SMC3 Arduino 3DOF Motor Driver version 2.10 with soft start/stop and support for DOFReality H6 and P

In https://www.xsimulator.net/communit...-3dof-motor-driver-and-windows-utilities.4957
@RufusDufus published the SMC3.ino sketch for the Arduino Uno R3. The DOFReality P6 control boxes contain Arduino Uno R3 boards and my guess is that they derived their firmware from the original SMC3.ino.

In order to have a controlled shutdown (see http://www.tvdr.de/flightsim/poweroff.htm) I wanted to replace the original firmware with an open source version. To do so I first took the original SMC3.ino and widely refurbished the code to make it more readable and easier to extend. Then I implemented the code necessary to make it compatible with the DOFReality Tool, so that I could always go back to the original firmware. Finally, I added the soft start/stop feature. I tested it on an actual P6 platform, using the SMC3Utils-v1.01.exe program, FlyPT Mover and Sim Racing Studio (SRS).

Only tested MODE1. MODE2 compiles, but is yet untested.

If compiled "as is", this version should behave much like the original SMC3.ino. Only if the DOFR_BOX macro is defined will it include special functionality for DOFReality hardware.

If you have an existing system on which you want to try this version, you may want to save your setup parameters before loading the new version, because the layout of the EEPROM content has changed.

I would appreciate if some of you could test this version and/or look through the source to see if I broke anything. If you want to see the intermediate steps I took while refurbishing the code, you can find them at http://git.tvdr.de/?p=smc3.git.

The latest version of my modified SMC3.ino is available here.

See also http://www.tvdr.de/flightsim/firmware.htm on how to use this program with a DOFReality platform.

I have been playing around with this, as love the soft start/stop options. My rig is a 3DOF siting on 4 rotating motors.
The current code, when it goes to idle is crashes down hard, it doesn't seem to move slow, like it does during the start, no matter what setting I change, it doesn't change the speed of the "crash"/return to idle. but I figured out something that does work for me. I have no idea what I am doing, so I will just list the items I changed. maybe if I ever figure out what I am doing I will release a version.
Line 1047
case ToIdle:
return AdaptedTarget(m.feedback, m.idle);
change to
case ToIdle:
return AdaptedTarget(NEUTRAL_POS, m.idle);

Its a not buttery smooth as it lowers my chair down. but its not bad. I like an adaption time of 4000.

the other problem I had was in idle position the motors worked hard to maintain idle. I think it might be some backlash between the motors and the POTS, and they couldn't return to where it thought it should.
To get around this I disabled the motors when it was in idle state, then enable them when in any other state. I do need to make a better work around, because this would enable the motors if they ever moved too far past the clip point, and the system would fight itself, but thought I would share anyway.
Line 1316
if (State == Idle)
{
PowerScale = 9;
DisableMotor(Motor1);
DisableMotor(Motor2);
DisableMotor(Motor3);
}
else
{
PowerScale = 7;
Motor1.disabled = false;
Motor2.disabled = false;
Motor3.disabled = false;
}

now I just need to figure out how to not blow up driver boards and I will be doing great!

Did anyone test it with MODE 2?

It the default Motor3 glitch fixed in this modded version? Can I use 2 Arduinos for 6 motors instead of 3 (to avoid using Motor3 that apparently had some issues)?

Do not use MOTOR3 with arduino has only two positions of frequencies 4 and 31 khz , it can cause problems with smooth operation of the motor.

Thanks, good to know. I'll just use 3 Arduinos.

Something just occurred to me: if there's a runaway, SMC will stop the motors, but because 3 independent instances of SMC are not aware of each other, 4 other motors will still be working and powered. Which means the 6DOF platform will try to tear itself off, as 2 stopped motors will go out of the virtual plane that all motors are supposed to stay in. It would be a good solution to add some code that transmits a signal to a pin and stops motors when receiving a signal on a pin. That way all boards could be connected and an emergency stop on one will immediately lead to an emergency stop on all. I'm not sure I'm proficient enough in coding to add that without breaking something else though...