2DOF Simukit Seat Mover project by Choss

Very good work!

@choss your grandpa is not only a very nice grandpa, he is a store of knowledge. You can be proud and happy to be on his side

@choss beau travail et bon travail à ton grand père aussi!

@choss beautiful work and good work to your grand father too!

Hi guys. It has been a while since i posted something about the progress.
Building the rig has now finished and the next step are the electronics.

Very good work !

Next step 3DOF

Well guys....the electrical part is done.....kind of.
The good thing is that nothing exploded or burned down. My house is still there and luckily i still live. But it isn't working ok either.
Let me explain:

After digging through the documentation and configured the arduino and sabertooth according the instructions i decided to do the output test thingy in simtools. The left motor was turning but in a very stuttery way. The right motor was just plain dead. There was no change in direction when moving the sliders in simtools and the left motor just continued with stuttery and noisy movement. When i stopped the test and the countdown finished the left motor continued to move but now it was very smooth movement that couldn't be stopped. I had to shut down the power. When i plugged the power back in it was ok again.

I did some troubleshooting by first checking the connection on the right motor to the sabertooth because that motor wasn't moving at all. It was looking ok but i couldn't get any movement untill i swapped the connections on the sabertooth (so left motor from M1A/M1B on M2A/M2B and vice versa). Second test: the right motor is now moving with the same stuttery, noisy movement and left motor is plain dead. So the result in this case was the other way around compared with the first test.

I did not came to conclusions yet, but can you guys give me some advice on this?

The pictures below show how i did the wiring (Soldering and wiring skills are in development so to speak)

I don't see any pots connected. Are your pots connected to your motors? If not, what happens to the motors speed when you turn the pots by hand?

Both potentiometers must be connected to the Arduino board, the 2 yellow son.
Good job

Thanks for the replies guys.
I did not give you guys the complete picture so here are more photo's to make things more clear:







As you can see i connected the pots. I tried to turn them by hand but it didn't make any difference.
As i said my earlier my knowledge about electronics is limited. This is what i did:

I soldered the 5v wires of the pots together, soldered the pin to it and connected it to the 5v on the arduino
Then i did the same for the gnd. The signal wires are connected to A0 and A1.

As for the config:
I used the XPID 1.23 sketch. Arduino on 9600 and Sabertooth on 115200.
DIP switches 2,4,5 are off.

Clearly i did something wrong. The strange thing for me is that whatever i do the motors only "work" when i connect them to M1A/M1B. When i connect a motor to M2A/M2B it is just dead.
As soon as i press the test button in Simtools one motor (connected to M1A/M1B) starts to turn in one direction like an old granny (stuttering). Turning the pot will not move the granny into the other direction. When i stop the test the granny turns into a young bird and moves very smoothly but does not stop so i have to kill her (power down).

You may be having serial communication issues. The dip switch settings on your sabertooth appear to be correct. But did you use Describe software from Dimension Engineering to change its baud rate to 115200? If not, with dip switch 5 off (use user defined baud rate), its default is 2400.

Thank you @BlazinH
You got me on track with your post in @dualclick76 's thread:

So i changed the code and got my a step closer to success.
The dead motor was alive all the time. It was just waiting for instructions. That one works great.
The stuttering on the other motor is still there but i don't have to kill the power after a test.
I detached the pot from the motor and turned it by hand. That was working like a charm so i think the wiring is ok. I installed everything again and unfortunately it still stutters.

So as soon i connect the teethed wheels (is this proper English?) (motor and pot) the stuttering starts. It does not react to the sliders in Simtools but i can see the motor is trying.

Faulty pot, faulty wiring or something else? I have no clue at the moment

Good to hear you're making progress!

It appears the shuddering may just be caused by backlash (movement or play) in the gearing. Try increasing the deadband setting for that motor. Don't know why it doesn't react to sliders though.

Hi,

Did you tried to switch M1A and M1B?
As @BlazinH said you need to setup your 2x32 with describe. I need to share an Ard code for 2x32 using 115200 bauds (you can easily edit it). Using the code I share you need to set 38400 bauds...

BINGO!!!!!!
I switched the wires and it is now working!



One sidenote: I works with DIP switch 5 on. I set the Sabertooth at 9600 Baud and changed the code in the Arduino to 9600.
I didn't have much time today but i tried it at 38400 baud but with no succes (changed baud in Sabertooth and code, DIP 5 off).
What do i have to do exactly have to do and in which order?

Another question: When i built the rig the platform for the seat was level. Now in idle state de platform is a little bit tilted forwards. Can i correct this with software or do i have to correct the cams?

You can also correct it by "re-centering" your motors.

Loosen the motor cog screws... Remove motor cogs...Level platform by applying proper polarity voltage to your motors...fine tune... ... insert motor cogs...tighten screws.

This is how I did it.

Be careful with your fingers.

With DIP swith 5 you are in serial simplified mode, it's what is used in the Arduino sketch.
What is the line you are editing for switching to 38400 bauds ? You need to configure the Sabertooth with Describe too.

When you start your simulator, it set the pots in middle position. So if the platform is not flat you need to correct it with cranks (cams).

very good

Nice work!!