Tight budget K8055 vs Tronic's AMC motor motion-controller

Yet another newbie on this forum

First off: thx a lot for taking up a lot of my time the last few days 8)

I've been reading around the forums and this made me seriously consider building a 2DOF wiper motor setup.

Problem is that as a first timer I would like to build as simple and at the tightest budget possible and if I get hooked expand from there on.

Been doing some research about the costs of building the Tronic's AMC motor motion-controller and DIY dual Mosfet H-bridge, but parts only (excluding the PCB fabrication) at farnell add up to € 150,- (approx $ 195,-) which isn't really low budget imho. Could even buy 2 Polulu JRK's for that money (if you include the pcb fabrication).

So than I started looking into the K8055:

k8055-dual-wiper-motor-control-with-variable-speed-t2795.html
k8055-dual-wiper-motor-control-with-variable-speed-t2795-10.html#p27661

But it looks to me this is still activelly being developed and being an electronics amateur I can't figure out what the minimum setup for this board would be to create a basic working platform.

Is the k8055 combined with the dual relay board enough to build a working platform and what about Position Feedback?

To me it seems the Tronic AMC is the easiest way to go, but I find it too expensive for a starter kit.

Any suggestions or am I looking for the impossible when trying to combine cheap and simple?

Edit: for the frame I'm doubting between two types which cought my attention both look pretty straight forward to build to me:

2dof-seat-mover-with-frex-attachment-bsft-t3435.html
nano-2dof-simulator-with-wiper-motors-argentina-t2859.html

I want to build a frame which can be used with or without frex attachment just like BSFT's

Hello, as for control boards, I suggest the Pololu JRK, one for each motor.
They may set you back $99us each, but are the easiest to set up. One usb cable per board, 7 wires, simple uso commands in x-sim, and hey presto!
I spent a LOT of time looking at trying to save a dollar myself with the k8055 and tronic, but as I am a Noob in electronics, the JRK was the simplest for me.
Also I should mention, that my seat mover - frex fitting, I had to move the pivot point forward to suit the frex frame. The design was so as I could remove the frex part for storage. I could not really use it for both, unless I fitted some seat rails and was able to slide the seat forward for seat mover balance, and back for frex.
Have fun!

You can build Tronic AMC including HBridge for around $100 Aust. - If you can make the PCB's yourself and look around for cheap components. Besides its all part of the fun building yourself. Yubuddy's latest derivative of the Tronic AMC would be a bit cheaper than this also.

Thx a lot for both posts!

I've been looking into the polulu JRK's, but as Bruceaust mentions it's also about the fun of self builing.

Still the parts don't come cheap overhere and I can't make the PCB's myself.

For the latter I found this add: post36510.html#p36510
if shipping costs are ok this is a lot cheaper than having a single set made (most companies have a minimum of 5 or are very expensive in case of single orders).

For the frame: I'm not really much of an electronics person (eventhough I've been quite active in casemodding), but construction isn't new to me and like BSFT mentions: Seat rails should do the trick for ballancing out between with or without frame.

Could you point me in the right direction? Can't seem to find it on the forum and the search function is malfunctioning :X

Thx!

I've done some recalculation and now at digikey it adds up to: € 32,- but shipping is a vast € 18,- and some parts are Value add :X

Combined with € 65,- for a Sabertooth 2x12 (should be enough for 2 wiper motors??) it adds up to € 115,-

Motor driver yes, but you need a control board to run it.

So all in all this results in the following options:

Tronic's AMC + H-Bridge parts (excluding the LCD): €150,-
Mattsim25's PCB's (estimated): 25,-
Total: € 175,-

Yobuddy AMC-EZ parts: € 50,-
PCB including programmer PCB: € 32,- (single production)
FTDI USB to serial UART interface Board: € 15,-
Pololu Dual VNH2SP30 Motor Driver Carrier MD03A: € 50,-
Total: € 147,-

two Polulu JRK 12V12's: € 75,- each
shipping: € 10,-
Total: € 160,-

All in all not much difference between the 3

Edit: motor will most likely be 12V wiper motors, since winch motors are a lot more expensive.

Am also looking into buying a second hand Playseat Evolution since this would save me a lot of work building the frame and would only need a platform.
Second hand they go for around € 185,- fro which I can't build a frame and buy a seat

That's exactly why I think the cheapest (second) option seems my best bet in this case

Have you tried RS Components in Netherlands for electronic components ? http://nl.rs-online.com/web/
Some of their items are expensive so shop arround, but most of there components are reasonably priced and in Australia they offer very good free delivery within a few days of ordering.

Just a comparison comment
First - is if the Polulu JRK don’t give you enough power, you have to start over, where you can hook a different motor controller to an existing AMC.
The jrk can be set to run up to 40amps peak, but at a risk to the board.

Thx Bruceaust! I'll have a look.

Looked at digikey as well, they are cheaper than farnell, but charge € 18,- for shipping on small orders.

Fyi: bought a nearly new Playseat gt (only unboxed once for a photo shoot) yesterday for my project for a fairly cheap price (€ 200,- while they sell for € 399,- at the cheapest over here).

Am looking into buying yobuddy's tronic amc and h-bridge or building his ez version combined with pololu dual motor driver.

Next step: scavenging for the right wiper motors (worm wheel would be best right?)

I've been looking around for second hand wiper motors, but there are so damn many different types :X

Does anyone have any hints or tips regarding what type to use / look for?