New Concept Multi-Output Motion Platform Controller Board

Nice to hear. I like the hardware approach and the fact that you seem to use an ARM microcontroller. I could imagine buying this and develop my own code for it, if that is ok. Does the version on sale still have a debug port on board?

Yes there is the debug port on board, it is interesting to give the ability to develop firmware to third parties, only the hardware will have to remain proprietary. May I ask why the request to develop your own firmware?

Being able to adapt it to the needs of ones own setup, and knowing the inner workings of the system.
But above all, because I am an engineer Some people are in this niche of a hobby just for the driving, but what I enjoy the most is all the tinkering.

Is it possible to buy the hardware already? I saw a store page where it said "1 in stock".

I am choosing between your board and the Motion4Sim board.
I see that you are using an Atmel MCU, but I can't see much more in the picture. What specification is the
MCU? I am asking mainly because I need to understand if there is enough headroom to do inverse kinematics calculations on board. If it's a Cortex-M0 or similar, that may be tight. But looking at the rest of the board specifications I would guess that you have chosen something much more powerful than that

The MCU is an Atmel with cortex M4 core and floating pointer unit running at max 120 Mhz, It Should be enough for 6-axis inverse kinematics calculations but it is better if you verify this before.

About the purchasing, the store is suspended because we prefer to refine the graphics interface setup before but since you don't need this maybe I could activate a one-piece purchase just for you.

This is a short video of the board controlling 6 drivers.

Thank's for the reply. An M4 is a bit on the weak side for future-proofing my application. I think I will get the M4S then, also as your store is not up and running.

You have an interesting piece of hardware though.

Thank you, the store will be ready when the set up interface will be updated with the new spike filter, we didn't though to sell the board to developers

I wonder if you really need so many inputs and outputs. What is there intended purpose?
Ok, for 6 servo drives you need
* 6 times two (step/dir) or three (+ enable) 5V differential outputs
* 6 times one differential input (ready/alarm/status)
* optionally 6 times a 24V input for the home switch (if no hard stop and torque signal used)

Additionally we need
* Estop input
* master enable output 24V for a relay or contactor to cut power to the motor drivers (and optional electromagnetic brakes if the motors have it)

You could hardwire the master relay to the Estop switch but it that case the brakes are not activated if a single drive fails, for example due to overtorque alarm.

Anything I have forgotten? Some could need a 7th servo for a belt tensioner, a PWM output for fans...

Do you really want to try to limit someone else's hardware to the typical application?
I've got two Thanos boards and it's still not enough. How about 4 servos for belts, 3 servos for continuous yaw, 7 servos for a gseat, 3 servos for a g helmet?

Huh? I never meant to limit anything. I just asked, I'm curious.

Ah, good point. It's always good if there is the possibility of expansion. If one borad is not enough you can add a second.

About the Estop we have dedicated an input specifically for the emergency stop.
About the master enable output 24v we can provide, as optional, a little board to convert output from 12v to 24v or, alternatively, we can provide a relay to engage the brakes

Electromecanical brakes usually draw something around 0.4A at 24V. So for driving 6 of them you'd need a relay anyway. A differential driver like a 26C31 usually does not provide enough power to drive a 5V relay but there are solid state relays that can operate on 3V+ and a few mA.