Lesson SimTools v3 - 3D Wind Dash Example (with Arduino Sketch)

I wonder, if the 3d-fan can get combined with the SMC3 ("Simulator Motor Controller for 3 Motors"), so going for one Arduino only?
And I haven'T been able to get to the Dash Setup in SimTools. Where can I find that entry-point? Any Plugin to be installed first? In "Interface Setup" I have only 6x Motion Setup.

For everybody struggling as hard as me to get this thing running, I hope this helps.
I'm using this 3D print and this fan.
Whatever fan you are using, for this solution, please make sure you use a fan with two cables (red/black; not 4 cables for example).
Furthermore, I'm using this Adafruit Motorshield v2.3 and an Arduino Uno.
As you are supposed to use an additional power supply, I chose a 12V, 3A power supply. Make sure that the length of the cable is sufficient.

Attach one Fan to M1 on the motorshield (red cable) and GND (black cable), attach the other fan on M3 (Yes, M3, not M2, as this way you are using two seperate chips on the motorshield) with the red cable and GND with the black cable.
The power supply that I have uses a cable adapter with plus and minus pole. So I don't need to cut any cables. You can simply put the power plug into the adapter. From that adapter attach a short red cable to the plus pole and a black cable to the minus pole. From those two cables go to the two-pin on the side of the motorshield and attach the red cable to the plus pole and the black cable to the minus pole.

Later on you can simply attach the adapter onto the bottom of the top of the Arduino case.
Don't forget to attach the motorshield on top of the arduino uno.

In Arduin IDE, install the Adafruit_Motorshield library.
I'm using a slightly modified version of the code based on the post of @offman

This is the code I use:

Code:

// Arduino code to achieve wind simulation with the Adafruit Motor Shield V2
// Supports right,left and traditional serial speed output from GameDash (R000, L000, S000)
// Wire fans to M1 (Left) and M3 (Right)
//
// Based on your working version + adopted logic for independent L/R targets.

#include <Wire.h>
#include <Adafruit_MotorShield.h>

#define FALSE 0
#define TRUE  1
#define BOTH  0
#define LEFT  1
#define RIGHT 2

#define Idlespeed 0
#define MIN_RUN_SPEED 80   // typischer Bereich 70–110
#define START_KICK_SPEED 255
#define START_KICK_MS 600

int bufferArray[4];
int whichFan = BOTH;

// --- NEW: independent targets ---
int leftSpeed  = 0;
int rightSpeed = 0;

// --- NEW: per-fan last speed for start-kick detection ---
int lastLeftSpeed  = 0;
int lastRightSpeed = 0;

// Create the motor shield object with the default I2C address
Adafruit_MotorShield AFMS = Adafruit_MotorShield();

// Set port M1 for Motor 1 (Left fan)
Adafruit_DCMotor *Motor1 = AFMS.getMotor(1);
// Set port M3 for Motor 3 (Right fan)
Adafruit_DCMotor *Motor3 = AFMS.getMotor(3);

void setup()
{
  AFMS.begin();
  Serial.begin(9600);

  // Start silent (Idlespeed=0)
  Motor1->setSpeed(0); Motor1->run(RELEASE);
  Motor3->setSpeed(0); Motor3->run(RELEASE);
}

void loop()
{
  // Read one full command (S/L/R + 3 digits) and update targets
  ReadDataAndUpdateTargets();

  // Apply per-fan MIN_RUN_SPEED (only when >0)
  int applyLeft  = leftSpeed;
  int applyRight = rightSpeed;

  if (applyLeft  > 0 && applyLeft  < MIN_RUN_SPEED) applyLeft  = MIN_RUN_SPEED;
  if (applyRight > 0 && applyRight < MIN_RUN_SPEED) applyRight = MIN_RUN_SPEED;

  // ---- LEFT FAN (M1) ----
  if (applyLeft == 0)
  {
    Motor1->setSpeed(0);
    Motor1->run(RELEASE);
  }
  else
  {
    // Start-Kick only when coming from stop
    if (lastLeftSpeed == 0)
    {
      Motor1->run(FORWARD);
      Motor1->setSpeed(START_KICK_SPEED);
      delay(START_KICK_MS);
    }
    Motor1->run(FORWARD);
    Motor1->setSpeed(applyLeft);
  }

  // ---- RIGHT FAN (M3) ----
  if (applyRight == 0)
  {
    Motor3->setSpeed(0);
    Motor3->run(RELEASE);
  }
  else
  {
    // Start-Kick only when coming from stop
    if (lastRightSpeed == 0)
    {
      Motor3->run(FORWARD);
      Motor3->setSpeed(START_KICK_SPEED);
      delay(START_KICK_MS);
    }
    Motor3->run(FORWARD);
    Motor3->setSpeed(applyRight);
  }

  // Update last speeds (use the actually applied ones)
  lastLeftSpeed  = applyLeft;
  lastRightSpeed = applyRight;
}

void ReadDataAndUpdateTargets()
{
  // We need 4 characters - the command followed by three digits
  bool haveCommand = FALSE;
  bool haveStart   = FALSE;

  while (haveCommand == FALSE)
  {
    // Valid command always starts with S, L, or R
    while (haveStart == FALSE)
    {
      while (Serial.available() == 0);   // wait for data
      bufferArray[0] = Serial.read();

      if (bufferArray[0] == 'S')
      {
        whichFan = BOTH;
        haveStart = TRUE;
      }
      else if (bufferArray[0] == 'L')
      {
        whichFan = LEFT;
        haveStart = TRUE;
      }
      else if (bufferArray[0] == 'R')
      {
        whichFan = RIGHT;
        haveStart = TRUE;
      }
    }

    // Read three digits
    for (int i = 1; i < 4; i++)
    {
      while (Serial.available() == 0);
      bufferArray[i] = Serial.read();
    }

    // Validate digits
    if (isDigit(bufferArray[1]) && isDigit(bufferArray[2]) && isDigit(bufferArray[3]))
    {
      haveCommand = TRUE;
    }
    else
    {
      // resync
      haveStart = FALSE;
    }
  }

  int spd = ((bufferArray[1] - '0') * 100) +
            ((bufferArray[2] - '0') * 10)  +
            ((bufferArray[3] - '0') * 1);

  if (spd > 255) spd = 255;
  if (spd < Idlespeed) spd = Idlespeed; // Idlespeed is 0

  // --- Adopted logic: update targets instead of one global Speed ---
  if (whichFan == BOTH)
  {
    leftSpeed  = spd;
    rightSpeed = spd;
  }
  else if (whichFan == LEFT)
  {
    leftSpeed = spd;
  }
  else if (whichFan == RIGHT)
  {
    rightSpeed = spd;
  }
}

I have not finally tested it, I tried to add a left / right handling on the fans, I don't know if it actually works.

Upload this sketch to your Arduino Uno.

Now lets get to the SimTools settings:


The settings are still not perfectly set up (for my point of view). But at least this is a working setup and the rest is fine tuning.

Hope that helps, have fun.