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Messages - LukeZ
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331
« on: January 27, 2020, 12:55:16 PM »
Hi Jerry, I've posted updated TCB firmware and OP Config software - version 0.93.68 for both.
The track recoil option has been simplified to the Clark approach. On the Driving tab of OP Config you will still see a "Kickback speed" setting, which is the level of reverse throttle you want to send to the motors for the track recoil movement (to copy Clark, set this to 100%).
The old deceleration factor has been removed and instead the second setting is now simply "Kickback duration" in milliseconds, up to a maximum of 250 mS (1/4 of a second). To match Clark you would set this to 25 (1/40th of a second as per your measurement). I will be interested to hear if you are now able to replicate the action you were wanting.
I also did discover a bug in the smoker startup code which I believe should now be corrected, so you can test that problem as well and let me know if it is fixed.
332
« on: January 27, 2020, 12:50:45 PM »
An update to the track recoil action - in this recent thread, Jerry mentioned that the Open Panzer implementation of track recoil was not very effective on his model, and he compared it to the track recoil on the Clark board. As described above, my implementation allowed a starting speed to be set, and also a deceleration factor that would determine how quickly the motors would exponentially return to a stop. The Clark method is simply a brief on/off - set the motors to reverse, wait a very short amount of time (25mS or 1/40th of a second), then turn them off. I've decided to do away with my original complicated version and just offer the more simple on/off track recoil like Clark's, and which is probably how everyone else does it too. The user can still adjust the parameters on the Driving tab of OP Config - we have a "Kickback speed" as before, which is what level of reverse throttle to send to the motors. But instead of the deceleration factor, we now have simply "Kickback duration" which is how long the signal should be sent and which can range up to 250 mS (1/4 of a second). These changes are in effect with TCB firmware / OP Config versions 0.93.68.
333
« on: January 26, 2020, 06:35:51 AM »
Good job! I see you used a metal stencil, hopefully it wasn't too expensive. I always get the thin plastic ones since I know I'll inevitably change the design. 
334
« on: January 18, 2020, 05:06:42 AM »
As a side note on the latest changes, now the smoker switch is in the enable position initially even though it shows disabled in snoop. Once the switch is cycled, it can be disabled/enabled okay, its just in the wrong position initially. I recall this has been an issue in the past with the airsoft switch. Hi Jerry, I've done a test with my TCB where I've assigned two sides of a 2-position switch to the "Smoker - Enable" and "Smoker - Disable" functions. I put the switch in the Disable position on my transmitter, then power up the TCB and start the engine, and the smoker remains off and I didn't have to toggle the switch. So it seems to be working for me. You say "even though it shows disabled in snoop" - do you mean you get a message in Snoop that shows it read your switch as being in the Off position and the smoker still starts? Or are you just referring to the fact the Snoop shows you what functions you have defined? Can you post your OPZ file on that tank, and also, what radio system are you using with it? (specifically, are you using one of those PWM-to-PPM converter boxes here).
335
« on: January 18, 2020, 04:41:33 AM »
I don't know what tank and gear you're running but the odds are that a 20 amp switch is more than adequate for the current you're pulling. More than likely you just have a flaky connection somewhere, possibly at the blade terminals, or it could just be a cheap or defective switch. You could try soldering directly to the switch to see if that helps, or try a higher quality switch (a lot of the really cheap Chinese stuff sold on discount sites is not very good, but I don't know where you got your switch).
I've mostly just manually plugged/unplugged the battery instead of use a switch but that is certainly not very convenient.
Keep trying, using a switch is certainly possible, HL and Taigen use the cheapest possible tiny switch you can imagine and they run fine.
336
« on: January 14, 2020, 08:26:57 AM »
Thanks for that info Jerry. I believe I will change the existing arrangement to one where the user specifies the amount (speed) and time, with no fancy tapering. Yours are the only comments I've heard about the track recoil so far, and probably the simpler process is better.
I'm not likely to get to this for the next few weeks, but when it is ready to test I'll let you know.
337
« on: January 14, 2020, 08:24:17 AM »
Interesting question, but in my experience the cost of bare PCBs is probably no more than the cost of 3D printed part, and I'm not sure if the file formats would be the same in any case. Of course if you have a 3D printer laying about already then you could try it!
338
« on: January 11, 2020, 12:00:17 AM »
Can I hook up a scope to try and capture the pulse the Clark is producing? Not sure if I can do that, but will give it a go if you feel it will help. If you have the means and the desire that would be an interesting test, I would be interested in both the duration of the pulse as well as its absolute magnitude (ie, is he sending full battery voltage or something less). The gearboxes will definitely make a difference. At a deceleration factor of 1, the recoil action on the TCB is now only 1/8 of a second long (or should be). If your tank is moving back that much at only half speed (50%) in 1/8 of a second, I would guess the gearboxes on your TCB T55 are much lower ratio than the ones on your Clark T55. Anyway, it would be possible to change the recoil action to a simple pulse of which you specify the duration and the speed, but that's just something I need to work on. Several changes were recently made to the smoker object so I am not surprised you have encountered the issue of incorrect initialization. I will look into that and see what's going on.
339
« on: January 09, 2020, 01:03:52 PM »
I can assure you there are no such things on my back! 
340
« on: January 09, 2020, 11:37:59 AM »
Ha ha, it happens to all of us, don't worry!
341
« on: January 09, 2020, 10:58:48 AM »
Did you remember to set Arduino pin A12 to ground? That pin will tell the TCB firmware to communicate over USB instead of the alternate serial port. You don't need bluetooth but you do need to set that pin to ground. It is also a good idea to set pin 33 to ground as well (this tells the firmware that you are a fighting tank instead of a repair tank and will help you avoid some troubleshooting problems like why is the cannon not firing?)
342
« on: January 08, 2020, 09:33:48 AM »
Both designs look very interesting in their own unique way. I guess you both will have some reflow soldering in your future, I'll be interested to hear how you find it, but in my experience it is not too difficult with the right equipment (which can be inexpensive) and much easier than trying to solder very small components by hand.
343
« on: January 08, 2020, 09:30:49 AM »
Hi Jerry, thanks for that video of the Clark action, I can see the different method used. His track recoil seems to be a rather straightforward and simple implementation, but it may nevertheless be better for it in the end. Possibly I tried to get too fancy. I've attached a graphical representation of what the Open Panzer track recoil looks like compared to what I think is how Clark is doing it.
In the Open Panzer implementation the Kickback Speed is how high the reverse speed spike is to begin with. The Deceleration Factor determines how quickly the spike fades out (within a range, even the lowest user value for deceleration factor still results in a fairly swift return to zero speed).
Anyway what I've done for now is to expand the range for this deceleration factor, so now if you select 2 for example that will be much quicker than 2 was in the prior firmware. You can give it a try and see if it helps.
Because of various other background changes not related to this issue you'll need to update both OP Config and the firmware on your TCB to the latest version.
344
« on: January 05, 2020, 05:28:38 AM »
Hi Jerry, I hope the holidays were good for you as well, and happy new year.
As you've described there are two parameters that can be adjusted, one is the kickback speed (the starting speed of the recoil action, the speed quickly decreases from this point as the effect transpires) and the other is the deceleration factor (how quickly the speed decreases, which basically determines the duration of the effect). It is important to experiment with both as it is the combination of both that creates the effect.
I understand you're setting the deceleration factor at its lowest setting (1 out of 100), and that is not enough time at a low kickback speed, but when the kickback speed is increased the movement is too great. I guess there is no middle ground of kickback speed that seems to work well?
Have you tried instead increasing the deceleration factor from 1 up to 20, 40, 60 or so, and compensating by decreasing the kickback speed?
Nevertheless it is possible for me to adjust the scale of the deceleration factor so that 1 equals an even shorter amount of time than it does now, and I don't mind doing that, in fact I will do that but it may be a few days before I post a firmware update (been working on some other small changes elsewhere which are not yet finished).
You're right, the only way to display videos here is to put them on YouTube or Vimeo first, it's not practical to host and stream them using the forum software.
345
« on: December 23, 2019, 08:13:10 AM »
As soon as all the components are delivered and I will assemble the minimum configuration, I want to make a separate topic where I will describe all my first experience in mastering from the first steps - manufacturing.
I would be grateful if you transfer my messages there.
I agree, a new thread dedicated to your project will be a good idea. It might be difficult to extract your messages and their replies from this thread but hopefully you can just give an introduction of what has already happened and then continue from there. Feel free to start a new thread in this forum (TCB Dev) whenever you are ready. P.S. I did not expect PCBs to look so good, this was my first experience with such an order. But I already found the shortcomings of my design, for example, the holes for the pin panels are very large.
It will be necessary to pay more attention to the study of the nuances of designing printed circuit boards. In my experience no matter how careful I am in the design stage, there is something about holding a physical board in my hands (as opposed to looking at it on the computer screen) that makes clear all kinds of things that should be done differently!
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