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Question JRK G2 Motor driver error

Discussion in 'DIY Motion Simulator Building Q&A / FAQ' started by 427Cobra, Nov 21, 2020.

  1. 427Cobra

    427Cobra There is no substitute for cubic inches

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    My Motion Simulator:
    2DOF, DC motor, JRK
    Have got problem with one of my new JRK G2 motor controllers when starting the setup of my new rig. Got ”Motor driver error” when using the Pololu Configuration utility after approx 15 minutes of soft testing, without load on the motor, which is impossible to reset.

    Use a 200W, 80ZYJ08 type worm gear motor with nominal current 25Amp on a JRK G2 18V27 card.
    According to the motor manuafacturer stalled motor current is 80~100Amp, and start peak current or when I switch direction quickly 60~80 A.

    Have switched motors and also tested with another power supply but the error is still there. Power supplies are Dell N750P, 12V, 750W, rated current 62,4Amp, one for each motor.

    According to Pololu the motor is too big for this controller card but the hard current setting is up to 76Amp in the Configuration utility and I don't think it's the peak limit.
    The PS should probably also help to reduce the the maximum peak current using internal current limitation but I don’t know the peak value it can deliver when the rated current is 62Amp.
    Configuration utility settings when I got the error was hard current 25,65Amp, soft current 24,0Amp, max acceleration to 50 when I got the error and the card was not heated.

    I know there are a lot of JRK users in the forum so I would be happy to get your input and experience. Is the motor too big for the 18V27 card? Or was the error created because I had low current settings in the Configuration utility, but in that case, is there any way to reset the error when I can’t do it by ”Clear errors” in the Configuration utility?

    If the card is broken and the motor is too big I’m in trouble because there is no JRK available to control higher motor current. I selected the JRK because of the user friendly setup, interface to SimTools and that I have no knowledge about Ardunio and programing.
  2. noorbeast

    noorbeast VR Tassie Devil Staff Member Moderator Race Director

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    My Motion Simulator:
    3DOF, DC motor, JRK
    First things first, have you tried setting the JRK back to its factory defaults, using the Pololu utility?
  3. 427Cobra

    427Cobra There is no substitute for cubic inches

    Joined:
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    My Motion Simulator:
    2DOF, DC motor, JRK
    Yes, there is no difference after factory reset, the error is still there.
    Same result if the PS is switched on first and then the USB/card is connected, or if I connect the USB/ card first, the ”Motor driver error” replace the missing VIN error when the PS is switched on.
  4. noorbeast

    noorbeast VR Tassie Devil Staff Member Moderator Race Director

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    My Motion Simulator:
    3DOF, DC motor, JRK
    Just to be clear, are you saying the error is there after a factory reset and before you do any configurations?
  5. 427Cobra

    427Cobra There is no substitute for cubic inches

    Joined:
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    My Motion Simulator:
    2DOF, DC motor, JRK
    Thanks Noorbeast for your attempts to help me :)
    Yes if you mean using "Device - Restore default settings" in the Configuration utility. The error never disappears. Have tested with and without the motor connected when I restored the settings (also tested with a small 12V, 1 Watt motor). Or is there any other way to reset everything, including the error codes and my personal settings, which I have missed?
  6. noorbeast

    noorbeast VR Tassie Devil Staff Member Moderator Race Director

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    Location:
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    Balance:
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    Ratings:
    +10,741 / 52 / -2
    My Motion Simulator:
    3DOF, DC motor, JRK
    It would be helpful if you posted pictures of all settings.

    You may need to contact Pololu:

    Motor driver error
    This error occurs when one of the motor driver’s fault conditions are triggered, and the motor driver shuts down the motor and reports the error to the jrk’s microcontroller. This error also occurs when the jrk is connected to USB and motor power becomes disconnected. When this error occurs, the jrk will try to automatically recover from it by toggling the appropriate lines on the motor driver. The jrk 21v3’s motor driver fault occurs on under-voltage, over-temperature, or over-current conditions. The jrk 12v12’s motor driver fault occurs when it detects that motor output A is shorted to ground or VIN.
  7. 427Cobra

    427Cobra There is no substitute for cubic inches

    Joined:
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    My Motion Simulator:
    2DOF, DC motor, JRK
    Attached pictures are the settings I used when the JRK stopped working, except the ”Status” tab which shows the values today when I took the pictures. Feedback was not activated.

    Have been in contact with Brandon at Pololu but haven’t got any explanation how to move forward to check if the card is broken or if the error can be reset, but he told me the JRK G2 18V27 is to small and can’t be used by my 12V 200W motor. ☹
    I’m surprised because the JRK series is used by several rigs in the forum.

    My main concern is if the motor is to big for the JRK, in that case I need to find another solution to move forward, and as I wrote in my first post, I have no experience about Ardunio and programming. If the motor size is OK, I just need to buy a new JRK but I will not take the risk to burn a second JRK.

    Attached Files:

  8. Kass55

    Kass55 Member

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    My Motion Simulator:
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    Hi,
    It is a long time since I setup my JRK G2
    But from memory I also had this error,
    Looking at PID.jpg it appears to be wrong...

    I suggest changing PID as attached.
    These where initial values for me, which I tuned / increased slightly later.

    Attached Files:

    • PID.jpg
      PID.jpg
      File size:
      175.1 KB
      Views:
      186
  9. Kass55

    Kass55 Member

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    My Motion Simulator:
    2DOF, DC motor, JRK
    I also attach my motor settings used initially to get it to work.

    I used Corsair power supply, because if the motor drew too much current, the PSU will off.
    Mian to Corsair PSU can be reset and you can test again.
    This way I was able to test, gradually increasing max duty cycle and max acceleration to the values here.

    Attached Files:

  10. 427Cobra

    427Cobra There is no substitute for cubic inches

    Joined:
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    My Motion Simulator:
    2DOF, DC motor, JRK
    Thanks a lot for charing your experiance @Kass55
    I will change my PID and motor settings to see what happens.
  11. 427Cobra

    427Cobra There is no substitute for cubic inches

    Joined:
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    My Motion Simulator:
    2DOF, DC motor, JRK
    Unfortunately still the same "motor driver error" when using your settings. The error text is flashing when I try to run the motor from the Configuration tool, with or without the motor connected (or with a small 1W motor). And if I change "When motor is off" setting from "Coast" to "Break" the error text is constant.

    The second JRK/motor combination in the rig works fine and without any problem so far so it looks like a broken JRK card for this JRK/motor combination. :-(
  12. Kass55

    Kass55 Member

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    My Motion Simulator:
    2DOF, DC motor, JRK
    I agree, if one works and one does not, with same setting / connections, then its a broken board.
    I myself, also had a JRK G2 board fail, when I overloaded it
    and had to buy another.

    Although the Pololu software may allow Max current to = 75A - has anyone run this successfully ?
    Or can anyone let me know how high they went ?
  13. 427Cobra

    427Cobra There is no substitute for cubic inches

    Joined:
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    Location:
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    My Motion Simulator:
    2DOF, DC motor, JRK
    I use a 20Amp car fuse in front of the motor and it did not trip when the JRK got broken so it was not an over current which broke the JRK, and the 20Amp fuse works fine when testing the other JRK/motor combination.

    I’m in contact with Pololu and they are looking at the issue right now.
    • Like Like x 1
  14. 427Cobra

    427Cobra There is no substitute for cubic inches

    Joined:
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    My Motion Simulator:
    2DOF, DC motor, JRK
    Sorry, forgot to update this thread when it was solved a long time ago, but here is a final update what happened.

    The reason behind my error was a bad JRK board. Had good support from the Pojolo team and the JRK was replaced by a new one and the bad one was sent back for analyzis.
    • Like Like x 2