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Tutorial From AtoZ : 2DOF arduino wiper playseat

Discussion in 'DIY Motion Simulator Projects' started by RacingMat, Aug 8, 2013.

  1. RacingMat

    RacingMat Well-Known Member Gold Contributor

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    Not much really...
    Perfect for seat mover.
    Acceptable for 2Dof if well balanced and short lever.
    Useless for 6dof

    And it depends if it's a car model or a truck model. And if you drive it in 12v or 24v for truck model.
  2. Abram Manoge

    Abram Manoge Member

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    Ive always thought for wipe motors it would be better to use longer arms vs short arms. do you recon short arms are better for these motors. im doing a 2DOF seat mover. gonna add traction later
  3. noorbeast

    noorbeast VR Tassie Devil Staff Member Moderator Race Director

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    My Motion Simulator:
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    Wiper motors are not very powerful, so you need to use short levers to maximise the small amount of torque they do have to move mass (you, the rig and all peripherals).

    Think of it this way, the longer the lever the faster the linear speed, but with reduced torque, and of course the reverse is true, a short lever maximises torque at the cost of linear speed.

    You can use SimCalc to explore design Vs physics tradeoffs, including lever length: https://www.xsimulator.net/communit...e-linear-speed-and-forces-of-your-design.270/
    • Agree Agree x 1
  4. RacingMat

    RacingMat Well-Known Member Gold Contributor

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    exactly!

    and the further the motor will be from U-joint, the easier it will be for it
    but the angle will be reduced.
  5. Abram Manoge

    Abram Manoge Member

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    ill need to do more research on this. seems its more complicated than i expected
  6. RacingMat

    RacingMat Well-Known Member Gold Contributor

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    My Motion Simulator:
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    good to study!

    the overview is:
    on one hand, the motor has a rated power (torque N.m, speed m/s, 200W)
    on the other hand, you want a rig with high speed, high span (range), high acceleration and its stucture has to be sturdy hence some weight to move.

    the tradeoff is to balance everything.

    the parameters are lever length, the moment arm (the distance from the axis of rotation), the weight (seat mover vs full rig, aluminium vs steel)

    Some examples:
    if your motor is strong enough, you can achieve high speed with long lever and short moment arm.

    in your case (small motor), you have to choose a short lever, and long moment arm (motor far from U joint) and a seat mover only: that will work!

    maybe this could help?
  7. UserBas

    UserBas New Member

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    My Motion Simulator:
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    Hello Guys ! It's been... twenty days...
    I didn't have the time to work on my system since the last time, but here I am to continue.

    @RacingMat, Following your message,I decided to restart my tests. I'll try to explain in details what happens in my system. Notice that I didn't change a thing about how works the code (sometimes I add some Serial.print() --> Not a problem).
    My potentiometers are not mounted onto the motor, I decided to do tests before coupled it. Attached, I transfer a schema of my system (Not a photo cause it's a bit messy for now...).
    I have a problem at the beginning :
    In fact, whatever the value of DataValue is, the range [0-300](with potMini = 208) don't allow the motors to move.
    Furthermore, the range [815-1024] (with potMaxi = 815) allows the motors to work.
    The part concerning the Tolerance is working whatever the value of DataValue is (if DataValue is 512, motors are not working until their potentiometers are <492 or >532), etc...
    It's hard to do a video of the system because I would like to catch the system and the monitor if possible to show you the problem...

    Explanation (try) :
    . Setup : Potentiometer = 512; potMini = 208; potMaxi = 815; no mouvement,
    . When I increase the potentiometer up to 1024 --> Motors are working CCW,
    . When I decrease the potentiometer down to 532 --> Motors are working CCW,
    . When I decrease the potentiometer down to 492 --> Motors are in the Tolerance part --> No mouvement,
    . When I decrease the potentiometer down to 300 --> Motors are working CW,
    . When the potentiometer is lower than 300 --> No mouvement,
    . When the value of potentiometer decrease lower than 300, I need to increase the value to 532 to make the motors work again.

    This seems totally weird, isn't ? Did I explain it clearly ?
    Can it be a problem concerning the shield ? (I ordered one more shield three weeks ago to try another one but not received yet)
    Do I miss something ?

    Waiting for your response, Cordially.

    Attached Files:

  8. RacingMat

    RacingMat Well-Known Member Gold Contributor

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    My Motion Simulator:
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    the first step is pot not attached and no command from serial monitor:
    what is the behaviour? @UserBas

  9. UserBas

    UserBas New Member

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    @RacingMat, Maybe you misunderstand my "attached", I wanted to say "enclosed", that's my fault.

    First thing I do is to upload the Arduino's code in the Arduino UNO, nothing happens cause my pot are in middle position,
    Then I move them left and right to see how it works, that's all.

    I finally made a video to show you ! :roll
    (Don't even think speaking about my installation around motors :D...)

    https://streamable.com/rh2llc

    Video :
    . Firstly, I turn my pot to max, making my motor turn CCW,
    . When the max is reached, I turn my pot to min, stopping around the middle position,
    . Then, the motor is turning in CW until the pot reach the first quarter (angle around 67.5°), then it stops,
    . I turn my pot towards the max value and my motor starts working (CCW) only when I reach the middle position.

    This behavior concerns both motors.
  10. RacingMat

    RacingMat Well-Known Member Gold Contributor

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    @UserBas: it's works perfectly!

    now you can link the pot to the motor shaft.
    Just check that when face to face, pot and motor should turn opposite ways. That's normal, with middle position order in memory, it's the way it will self stabilize (if pot goes in one way (say under a great force) then the motor goes opposite way in order to go back to middle position).
    If it's not opposite, swap black and red wire of the pot.

    This test is mandatory: if not done, the motor will go full forward and break the pot. If unsure, try with a loosen connection that will slip if wrong. :)
    • Like Like x 1
  11. UserBas

    UserBas New Member

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    Hi @RacingMat !

    Overall, yeah, the system is working.
    I went to the next step (link the pot to the motor shaft) and I just had to swap my wires to make it work perfectly.

    I'm actually stuck at the "Output Testing" step.
    In fact, when I'm moving cursors, nothing occurs, no motion.
    I already configured my "Axis Assignments" (Default) and my "Interface Settings" (pictures enclosed).

    I probably missed one step, but i don't know which one...
    I continue my researches !

    Thanks for your time !

    Attached Files:

  12. RacingMat

    RacingMat Well-Known Member Gold Contributor

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    My Motion Simulator:
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    before using Simtools, did you manage to send position through arduino serial monitor?

    Now without any game running ! send orders from Arduino serial monitor :
    type the following strings in Hexa and press Enter:
    R7FL7F
    -> it should move the playseat/motors in horizontal position
    increase the angulation
    R64L64
    go farther cautiously
    R3FL3F

    you have to be able to move from 1 position to another
  13. UserBas

    UserBas New Member

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    My motors are not connected to the structure because it's not finished yet.
    But of course, I can control the position from the serial monitor ! :thumbs That's why I was going for the Output Testing.
  14. UserBas

    UserBas New Member

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    My Motion Simulator:
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    I ordered (on Output Testing) : Roll -60; Pitch 48 and Surge 74 (I had surge 20% Default' DOF)
    Nothing occurs early but after 2 minutes, my motors did a little mouvements, then stops. This behavior happened several times (without touching values) anytime.

    It seems like the connection works but I can't control motors.
  15. RacingMat

    RacingMat Well-Known Member Gold Contributor

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    no, the connection doesn't work... there is something wrong in the setup.

    some screenshots are in french, are you sure it's your screenshots and not from the tutorial? :rolleyes:
  16. UserBas

    UserBas New Member

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    Any idea where the problem can comes from ? :think

    Maybe they are in french because I'm a French guy ?
    Why would I send you screenshots that would not help me ? I started asking for help since early April without real success and I can assure you that I want it to be finish as soon as it can be... I'm stuck so close to te end (at least, I think) and I think I did (almost) everything like you guys said in the pasts tutorials. It feels like I'm powerless here.
    I'm gonna try on another computer, maybe that could change something.
  17. RacingMat

    RacingMat Well-Known Member Gold Contributor

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    Hi!
    Don't take it bad... I could write a book on what guys are doing but not telling or telling but not doing... while I'm scratching my head trying to figure out what's wrong in their setup.

    If your serial monitor tests which are OK, are done with the same computer as Simtools, it's only a matter a setting up Simtools now. And yes you're close!

    - you can try R3FL3F as "startup output" to see if motors are moving.
    - you can try a basic test with FlyPTmover

    You can add you location on your profile, it's always a wonder to see where people are from :) far far away or really close!
  18. UserBas

    UserBas New Member

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    Hi again !
    Sorry, I didn't mean to offend you. I can understand, You take your free time for us (me actually) to help, I really appreciate it.

    I already tried to replace the "startup output" as you said and nothing occurs (I'm sorry, I should have told you before). Furthermore, I had the same problem on my other computer, so I decided to come back on the initial one.
    I don't know what happened during the change but... It's working...:thumbs I'm really surprised ! Nothing changed ! Maybe tomorrow, it'll not works, but actually I'm satisfied.

    I have another issue ! I'm not done yet ! After few minutes (After pressing "turn on"), when I ask my motors to move, some latency appears (something like 3-4 seconds). I tried in LFS to and same thing, early no problem/no latency, after few seconds/minutes, latency.

    Do FlyPT Mover is still useful for me to download ? Could it help me somehow ? (understand DOF or other ?)

    I'm so close to enjoy my simulator, thanks to you! :grin
    I actualized my profile... :cool:
    • Friendly Friendly x 1
  19. RacingMat

    RacingMat Well-Known Member Gold Contributor

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    this late latency is weird... can you display the Win ressources? resmon.exe

    FlyPTMover is another software. It could help but requires some time to master, just like Simtools.
    • Informative Informative x 1
  20. UserBas

    UserBas New Member

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    Are you talking about what I send enclose ? When I switch on my computer, disc turn 100% during 20 minutes then works normally.

    I started writing my own program a month ago (following all the parts in yours) and when I transferred it on the Arduino, everything worked : No delay on Output Testing, neither during my try on LFS.

    Sooooo... Actually.. I have no problem, I guess :eek:
    Am I done with it ?

    I'll let you know how it end, and send you my system (if I finish it soon).
    If I have another trouble with Simtools, I'm gonna come back to disturb you again !
    Thanks you for your patience, time and kindness ! hug:

    Attached Files: