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Question Kangaroo X2 vs. Arduino

Discussion in 'SimTools compatible interfaces' started by My.stAr, May 10, 2019.

  1. My.stAr

    My.stAr Active Member

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    My Motion Simulator:
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    Can someone help me with the question:
    What is "better", Arduino with e.g. SMC3 or a kangaroo board?

    What are the advantages and disadvantages of the boards?


    I build my simulator with Arduino and smc3-sps. It was fine for me. But since I'm rebuilding my rig and have some kangaroo boards I'm asking myself if it would be better to use them?!?

    I would be happy to get some answershug:

    Thanks
    My.stAr
  2. yobuddy

    yobuddy Well-Known Member Staff Member Moderator SimAxe Beta Tester SimTools Developer Gold Contributor

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    Are they the X2's buddy?
    I think the originals had a few bugs and were only around for a short time.
  3. My.stAr

    My.stAr Active Member

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    Yes, I have the X2.
  4. yobuddy

    yobuddy Well-Known Member Staff Member Moderator SimAxe Beta Tester SimTools Developer Gold Contributor

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    From the limited feedback i have received on them, they are pretty cool man!
    Lots of auto setup stuff.
    would be cool so them compared for sure!
    Take care,
    yobuddy
  5. My.stAr

    My.stAr Active Member

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    @BlazinH, since you wrote the smc3-sps and also lots of stuff about the kangaroos, I think you could answer this question?
    What are the main (dis)advatages of the kangaroo x2 and the Arduino with your Code?
  6. BlazinH

    BlazinH Well-Known Member

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    Kangaroo:
    Pros - Works with encoders, self tuning
    Cons - Doesn't work good with pots, self tuning, unfamiliar tuning perimeters if manual adjustment necessary

    Arduino SMC3:
    Pros - Works with pots and hall sensors, familiar tuning perimeters (PID) to manually adjust
    Cons - Doesn't work with encoders on its own, 10 bit max analog sensor resolution

    There is only one Kangaroo version; the x2 stands for two motor control. Some report having issues with its self tuning feature though and manual adjustment is difficult so it can be either a pro or con depending on your own experience.
    • Informative Informative x 3
  7. My.stAr

    My.stAr Active Member

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    Thanks @BlazinH :thumbs
    Since I'd like to use encoders I'll give the kangaroos a try.

    Where could manual adjustments be neccesary?
  8. BlazinH

    BlazinH Well-Known Member

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    Here's one.

    "The second problem was with control tuning. I was using Kangaroo x2's as PID controllers and for some reason they just refused to properly auto-tune. The tuning process completed without issues, but then bad ocscilations occured at some parts of the lever travel. I tried setting the coefficients manually, which helped a little, but could not fully solve the problem. I spent couple of weeks trying to fix that -- without success. Probably, I would have eventually found the cause of the problem or maybe I could have switched to SMC3."
    Grigory's 6DOF #2 -- compact and no linear actuators, 220V servos
  9. PaulB

    PaulB Titanium2dof

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    My Motion Simulator:
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    My 2 cents. I went with encoders, Kangaroos and 2x32 Sabertooth right from the beginning. Just wired up my last 2 encoders tonight for my 6 dof rig.
    Pros for Kangaroo- they can be driven off the motors.(less congested)
    doesn't seem like much, but when I need to make changes on all 6 motor. I don't need to disturb all my control wiring. even then it's mostly plugin!

    Had jittery control when I started out. Thought it was a bad Sabertooth. Just needed to plug the sabertooth into the computer on it's own and reprogram it with DEScribe software. Thanks Carol!

    https://www.xsimulator.net/community/threads/the-in-progress-brig-seat-1-3.12189/
    • Like Like x 1
  10. baykah

    baykah Active Member

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    My Motion Simulator:
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    I'm switching to contactless potentiometers on my linear actuators ...

    I was considering going for a kangaroo, why is it not good with pot ?
  11. PaulB

    PaulB Titanium2dof

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    My Motion Simulator:
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    I'm not sure about you actuator, but Page 5 of the Kangaroo manual explains the differences.