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Pololu Servo Controller?

Posted: 30 Dec 2018, 04:58
by drbogger
Is the Pololu Servo Controller supported yet?
I just want to know before i go out and purchase it.

Re: Pololu Servo Controller?

Posted: 01 Jan 2019, 20:29
by c0nnex
I started working on that a while back, but stopped becuase there was no demand for it.
If needed i'll put it back to the "todo" list.

Re: Pololu Servo Controller?

Posted: 01 Jan 2019, 20:35
by drbogger
That would be great!

Is there any way at all to integrate mechanical gauges using stepper motors or servos or anything at all?

Re: Pololu Servo Controller?

Posted: 01 Jan 2019, 21:28
by c0nnex
If you control them via e.gf. arduino it should be possible.
Just send me the specs of the commands that need to be send to the arduino and i'll add it.

For the Pololu its abit tricky to support it, as it needs to be send the pulses to it. I gave up figuring that out , becasue it took too much time (and i got no reply from pololu).

Re: Pololu Servo Controller?

Posted: 01 Jan 2019, 21:42
by drbogger
Okay, I'll get back to you on that.

Re: Pololu Servo Controller?

Posted: 01 Jan 2019, 23:38
by drbogger
Okay, here's what I'm thinking...

- Allow us to select what gauges to send to the Arduino, assign the gauge an ID#, send that ID# along with the Value of the Gauge over serial.
- Refresh/Resend the data every so many milliseconds (configurable?).
- Send connected/disconnected notices over serial when the flight simulator is opened or closed. (This would be good for self-calibration of the gauges)

So lets say I selected EGT, Altitude, and Battery Voltage for the gauges.

I assigned EGT = ID# 1, Altitude = ID# 2, Voltage = ID# 3.

So the string would look something like this:

So lets say:
- EGT is 300 Degrees.
- Altitude is 2000 feet.
- Battery Voltage is 12V

Would result in this being sent to Arduino via Serial:
1:300;2:2000;3:12

The Arduino would then return the string "OK" in response.

Would something like this be feasible?

If you could even just make a basic arduino communication protocol, and leave it up to us to program the arduino to use the data it receives, that would be better than nothing!

Re: Pololu Servo Controller?

Posted: 08 Jan 2019, 05:49
by krono
Hi
Its nice to see Arduino being discussed again :-)

Re: Pololu Servo Controller?

Posted: 09 Jan 2019, 05:14
by lesoreilly
I agree about the arduino....would love to have a poll the asks for users requests to get some kind of Arduino support......beyond HID applications. wanting the 2 way ability. :)

Re: Pololu Servo Controller?

Posted: 09 Jan 2019, 14:24
by c0nnex
drbogger wrote:
01 Jan 2019, 23:38


So lets say:
- EGT is 300 Degrees.
- Altitude is 2000 feet.
- Battery Voltage is 12V

Would result in this being sent to Arduino via Serial:
1:300;2:2000;3:12

The Arduino would then return the string "OK" in response.

Would something like this be feasible?

If you could even just make a basic arduino communication protocol, and leave it up to us to program the arduino to use the data it receives, that would be better than nothing!
Sure that sounds like a good start.
Something like
Action:
-> Send Serial Update
--> Portname (Configed in Settings) e.g. (Gauge Arduino) (Will be linked to e.g. COM1,9600 7E1 then (whatever your arduino is set to))
--> VariableIndex (Number > 0) (0 = being Command channel)
--> Variable Value (Ref to Data , eg. EGT#1 Temp in Kelvin)
--> Update Frequency (in ms)
--> Update only if changed (min change epsilon (def 0.001))
--> Update if not Changed (yes/no)

SPAD.neXt would then send
0:BEGIN;<varindex>:<value>;<varindex>:<value>;0:END<0x10> .... according to the update settings
and expect
0:OK<0x10> / 0:ERROR<0x10>

When SPAD.neXt start's it would open the port and send
0:SPAD<0x10>
and expect
0:OK<0x10>
to enable the device events

I'll see to add it to the upcoming 0.9.7 beta

Re: Pololu Servo Controller?

Posted: 09 Jan 2019, 14:33
by drbogger
That sounds great! I'd love to test out this feature if you need a beta tester.