Jsmith2307 project

[jsmith2307]

Greetings,

I fly fixed wing aircraft as a hobby and simulators seemed like a logical extension to my hobby. Building things is in my blood. Building a full sized VP-1 experimental aircraft I thought I had seen it all! 2 years of blood, sweat and tears (not to mention $$$) went into that project. But I had help from the Experimental Aircraft Association. I assumed this project would be a walk in the park…little did I *

A little bit of information on my JOYRIDER. I built the original out of plans from JOYRIDER website for around $15.00. PVC schedule 40 was purchased for around $100.00 and used to make the whole apparatus. Berings and other welded parts were done by Bulletproof Fabrication, a first rate welding house here in Corpus Christi, Texas. That part of the project took about a month to complete.

The next part of the project called for a AVR 1.5. I had to decide on whether to etch out a PCB or purchase one. I opted for a Sunstone PCB for about $65.00. Two weeks later the PCB arrived. Mouser Electronics supplied the electronics to place on the PCB, minus redos around $100.00.

Next I had to figure out what type of actuator or motor I would use. After much effort I decided on wheelchair motors off of a Jazzy Wheelchair. I had to remove the electronic brake mechanisms and I was good to go! Following that, I had to make a decision on drivers based on the fact that I was using 24 volt motors and how to drive the big behemoths. Pololu Corporation had a HIGH-POWER Motor Driver 24Volt 20 amp that would do the trick for about $112.85 together. Power is supplied by two wheelchair batteries linked together to yield 24 volts.

Now the hard part. Now that I have everything assembled I had to figure out the software. I have two computers one to run the program Flight Simulator 2004 and the Sender (extractor for X-Sim 3) with plug-in for FS2004 (telemetry), the other to run profiler2, ( Converter... I’ve since moved over to X-SIM 3 ). I’ve had problems with everything, scaling has been a problem, I’ve had to rebuild some broken parts, because the stroke was (and is) way off.

The second thing I don’t understand is the profiles and how one gets them (remember Fight Simulator 2004 is different from Dirt and all the other driving games). The differences between X Accelerations and Bank, Y Accelerations and Pitch, Roll Accelerations and Longitude Acceleration, the list goes on and on. That’s where I remain.....

jsmith2307

[tronicgr]

I like that you left the batteries on the wheelchair base. I know how hard is to try lifting those around!!

I was thinking to make a profile for FSX (extracts the same data for FS2004) to see myself what is the problems you face. I haven't used x-sim for flight sim for long time now but I'll try to make it work for you.

Mostly you will need to combine 2-3 forces for each axis (real rotation + acceleration + heave for some added shaking during bad weather).

Thanos

[jsmith2307]

Greetings,
Thank you, for responding. Question, when does one use the mini-potentiometer on the AVR 1.5 board, in the racing or flight program or out? How is it reflected i.e. can I see it in Profler2 or X-Sim Converter? Sorry for the elementary questions!
jsmith2307

[tronicgr]

I would suggest turning the mini blue multiturn potentiometer all the way clockwise and leaving it alone for the moment. It reduces the range of the ADC reading or, as otherwise called, reduces range of motor position feedback potentiometer turns in degrees. The issue here is that reducing this range too much you will also reduce the KP proportionality in a matter that the motor will act as fully on or fully off without smooth acceleration.

I'll pm you a version of firmware 1.1e that is fitted for the old AMC1.5 boards. I assume you have this old one still, and you recently added a FT232RL board for the communications. Anyway you can give this a try as it corrects lots of bugs compared to the original AMC1.5 firmware 1.0. It implements reduced range in software so you don't have to mess with the hardware range anymore.

Thanos

[jsmith2307]

Greetings,
Thanks for the good info! I'll turn it down and see if it works. Meanwhile I will attempt to resurrect the little ole FT232R. I still have all the stuff to make a 1.6 but still haven't found the time, between making the 1.5 work and the simulator! Once again, thanks.
jsmith2307

[dervatter]

which kind of motor you have there...??

[jsmith2307]

Greetings,

which kind of motor you have there...??

I'm using wheelchair motors and transmisions off a JAZZY motorized wheelchair, To make the pully, I just removed the rubber from the wheel...simple! No problems with diameter of the axil & pully. Also, I had to remove the braking system so that a person in a stopped on a hill could do so safely, and not fly down the hill! The belt is a serpentine, from a Ford 250 pick-up truck.
jsmith2307

[jsmith2307]

Greetings,
A test of my simulator, derated from 24 volts down to 12volts. It works pretty good!



jsmith2307

[vicpopo]

Hi Jsmith2307,

You was waiting for this moment for a long time !!
Happy for you for your first take off !
Great job.

Edit: modified your post for watching the video !!