My 2-3DOF Scale build Basics - get up and running?

Robbie's code is best for servos.

Hey Guys @bruce stephen @insanegr @RufusDufus

Hope you are all well

Thanks so much for your help thus far, I have been experimenting with the next phase which is building the scale model and getting the motors or servos to move it. I decided I need to stick to the dc motor route as that would be easier for me. I looked into the code for the servo /rc model, but there doesn't seem to be a SMC utility for it, or maybe there is and I am doing something wrong... so doing adjustments in code is well beyond me. I brought a DC motor the Graupner 480 BB race hobby motor for more torque and RPM (27,000 to be exact) i know thats way to much but I am going to try and adjust it using the SMC Utility and if that fails ill get a gearbox for it.. its got plenty of torque thou.

Now the power requirements of this motor is quite a bit more than the little hobby motors I was testing with (see pic below) it is 4.8 to 8.4V at 8,5 A. So the little 9 volt power supply I got isn't going to cut it.

I then went online and found this awesome link

http://www.instructables.com/id/Power-Supply-For-Arduino-power-and-breadboard/

and brought a second hand computer power supply for $10 and proceeded to mod that. it has at 5v 22A which should be plenty to run the motor (see pics)

So I tested the whole setup as before with all 3 hobby motors working with the 9v 500ma power supply etc with no problems.

All I did from there was wire up the motor (hope i did that right) followed the instructions from the hobby shop guy on where to solder the wires (see pics) and attach it to the motor 1 output on moto shield 1.

tested the computer power supply with the super expensive multimeter, it gave me a steady reading of 5 v and a lot of Amps. plugged in the power supply and the mottos have power, then nothing happens.... no movement on the motor... and no switching lights going on and off.... so thats where I am...

going well with the little hobby motors but now I have ramped the power and motor up a bit nothing is happening (see video) I have tried increasing the PWMax and everything else on the utility etc as well but no go.

Any help would be greatly appreciated... things I could test etc.

Link to youtube video



Cheers

are you using smc3 or @eaorobbie's rc code? If you are using robbie's sketch he could probably point you in the correct direction as to which parameters to change. also the logic level side is 5v but you need a minimum 5.5v on the line in. The monster moto is rated 5.5v to 16v.

use the 12v leg from the psu 5v is not enough power. you should find motors rated to 12v also. that one is rated to 8.4v. running 12v through it may shorten its life and or create a fire hazard.

edit: i see its smc3 in video

Hi Bruce,

Thanks for your reply, I am using SMC3 so I think you have nailed it, the 5v is to little. So back to finding a new motor cheers mate

and ill get back once its running

Hey everyone,

Looking for some power help.

Well its been a while... busy with work etc and then got an Oculus DK2 to play around with and that took care of the rest of my time!...still moving forward on my project thou.. looking for some help on the next few steps.

Im trying to build the power supply for my 3dof system.

So I am going to be getting 3 of these motors

https://www.motiondynamics.com.au/worm-drive-motor-12v-24v-200w-180-rpm-20nm-torque.html

but I'm trying to work out how much power I will need to run these 3 motors successfully...

Motors specs

• 12v No Load Current:1.8 Amps
  
  
• 24v No Load Current: 0.9A
  
  
• Working Voltage:12V or 24V DC (12V or 24V motors available dependant on stock levels)
  
  
• Rated Torque:20 Nm (Locked Rotor Torque)
  
  
• Optimal torque: is 12.5Nm
• Motor Speed:3600 RPM/160-180 RPM at Gearbox dependant on load.
  
  
• Rated Current 12/24 Volts:16amps at 12v OR 8 Amps FOR 24v, No load rating of 1A
  
  
• Holding torque : Low Holding torque, we've found these are quite easy to back drive, so if you need a worm drive with holding power this worm drive is not suitable.
  

I have brought some second hand computer power supplies to power them I have attached photos of their outputs...

1. rated current is from what I have found, the highest current draw which at 12v's would be 16 Amps (per above)

so based on that would I need a computer supply for each motor.

then if that is the case since I am running 2 motors of one moto shield and one off another moto shield (see pic), do I need to add another moto shield for the 3rd power supply... (then who knows how to wire that up with the SMC arduino drivers?? cause I don't lol)

I have searched but haven't really found anything I can understand.. bit to tech here for me sometimes.

Any help is much appreciated and even if someone can point me to a build I might have missed that would be great.

Cheers

@John458 just my 2 cents on the PSUs: the standard PC PSUs are very nervous if too much currrent (peak) from the motors is needed because of protection routines, mostly they are shutting down when peak is incoming server PSUs are more aggressive, not all for sure, but mostly. They spend more than 50A on the 12V line and are almost cheap and worth every penny.

PD:

200 Watt motors should be powered by ONE MotoMonster, so you need 3 of them. BTW for all eventualities we have manuals, so don't worry.

https://www.xsimulator.net/communit...-30a-current-60a-peak-for-200-300w-motors.50/

also upon a second look I have to recommend you get rid of the screws holding down the boards and get either nylon replacements or use hot glue. this will save you headaches in the future. also you will need fans for those heatsinks. the monsters do not last long under load without fans.

Hi @Pit & @bruce stephen

Thanks so much for your input that is going to save me a bit of time alright.

@Pit quick question on the server PSU's. I got the current PSU's second hand from a local computer shop, $10 each However can you point me in the right direction on what sort of server PSU I should be looking for and what I should be paying etc, correct me if I'm wrong but your comment of "They spend more than 50A on the 12V line and are almost cheap and worth every penny." does this mean that one Server PSU could run all 3 motors?

Cheers

Cheers @noorbeast thanks for the info, I found these on ebay

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/HP-DL360...b21e9db&pid=100005&rk=2&rkt=4&sd=291564119384

would they have enough power? they are slightly under the 600PB but are only $20 each vs the 600PB which seem to be around the $50 each.

Hi @Pit @noorbeast and all the other legends out there.

I now have the 3 power supplies, and just finished wiring up the half bridge configuration as mentioned in
https://www.xsimulator.net/communit...cts-as-a-single-motor-driver-more-power.5482/

however on first test on running the SMCUtils 1.01 I am getting all the motors going to off and then max readings all over the place (see picture)

Just want to post my wiring template I made to see if it is correct and maybe what I might need to check?

Cheers, much appreciated

Hi John, please check the range of your potentiometer, if the feedback signal passes the max limits line SMC goes in offline mode.

Are you sure you are using the solderless breadboard correctly? Usually the connections are only in the vertical columns not the horizontal rows. Hard to see but in the picture they seem to be wrong?

Hi how to connect the arduino with ibt-2

Hi @noorbeast and @Pit

just getting back in the game to finish my project and seem to have the arduino and motos sorted , just couldnt quite remember how to setup the axis interface for arduino in the game engine.. is this correct for 3DOF?

Cheers @noorbeast , worked a treat

Hi @noorbeast,

just had a quick question in regards to ball park PWMmax settings to move the weight of a person.

I followed the procedure (from SMC Utility Config) of putting everything at zero and then putting KP to 400 and slowly increasing PWMmax. getting good results... havent placed my body weight on as yet thou..(that part isn't quite finished),

Question: what is the average PWMmax setting (per motor) for a 3DOF system when its moving a persons weight around (85kg or so)

just want to have an idea if the power supplies are going ok and motors (wiper wormgear motors) are working the load how they should

Cheers

Soon ill be adding another motor to my build and making it a 4dof system. Thanks to @SixDegreesOfFlight for his awesome thread and showing me that it looks like you can have multiple arduinos running at the same time through simtools.