Dynamic Controls Power chair, RC Boat trailer project

[woodygb]

Here is my PRO MINI version with a R/C calibration routine.... it determines Neutral ,High and Low of the transmitter signal.

Have the Transmitter stick in NEUTRAL / CENTER ....Press calibration button ( momentary switch taken to GND via 10K resistor )...move the transmitter stick to the extremes Left/Right ...Up/Down ...you have 10 secs to do this , and may do so multiple times during the 10 secs.

I have added a GREEN ( direction ) and a RED ( speed ) led to the PWM outputs of the PRO MINI these brighten in response to the R/C signal ( direction / speed ).

NOTE:- You will need to comment out or remove the RELAY .

pro_mini_RC_calib___shutdown.zip

(6.7 KiB) Downloaded 564 times

[gcebiker]

Tah...I'm busily programming my own home built board with change over relay and R/C Calibration... not quite finished yet as I'm having probs getting the calibration numbers to either stick in the Arduino's memory or I am failing to retrieve them...not sure which.

You could also make two emulator boards and put on one, the 'master joystick code' and the other the 'attendant code' from the manual.

Switch over with code instead of a relay, Oh...the bus 'stays alive' long enough to a manual unplug of one and plug in of another, so a relay has heaps of time to work.

Byte 4 Bit 2 is all you would need to switch between them.

Type 08 SACU General Information
This packet has similar intent to the SR General Information packet, conveying joystick and speed pot positions. If the SACU
does not implement speed control, it shall set its speed pot value to zero.
Byte 0: Joystick speed reading (7 MSbs)
Byte 1: Joystick direction reading (7 MSbs)
Byte 2: Speed pot reading (7 MSbs)
Byte 3:
bit 6: Speed pot reading LSb
bits 5-3: Joystick speed reading (3 LSbs)
bits 2-0: Joystick direction reading (3 LSbs)
Byte 4:
bit 6: Joystick Error (indicates joystick mirror fault or some such problem when set).
bit 5: Speed pot Error (indicates out-of range error or some such problem when set).
bit 4: Local fault (such as CPU fault) (set when there is a fault)
bit 3: Joystick Calibration active ( set when JC mode is active )
bit 2: SACU User/Attendant switch: 1 = Attendant, 0 = User.
bit 1: Local non-critical fault (causes "limp" mode)
bit 0: SACU Drive Inhibit
Byte 5:
bits 6-4: Not used
bits 3-0: Operating mode, defined as
00 Drive mode
01 Actuator 1 mode
02 Actuator 2 mode
03 Actuator 1+2 mode
04-0F currently undefined

And have the right identifier for the SACU startup/data packets.
..anyone with an attendant control that could do a data capture ? or is the clue in the numbering of the types ?

Type Description
00 SR General Information
01 SPM General Information
02 SR HHP data
03 SPM HHP data
04 SR power-up information
05 SPM power-up information
06 SR Joystick Calibration information
07 SR Factory Test
08 SACU General Information
09 SACU power-up information
0A SPM Programmable Settings

[gcebiker]

Woody, is the change over board so you can use the factory joy and Remote ?

[woodygb]

Yes ..seems to work just fine.

Looks very much like this pic of my first ...unsuccessful build ..circa Xmas 2017.

[gcebiker]

Yes ..seems to work just fine.

Very cool, just a regular DPTP relay ?
....and how do you wire to the Shark Bus, just trim back the insulation and tap into the SBH (yellow) and SBL (Blue) wires ?
or do you have a factory spliter/cable.

Sounds much better than recoding.

/edit you beat me to it...hehe. (for picture)

There should be room on the blue board to stick a relay at the end of it, cut the traces for power if need be.
The blue boards are built to be cut up if the Pi stuff is not needed.

[woodygb]

I just cut the existing cable in halve .

I'll try and get some pics etc tomorrow ... which is in 8 hours time.

EARLY ROUGH DRAFT ...WITH ERRORS... but shows the relay type and approx layout

[woodygb]

Hi Tony,

Here is a "completed" sketch with the Calibration routine etc....

To calibrate the transmitter signal values of Neutral , High & Low to the Nano's memory you leave the Transmitter stick alone and simply press the momentary calibration button connected to pin 12 ..led flashes to denote that it is in calibration mode ...THEN move the stick to it's extremes vertically ( up / down ) and horizontally ( left / right ) ...you have 10 seconds to complete this and the led will then turn OFF .
NOTE:-The calibration routine temporarily disconnects the RS485 Output by writing the DE pin low and ( should it be present ) turning OFF the relay...so you will need to instigate a "start" after.

The calibration values are then mapped LOW - NEUTRAL and NEUTRAL- HIGH to both the speed and direction.


PROGRAM CHANGES TO BLUE BOARD PINS.

#define PROGRAM_PIN 12 // BUTTON PRESS to Start Calibration....Take LOW via 10k resistor


#define STATE_LED 6 // LED (analogWrite) PWM
#define REDled 10// (analogWrite)PWM led R/C signal indicator Fore/Aft RED
#define GREENled 11 //(analogWrite) PWM led R/C signal indicator Left/Right GREEN

const int RELAY_ON_OFF = 8;// CONNECT RELAY TO THIS PIN IF PRESENT.

#define directionPin 3 // NOTE FOR ME ( WOODY ) ..My prefered numbers Pin 3 Aile_val / direction , Pin 4 Ele_val / speed , Pin 5 Switch_val OnOff NANO
#define speedPin 4 // I USE THESE PINS IN THIS ORDER AS THE STANDARD R/C LEAD THAT PLUGS INTO MY RECEIVER ... ACROSS THE 3 SIGNAL OUT PINS .. AILE , ELE & RUD ... WILL THEN PLUG STRAIGHT INTO THE BOARDS INPUT SIGNAL PINS.
#define OnOffPin 5

SR_RC_PCB_BLUE_BOARD_CALIB_SHUTDOWN.zip

(6.87 KiB) Downloaded 561 times

[woodygb]

This is perhaps clearer.
To calibrate the transmitter signal values of Neutral , High & Low AND SAVE THE VALUES to the Nano's memory .

[woodygb]

There should be room on the blue board to stick a relay at the end of it, cut the traces for power if need be.
The blue boards are built to be cut up if the Pi stuff is not needed.

I have managed to squeeze on a relay .... it was a lot of faffing around as there isn't really enough room .

Not a very good pic ...but it will give you the general layout.

The RS485 - USB Adaptor is hot glued to the board and wired directly to the boards High B and Low A ...it allows me to easily and simply plug into the computer and view the HEX numbers being output on screen via the Realterm software .

[gcebiker]

Hot Glue and Velcro... 2 of my favorite things.

[gcebiker]

Forgot to add the shut down to the 'Loss of Signal' .... at the moment it just stops moving.

If anyone wants to stop and shut down the chair mod void Loop () thu

Code: Select all

    //this is the fail safe for the RC signal
    else if (onOffVal < 500) {
      sharkOffPackets();
      OnOffState = LOW;

Took the Kayak out on the broad water today, code worked great.
Kayak needs some minor reshuffling of stuff to be more workable...and a torque bracket on the trolling motor.

[woodygb]

Why not simply add the sharkOffPackets(); to the existing failsafe...?

if ( CH1 == 0 || CH2 == 0 || CH3 == 0 ) {
// FAILSAFE ROUTINE WITH NEUTRAL SPEED & DIRECTION NUMBERS

Rud = 0;
Ele = 1500;
Aile = 1500;
StoredEle = 1500;
StoredAile = 1500;
DirectionVal = 1500;
SpeedVal = 1500;
//STOP....THEN turn off controller
sharkOffPackets();
}

[gcebiker]

Code: Select all

    //this is the fail safe for the RC signal
    else if (onOffVal < 500) {
      sharkOffPackets();
      OnOffState = LOW;

This is the existing fail safe, either would work.
...and one would only use this if it was your habit to just switch off the RC transmitter and leave the chair powered.
(with out pushing button three and shutting down the Shark Bus, which would throw the Base into LIMP mode)

I leave my RC Shark Emulator powered up.... as our power chairs are powered all of the time (even when 'off'). So i treat this the same.

One thing i am going to add is a USB port to the Power base, so that i can charge the RC transmitter...as i often forget to switch it off ...i do remember to push button 3 thankfully.

I am also going to add an external LED so that i can see what mode its in from the Kayak ramp, for when it parked up on the bank.
Just something attached to pin13.

[woodygb]

Your original failsafe routine ... as is ... would not work the same as it does with Pulsein which returns a timeout value of zero.

The interrupts signal counting method works differently so we need the ... if ( CH1 == 0 || CH2 == 0 || CH3 == 0 ) { ..which simply ascertains...from further up the sketch.. if a signal has been completed in time x ...( 22 msec ).

Without this routine... signal loss may well return a random number depending on when... during the signal cycle ...the loss occurs.

[pungohboy]

Hi, I recently picked up a Jazzy 614HD with the PMB50 and was looking to make it RC as well as keep stick drive functionality. I came across this topic and have to say wow you guys have put a ton of work into getting this working. I was originally planning to toss a sabertooth on it but after reading around this forum i think if i can build/buy one of these boards it would be the best way to go. I have a few questions though,does anyone have one already made up and functional they would be willing to sell and ship to the US? I like to tinker but time is not on my side. if not is there a detailed list with part numbers for the components needed, i have tried looking at the board diagram and am having some issues with a couple parts. here is what i have pulled out

MAXIM DG419
MAX485
resistor 22k
resistor 1k 1w
capicator 6.3v 1000uf
traco 2450
2 signal diodes
thing between 22k and dg419 ?
Is there anything else i am missing?

i already have a few ATMEGA328 328p 5V 16MHz arduino boards laying around i was planning to use one if it would be ok

When i search for the parts there are several variations for each. For example the traco 2450 has several output versions with different watt and amp ratings. I just want to make sure i get the right stuff from the start. If it is easier i can toss all the items into a cart and screenshot it or something. like i said i am in the US but not sure the best place to buy components.

For the PCB when adding it to the cart there are several options like size which defaults to 5x5 but it the name infers 10x10 so i am assuming it needs to be changed to 10x10 but are there any other options that need to be changed?

In the video of it being used RC while sitting in it, it appears that it is connected through the XLR input on the stick is that an option or would it be best to tie it in with the lead going into the power module? I want to keep it as clean as possible but the xlr option would make it less invasive.

I see some other posts about programming the controller does anything like that need to be done? I was thinking about building up one of the dwiz adapters when i order these components but if there isnt a real reason i can hold off.

Thanks for any help you can provide.

[woodygb]

The Traco comes in many output voltage variants....the 5v Traco is the one that you want.

TSR 1-2450 | Switching Regulator,6.5-32V in,5V out 1A

Check out this thread.

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=4867&start=570

[woodygb]

Diagram WITHOUT relay.

download/file.php?id=10789&mode=view

[gcebiker]

In the video of it being used RC while sitting in it, it appears that it is connected through the XLR input on the stick is that an option or would it be best to tie it in with the lead going into the power module? I want to keep it as clean as possible but the xlr option would make it less invasive.

I see some other posts about programming the controller does anything like that need to be done? I was thinking about building up one of the dwiz adapters when i order these components but if there isnt a real reason i can hold off.

Thanks for any help you can provide.

In the tear down video here - >http://greenmobility.com.au/dynamic-controls-3/shark/rc-wheelchair-controller/
Its not obvious that its only the power for the emulator being drawn via the XLR port of the factory joystick.

In this earlier version i have the bus with a small JST connector that lets me unplug the factory joystick and plug in the emulator.

My one and only power chair (at the time) was the test platform, as such i had to be able to use it during testing of the project as a test bed / measurement and daily use.
This is the reason you see the controller wired the way it is in the video....I really should get around to making a new build video, its a lot tidier now with the emulator being hard wired to a shark bus cable i cut up.

As to programming, i found it easier to change the expo / sensitivity on the Car RC Transmitter that i use , rather than hard code settings in.

Likewise if you had an SBUS connection or other serial data, you would avoid the clicking I have as for my RC Transmitter/receiver combo its slightly to slow to keep up with the required baud rate of the Shark Bus.

Woody with the brand of Transmitter / Receiver combo he is using is not having this issue.

As to if there are spares built up, I have some i can build up, i am unsure of postage costs to the USA but anywhere from Australia is more than the cost of the boards direct from china.

Quite a few people have ordered boards in the USA, perhaps if they are watching this thread they might have some...but you get 10 boards for about $15.

As to the board size, yes you need 10 x 10.
Other options, not grey'ed out, are able to be changed : colour, thickness, copper thickness...etc.

One other thing to keep in mind, an over sight on my part.
The joystick emulator (and the factory joystick) take about 1.5 seconds to boot up and cycle through their self check sequence.
The over sight is that i dont have an indicator light externally wired up to indicate with the boot up sequence is complete, only the lights on the board it self.

So wiring up the pins for the on board LED might be beneficial if you are not familiar with the delay needed when turning a wheelchair on.

[pungohboy]

Woody, thanks for the links i had somehow skipped over the schematic that allowed me to see the .1uf capacitor that i couldn't read. I have attached my potential shopping cart with what i think is all the parts except the Arduino I already have if you wouldn't mind checking over it and making sure i am not forgetting anything, or have anything wrong. I like to tinker with electronics but nowhere near the level you guys are at so when i am presented with several types of each component it worries me that i may be getting the wrong one. I was going to probably order enough to build up at least 2 but have the quantities set to what i see in the diagrams currently.

parts shopping cart

gcebiker, Thanks for the extra info. Splicing into the shark cable sounds like the best method i will go that route. I think i will hold off on any programming of the controller at the moment i really dont think i will need to go that way like you said i can trim stuff down in the remote. I was going to use my flysky GT3B TX which doesn't have Sbus, I have a Taranis X9D that does but I would rather use the pistol grip (and much cheaper) radio for when i pass it to others to use. You are right it is probably cost prohibitive to ship over here and i probably should just do it myself and make time to do it. I have a screenshot of the cart for the PCB with the 10x10 option selected but nothing else changed except color I just wanted to verify i didnt need the coatings or extra copper or anything, just like the parts I would rather order once and get the right stuff. Thanks for the tip on the external LED that sounds like a great idea. With the joystick in place would the light on it light up when powered on when it is being remote controlled, and would the joystick be active at the same time or is it if powered on by RC the joystick is inactive and vice versa?

Thanks again

[gcebiker]

Parts list looks right, only missing header pins to hold the Arduino off the components underneath.

That version of the Board also needs jumper from the 5v rail after the Cap/Traco2450 to the 5vIn of the Arduino, a switch could be soldered in or a jumper.

With the joystick in place would the light on it light up when powered on when it is being remote controlled, and would the joystick be active at the same time or is it if powered on by RC the joystick is inactive and vice versa?

This video may explain the wiring a bit better, the red JST plugs are tapped to the Shark Bus High and Low from the Shark Factory Joystick (but it remains powered).
Disconnecting the Shark bus, and connecting the emulator. Leaves both powered but only one connected to the Shark Bus (the cable between the Joystick/emulator and the power module)


youtu.be/6x7QHqmzDK8

[pungohboy]

Parts list looks right, only missing header pins to hold the Arduino off the components underneath.

That version of the Board also needs jumper from the 5v rail after the Cap/Traco2450 to the 5vIn of the Arduino, a switch could be soldered in or a jumper.

I have header pins already, i probably have all the resistors i just wanted to verify the list before going through my parts to see what isn't needed.

This video may explain the wiring a bit better, the red JST plugs are tapped to the Shark Bus High and Low from the Shark Factory Joystick (but it remains powered).
Disconnecting the Shark bus, and connecting the emulator. Leaves both powered but only one connected to the Shark Bus (the cable between the Joystick/emulator and the power module)

Thanks, i think i have a better understanding. If i am tapping everything into the shark bus cable including power i just need to have a way to disconnect the data lines from the joystick to give it to the board and then swap it back if i want it to be stick controlled? They cant both be connected at the same time to provide a dual control scenario.

I really appreciate all the work you have put into this project and the help you are providing. I am going to go ahead and order the stuff.

[woodygb]

You can add in a DPDT relay to switch between joystick or R/C module.

[woodygb]

You should also consider safety when controlling something the size of a wheelchair via R/C.
Can your R/C setup failsafe on ALL channels or only one ?

[pungohboy]

You can add in a DPDT relay to switch between joystick or R/C module.

Oh i forgot that you had done that further back in the thread. I think i will add a relay and extra screw terminals to my order that would be more convenient. Are all the screw terminals you use the same size I think my cart had 5.08mm or are they different sized to fit the smaller hole spacing? With the trouble you had squeezing it on the board would it be better to install before other components or would it be about the same either way?

You should also consider safety when controlling something the size of a wheelchair via R/C.
Can your R/C setup failsafe on ALL channels or only one ?

Yes, it is all channels. I will be testing the failsafe before the wheels ever touch the ground. Thanks for the reminder I am sure there are folks that ignore the fact on a regular basis.

[woodygb]

You might find it easier to mount the relay on a separate bit of veroboard...also note that you should employ a transistor as a "switch" as the relay coil pulls more mA than the Arduino pins like to supply.

As I recall the hole spacing is indeed 5.08 mm

[gcebiker]

They cant both be connected at the same time to provide a dual control scenario.

Hello, yes they can both be left in circuit.... If changes were made to the Arduino code, the RC emulator board would then function as an 'attendant' control.

Woody's relay solution is much easier, partially due to the 'dumbness' of my code, my emulator board does not respond to the Shark Bus as a regular joystick would.

SACU - Aux control unit aka Attendant control or in our case the RC controller.

Immediately after power -up with SACU in system
10 bytes SR power-up information -
1 byte SR "transmit finished" byte
3 bytes SPM power-up information
1 byte SPM "transmit finished" byte
9 bytes SACU power-up information .... code would need to be altered to a SACU start up packet, to read the shark bus and not send data until the preceding "SPM transmit finished byte"
1 byte SACU "transmit finished" byte

[gcebiker]

Byte 4 , Bit 2 being the indicator on the Shark Bus to let each joystick know its function.

Type 08 SACU General Information
This packet has similar intent to the SR General Information packet, conveying joystick and speed pot positions. If the SACU
does not implement speed control, it shall set its speed pot value to zero.
Byte 0: Joystick speed reading (7 MSbs)
Byte 1: Joystick direction reading (7 MSbs)
Byte 2: Speed pot reading (7 MSbs)
Byte 3:
bit 6: Speed pot reading LSb
bits 5-3: Joystick speed reading (3 LSbs)
bits 2-0: Joystick direction reading (3 LSbs)
Byte 4:
bit 6: Joystick Error (indicates joystick mirror fault or some such problem when set).
bit 5: Speed pot Error (indicates out-of range error or some such problem when set).
bit 4: Local fault (such as CPU fault) (set when there is a fault)
bit 3: Joystick Calibration active ( set when JC mode is active )
bit 2: SACU User/Attendant switch: 1 = Attendant, 0 = User.
bit 1: Local non-critical fault (causes "limp" mode)
bit 0: SACU Drive Inhibit
Byte 5:
bits 6-4: Not used
bits 3-0: Operating mode, defined as
00 Drive mode
01 Actuator 1 mode
02 Actuator 2 mode
03 Actuator 1+2 mode
04-0F currently undefined

Notes:
When the SACU indicates a joystick error, it shall also send neutral joystick values.
When the SACU indicates a Speed Pot error, it shall also send a mid-range speed pot value.
When Joystick Calibration mode is active, the SACU will also send packet type 06: "Joystick calibration".
See "SR General Information" packet, above, for details on the protocol for changing Operating Modes.

Type 09 SACU power-up information
Byte 0: Year of manufacture, minus 2000 - for example, 01 is 2001, 127 is 2127.
Byte 1: bits 3-0: Month of manufacture ( 1 is January, 12 is December).
Byte 2: Serial number bits 20-14
Byte 3: Serial number bits 13-7
Byte 4: Serial number bits 6-0
Byte 5: Software version number
Byte 6: Capabilities:
bits 6-3: currently unused
bit 2: Supports Actuator 2 control
bit 1: Supports Actuator 1 control
bit 0: Supports speed control
The serial number format is chosen for compatibility with Dynamic Controls' standard serial number format (YYMXXXXX).
Allowance has been made such that the maximum serial number for any month can go up to 1,048,576. (they start at 10,000)
The encoding of the Software version number is as follows:
Bits 6-4: Software major version
Bit 3: "Pre-release flag": when set, this software is pre-release and is not suitable for production.
Bits 2-0: Software minor version.
For example, software version 1.1release candidate 2 will have a software version number of 0011001b or 0x19. Version 3.2
release will have a software version number of 0110010 or 0x32.

To do the job properly, the pulseIn code would also need to be removed (as its what causes the timing issue on the shark bus)
- SBus or variant used between RC transmitter/receiver.
- Start up packet to read the data stream and respond (instead of hard coded delay as it is now)
- I2C pins were intentionally left available (on the emulator board/shield) for this purpose.

I had at one time wanted to connect a Lidar to it, they are coming down in price so it might happen one day.

[gcebiker]

This is the Manual for the Shark Bus communication.

Shark Bus Communications version5.pdf

(71.85 KiB) Downloaded 512 times

[woodygb]

"Pulsein timing issues"
The R/C pulsein timing was slower than that required by the Dynamic Bus.

This was solved by reading the pulsein values into the Arduino's memory and polling the memory at the required timing interval... so rather than waiting for a new R/C pulse we simply read a value stored in memory.

[gcebiker]

I have just now been able to confirm a theory.

The Controller for the Invacare Gearless Brushless motors 'GB'

Is able to be controlled by a Shark Joystick and thus the Arduino Remote on this thread

Invacare Storm with GB motors

Invacare TDX SR

One little oddity, when you turn of the factory remote on the TDX SR/Storm, the Power module stores those settings and when the Shark Remote is attached, will only be able to adjust the speed between 0 and what the max speed on the original joystick was before it was powered down.

Reconnecting the factory Joystick, setting 'Mode' and the speed dial to the max settings, power down and reattach the Shark Remote lets it run at full speed.

I'm yet to test if the Dynamic Wizard programming software will be able to be used or if the SD card is the only way
or if the program is held in the Joystick as its programed via SD card.