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Simtools output

Discussion in 'DIY Motion Simulator Building Q&A / FAQ' started by John Hien Nguyen, Jul 10, 2014.

  1. John Hien Nguyen

    John Hien Nguyen Member

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    Hi guys, first post. I'm currently building my first simulator and wrote the arduino code for it this morning. However, I have some generic questions which I need confirmed before I proceed any further. I couldn't find the answers anywhere.

    1. Simtools outputs an 8bit unsigned char for each axis. What does this range represent? I assume it is the axis angle? Eg. If my sim range is [-15,15deg] then 64 is equivalent to ~-7.5deg tilt?

    2. My DC motor movement does not have a linear correlation to the simulator angle. Does simtools provide some transformation settings? I'm about to write an inverse locus transformation but thought I should ask first.

    3. I wrote a PID function but noticed during my testing that sudden changes of direction can lead to the motor switching directions at full load. Does the position data from simtools transition from 100% fwd to 100% rev smoothly over a few milliseconds, or should I write code to handle this?

    Cheers,
    John
    John Hien Nguyen, Jul 10, 2014
    #1
  2. BlazinH

    BlazinH Well-Known Member

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    Hi,
    #1 Basically yes
    #2 No
    #3 Depends on game output rate, PID settings, and SimTools tuning center settings. You may need to adjust your settings so they are less aggressive. SimTools will output as fast as 10ms but it really depends on the game. For example, rFactor attempts to output 90 updates per second but that is its maximum. So its output is actually between 11 and 12ms when outputting at the maximum rate.

    ps While SimTools can output at 10ms, a well know member has stated that the plugin speed is 20ms I think so clarification is needed on this.
    Last edited: Jul 10, 2014
    BlazinH, Jul 10, 2014
    #2
  3. yobuddy

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

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    1) yep! - you divide a bit range and subtract 0.5 to get the bit range's middle value.
    8 bit = 0 to 255 = 255/2 -0.5 = 127

    2 ) A planed fix for this will be in the next version "rotational output" that will fix the errors in the y plane.
    (although I won't have time to work on the next version for a couple of mounts yet.)

    3) hard to say
    It all depends on how fast the game updates it settings,
    and how much mixing you are doing to the axes,
    and if you are smoothing or not using 100% for the main lever of a game in game manager/profile editor,
    and then the type of PC etc...
    SimTools only starts up what it needs.

    if you could...
    After you explain what this is "inverse locus transformation", id sure like to see it. lol
    I may be able to make the "rotational output" idea and implementation better.

    Thanks for the post buddy!
    Dustin
    • Like Like x 1
    yobuddy, Jul 11, 2014
    #3
  4. John Hien Nguyen

    John Hien Nguyen Member

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    Ha, "rotational output" is a much better way of saying it. I couldn't find the right words and "inverse locus transformation" sounds preachy. What I meant is to describe the locus of the arm either mathematically or in a lookup table, and transform the pot feedback to the same co-ordinate space as the SimTools output.

    Thanks for all the information guys, I'll post up details of my sim once I make some headway on it.
    • Like Like x 1
    John Hien Nguyen, Jul 11, 2014
    #4