Tutorial Guide to setting up SimTools for use with the Kangaroo motion controller

Hi
Ran a couple of auto tune tests

auto tune with limits 180" pot on output shaft approx 160" to 170" rotation channel 2 (ignore ch1)
using live position test, center @ 2.7v


auto tune with teach distance same motor, feedback pot, had to disconnect limits, used slider to give approx 90" rotation channel 2 (ignore ch1), using live position test, center @ 2.8v


regards Terry

@BlazinH @telfel
Thanks for sharing all these information!
I've finally bought Sabertooth + Kangaroo. And I'll will now follow your track

Vibration on Kangaroo can be caused by motors stickinh at low speed. When it tries to move closer it can't move and once there's enough power it's enough to kick it past. This can also be caused by motor cogging. To fix it increase the Position Deadband in the Control tab. It tries to achieve 1 line/1 mV accuracy by default if I remember right and this is sometimes impossible for some systrms.

Greetings BlazinH!
(see the pic.)

Then in simtools you will have to set up each kangaroo on its own serial interface and use 1,p<Axis> for the output on each one.

........I think this is what you were talking about startup, interface, and shutdown... the only thing difference would be the designation: COM 14 & COM 15 ???

That's correct except for assigning the correct Axis on each interface as well.

@jsmith2307 : That looks very straight forward! Well done!

What kind of simulator are your building now? another joyrider?
It would be great if you could describe what you have done from hardware to software

Greetings @RacingMat and @BlazinH,
I took the summer off, so give me a little time. I had to relearn and reapply a lot of things. I'm building a Platform Sim, a little less footprint from my joyrider and easier to get into and out of. A two axis simulator, Roll (1 motor) & Pitch (1 motor). the footprint was developed from Floreskies Sim (sic). see pics.

@BlazinH,
"That's correct except for assigning the correct Axis on each interface as well."
I'm sorry for being so dense.....please explain.
jsmith2307

Looks good mate, like the rework, good idea on the counter weight , keeps everything balanced.
Might answer your Question , Axis1 is Interface1 and Axis2 is Interface2 , look to me you have set Axis 1 to both Interfaces.

I think I've got it! see pics
jsmith2307

Hi @jsmith2307 , According to your screen shots you’re still not set up properly. Let me explain. You have set roll on Axis1 and pitch on Axis2 in simtools axis assignments. Therefore, if interface1 is being used for the roll motor, you would use 1,p<Axis1><13><10> for the interface output on interface1 and 1,p<Axis2><13><10> for interface2. However, if interface1 is being used for the pitch motor instead, you would use 1,p<Axis2><13><10> on interface1 and 1,p<Axis1><13><10> on interface2. I hope this clears up the confusion.

Greetings @BlazinH!
Thanks for responding. I think I've got it. Funny how one little number can mess things up!
jsmith2307

Lol, yes! When I first started testing simtools I did not use a capitol letter A in <Axis#> and it did not function either. But thanks to Yobuddy that issue was resolved in the last revision .

Greetings @James Bellinger,

I've got vibration in (or on) both of my motors. After tuning the motor, then in I go to live test - when the motor get to 2.5 volts on my multimeter ONLY on 2.5 volts do I get the vibration, @ 2.49 volts smooth, & 2.51 smooth,... ONLY on 2.5 volts do I get the vibration! as one might imagine it make flight sims a little interesting!
Right now I am waiting on a new DeLink, one of mine just crapped out and Charleen over at Dimension Engineering just assigned a RA. Maybe next week I can restart.

jsmith2307

greetings fellow simulators,
thought I'd join this conversation with my thoughts and plans. I am building a 2dof simulator for rfactor and had already bought the sabertooth 2x25 amp and after reading the posts here was willing to give the kangaroo a try. I have built a scale model using small 12v gear motors that turn at 75rpm, a bit slow but ok to give me an idea if it will all work which after a bit of mucking around finally got a good tune using approx. 150 deg of the pot. Thanks to @BlazinH for the start up and interface codes have got the scale model working really well so I have ordered motors and some small timing pulleys and drive belts to run from the motor to the pot to get a reduction of 2.5 to 1 so if I use 100deg motor rotation the pot will turn 250 deg which will hopefully get me a good tune. I will update here later when it is up and running hopefully with a video and my tune specs

yes @graz, come on! vid and setup will be more than welcome

have got my motors but still have a bit of work to do to get it all set up so could be another month before I finally have it all working,
a big thanks to @RacingMat after seeing your posts that really got me motivated and all the other sim builders on here who I have taken ideas from, I hope once I have this all up and running I and have all my setup and tune done my posts might help someone else as this is what these sites are all about.
Cheers for now
graz

hi, just two question :
1 - "Your rig should be weighted to its normal weight to get the best tuning values." it mean that I must be in the seat during auto-tune with describe ??? (to add my weight)
2 - I See : "1,start<13><10>1,units4095=5000<13><10>2,start<13><10>2,units4095=5000<13><10>" and also this "1,start<13><10>1,units65535=5000<13><10>2,start<13><10>2,units65535=5000<13><10>"
"We need to tell the kangaroo 4095 will be the maximum number output."
Sorry but I don't understand, higher value = greater precision ??? or she must be adjusted according to the range of the potentiometer?

According to the manufacturer, to get the best auto-tune possible on the kangaroo, you should have the weight the same as it will be in actual operation when you tune it. You don’t necessarily need to be on it though if you can put weight on it some other way. They also say if you need to sit on it when auto-tuning, you can initially use a smaller min/max range so it doesn’t through you around as hard. Then you can set a larger range after tuning. I can’t say if that works good or not though.
The “units” command, which must be issued at startup on the kangaroo, tells it a ratio between what you are inputting and what it is outputting. So you can use just about any numbers you want in the units command for the most part. I was using 16bits to control my rig already so I initially stated use 65535. But the kangaroo’s ADC, which reads the pots, is only 12bits. So the true resolution is a max of 4096 positions so that is why I later stated there is no reason to use a higher resolution than 4095 in the command since it serves no useful purpose.
BTW! If you already have a Dimension Engineering motor controller and want to try the kangaroo then it is cheep to buy only the kangaroo. But if you don’t already have a motor controller to use with it I will warn you I have only seen slow and jerky movement on motion rigs that have tried it! The manufacturer says it should work for motion rigs though if you still want to give it a try. You may have better results then others that have tried it. I had good results with my initial bench testing of the kangaroo but could never even get an auto-tune to complete when I tried it on my weighted rig.

Hi guys,

I'm totally lost. I'm using the Kanagaroo and Sabertooth 2x60 to drive two motors with quadrature encoders. I've done much reading but I can't figure out the interface settings in simtools for using quadrature encoders on the motors. Does anybody know? Or do I enter the same settings as with using potmeters? Also how do I set a "center position" when the encoders essentially do not know where they are when powered on.

Thanks for your help!

The settings posted for simtools and the kangaroo will work with encoders too. You just need to change the number 5000 in the units command to correspond to your encoders. For example, if you use 256 count encoders on the motors shaft and the motor needs to rotate 15 times to move its full range, you would replace 5000 with 3840 (256 * 15). Example:

Look at the kangaroo's manual for instructions on how to connect and use encoders but they normally use limit switches to find home at startup. http://www.dimensionengineering.com/datasheets/KangarooManual.pdf