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Question Troubles with SCM3 Arduino/MM

Discussion in 'DIY Motion Simulator Building Q&A / FAQ' started by Jstone, Mar 7, 2019.

  1. Jstone

    Jstone New Member

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    Hello from Australia!

    I recently started testing out my Arduino with Motomonster trying to get it to work on small motors before moving onto wiper motors. I'm following RufusDufus's guide (https://www.xsimulator.net/communit...3dof-motor-driver-and-windows-utilities.4957/) and still having no luck, I think I have the wiring correct but SCM3 says that motor 1 is off and I don't know why.


    [​IMG] https://drive.google.com/file/d/1IGHuHAmnd1KZzIIEFSJB1yksvzH0ex4a/view?usp=sharing



    [​IMG]
    Above is a link to my Wiring and below that is the wiring from RufusDufus's tutorial, most of the wiring is identical except for the pot, which is connected to the motor, I tried running the pot off of the 5v on the Arduino like the tutorial suggests but it didn't work either.

    I am unsure why it is not working and any help would be greatly appreciated :)
  2. noorbeast

    noorbeast VR Tassie Devil Staff Member Moderator Race Director

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  3. getti

    getti Currently building my first 2dof seat mover...

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    Try to make sure the pot position is close to the middle. SMC3 has a 'max limit' that shuts off the motor if the pot goes too far. I didn't look at your wiring sorry. Is that a 10k pot?
  4. Jstone

    Jstone New Member

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    Thanks for your replies, tomorrow I’ll make sure the pot feedback is in the middle and try to turn the motor on, the pot is 10k.
    As for the motomonster shield I bought it from Core Electronics https://core-electronics.com.au/monster-moto-shield.html so I presume it is an error with my setup rather then the board itself, but in saying that I havnt tested it besides trying to get SMC3 working. Tomorrow perhaps I’ll also test the board with some generic coding I can find online.
    Thanks again for your help guys and I’ll give an update tomorrow :)
  5. Jstone

    Jstone New Member

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    Alright I quickly tested out your solutions this morning and after a few attempts it’s finally turning on. I wired it exactly as the intructuons (Pot running off of Aruinos 5v and ground) and then moved the pot so feedback line was in the middle. The motor turned on and I could control the speed by moving the pot until it goes past the max limits. I am unsure though as I have to move the feedback line manually. Is that how it’s meant to work because I thought the feedback line should move towards the blue line without manual input. Am I doing something wrong or is this normal, any feedback would be really appreciated. Thank you :)
  6. noorbeast

    noorbeast VR Tassie Devil Staff Member Moderator Race Director

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    A picture of your settings would be helpful.

    Normally the pot is attached to the motor with the motor lever at its central point and the pot feedback line in the middle.
  7. Jstone

    Jstone New Member

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    Thanks for your reply, I see what you mean, I saw someone do that on their setup on youtube, currently, I don't have a proper setup as I'm just testing, so my pot was completely separate from my motor. Right now I'm just using a small 12v dc motor, so I should be connecting the pot to the motor's shaft, that way the feedback is lined up with the motor's position. Thanks so much, that really helped, the pot was one of the main things I didn't understand regarding the wiring. I'll add a potentiometer to the motor and try it out, once I've done that ill try to add a picture, hopefully all goes to plan and it works, thanks again for the reply :) :)
  8. noorbeast

    noorbeast VR Tassie Devil Staff Member Moderator Race Director

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    My Motion Simulator:
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    No problem, the pot is there and connected to the motor so the position of the motor is known at any given time.
  9. kev b

    kev b Active Member Gold Contributor

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    Hi,
    its pretty easy to test your setup before connecting the pot to the motor. In fact, I make a point of doing just this myself on my sim builds. There is always a chance that your pot may have its + and 0v in reversed positions relative to the direction of your motor movements, risking the motor forcing the pot past its stop position/snapping the shaft-coupler.
    Before applying the power to your monstermoto, and with smc3utils running, the pot in its centre position and disconnected from the motor, you should see the pot line (feedback) centered on the graph in smc3utils (if it isnt centered rotate the pot 'till it is. Turn the pot by hand gently in one direction then the other and check the pot line moves in unison in smc3utils. This will help you set your limits and test your system feedback from the pot.

    Now set the pot back to centre position and see that the feedback line on graph in smc3utils is on the centre line again. BEFORE you apply power to the monstermoto, orientate the pot to the motor so its in the position it will face when you eventually make the attachment and check its still in centered in smcutils. Power up the monstermoto. Now, very slowly turn the pot a few degrees in one direction (and be prepared to turn the pot back in the opposite direction!). If everything in working properly on the arduino and monstermoto then your motor will start to rotate in the opposite direction you turned the pot. You have to rotate the pot in the same direction to the motor rotation in order to slow, stop and reverse the motor. If this is true for your setup then your pot is wired correctly.
    Now here is the important bit - if you rotate the pot one way and the motor rotates the same way and to make the motor slow down, stop and reverse you have to rotate the pot in the opposite direction to the motor then your pot is wired backwards (either swap and resolder the +5 and gnd (0v) conns on the pot itself or easier to swap the conns on the arduino).

    I always do this for each motor/pot combo before I ever attach the pots to the motors. Safe in the knowledge that when I start 'live' moves the control system will work correctly (and motors don't go spinning out of control and breaking the shaft-couplers when you start putting moves in).

    I can offer you one other piece of useful advice imho. Forget about monstermoto's. I'm looking at a pile of dead/fried ones as I type this (over a dozen!). They are remnants from my 5 variants of motion sims I've built. For all my rigs now I use IBT-2 drives (and have done since v3). I've never had one fail yet and I put many 100's hrs on these rigs (see links in my sig below to see my 2 current setups). I'm running some pretty powerful 90-zyt-199, 12v motors at the mo (6 of them, each can lift nearly 50kg so they can handle the load, up to 43A ea). Pretty cheap too compared to MM. Worth considering. If you go for them there is a slight change in the SMC3 code (mode 2 instead of mode 1 if I remember correctly).

    (response to your Q above)
    When pot is not connected to the motor then yes, you are providing the feedback line manually into smc3utils when you turn the pot. The motor moves in the direction determined by the pot and stops when pot is zero'd.

    Good luck with the sim. Good fun to build and even better to use after (see links below).
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    Last edited: Mar 8, 2019