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Frank,
A couple of suggestions on rudder and dive plane position…if the actuators have built in pots then that’s half the battle. The “high tech” way would be to take the pot, set it up as a voltage divider, and use it to drive the A/D input of something like a PIC processor. You could then write some code to either display the position digitally or graphically. The “low tech” method would be to just use a voltmeter and display the relative voltage as position much like trim tab indicators on boats. You could even replace the voltmeter scale with a custom scale that reads out in “degrees”.
Al
From:
owner-personal_submersibles@psubs.org
[mailto:owner-personal_submersibles@psubs.org] On Behalf Of ShellyDalg@aol.com
Hi Brent. I've enjoyed the Seamagine web site. Testing will prove if my controls design will be usable. The box will be fairly small ( hoping for 4"X 6" )with just 4 speed dials and three rocker switches. I'm hoping it will be fairly easy to manipulate the controls using just the two types...dial and switch. The speed control dials will usually be just set at a given speed, unless precise positioning is needed. Each dial has forward/reverse with the control circuit providing the step down. Each of the 4 motors have their own dial so sharp turns or spinning on axis should be possible. The three rocker switches controlling dive planes and rudders should be fairly easy. Not quite as natural as a steering wheel, or maybe a joy stick, but very compact and requires just a finger to steer left right or set dive plane angle. The momentary switch and electrical linear actuators act to maintain the position until the rocker switch is pressed again. I haven't figured out yet how I will monitor the actual rudder and dive plane position relative to "center" but I think some actuators have a potentiometer built in that could send a position signal. Just gotta figure out how to interpret that signal into a display that's simple to maintain and easy to read. Put another color coat on the back fairing today. Startin' to get real shiny! Frank D.
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