Tutorial From AtoZ : 2DOF arduino wiper playseat

Hi racing mat, I'm in the process of gathering parts to build a sim based on your design. My question is with the pots I ordered (which are the same as yours) work ok if I connected them with a plastic lever since I won't be able to connect to the back of my wipers motors like yours are? I see a lot of different ways to connect pots some direct like yours and others with gears or levers I wish there was a better guide for this like gear ratios and such. I know some of this has to do with desired or improved resolution.

suggestion from you bsft would be welcome as I'm contemplating ordering the same motors you have.

Hi Frenchfly! Good idea to start building your sim! But if you mix designs it's more difficult to help you... Yes, there are many ways to mate the pots. Imo, the simpliest is the best...
Eager to see some sketchs, pictures from you!

Are you french?
Mat

Thanks Mat! I will post pictures and sketches when possible, the wiper motors I have are different from yours since I took them from some Ford trucks at a junk yard here in Canada.

yes I'm a french Canadian.

Hello dude,
I have used 2 different ways to connect the pots to the motor shaft.
First being this
I used a single turn pot with a plastic lever glued to the end of the pot shaft, then as you can see in the pic, the cut out on the plastic lever was made long enough so even if the motor lever went right over, the pot didnt break. This is good , but only gives about 90 deg of a 270 deg single turn pot. I did the same for wiper motors when I started with them
These days I use plastic RC style gears
I also use a 3 turn pot, (in this case because of gear ratio), For feedback I used a gear set from an electronics shop, I tapped a thread into the back of the motor shaft and used a smaller gear on a 3 turn pot. I use about 1.8 turns of a 3 turn pot.
This gives a finer resolution on the motion.
And heres some example videos
Single turn on a wiper, but in this case, with 2 levers solid, not a cut out, but you can get the idea
Multiturn pots on gears
And I use the Pololu JRK, but pot connection should be similar at the motor.
Cheers, Dave.

Are they irreversible? it's better that your sim will stay horizontal after you power off!

PS: mmmm, le sirop d'érable !

its not necessary that the sim stays at centre when it is off, you just need to be aware that it will drop when the power goes off.
Just power it up before you jump on if need be and after you get off, then turn power off.
My seat mover, I lean back when I shut it down so the motors drop down, then I get off carefully.
Even with my actuators when I had them, they held a bit when power was off, but if I leaned over while on the sim, it would drop.
Also the wipers I used in the beginning had a similar issue. Some were extra stiff, some where loose. So the stiffer one needed extra power through JRK.
Stiffer motors are not the key to motion, good fast strong motors are.

thanks bsft and mat for all the info, I'm amazed at how helpful and receptive everyone is in this forum can't thank you enough. I'll take a closer look at my wiper motors today to see how stiff the rotation is and possibly isolate the ground while I'm a it.

oh yeah, ground isolation, almost forgot about that. Its a must or you could blow the boards

I wouldn't worry too much about being not irreversible not a big issue, as long as then turn under power.
On pot location, direct is good but if you don't get the centers just right the pot wears out very quickly and if they overshoot they instantly break the pot. I prefer and only my opinion I would use a multi turn pot and have it run by simple cheap rc gears so any misalignment can be taken up as well i use a 5 turn pot but only use about 80% of the turn in the movement so that if an overshoot does happen and can happen, the pot doesnt break.
Another way is the simple slide lever that bfst has shown, works well if the motor goes out of control, it doesn't break the pot , only bad bit is it only uses about 60 deg of the pot.
Need to work out what suits you and don't be afraid to experiment mate , its the best way to learn, then you sim becomes your, not a copy of copy, you don't end up with their mistakes in your sim.

Oh biggy yes the ground isolation is the most important please test the motor before hooking it to any form of controller or h bridge or when it reverses direction, thing will fry or go pop
.

No problem Frenchfly, a change of design is no problem, we can help you there is you need to make variations. I have been through 10 desings in 2DOF , Rob about 9-10 from memory, plus other guys here as well.
A simple design is one that is simple for you.

And Mat if you read the posts correctly, he is French Canadian.

Thanks Bsft, I'm slowly working out a design on solid edge when I finish it I'll post some pictures for suggestions. I'm pretty sure I'll be ordering the same worm gear motors you use, I want to go with something that kicks ass from the beginning. I know you suggested the jrk's but since I already ordered the arduino/monster moto I'll try to make it work with that. My project is still very much in its infancy so I have time and patience and I follow orders really good

I guess another concern is if the power supplies I ordered (the ones racing mat has) will be sufficient. I ordered 2 since I got a good deal on flea bay. They are 12v 48amp server power supply.

Thanks Mike

Hi Mike, can you like to those power supplies? I am currently using a 12v deep cycle batter, which works great, but might be interested in going with PSUs for my next build as that would significantly cheaper in the long run.

Here's the link
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Lot-of-2-HP...=US_Server_Power_Supplies&hash=item3cd52c211e

Excellent! Thanks.

Shipping made those pretty expensive though for me though (ok, I am cheap, lol). I saw another set on there at 700W that I just bought for 23.00 with free shipping. I will try them out on my rig and let you know how they work.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/LOT-OF-2-HP...=US_Server_Power_Supplies&hash=item3f2b4daac9

David

I have http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/500W-Uni...cal_Test_Equipment&hash=item256fb4a8bf&_uhb=1 x 2 of these of the "foot motor mount" sim. They work a treat.
Those servers PSUs look like a "steal" compared to what we pay for things here is AU.

Will I have to run both power supplies for those big motors? if so do you run them in parallel?

No , one power supply each motor, but allow 40 amps max draw per motor. Or use one PSU and one car battery in parallel for both.
I use both power setups on different sims. Both work fine, its what ever may be cheaper and or suitable for you.

Um on monster motor there is only one socket for input power so I would do this instead, A DC battery with this driver is recommended as when the motor go into free wheel stage as in move under the effect of gravity they will produce a current just like a generator does, and will feed power back to the driver which diverts this power directly to the power input socket, I know the driver well have been using them for about 3 years originally designed to drive small robots , not sims, doesn't mean its no good for sims, used correctly it is as fast as the JRK12v12 if the ard will let, the only let down is the ard, cant utilise the full power of the driver, proven with the relative slow motion I have seen it produce compared to the jrk setups I have built in the past, my winch's we absolutely made running the driver at full speed, to the point if i wasn't hanging on and i crashed it threw me around like a rag doll, or even on occasion spat me completely out of the sim, that hurts. I haven't seen this achieved yet with an Ard code.

So back to ya question one will be fine but place a dc battery in parallel with the psu and you will kill two birds with one stone, as it keep the psu safe from back charging and when the motors require a little more power it will draw it from the battery in turn you might have to charge the battery every couple of weeks of use.
My current sim uses the motion dynamic motor with a 50amp/hr DC battery , with a trickle charger on it, rock the pants off ya all night long, and once i shut it down after about an hour the trickle charger stop as battery is full again, And just to keep the Battery in top condition , I hook on a good charger and give it a full discharge and charge overnight, once a month.
Note , even a small motor bike battery would work too. Best but expensive is a gel deep cycle one.

Thank you eaorobbie and Bsft, I was going to ask about the single power input so you read my mind, not only are you incredibly helpful but you also possess a sixth sense

I'm beginning to think if I go the big motor route I might just pull the trigger on a couple of jrk's. My wife might not be too keen on me spending the extra cash, but I always say it's better to ask for forgiveness than permission.

Thanks again for your input.

Were do I place the IP address?

a). Do I have to place it in my router?

b). Do I place it in the Simtool software ?

I'm a some what confuse with this part