737 Yoke / Control Column Auto Roll Preview - VIDEO

[diegov]

Hello Fellow Cockpit Builders,

Thought its time for another update. Ive been working on how to get my yokes to move when the Auto Pilot is engaged for the past couple of weeks.. Thought i would share my progress!!! Its still very beta!


Setup:

The columns in the video a real 737 dual linked columns. connected via a crossover tube and pulley system. Ive connected a servo on the frame of my control column setup. Im driving the servos with phidget servos and the logic is via my own program.. DVATX.. If you look at the ND you will see the magenta line moving left and right as i change the heading and you will see the yoke moving to reflect the change.

And Yes... the yokes move freely when LNAV or HDG are not selected :)

http://video.yahoo.com/watch/7261603/18943503

Sorry about the video quality, took it on my iphone!

Will take a better video once i finalise the setup.

Cheers

Diego

[flymo001]

WOW!....nice job Diego,:cool: keep up the good work!! JP:D

[vybhav]

Diego

Great Job, the Auto Roll looks very cool. Great Job.

Regards
Vybhav

[blueskydriver]

Diego,

Wow, it's about time someone actually started doing this again. I had ask for others input couple years ago...

Here are a few questions for you:
1. You have autopilot Aileron roll, but do you have autopilot elevator pitch?
2. When you're hand flying, does your servo motors disconnect? If not, what keeps them from getting damaged by manually moving them, and are they metal gears inside.
3. What do you know about electric clutching?


In number 3, I ask this because in my setup there is 110V 1AMP Bi-directional motors that run at a constant rate in one direction or the other (based on direction needed, example right turn for right aileron, etc). However, there are electric clutches that engage during movement and release for manual non-autopilot movement. So, if you're using phidgets and your own program, do you think you could incorporate the electric clutch and 1 amp motors via relays (don't know what phidgets output power is for your card).


For example, phidgets sends source signal to relays which triggers the 110v to the motors and clutches. And since these are not stepper motors, how could I setup the end points on both sides. Would I use stop switches (which are built in already, but not wired), how would it be wired to the phidgets card?

Maybe, you can get me going in the right direction?

Thanks for your postings by the way,

John

[flatlandpilot]

doesn't look like beta, this is extremely cool.
a question:for positioning, do you work with "end-switches" or a decoder on the motors ?

this is a reason to think about building an airbus with a moving TQ and column ;)

[diegov]

Thanks for the kind words gentlemen :)


To answer a few of the questions:

@John,

1. Elevator pitch is not auto as of yet.. I dont think i will be able to do this one with a servo because i will not be able to get enough leverage. Being practile as well.. ive been told that pitch movement is rarely seen when the autopilot is on.. happy to be told otherwise and look at this later

2. Yes the logic in my proggy disables the servo when the roll is not being handled by the autopilot.. So i can take off, cleanup the plane, then turn on LNAV and the servo will do its thing. When i come in to land i can disable the autopilot and regain control of the yoke. The Phidget Servo cards allow you to disable power to the servos programmatically negating the need for a relay :)

3. I know nothing about electric clutching. However I have a couple of people asking to see if i can integrate moving a throttle lever with DC motors and this would probably be no different. They way i would see this work is that since i am using a POT already to feedack yoke position to FSX, i could use the pot as a feedback mechanism to determine position of the yoke at a particular time. Software logic would then apply current to the DC motor until the sensor is in a particular position. Maybe limit switches would be an idea for safety. I would probably power the motor through a Phidget HC card so one can vary the speed, thus the velocity of the moving yoke even though a relay can be used.

@flatlandpilot.,

No need for limit switches as I can program min and max directly into the servo. :)

Cheers

Diego

[Geremy Britton]

Now that is development. Looks amazing. :)

[737NUT]

I have the perfect solution if anybody is interested. I have a roll autopilot servo out of a cessna. It has a clutch and a dc motor that is chain or cable driven. It is small and powerful. Clutch and motor run on 20-28Vdc I used SIOC and this set-up to activate my real columns and yoke in AP roll Very simple and easy. I don't need it so let me know if anyone is interested. Nice job on your sim!