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Showroom 6DOF using Solo Uno

Discussion in 'DIY Motion Simulator Projects' started by Rogier, Aug 31, 2021.

  1. Rogier

    Rogier New Member

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    Hi friends,

    Here we go. First of all thanks to all of you guys for sharing your knowledge. It makes it possible for people like me to one day own a motion sim (at least, I hope). I spent many hours digging through the build threads of all you legends around here, so I guess what you'll see here is mostly a collection of all the ideas I borrowed from you guys along with some of my own stubbornness perhaps.

    So, over the last weeks I have been working on getting motor control working using the Solo Uno motor controller with a brushless aerodrive motor. The solo uno is by far not the cheapest motor controller on the market. It appealed to me because of it's robustness, versatility and above all the useful tutorials that have been posted by the manufacturer along with good support. Since I'm new to electronics and only posses amateur programming skills, this seems the right product for me.

    The setup so far:
    -1200W 24DC power supply from Ali Express
    -Arduino Uno
    -Solo Uno
    -Turnigy Aerodrive 6364 213kV (wanted to go for the 190kV, but it was out of stock)
    -AMT102-V incremental encoder

    After a few day of fiddling with the Solo motion terminal and building some code for the Arduino (home-brew, based on some of the SMC3 code and combined with the Solo arduino library) I got my first motor connected and responding to simtools (hurray!). For those who are interested, attached are some photos of the setup and a video of some first results (disregard the crappy motor mount ;))



    Some first notes:
    - The shared serial from the Arduino Uno is not ideal. It works by disconnecting the Arduino's rx from Solo. This obviously cuts the communication from the Solo back to the Arduino, but it is not really necessary since the position loop is completely covered by the Solo. I might swap the Uno for a Mega or Due or so when I expand to more controllers.
    - In the mean time, Solo released the Solo mini, which promises the same functionality in a smaller form factor and with €30 discount. When expanding, I might go for the mini.
    - I like the aerodrive, but think it is a bit overkill I think. I ordered a flipsky style 5055 motor. Along with a somewhat lower price tag, it offers included hall sensors and a smaller form factor.

    Cheers!

    Rogier IMG_2414.JPG IMG_2418.JPG
    • Like Like x 3
  2. PeterW

    PeterW alias Wickie

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    Hi Rogier
    so nice to see your first steps with the solo uno!
    I am looking forward to your experiences and progress in the project!
    After reading your first post, I want to give you some advices for your 6DOF:
    1) Use 1610 ballscrews for good speed and low noise! I changed from 1605 to 1610 and can tell you its defenetly the better choice.
    2) 1610 ballscrews need lot more motor power than the 1605. So even the turnigy 6364 190kV is not perfect and can get hot. I use the turnigy 6374 149 kV now and its perfect for the 1610.
    Also you have to take into account that the solo uno does not support a break resistor - so the breaking power will heat up the motor additionally. I think its not much, but maybe too much for a small motor.
    Also you should think about that the upper platform will have a weight of maybe 150 kg with driver - so if you want to move this with 300-500 mm/s I assume that a 5055 motor is too small.
    Wickie
    • Like Like x 1
    • Informative Informative x 1
  3. accelero

    accelero Member

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    Hello,
    why did your choice turn on these and not on Sabertooth motor drivers 60 A which are about same price?
  4. Rogier

    Rogier New Member

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    Thank for your feedback Peter!

    I see your point with the 1610. Now testing with a 1605 an notice that with half the RPM the noise significantly decreases, so it indeed makes sense that the 1610 will operate much more quietly.

    Considering the heat generation on the motors, I think I'll need to do some load testing to see how it runs. I already ordered the 5055, so I'll at least give it a swing once it comes in.

    The solo uno product overview does mention that it supports regenerative braking. I think that somehow, I should be able to burn (or even better, store and re-use) the braking energy somehow. I need to do some more digging on how to deal with this.

    Also, I intend to mount compression springs inside the actuator to compensate the deadweight. These should limit the current draw by the motors as well as the back EMF.
  5. Rogier

    Rogier New Member

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    Hi Accelero,

    There are a couple of things I like about the UNO.
    - The web based motion terminal helps to quickly get the motors up and running.
    - I followed some tutorials on their blog and figured that how they set up the system was something I could easily comprehend. Got a bit scared from the warnings on the Odrives (don't know about the Sabertooths)
    - The UNO includes closed loop position control. Controlling the UNO is a simple as sending a position command from an Arduino.
    - If you check their forums, you see their support is quick and good.

    In the end, I think if you know what you are doing, the Sabertooth drivers are a good choice. I decided to pick my battles a bit here.

    Rogier
  6. PeterW

    PeterW alias Wickie

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    Hi Rogier,
    sorry for flooding your thread again with comments, but I have one more advice regarding your compression springs:
    I the beginning of building my Simulator I was a noob in this topic and didnt know how much power I could expect from the brushless motors.
    So I decided to develop a mixture between an electric and a pneumatic actuator in order to compensate the load of the upper platform. The air inside acted like a real spring and it worked great! BUT after making tests with the "spring" and without, I found that it is completely useless, because the brushless motors had so much power that they pushed easyly the required load. So I gave up the Idea of the spring....
    Wickie
    • Like Like x 1
  7. PeterW

    PeterW alias Wickie

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    Hi @accelero:
    The Sabertooth motor drivers are for brushed motors only and the solo uno is suitable also for brushless motors that have a higher power density and better dynamic.
    Wickie
    • Agree Agree x 2
  8. accelero

    accelero Member

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    Ok guys thanks for your advice
    looking forward reading about this rig
  9. Rogier

    Rogier New Member

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    Hi Peter, please keep the feedback coming. It helps me not to rush into decisions that I may later regret.

    I am going to do some more testing with different components to see whether it makes sense.

    My motivation for adding the springs is not so much to reduce motor size but more to limit the power consumption from the sim. I think my fuses blow out at approx 2500W and ideally I would like to be able to run the sim and gaming PC on a single fuse.

    I think other than by applying springs, the correct use of capacitors may have a similar effect, limit the peaks in power consumption and allow reuse of the back EMF. Up to so far, I have not been able to find how to work this out. If anyone has a lead or ideas on this, please let me know.

    Rogier



    Rogier
  10. Dirty

    Dirty Well-Known Member Gold Contributor

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    Hey @Rogier, :)

    I am also interested in learning how it goes with the compression springs. This is a thought that I had as well. Another idea I had was to attach bungee cords between the ceiling and the upper platform to carry some of the static load. I didn't do any of this because...

    1. No matter how big the urge to offset some of that static load from the platform, your motors should be able to handle this load easily. Or at least I would recommend you to use motors that can handle this load easily. In my case I barely ever needed more than ~20% to carry the static load. Compression springs, like any other method, will add complexity and cost. Maybe one step stronger motors might be a better place for this money to go.

    2. Be aware that those springs will only ever be able to offset the static vertical load, but none of the dynamic lateral loads! Dynamic load, however, is a significant share of the total load.

    Nonetheless, I'd find it great if you built a system with some form of static load alleviation. Like I said, I have only theoretical considerations, but not actually built anything.

    Dirty :)
    • Agree Agree x 2