Tutorial SMC3 Arduino 3DOF Motor Driver and Windows Utilities

@lcturkey ... SimTools is only sending data to Arduino ... so you need to go further and connect the motor to get action .

Here we go, proof of concept , mode2 as described. (The black thing is the front panel of the PC where it all goes later ;-) )

I've made some tests with smc3 on arduino uno, driving a single dc motor. I've seen how to set the various parameters in smcutils, and all works fine. But I've a doubt: setting the Maxlimit for the motors, if something goes wrong the motors will be disabled and I've to manually reset the position of the motor inside the valid range, then I can reset arduino, and the system returns in order. But in a working system with motor reductors, if an axis goes over the limit for some reason, I cannot return it manually in a valid position, and when I reset the arduino, the motor will be immediately disabled again because of its position over the limits. How can be solved this situation? Can be a good solution to create a reset position button that starts a routine that attempts to gain the middle position of all motors(the zero position for the great parts of the motion platforms) ignoring the limits, but evaluating if the pots feedback is giving consistent values?

Just disable the clipping set to 0

Sorry I have not understood. The clip limit is a good function to limit the movements inside a safety area. And if the PWMRev is setted correctly, it does perfectly the job. But I'm thinking to a driving simulator or flying sim, and if a great crash happens, the motors for inertial reasons can overtake the Maxlimit value. In this case I have an unrecoverable situation. Or not?

speedy my problem is that simtools doesnt send any data to arduino. when I try it on winutilty it works fine and send data to arduino

@lcturkey post screenshots from game manager's settings so we can help.
you have to run game engine with SMC3 utils closed.
is com port the right one in game manager interface settings?
have you made a profile for testing(the default)?
whats your regional settings in widows?

here is my screenshots,

yes Smc3 is closed and com port is right. when I try output testing on game engine , I click to eturn on tx led is on but rx led doesnt work. what do I have to check in regional settings in windows ? My language on computer is turkish.

@Giuseppe Romano ...
Clip Input
Used to create a band at either limit of the target range beyond which any values sent to the SMC3 are clipped.
In addition to this clipping, if the motor feedback does move beyond this range (typically through inertia),
the SMC3 will attempt to brake the motors hard by driving them in reverse until they are back out of this limit zone.
The value can be anything from 0-255 (however can’t be less than the current limit setting).
Reverse braking is applied in the band between the Clip Input and the Max Limit settings.
Reverse braking can be disabled - refer to PWMrev.

Max Limits
Used to create a band at either limit of the feedback range beyond which if the motors move (typically through inertia)
the SMC3 will automatically shutdown the drivers and keep them disabled until reset.
This is essentially a safety mechanism if something goes wrong.
The value can be between 0-255 (however can’t be greater than the current clip setting).

@lcturkey ... mmmm correct settings ...
And I guess both Rx and Tx leds will normally work with SMC Util.
as it is acquiring data to be displayed on the computer screen .

But not like the SimTools as it only sends data ...
I don't know if they are correctly named on the cloned Arduino but logically with SimTools one of them will stay OFF ...
correct me guys if I'm wrong !!!

Sorry to ask a silly question ...
What is the "eturn " ?
Did you press in the SimTools ?
It seems like you didn't make a profile for testing yet ... please confirm !

@insanegr ...
please clear your point in asking about the regional settings !!! I didn't get it too ...

Speedy sorry it was turn on button in output testing. Yes I pressed Save button and make a profile I can seee Game Engine reads the data from Game but it doesnt send the data to Arduino just TX led is on and the others is off. I think my arduino is clone and it is Arduino Uno, not R3 do you think the problem is about my arduino ?

here is my screenshots and photo of arduino

this photo taken while game engine and game working. ( Just TX led is on )

here is the photo while SMC3 Utilitys working ( TX and RX led is on and getting data )


here is the photo while game is running Simtools gets game data

Here is the photo of SMC3 Utilty's screenshot
Game Manager is running.

Ok, this part of simtools and smc3 it's perfectly clear for me. My question was: admitting that for an exceptional event one or more motors reached the maxlimit zone and I need to reset the platform to the zero position, is there a way that not is manually rotation of the axis of the motor to re-enter in the safe area?

@lcturkey i can see your settings are ok. want to ask what game are you trying to have motion and if it's pCars you have to make a profile for pCars and this http://www.xsimulator.net/community/threads/project-cars-plugin.4780/page-3#post-77445
@speedy Simtools has a bug with some regions like mine.the (.) dot and (,) coma are used the opposite way in maths that they are used in english.i have to use english to make it work properly.thought v1.3 fixed this

@insanegr my simtool version is 1.3 I tried regional settings it didnt work. Can you send me your arduino photo while communicating with simtools. I am thinking about to change Arduino uno to Arduino Uno R3

please confirm with us here about the Rx and Tx leds are working while using SimTools ... are they ?

Yes ... you can center it every time you play start/finish and when exceptional event happens too ...
You have to use these settings in the startup/shutdown to center the Axis every time you stop .

In exceptional event ... you have to manage to move ONLY the FB pot body of that stuck motor mechanically just a little bit toward the OTHER way of the mechanical direction to the center ... [make an original place mark on the pot first] ... to fake the Arduino that this motor is out of the MAX limit and is in the Clip input ... then the Arduino will continue from there and get you to the center again ...
[ tighten the FB pot back to it's original place ] ...
Then use the SMC Util. to make sure that there is enough margin between the clip input and the Max limit to prevent that from happening again .​

As if the hole motion range is from 0-255 ... so 128 is the center + 1 [127 is the actual center ] .

Edit: moving the FB pot body to a certain direction means that it's axle fixed to the motor shaft is moving to the other way ... if you want the reading of the pot to be within the Max limit ... you have to rotate the pot body further more out/above the Max limit .

@lcturkey i'll take some pics when i get home tomorrow, meanwhile can you confirm some things
1. do you have motion in SMC3 utils ?
2. have patched and repatched the game ?
3. have you configured game profiles in game engine under axis assignments - game list ?
4. what game are you trying ? i see you have pCars did you look here http://www.xsimulator.net/community/threads/project-cars-plugin.4780/page-3#post-77445
5. have you tried an other game?

send a screenshot with your axis assignments settings with the game's game profile you are testing

Thank you @insanegr

1. My motor driver blow up so I wait for the new one so I cant try motor moves on SMC3 utils but everything looks normal when I try to send data.

2. Yes I patched the game

3. I configured the game profile

4. I tried pcars, euro truck simulator, No limits roller coaster but no was was sending data to ardiuno

@speedy didn´t get that far yet, will let you know once I tested it

hi,
today I bought a original uno r3 and tried it it is same not comminicating with simtools. please someone can corfirm that when it is communicating both rx and tx led is on ?