Prototype Pitch & Roll Full Rotation

I have just been asked by @Fabio27aigner how to interface this piece of code with Simtools, and I never realized until now that the settings I used are pretty critical to the operation. Better late than never I suppose.

Output Type: SER

ComPort: User specific
BitsPerSec: 115200
Data Bits: 8
Parity: None
Stop Bits: 1

Output - Bit Range: 16
Output - Type: Decimal

Startup - Output:
HW Start: - ms

Interface - Output: P<Axis1>~R<Axis2>~
Packet Rate: 10ms

Shutdown - Output: P0~R0~
HW Stop: - ms

I hope that helps a few people out.

One thing I don't quite understand about that asian 360 rig posted and others like Flymotion is the lack of balance in design. Why not rotate the outer frame with two synced motors rather than one? That should help with the latency and make the rig more viable for racing games and VR. Maybe it wouldn't need as powerful/energy hungry motors?

Using a VR headset would be a nice weight savings and probably need faster response than what that video posted is showing. The other thing is the huge PCs, I guess because they are older rigs newer slimer tech wasn't cost effective, but now with smaller mini ITX systems barely larger than two PS4s stacked it should have even less weight.

Great project, had the same thoughts about building one for VR, but I gotta start with something easier =)

good job , I wonder if it would be possible for you to put a diagram of how to connect the motors in Arduino and what needs to ligalos

Hi dontcarefilmer i don't know if you still working in your fly simulator i'm new at the forum and begin to start working in something similar it is my first experience with movement simulators i have downloaded your code and try to connect it an arduino uno to the simtools software but when i try to see the exit in the serial monitor it doesn't show anything, can you explain me the steps to test it, i've been configure the complete interface settings and later try the output testing via the virtual axis tool but i can get nothing in the serial thanks in advance for the code and your help i hope to upload my progress once it get start the project

Can i ask if someone else test the code? i have change the constant int testType to 1 so indicate Speed Test Mode (terminal interface) but still getting nothing at the serial monitor even i can't get the message "Waiting..." so i upload the firmware to the arduino disconnected from the pc and reconnect but i can't get nothing in the serial. if someone have do it before and i'm jumping any step please i'll be grateful for your help

Big projects

você tem sido capaz de completar o seu projeto? Eu consegui virar mais de 360 graus?

Hi @dontcarefilmer and all, really great work here, this thread has helped me out loads with my project. Thank you so much.

However, I am at a sticking point and not sure what else to try. I am unable to read serial data from Simtools on my Arduino.

I have followed this thread and a few others closely, but still no luck.

Interface settings:

I have tried:

• 9600, 115200, 500000 bps (and updated Arduino code and serial monitor accordingly, also the COM3 settings in windows)
• 8, 10, 16 bit range
• binary, decimal, hex output

Axis Assignments:


Arduino code from here:
https://www.xsimulator.net/community/marketplace/communicating-with-an-arduino-and-sim-tools.97/
Have only updated:
Serial.begin(500000);
according to which bps I was testing.

Serial Monitor output:


It's been some years since I have done any programming, but it seems like tmpChar must not have been given a char from the serial read.


I have tried sending output through Output Testing, and also running games that are working and can read game data in the Tuning Center.

Thanks in advance for your help! I'll go brush up on Arduinos and coding in the meantime. Sorry for the length.

Hi @IndependentEngineering, thanks for taking interest in this project. It's been a while since I worked on this particular piece of code, but I've got some ideas that you may be able to test out. A couple of questions first:

Are you trying to connect both the Serial monitor and SimTools to the arduino at the same time?
Have you tried using just the Serial monitor to manually enter in some values that you would expect SimTools to generate (eg. "R1234~P5678~")?

You are only able to connect a single application to a Serial device at a time, either arduino IDE or SimTools (or RealTerm if you want to get closer to the hardware level). I can't recall how SimTools responds to debug feedback via Serial, so I'm not sure what the outcome there would be.

Most of my testing was done via the Serial monitor and hand typed values. Later on as this project grew I started using an interface I wrote in "Processing" to handle the communications as this didn't require my direct input for every movement. The arduino should respond in the correct way when using hand written commands, albeit not in real time compared to SimTools. It will allow much for simpler debugging. Once you are confident that your code functions as expected, then connect it to SimTools for further testing.

Additionally I would recommend capping the upper speed of your Serial connection to the arduino at 115200. From what I understand, the arduino may be able to achieve higher speeds, but at the cost of greater packet loss. Re-transmitting those lost packets may end up bringing the actual speed much lower than you expect. A baud rate of 115200 is still pretty quick, especially for the small amount of information you need to transmit.

Good luck.

Thanks for the super quick feedback @dontcarefilmer!
And thanks for the pro tip about sending the Arduino inputs from the serial monitor, I honestly didn't even know that could be done, this is my first real Arduino project.

The output was as expected:


Hmm, I was hoping to read the serial data in serial monitor live based on game data output. Bummer. But looks like RealTerm could possibly help out with this. Thanks for the tip!

How's your project coming along? Are you still pursuing a full size design?

Thanks again for all the tips and knowledge, already a massive help!

No worries, I'm glad I could help.

This project is still in development, though it has suffered from a little 'feature creep'. That and I have been pretty slack in updating places like my blog or 'xsimulator.net' with its progress. We are totally pursuing the full size design, and we are close to finishing the first stage of the full size prototype. Stage 1 should be ready for personal testing by the end of March I think, that is testing with a live occupant instead of stand in weights.

You can check out our Facebook page for more up to date developments if you like: PhobosIndustries

Cheers

Nice work! Very cool that you are so close to being able to use it. Excited to see it in action.
Feature creep will happen.

HELLO FRIENDS, I AM VERY INTERESTED IN THIS 360 DEGREE PROJECT, I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW IF IN XS THEY GOT TO OPERATE THE 360º SIMULATOR OR IF SOMEONE ALREADY HAS THE PROJECT COMPLETED