Code and Wiring for DB1 Motor Control

Posted by: @robo-pi

nice smooth acceleration

I found this...

https://www.airspayce.com/mikem/arduino/AccelStepper/AccelStepper_8h_source.html

The main page...

https://www.airspayce.com/mikem/arduino/AccelStepper/examples.html

The main arduino page...

https://www.airspayce.com/mikem/arduino/

The main main page...

https://www.airspayce.com/mikem/

He's probably got an index with an actual web page in there someplace, but I didn't bother to look for the fancy bits, just the important parts

@spyder

Thanks.  But I'm driving PM motors.   Besides, I want to see Bill's larger scheme.  He's using a Mega to control two smaller microcontrollers, each one dedicated to a PM  motor.   And he also has an Emergency Stop system set up, as well as possible other features.   So I want to try to duplicate  what he's doing as closely as possible.   This way when we get to the other layers I'll be in harmony with how he intends to give commands to the Mega to control the robot.

@spyder

By the way.  Thanks for the link to the stepper motor control library.   That's a nice site, I saved the link for later possible use.  I plan on building a stepper motor driven arm  so these routines may indeed come in useful  for that project.   That's a really well-organized site.

@robo-pi

You're welcome 🙂

Even if you can't immediately use it, you might be able to at some point, or it might be of use to somebody else, considering how many other Random Robots we're Collectively Constructing 

@dronebot-workshop

I too have been waiting patiently for Bill's sketches for the DB-1 project that were referenced in Ep-11. I would like to test the two Nano motor control even though I will probably upgrade to the 328P when available.  BTY, I posted a method for making cable assemblies using aviation connectors some time ago.  It is quite elegant.  Please check it out and let me know what you think of my method.

Having an issue with the Code for the Motor Test, when I download I get an error message 

"Exit Status 1"

"Unterminated Comment"

Its referring to Line 73 and (/*) at the end of the line. I tried removing it and it downloaded fine. The only problem is the test starts at the end of the code where DB1 spins for 2 seconds and then motors run continuously. Not sure what to do to correct this. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

@fire-chief

Which "Code for Motor Test" are you referring to Richard?

The Code in Episode 7 Motor Test.

@fire-chief

I think I was successful with that sometime ago, but I'll see if I can revisit during this Christmas week.

Thanks for the reminder where to find it!

@codecage

Thanks for the assistance, have a Merry Christmas.

@fire-chief

Yes that '/*' does seem to be some errant characters and I don't remember them from when I tried this code earlier, but then I some times have trouble remembering what I had for breakfast two or three days ago.

But looking at the code, I see that the following lines need to be added or the motors will continue to run spinning DB1 constantly:

74
75 delay(2000);
76
77 // Stop motion
78
79 analogWrite(leftpwm,0);
80 analogWrite(rightpwm,0);

The code as found in the Motor Test article has nothing to stop the motors after the spin starts, even though the comment says "// Spin for 2 seconds" there isn't code to stop the motors

I'll have to wire up my Mega to the Cytron controllers as in this sketch again and see what results I get.  Hopefully in the next couple of days.

I also noticed that in the article the "leftpwm" pin is defined as pin 11 and the "rightpwm" pin is defined as pin 10.  In the sketch these are just reversed, but as long as you wire correctly this should be an issue.

@codecage

Thanks Steve, I’ll give this  try and let you know.

Richard

@codecage

Hi Steve, I added your suggestion to the code and it worked. I found some other errors that needed to be changed such as the left and right motor direction. On line 38 & 39, 55 & 56 and 72 & 73 the direction is incorrect, that way when I started DB1 it would spin right than spin left and then go forward. So the direction in the code should be:

38  digitalWrite (leftdir,0);

39 digitalWrite (rightdir,1);

55 digitalWrite (leftdir,1);

56 digitalWrite (rightdir,0);

72 digitalWrite (leftdir,0);

73 digitalWrite (rightdir,0);

Thanks again for your assistance.

Richard

@fire-chief

I will keep that in mind when I get mine wired up to do the test.  Was working towards that end earlier this morning, then all of a sudden the day got shot full of holes!  Maybe I can get back to it in the morning.

Also, on your code changes, I'm wondering if it could be just the wiring of the gear motors.  Remember that one motor has to spin the opposite of the other for forward and reverse due to the way they are mounted.  Maybe you had yours wired the opposite of how Bill had his, so you had to reverse your rightdir and leftdir values from his.