to adapt the code to our needs, especially start/stop signals for safety reasons. I keep you updated, thank you a lot again

I have a question, once settings are made on SMCutilities, should it be open every time you use simtools or can you close it?

Please re-read forum rules.

sorry, my browser is in automatic translation. I edited my post

Also be careful with Arduino resets on com port open, it can cause a dangerous situation if motor power is applied before com port is open. I would recommend disabling the reset circuit on the Arduino board.

I have a question regarding my platform. When running smc utils i set the pwmmax to 255 and the motors are strong and lift easily. but when in game they shut off under load. How do i set the pwmmax to 255 for in-game? Do i have to change it in the arduino code?

There should not be a difference between the two.

When I am running Sim utils does that set pwmmax ? I am not sure why motors will handle a huge load in simutils and not ingame then.

If you save the settings, it should reflect in the game.