1. Do not share user accounts! Any account that is shared by another person will be blocked and closed. This means: we will close not only the account that is shared, but also the main account of the user who uses another person's account. We have the ability to detect account sharing, so please do not try to cheat the system. This action will take place on 04/18/2023. Read all forum rules.
    Dismiss Notice
  2. For downloading SimTools plugins you need a Download Package. Get it with virtual coins that you receive for forum activity or Buy Download Package - We have a zero Spam tolerance so read our forum rules first.

    Buy Now a Download Plan!
  3. Do not try to cheat our system and do not post an unnecessary amount of useless posts only to earn credits here. We have a zero spam tolerance policy and this will cause a ban of your user account. Otherwise we wish you a pleasant stay here! Read the forum rules
  4. We have a few rules which you need to read and accept before posting anything here! Following these rules will keep the forum clean and your stay pleasant. Do not follow these rules can lead to permanent exclusion from this website: Read the forum rules.
    Are you a company? Read our company rules

MWB 4 DOF Simulator

Discussion in 'DIY Motion Simulator Projects' started by MWB, Aug 29, 2016.

  1. MWB

    MWB Drive it like you stole it!!

    Joined:
    Jan 2, 2016
    Messages:
    131
    Occupation:
    Commissioning Engineer
    Location:
    U.K.
    Balance:
    424Coins
    Ratings:
    +148 / 0 / -0
    My Motion Simulator:
    2DOF, DC motor, Arduino, Motion platform, 4DOF, 6DOF
    @bruce stephen, your rig looks wicked mate, and thanks for all your help with Simtools, so far!!!:cheers
  2. bruce stephen

    bruce stephen Hammer doesnt fix it, must be electrical

    Joined:
    Jun 7, 2015
    Messages:
    1,286
    Occupation:
    general contractor
    Location:
    michigan
    Balance:
    9,110Coins
    Ratings:
    +1,237 / 9 / -0
    My Motion Simulator:
    2DOF, DC motor, Arduino, Motion platform, 6DOF
    Np gives me something to do. Plus people here really helped me. All I had to do was read, Ask a few questions. The heavy lifting had already been done, so I like to give back.:)
    • Like Like x 1
    • Agree Agree x 1
  3. MWB

    MWB Drive it like you stole it!!

    Joined:
    Jan 2, 2016
    Messages:
    131
    Occupation:
    Commissioning Engineer
    Location:
    U.K.
    Balance:
    424Coins
    Ratings:
    +148 / 0 / -0
    My Motion Simulator:
    2DOF, DC motor, Arduino, Motion platform, 4DOF, 6DOF
    Nice one bud :thumbs
    • Like Like x 1
  4. shannonb1

    shannonb1 Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Mar 12, 2008
    Messages:
    1,107
    Occupation:
    Sales Intelligence
    Location:
    Virginia
    Balance:
    8,909Coins
    Ratings:
    +598 / 5 / -0
    My Motion Simulator:
    2DOF, AC motor, Arduino, JRK, 4DOF
    Can you do a video showing the lower half,. I would love to see how the arms move.
    • Agree Agree x 3
  5. MWB

    MWB Drive it like you stole it!!

    Joined:
    Jan 2, 2016
    Messages:
    131
    Occupation:
    Commissioning Engineer
    Location:
    U.K.
    Balance:
    424Coins
    Ratings:
    +148 / 0 / -0
    My Motion Simulator:
    2DOF, DC motor, Arduino, Motion platform, 4DOF, 6DOF
    More testing! Only using the front two motor at the moment.

    • Like Like x 2
    • Winner Winner x 1
  6. SilentChill

    SilentChill Problem Maker

    Joined:
    Jul 19, 2014
    Messages:
    2,619
    Occupation:
    Railway Maintenance
    Location:
    Morecambe, Lancashire, England
    Balance:
    20,396Coins
    Ratings:
    +3,480 / 34 / -0
    My Motion Simulator:
    DC motor, Arduino, Motion platform, 6DOF
    Nice one its up and running :D

    Hows the power on those IBT things are they getting hot/shutting down ?

    edit: never pressed the brake once :p
    • Like Like x 1
  7. MWB

    MWB Drive it like you stole it!!

    Joined:
    Jan 2, 2016
    Messages:
    131
    Occupation:
    Commissioning Engineer
    Location:
    U.K.
    Balance:
    424Coins
    Ratings:
    +148 / 0 / -0
    My Motion Simulator:
    2DOF, DC motor, Arduino, Motion platform, 4DOF, 6DOF
    They are getting hot, I put some thermal paste on the main heat sinks and fans, put a little stick on heat sink on the front of the power chips and I can feel that they are getting hot because I don't have a fan on them. Back ones not so much but it's hard to tell because of the fans, Set the PWMmax to 200, and have the max travel at about 40% and about 10% smoothing, just to squeeze as much as I can out of them. Shutting down wise, if you crash and start putting big spikes in to them then yes! And they are noisy (high bitch whistle on the motor windings) I've ordered a 50A shunt resistor from eBay so that I can monitor exactly how much current is being supplied to the motors, also when they shutdown. This should help me decide whitch Sabertooth to choose. If I use SM3 set to sinewave, sit in the seat and put both my arms out either side, the motor on that side stalls, but with arms in its fine! Also the motor body's only getting marginally warm, so I think I could definitely drive them harder!:thumbs
  8. MWB

    MWB Drive it like you stole it!!

    Joined:
    Jan 2, 2016
    Messages:
    131
    Occupation:
    Commissioning Engineer
    Location:
    U.K.
    Balance:
    424Coins
    Ratings:
    +148 / 0 / -0
    My Motion Simulator:
    2DOF, DC motor, Arduino, Motion platform, 4DOF, 6DOF
    So yesterday I revived my Sabertooth 2x60,
    Big thanks to @SilentChill for the recommending it!
    Overkill I know but I wanted to future prof. Well what can I say, night and day the difference, that and the new Simtools 2.0 never really got going on the old Simtools so it's hard for me to really know the difference. The Sabertooth is the way to go!
    I've got a problem with one of my motors, Seems to be the brushes, I think the brushes may have been changed for the wrong type at some point, because they seem smaller the brush carrier. One lap of Nürburgring in PC and one lap in AC And I've got smoke coming out the back of the motor :grin
    Body of the motor was 90 deg c and the commutator was 115 dec c, wear as the other motor, seeing the same load and rated the same was only 30deg c
    Got some tweaking to do in SMC3 because at one point my sim started kangoing across the back of my garage, any tips are most welcome! :eek:
    Also big thanks to @BlazinH for his tutorial on the setup of the Sabertooth.

    https://www.xsimulator.net/community/posts/117616/
    hug:

    More testing and setting up tonight.
    • Like Like x 2
  9. SilentChill

    SilentChill Problem Maker

    Joined:
    Jul 19, 2014
    Messages:
    2,619
    Occupation:
    Railway Maintenance
    Location:
    Morecambe, Lancashire, England
    Balance:
    20,396Coins
    Ratings:
    +3,480 / 34 / -0
    My Motion Simulator:
    DC motor, Arduino, Motion platform, 6DOF
    Awesome !!

    They are really good, they come at a cost but they are pretty much powerful enough for anything. You won't have to worry about drivers again that's for sure :D
    • Like Like x 1
  10. shannonb1

    shannonb1 Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Mar 12, 2008
    Messages:
    1,107
    Occupation:
    Sales Intelligence
    Location:
    Virginia
    Balance:
    8,909Coins
    Ratings:
    +598 / 5 / -0
    My Motion Simulator:
    2DOF, AC motor, Arduino, JRK, 4DOF
    What power supply would be good to use with that?
    • Agree Agree x 1
  11. SilentChill

    SilentChill Problem Maker

    Joined:
    Jul 19, 2014
    Messages:
    2,619
    Occupation:
    Railway Maintenance
    Location:
    Morecambe, Lancashire, England
    Balance:
    20,396Coins
    Ratings:
    +3,480 / 34 / -0
    My Motion Simulator:
    DC motor, Arduino, Motion platform, 6DOF
    I use 6x 40 amp psu's and a battery for the back current
  12. shannonb1

    shannonb1 Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Mar 12, 2008
    Messages:
    1,107
    Occupation:
    Sales Intelligence
    Location:
    Virginia
    Balance:
    8,909Coins
    Ratings:
    +598 / 5 / -0
    My Motion Simulator:
    2DOF, AC motor, Arduino, JRK, 4DOF
    How many sabertooth? 3? 6?
  13. SilentChill

    SilentChill Problem Maker

    Joined:
    Jul 19, 2014
    Messages:
    2,619
    Occupation:
    Railway Maintenance
    Location:
    Morecambe, Lancashire, England
    Balance:
    20,396Coins
    Ratings:
    +3,480 / 34 / -0
    My Motion Simulator:
    DC motor, Arduino, Motion platform, 6DOF
  14. MWB

    MWB Drive it like you stole it!!

    Joined:
    Jan 2, 2016
    Messages:
    131
    Occupation:
    Commissioning Engineer
    Location:
    U.K.
    Balance:
    424Coins
    Ratings:
    +148 / 0 / -0
    My Motion Simulator:
    2DOF, DC motor, Arduino, Motion platform, 4DOF, 6DOF
    Als
    I'm using two car batteries and a £10 24v 11A psu from eBay, 1580A from the car batteries. My systems 24v, so I've set my psu to 26v to trickle charge the batteries.
    Dimension Engineering recommends went using a psu to also have a battery connected as well due to the Synchronous regenerative drive, Which I'm sure is just a fancy name for back EMF.
    It basically puts power back into the battery under breaking. This can upset some power supply's. Also the Sabertooth 2x60 can drive two motors, 60A continuously and a peek of 120A for a couple of seconds. (Each motor)

    https://www.dimensionengineering.com/datasheets/Sabertooth2x60.pdf
  15. MWB

    MWB Drive it like you stole it!!

    Joined:
    Jan 2, 2016
    Messages:
    131
    Occupation:
    Commissioning Engineer
    Location:
    U.K.
    Balance:
    424Coins
    Ratings:
    +148 / 0 / -0
    My Motion Simulator:
    2DOF, DC motor, Arduino, Motion platform, 4DOF, 6DOF
    I got a really weird fault, The sim starts out fine I get about 1 min into driving and then I get a really high speed oscillation, I haft to shut down the game and start SMC3 to get the oscillation to stop, has anyone had this fault? @SilentChill , I've having the same problem in AC and Dirt Rally.
  16. Kass55

    Kass55 Member

    Joined:
    Aug 19, 2015
    Messages:
    70
    Occupation:
    PC support
    Location:
    UK
    Balance:
    325Coins
    Ratings:
    +16 / 0 / -0
    My Motion Simulator:
    2DOF, DC motor, JRK
    I have had motors suddenly going up & down by themselves - just when they are overloaded.

    On some car games they allow replay. I suggest running a replay but without you sitting on it.
    For me problem disappeared without my weight on it.
    • Informative Informative x 1
  17. MWB

    MWB Drive it like you stole it!!

    Joined:
    Jan 2, 2016
    Messages:
    131
    Occupation:
    Commissioning Engineer
    Location:
    U.K.
    Balance:
    424Coins
    Ratings:
    +148 / 0 / -0
    My Motion Simulator:
    2DOF, DC motor, Arduino, Motion platform, 4DOF, 6DOF
    Ok that makes sense, I'll give that a go, Thanks
  18. Nick Moxley

    Nick Moxley Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Dec 13, 2013
    Messages:
    2,779
    Occupation:
    Owner/Operator- Moxleys Rantals
    Location:
    Winnipeg Manitoba Canada
    Balance:
    17,054Coins
    Ratings:
    +2,504 / 30 / -2
    My Motion Simulator:
    2DOF, 3DOF, DC motor, JRK

    That is a Bandaid to a Problem,



    @MWB do you have all 4 motor's up and running at least now ?
    • Funny Funny x 1
  19. SilentChill

    SilentChill Problem Maker

    Joined:
    Jul 19, 2014
    Messages:
    2,619
    Occupation:
    Railway Maintenance
    Location:
    Morecambe, Lancashire, England
    Balance:
    20,396Coins
    Ratings:
    +3,480 / 34 / -0
    My Motion Simulator:
    DC motor, Arduino, Motion platform, 6DOF
    @MWB try setting FPID in SMC3 utility to 4. It sounds like a similar issue I had but not exact;y the same. Can you try that and see if it helps and report back :)
    • Like Like x 1
  20. MWB

    MWB Drive it like you stole it!!

    Joined:
    Jan 2, 2016
    Messages:
    131
    Occupation:
    Commissioning Engineer
    Location:
    U.K.
    Balance:
    424Coins
    Ratings:
    +148 / 0 / -0
    My Motion Simulator:
    2DOF, DC motor, Arduino, Motion platform, 4DOF, 6DOF
    Hi @Nick Moxley,

    No I'm only running the front two motors until I'm happy I've got everything working correctly, and then I will start on the back two. Can't wait to get all four motors working! :grin
    Last edited: Jan 25, 2017