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

Discussion in 'DIY Motion Simulator Projects' started by John458, Feb 9, 2016.

  1. bruce stephen

    bruce stephen Hammer doesnt fix it, must be electrical

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    Robbie's code is best for servos.
  2. John458

    John458 Member

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    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

    Attached Files:

  3. bruce stephen

    bruce stephen Hammer doesnt fix it, must be electrical

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    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
    Last edited: Apr 9, 2016
  4. John458

    John458 Member

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    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
    • Like Like x 1
  5. John458

    John458 Member

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    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 IMG_0535.JPG IMG_0536.JPG IMG_0537.JPG IMG_0538.JPG
  6. Pit

    Pit - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Gold Contributor

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    @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/
    • Agree Agree x 2
    Last edited: Aug 30, 2016
  7. bruce stephen

    bruce stephen Hammer doesnt fix it, must be electrical

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    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.
  8. John458

    John458 Member

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    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
  9. noorbeast

    noorbeast VR Tassie Devil Staff Member Moderator Race Director

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    • Informative Informative x 1
  10. John458

    John458 Member

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  11. noorbeast

    noorbeast VR Tassie Devil Staff Member Moderator Race Director

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    P
    Prices fluctuate, I bought second hand at about $30 but then got brand new at $50 so upgrade my PSUs.

    Check the PSU section to ensure whatever you consider has mod info. I am away at work on my mobile so can't do that at the moment.
  12. John458

    John458 Member

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    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

    Attached Files:

  13. Pit

    Pit - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Gold Contributor

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    Hi John, please check the range of your potentiometer, if the feedback signal passes the max limits line SMC goes in offline mode.
    • Informative Informative x 1
  14. RufusDufus

    RufusDufus Well-Known Member

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    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?
  15. anatolie

    anatolie New Member

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    Hi how to connect the arduino with ibt-2
  16. John458

    John458 Member

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    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? interface 4.JPG
  17. noorbeast

    noorbeast VR Tassie Devil Staff Member Moderator Race Director

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    That should work for SimTools 1.3 @John458. The difference from SimTools 1.3 to SimTools 2.0 in setup is that instead of axis defined like this <Axis1> it is now like this to designate grouping for a or b <Axis1a>
    • Agree Agree x 1
  18. John458

    John458 Member

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    Cheers @noorbeast , worked a treat :)
  19. John458

    John458 Member

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    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
  20. John458

    John458 Member

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    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.