MobiFlight Community Support

1. The stepper gets warm for no reason because it appears that power is still applied to the pins after rotation has stopped.

In a future version would it be possible to zero the 4 pins after the destination is reached?

2. Please let us know if you ever implement a stepper speed setting,

I have to use my own compiled version to reduce the speed of the stepper so I will miss out on future improvements until this feature is implemented.

Thanks

What speed are you using so that it works?

The code currently does not turn off the power that's correct but should not be an issue - it is the same with the default Arduino Stepper library. Do you experience any problem because of that?

Just trying to manage the arduino peak load limit.

I have several components running off my Arduino and I would have more flexibility if I was not consuming power unnecessarily.

An option to zero the stepper when idle would help.

This, and a stepper speed variable would allow me to use the release version rather than having to compile my own ;-)

What value are you using right now as max speed?

I use the stepper for the flaps indicator in a 737 so high speed is not required.

I use .. #define STEPPER_SPEED 300.

The original code line was .. #define STEPPER_SPEED 600 // 300 already worked, 467, too?

Even at 300, I find the stepper speed to be quite acceptable (When using the test function etc).

I have also changed the code to kill the stepper pins after 5 seconds of activity

Mobiflight drives all the items associated with the Flaps Guage.... Backlights, Autobrake Switch, Annunciators and the Guage itself.

My first real 3D Print Project from start to finish.

How did you realize the labels and the backlighting. Are those front plates also 3D printed?

The original plan was to 3d print the facia panel in transparent material and paint the panel leaving the text exposed, but that was difficult to get good clean text.

Instead, I chose to 3d print a panel with openings behind each text item, to allow the backlight to pass through, then I laser printed a "mask" on transparency material, then laser printed the front panel on adhesive paper. I carefully aligned the 2 laser prints and stuck them together so that the backlight would only pass through the text. Then glued that to the front of the panel.

The annunciators are clear 3d printed rectangular "blocks" press fitted into the facia openings with an LED bulb inserted into each of them.

Things worked out reasonably well tho. A closeup photo would reveal some flaws, but I'm happy with the outcome.

Does 7.4 provide a stepper motor speed control or should I stick with my own customised compiled version (7.3.1)?

All my steppers run into problems with the default speed.

I use a standard stepper 28BYJ-48 with Driver Board ULN 2003. He's getting warm but not hot. I took the settings published in the tutorial of this forum.

I modified 7.3.1 to disable the stepper 5 seconds after it stops moving, this has the side effect of having all the attached LEDS get slightly brighter when the stepper is off (there is more available power when the stepper pins are turned off).

I am more concerned about my need for a stepper speed setting and whether it might find it's way into a future version.

I had to recompile my own version of 7.3.1 with a reduced stepper speed because all of my 28BYJ-48's would "overdrive" and stop moving at the top of the acceleration curve.

Speed problem ....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yR3LyVHv0Nc

After lowering the max stepper speed ....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I78yBs5krVI

with what offset do you control the stepper?

The speed shown in the videos is too unrealistic and too fast. This runs with me much slower.

Is it possible to influence the stop current (duty-cycle) with MF? If one reduces to zero, on the one hand the electricity consumption should drop and the temperature development decrease. For our purposes, a duty cycle of 1% should be sufficient.

Hello smoothchat,

I like to ask what kind of Programm do you use for 3D drawing. I use 123cad free version. Are there templates in your Programm for encoders and steppers or did you draw them by yourself.

Thank you
Christian

@ Smooth

I know you still got the Problem.... I´m sorry i can´t reproduce this already cause my steppers all work fine with standard mobiflight Version... ( Same at most of other MF Users, too)

But i see in the Video you must have a bigger Issue in your Configuration....
In the Second Video ( After lowering the max speed) it looks like you set Flaps to "10" but your needle make a full turn ! Thats not correct.
MABY Here we got a PArt of the Problem..... In Correct way the Value only increase a little bit so your needle not must turn Ultra Fast.... But if the change of Value from 0-10 will need a so big range like a Full Turn then maby the Stepper will get full speed and overdrive.

Please check basicly your configuration.... Interpolation ... And Stepper Setting.... That FULL Turn here is 100% a issue in your settings !

Hello pizman,

The reason the stepper moves so far (in the video) is because I pressed the "test" button with a large value to make the stepper turn > 360 degrees. This was to prove that I fixed the overdrive problem by lowering the maximum speed.

The overdrive becomes a problem if I start a flight where the flaps are already set , and the stepper has to update to match the sim.

For example, If the stepper is at "0" but my saved scenario has flaps set to "40", then the stepper has to update itself to match. This is where the stepper has to turn from 0 to 40 quickly, and it often gets stuck.

Perhaps I can send one of my problem steppers to the main programmer so that he can confirm the issue.

I wish that I could store a value in an ini file, or the registry to set the stepper max (it would be less work than redesigning the UI)

Anyway, if I stick with my modified 7.3.1, everything works fine.

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Hello avidflyer,

I use Autodesk Fusion 360. It's free for non commercial use.
https://www.autodesk.com/products/fusion-360/overview
I find https://grabcad.com to be a great resource for ready made components.

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Hello StephanHo,

Here are the settings I use for my stepper. Perhaps I have made a mistake, but I thought these settings were pretty standard.

I'm interested to explore the reason why my stepper spins faster than yours (excessive speed is my problem).

Thanks for the tip.

Grab Cad ist a great ressource!

Thanks
Christian