Showroom 12v Winch Motor Driving Simpit

Yeah ! 3DOF rocks !!!
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Battery are great for high current ! it's a good solution but voluminous.
Just check that the current needed won't exceed your battery's capacity.

No issues ... maybe the SAF ?

(Spousal Acceptance Factor :tape: )

I have the SAF all set. After all, she let me take the 55 Plasma out of the living room and mount on my racing pit!

As to current I am not sure. The batteries are 90amp/hour capacity but I am not sure what their flood amperage rating is. Golf carts and electric wheel chairs use this type of battery so I hope they will have enough output. If not I can always get a couple of server PSUs and run them in series.

That work space you have there is to die for.

Thanks

It is my big toybox...except when I have to use it for a customer's job...then it is work. lol

Hmmm...back to the R/C Arduino test.

I still cannot get it to function.

To recap:

I have entered all information exactly as you provided to no avail. The servos still go nuts. This includes the profiles provided (thanks Rob).

Different size batteries (from 4.8v-12v) I have a dozen R/C receiver packs fully charged, all tried on the ard platform test.

Edit: Also tried three different sets of servos.

I have uninstalled and reinstalled Simtools.

I have tried it on two other computers.

I did a dozen test scripts of various sorts and the Ard is working perfectly otherwise.

I did this test string via the serial monitor and the result was the same as aarondc's. (which would indicate that the sketch is working) L0~R0~L255R255L9~R123 Worked perfectly.

The issue seems to be someplace between Simtools and the Ard.

Almost bald so little hair left to pull out

If you do a basic servo test, do the servos work properly?

No issue, fumes are an issue for me on recharging but will be placing in a battery box that has a filter air out, Im using a std car battery, about 6 hrs of driving before any noticeable slow in motors. On occasion I have to run the charger while racing because I have forgotten to charge the battery overnight, oops, np found with Jrk operation.

Ok servos, to me the issue may be with the ard, we have found r2 to be bad on usb cables very fussy on type of cable, cheap ones tend not too work. I can offer help either via Skype or teamviewer this is a simple setup, only a 4 wire connect to the ard. You have this running at 9600 baud.

So
Question 1. Please confirm Model of Ard , need to be a UNO R3, that's what I have tested on.
Question 2. Please provide link to the code your using (reference to the exact post).
Question 3. In code you are not debugging with sim tools running, ie using the debugging bit, needs to run in Serial Monitor in Ard IDE only, In my original code if they weren't the signals going back on the usb, seen to screw everything up
My first code actually does work, have you tried to use that one, has been successfully repeated in xsim3 with no issues that I was informed about.

Got to be something simple you have done wrong, this is a very simple wire up and basic code(my first one) to use.
You can manually send command via the Serial Monitor in the Ard IDE as Rxxx(space)Lxxx where xxx is a figure between 0-255. If it does not work there, You've done something. Please test that way first even a single command Rxxx or Lxxx just to move one.

For Aarons code its Rxxx~(space)Lxxx~ (space does help not really needed)

Hi Rob! You sir are a lifesaver! It was indeed the debug code in Aaron's sketch! I commented out (//) the debug line and it worked perfectly. You have saved what little hair that I have left on my head

:? Thought the debug lines were #ifdef'd out... :?

ok there is a setting to set code into debug mode, you must a have changed it.

Yes aarondc you are correct, if the flag is set to debug it uses them and if commented out it doesn't, forgot you added that bit mate.

//********************************************************************************************
// RC Model Servo
// Original code By EAOROBBIE (Robert Lindsay)
// Completely mangled by aarondc
// 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 fault was mine, I didnt know enough about Arduino programming to know that this needed to be commented out to make it work.

Thanks Aaron for your great work, I really appreciate it.

My miniature model took a successful ride in Race 07 a few minutes ago. It was fun watching the platform go through the motions (especially hitting the wall, lol).

Onward!

I stopped by the friendly local metal recycler today and with a little help from one of the yard guys I found a broken driveline of just the right type for the center pivot. The guys there even cut it off for me.

A little time with the sand blaster and a spray can resulted in a nice looking pivot:



I wanted to do a little testing on the batteries and motor today as well.

Two 12v deep cycle batteries in series resulting in 24v and one of my motors bolted to the table. The motor without load pulled 3.2 amps and under load (heavy weight attached to arm) 14.5amps.



Now that I have a power source (I actually had those batteries sitting unused as they are destined for my wind generator. What better way to recharge them for the motion pit?!), have tested the motors, and ordered the misc mechanical parts, I need to get a couple motor drivers. I think I will take the chance on the Chinese drivers. Two of them for less than 50.00 delivered is hard to resist. If I am lucky they will work fine...if I am unlucky I am out a little money but will have the piece of mind and not wonder what if. The gamble is not that great. I also have several potentiometers that I can use for the project.

What I still need:

Motor drivers: The Chinese gamble

Motor linkages: Purchased via ebay; 4 - 3/8 Heim joints with bungs. On their way as we speak...er...text.

An Ardiuno sketch that will work with the H-bridge motor drivers. I have looked at several sketches that work with a couple of the other motion software projects out there but I am not at all sure how to convert them for use with SimTools. Still an uphill struggle for me. I am happy with mechanical issues, software issues stump me. But learning is a life experience, as long as I am living I hope to continue to learn.

And the miniature platform in motion

I realized after the video that the platform was not level at the start, sorry about that. I do not have a wheel hooked up to my desktop PC so the movements are very jerky due to keyboard controls.

http://youtu.be/pb29vAr7YLg

Thats great!
I must admit, if the real deal moved like that it would be a F... ME!! ride for sure!

Ok I modified the sketch a little bit - hopefully that helps people in the future... ;D

chinese drivers :
I've received these 3v-36V Dual 2x15A H-Bridge DC Motor Driver for my 3 DOF in 24 VDC
(not the same link as in your first post, but same boards)
2 x 20€ incl no shipping cost
http://cgi.ebay.fr/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie ... 1497.l2649

but you'll probably choose more strong boards now that you know your running current is 14,5 A...

arduino code
i'm working on adapting my code for the third DOF but the whole sketch is simpliest (no library, no tweaks) just short PID and USO communication for Xsim.
I'd be interested in adapting it in order to try SimTools, it should be no far away (still serial communication, I suppose)

You can use those boards but put the outputs in parallel to double the current and use it for one motor.

xpid confirmed working in sim tools. So for a std 2dof code written, just needs checking for use with h bridge to make sure the right pin go high and low with the right timings so not to blow the h bridge, you will need the truth table showing how to drive each motor backwards and forwards and mod the code or wire to the correct pins.
A little experimental trailing will be needed.

First h bridges look like they might be compatible with prilads ard code. for a easy 2dof unit, need an extra dof another ard to run the third, hopefully no code change needed.

http://www.x-simulator.de/forum/arduino-uno-duemilanove-2dof-firmware-t4564.html

Woops, I have already ordered the Chinese drivers. I didn't think I would need anything more powerful than the 15amp stated range as I am using one board per motor rather than the two motors per board that they are rated for. The 14.5amp reading was at the point of failure on the motors (failure to continue to lift). So I hope that I will be safe. But thanks for the heads up!

Excellent news on the Arduino sketch! I look forward to borrowing it from you, lol. I really need to buckle down and learn how to program these things. I usually use Teensy++2.0 programing boards because I found a drag and drop program to set them up. They can do so much more than the Adruino and are cheaper.

Hi Aaron, not sure what you mean there. Are you talking about the outputs on the batteries? That I have already done to get 24v. Or are you talking about using both outputs (motor 1 and Motor 2) to output to only one motor? That would, I assume, half the strain on each side of the motor driver.

Looks like that is exactly what I need, I will have to learn a few things to implement it though...like what a truth table is.... (Kidding, I can look these things up, learning is part of the hobby).