Throttle Control Alternative for Phidgets

[mauriceb]

Has anyone been able to successfully control DC motors to drive the levers
in auto-throttle mode???
Using Phidgets Motor card I can get them to move back and forth,
BUT they don't really know what position they are in...they just go back and forth....

Nat

I would think this is not possible. You need some sort of feedback mechanism so that the driving software knows where the motor shaft is positioned and that is not available in a straight DC motor (or AC for that matter). That is why either servos or stepping motors are required since the shaft rotation can be controlled accurately.

Another problem with DC motors is that they don't normally stop instantly, so it would be rather hard to position them accurately even if you could devise some feedback mechanism.

But I could be wrong

Maurice

[diegov]

Hi Gents,

Nat, AFAIK Maurice is correct. For DC motors some sort of encoder device would be required to provide position information to the computer controlling the motor. You would need to use something like an optical encoder or i guess you could use a POT to feedback on the position of the throttles.

@Potroh, Your request should be fairly easy to implement. Ill get it done on the next release!

Cheers

Diego

[xtreme3d]

Hi Diego,


Thank you x 2!!! I really appreciate your hard work.

Regards,


Pedro

[Potrohkocsonya]

Hi Gents,
@Potroh, Your request should be fairly easy to implement. Ill get it done on the next release!

Diego,

Sounds wonderful!
Eagerly waiting...

thanks in advance
Potroh

[Melnato]

Thanks Diego and Mau....was just hoping for a miracle

Nat

[HELIO]

hi if you looking for or know anybody who needs a motion platform I have one a 2 dof for sell.
Thanks
Helio

[Philb737]

I'm in the same boat Nat!!! I'll keep you posted if any solutions arise !!

[Melnato]

Thanks Phil...Ill hold you to it

There must be a way...

Nat

[diegov]

Hi Guys,

I placed another version into the mycockpit file library. It is under phidgets.

Ive added the ability to specify the fsuipc offset reference for the throttle servos..

Also modified the trim wheel code to provide high and low rotation modes depending on the flap settings.. Thanks to Nat for the info

Also modified the code so trim wheel spin at intervals rather than countinously.

If you use sim-avionics like me then you can modify the INI file to detect A/T settings for the sim-avionics MCP.. Please read the readme.txt

Cheers

Diego

[Potrohkocsonya]

Diego,

The new version is great, works perfectly, many thanks.
Just one question: where do you save the calibration data?

regards
Potroh