Pololu Maestro 6 servo controller and small rc servos

Tony, please send Paul this link.

http://www.x-simulator.de/beta/interface.html

Perhaps he will be able to write a XSim plugin by himself.

Thank you for your suggestion. I have sent him a PM with the link in the Pololu forum. If he is not able to help, I will contact Sirnoname, as you suggested. I think that this little USB controller has a LOT of possibilities.
Regards,
Tony

Hi Thomasant,
Hi to all people owner of pololu micro maestro card,

There is a little soft which works very well with the pololu card.
Please have a look at

http://www.sim4senses.com/Simulateur_SimCarSend.htm

It is a very simple soft to drive the pololu card. The M110 seems to works also with the soft, I haven't try yet.
But it works great with the pololu.

Kind regards
Adbgg

Hi Adbgg,
Thank you very much for the link. I am not able to follow this link because it seems to be in French, and I do not understand.

If anyone can help me to translate/understand how to use the software, I would sure like to try it out.

Regards,
Thomasant

Hi thomasant,
I've already asked to the developper of the soft, and he told me Yes, but later.
I'm French, so for me it is not a problem. But I think this soft needs to be translated English, and also adapted for flying games, which is not the case at the moment.
Cu
Adbgg

Hi all,
YES !
I've found how to make this little card (USB micro maestro) work with X-sim software.
It is ok for me now.
Cu

Hi Adbgg,
That is great to hear. I believe that USB is the way to go, as it simple and relatively cheap. As a matter of fact, a lot of the newer computers do not even have a conventional serial port, other than the USB ports. So your breakthrough will be a big step in the right direction.
Regards,
thomasant

From adbgg
To Thomasant
To other people who wants to try the pololu USB micro maestro with little servo motor.

-----------------

IMPORTANT n°1 : First of all, please check that the pololu card is selected to USB chained (it works also with USB Dual port)
Use the pololu configuration software to check this point.


IMPORTANT n°2 : In the panel configuration of windows, find the command port of the pololu card (normally, either COM3 or COM4). In my computer, it was COM4.
The pololu works with the command port (and not the TLL). It is important, because during the configuration of X-sim, you will have to add a comport with the good COM number.


IMPORTANT n°3 : It seems to be clear for everybody, but it was not for me : You need to plug a joystick or a wheel to receive the data from the game (GTR2 for instance) through X-sim.
I've found an other software which work without pluging anything. This software is called Simcarsend (developped by Sankaman77, a french guy). With this software, you can try a game only with the keyboard, and the force are sent to the pololu card and the servo motors.

-----------------

I've made this little card work with GTR2, so I give you some advice with this racing game.

In GTR2 :
----------
Directory \UserData\[playername]\[playername].plr
Change line : Write Shared Memory=0
with line: Write Shared Memory=1


In force-sender :
------------------
select GTR2 in the game executable location field
select GTR2 plugin in the Choose official developer plugin
be sure you have changed the GTR2 config files before (see above)



In X-sim profiler :
------------------
In math setup,
----------------
Add an axis output 1:1 (Gforce), axis n°1
Link the output to effect n°25 (lateral) or n°26 (vertical), if you want to build a kind of platform. But an other force like speed will work.
Select use automatic maximum adjustment
Choose intensity = 80%
Click insert in math list and continue
[img600px]http://nice.maurice.free.fr/X-sim/add_axis.jpg[/img600px]
[img600px]http://nice.maurice.free.fr/X-sim/math_setup.jpg[/img600px]

In Output setup,
-----------------
Select USO (Universal Serial Output)
Fill in COM4 (or COM3) in the field comport list, then click add button. For this point, please see again IMPORTANT n°2.
IMPORTANT : you must fill in something in the field, because the USB card is not recognized by X-sim, you will not see the USB card in the drop-down menu.
[img600px]http://nice.maurice.free.fr/X-sim/Output_setup.jpg[/img600px]

You can now select the comport in the bottom of the X-sim window. Look at select comport to edit
Check that you have : 9600 / 8 / NOPARITY / ONESTOPBIT
Fill in the following sequence :

datapacket sent simulator start : ~255~~1~~0~
datapacket sent with axisinformations : ~255~~1~~a01~
datapacket sent at simulatorstop : ~255~~1~~0~

I think it means :
~255~ : ? (don't know)
~1~ : n° position of the servo (in X-sim, so it could correspond to position n°0 of the pololu card)
~a01~ : n° of the axis

if you want more details, there is an other website link to access the tuto of Mboracing (very good tuto, thanks to Mboracing).
Have a look at : http://www.x-simulator.de/wiki/Servo_Ta ... _mboRacing
In this website, the pololu card presented is not the USB version, but it looks like very close to it.


Be carefull, servo numbers of the pololu goes from 0 to 5. So if you connect the servo to the first place of the pololu card (n°0), it correspond to the n°1 of X-sim.



Testing :
----------
Plug a joystick or a wheel to your computer.

Launch force-sender, click start the game
Launch X-sim profiler, click the button START
Play the game, and normally ...

...the servo should MOVE

If you have any question, I will try to complete this post.
Thanks
adbgg

Hi Adbgg,

Thank you very much for the information. That was very kind of you and very helpful. I have not tried the software that you have listed, as some unexpected work came up. I will work on it this weekend and let you know. I really appreciate your input. I am sure that once I start with this software, I will be able to do it for the FSX. It is great work!! People like you who make this forum a success.

Regards,

Thomasant

Hi Thomasant,

Look at this, I've made a very little prototype 2DOF (miniature)


http://www.racingfr.com/forum/index.php ... ntry991430

I've tested with Simcarsend, but it is the same with X-sim.

THE VIDEO => http://nice.maurice.free.fr/Prototype/2DOF_adbgg.MPG

cu
Adbgg

Hi Adbgg,

I watched the video. It is excellent!! :clap:

I am still having some delay with the FSX integration, because there is additional software involved with getting the data out of FSX to input into the microcontroller. But you have helped a lot. At least I know that I can use the Pololu Maestro to work with X sim. I will let you know when I succeed with FSX. Thanks again, great work!!

Regards,

Thomasant

thomasent did you ever get the pololu working with fsx?
I have treid to get it to even move the servos but no luck.

Hi,

Could I use a big servo motors for moving a chair using this pololu servocontroller?

Thanks,
Alex

Do your big servo motors take 1-2ms pulse signal to position?

Hi,

I don't have a servo motor yet. I am just interesting whether it is possible to use servomotos instead of actuators or wiper motors using this servocontroller. So is it enough power, or what else characteristics are critical in this situation?

I am intersted in making simulator, but I am not very good at electronics and I don't want to build controller like tronicrg. I think that using servo motors is the most easy way in my situation. I also read here that there is a possibility to use snc5 actuators, but I am intersted in building simulator with servo motors. I also saw a video with a small simulator model on servo motors in this thread about 4 messages above. So is it possible to create the same large scale model that It could support the human weight?

Thanks in advance,
Alex

I encourage you to research your servo motors. There is a huge difference between small RC servos, and industrial servo motors. In fact, they are only similar in operation.

Now let's keep this thread on track about the Pololu Servo controller, which is meant to control hobby RC model servos.

yes i think this pausable Pololu make a large servo that is capable of heavy loads but speed might be a problem.
Im running two Jrk 12v12 usb Motor Controllers hooked back to xsim in uso. Using 900kg winch motors (25A) to drive the chair c/w 5 turn pots (50k) to provide precise feedback. Speed is not an issue just have a power supply with enough amps to spare.Longest race i've competed in rfactor was a 6hr event and found only little heat sinks plus small 12v fan keeps them running cool.

So in turn check Pololu large servos out but ya will find in the heart of them is the Jrk 12v12 unit.
Goodluck

P.s will post my unit soon as its been a slow 12 month build. and first started with a Polou Servo controller (by the way the make good dashboard control units.(Another story sorry Frakk) :hi:

eaorobbie can you post in one of the jrk 12v12 threads your setup for the USO please?

There are other people looking to use these controllers and they would be very happy to see how to interface it with X-Sim.

Thanks everybody for the responces. It is a very helpful information.

@aeorobbie: it will be very helpful if you can post a setup for USO as Frakk recommended.

Thank you very much!

posted here in the jrk12v12 thread mate all there.

pololu-jrk-12v12-t2697-20.html