Lag and the 8055

Hi Guys, My first posting here although I have watched this site since its opening. (Who hasn't ?)

After noticing hits on my website that came from chat within these forums, I thought I needed to dive in here and clear up what seems to be a total misunderstanding of what my system does and where the Velleman K8055 and the KT5198 fit into place in my setup.

The 8055 ...
Reads the platform position and sends it back to the computer.
It also controls the yaw motor and the seatbelt tightener with more options still to come. (These dont require high speed response.)
The 8055 has a turn around speed of about 20 milliseconds which is an internally inherited speed of the actual board. (USB speed is a lot faster than that)

In my setup, the 8055 is only reading the platform position and the computer is not really dependant on a super fast reply,, This is because a lot of the responce triggering is done without even looking at the platform position. This position sencing is only a guide for the software to act on. Its not exacting.
It is not configured as a linked sevo drive or a mammoth RC servo (If thats the right words) with its own position feedback system.

SO ....
The 8055 in my setup IS NOT USED FOR OUTPUT TO THE PITCH AND ROLL MOTORS
This is plainly spelt out in my web page.

My FSX Computer ...
Looks at the pitch and roll positions, the change in pitch and roll, the pitch and roll acceleration and to a lesser degree the actual platform position ... this is because what you feel needs to be initiated from what you see, and hence, expect to feel.
The above can open a can of worms as to theory of motion platforms and I am not going to get into that one. Everyone for their own.
As far as the computer crashing is concerned ,,, I think that on a hobby built motion platform, a computer crash would be the least of your worries and in fact its probably one of the more reliable parts of the whole set-up.

The KT-5198 ....
Simply, is feed from the FSX computer via the serial port with softstarts, softstops and the speed being dictated on what the program wants.

So simply, for the pitch and roll ....
The Velleman 8055 via USB reads the platform position. (Where, in my case speed is not critical)
The Oceancontrols board, via serial output from the computer, drives the motors. (Where responce time IS critical)


I have made this posting to inform the people that havent actually read whats on my site, but are quick to bash the keyboards with their own uninformed knowledge.
This wrong knowledge can sometimes be the thing that sticks in a new simmers mind and never actually gets challenged because a new simmer is reluctant to question, what, after a period can become common knowledge even though it is wrong.

It seems now, that every time lag and the 8055 is meantioned in these forums, there is a link put through to my site ,, well ,, READ what you are linking to.
Get the facts right. !!!

On a better side of life ,,,
There still seems to be people struggling with the problem of wiper motors going faster one way than the other ,,, this is easily fixed and I have added a section to my old FS9 page on motors that explain how to do it. I hope it helps. If you have been there before, you may have to click refresh.

Thanks Guys and keep up the good work, you run a great site here with fantastic input into the community.

Jim

http://www.jimspage.co.nz

Hi Jim,

I'm very happy to see you, someone with plenty of experiences regarding DIY simulators, registered here in the forum now!

Thanks for enlightening the K8055 issue!

Nobody of us uses the 8055 with motors. Its just intended for the use with pneumatic valves.
So please remove that link in this context.

For motors we are using Thanos AVR controller currently, and Elektronikjack has a promising new controller in the works as well.

regards
Christian

Hi Jim

Thanks for clearing up the matter! It was difficult to understand the way you use your electronics, but now its all clear!

Don't worry misunderstandings happen all the time. I wish I had a penny for every time I was asked the same things about my electronics too! :lol:

And thanks for the wiper motor mod tip! I'll try it tonight! :top:

Regards, Thanos

Hi Guys,
Thanks for the welcome.

Edit ... I actually put in here an explanation of what I was meaning but then thought it might confuse the issue so I have taken it out.

Anyway, I have edited that comment out as requested.

Cheers guys..
Jim

Hi Jim,

Last night I tested the wiper motor mod you suggested and it worked for the slow speed of my motor. But there is still noticeable difference on the high speed of the motor... any ideas? (my motors have dual speed connections)

I was thinking to rotate the case to a different angle, but them, how could I bolt back the case on the motor?

Regards, Thanos

cheers Jim, :hi: glad i stumbled across this post because only 30 minutes ago i was on your site scratching my head. Sorry if this sounds cheeky but would your hardware setup work with Ians BuiltForFun software or even better maybe somehow part of it could get me moving to RFactor etc

hehe, so the loves in your life are FS and Liz, not Liz and FS? l :

Thanks
Chris