Tutorial SMC3 Arduino 3DOF Motor Driver and Windows Utilities

Hi!

I'm trying to get my sim motors running with the SMC3.
I have connected the components as described in the setup but i have run in to a problem.
I use 10 turn 5k ohm potentiometers, but I have not figured out how to get them to work correctly.
In the picture you can see the full range of the potentiometer = 10 turns
How do I make it go from limit to limit in just half a turn/180 degrees?



Thanks!

Can anyone tell me for sure if the pid is processed on the arduino or on the pc?

Thanks noorbeast.
So I possibly have a jammed arduino. I tried everything like change pots, cables start all over several times. Still have weird spikes when trying to have motor resting controlling it with the pot with pid. Sketches like control led fading with pwm works perfectly. But pid is acting weirdly. I have another arduino that acts the same way. Ordering a new one to compare.

Hello, just asking if SMC3 Ver 1.01 is the latest. Finally by the unfortunate events everybody is aware of I have enough time on my hands to complete my 2DOF project... Hope you all and your loved ones are well!

İ have problem can you help me please

Are your problems those small rebounds??

Yeah. Do you think the problem might be on the engine. The engine does not stop where it should stop.

Do I have to set the same baud rate in device manager or not?
Because I have perfect motion in sim utils but not in simtools.

I am trying to setup my 3DOF sim, but running into a problem with motor 3. I was able to adjust the pots and motors for motors 1 and 2, but when I got to motor 3, the problem began. I can turn the pot and it displays normal operation on the SMC3 Utility screen, but when the motor turns, it only turns one direction, regardless of what side of the blue target line the pot output is. When the pot value matches the target, the motor stops as expected, but like I mentioned it does not matter which way the pot is turned, the motor only spins in the clockwise direction. I do not have this problem with the other two motors.

I am using SMC3 V1.01 code on an Arduino in Mode 1. I have checked the boards by attaching motor 3 outputs from the Arduino to the board for motor 2 and the same issue then presents itself on motor 2 (so the problem is not in the board). I also checked the voltages at the board input and compared then to what they are at the Arduino and they are the same, so it is not a wiring connection either. It's almost as if SMC3 is only telling the Arduino to send power to the motor without trying to change direction. Is this possible? The only thing I can find that is out of the ordinary is that the voltage on PIN 7 (ENB MOTOR 3) is lower than the voltage on ENB MOTOR 1 and ENB MOTOR 2. While stationary:
Pin 3 (ENB Motor 1) is reading 4.5V
Pin 5 (ENB Motor 2) is reading 4.5V
Pin 7 (ENB Motor 3) is reading 0.4V

I am not using ENA (pins 2,4, and 6) for any motors because my Cytron MD30C boards only have pins for GND, PWM, and DIR. The set up is the same on the working motors as it is in the non-working motor.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I can handle the mechanical parts, but electronically I am not savvy enough.

Thank You

Hey @gabe,
I'm using the same MD30C, I'm using MODE 2 in a SMC3 I modified.
You can find infos in my thread here

@p00ky is using my modified version with his MDDS30 and is working fine for him too

@Blame73 ,

Thank You! This is great and I will give it a go in a few days (I crashed into a pot yesterday in manual mode and am waiting on replacement), but am excited to try it! Thank you for the reply. It's valuable to have such a helpful community like this.

Why didn't this work for me? Is there currently some kind of different configuration?
I wish my engines were at maximum height when turning off the game.

Excuse me. I appreciate the help but I still don't understand anything.

Give me a practical example please. What is the amount I need to fill so that my engines are in the highest position?

So I downloaded this code to help with my issue where one motor would turn the same direction regardless of which side of the blue target line the pot input was on, but now two motors are having that problem.. Does anyone know what the cause could be? I attached a video of the issue.

https://www.icloud.com/photos/#0obJ8k_HcZSrAHX0wWI32k6Fg

Hello, not sure to be on right thread.......I can’t figure out what I have to send to smc3 rc model sketch using Processing to send my data
I know that Format is supposed to be RxxxLxxx~But I can’t translate that in terms of serial.write () instruction in Processing
Has anyone a suggestion ? should be delighted