SimplexMotion driver
Status: Tested with one and two motors, with threaded computer-side PD torque controllers
This package implements control interfaces for SimplexMotion servo motors. It was developed on a standard Linux (Ubuntu) and tested for SH100B, but some interface implementations should be crossplattform (in particular via the hdiapi library). For Linux, there are 4 alternative communication options:
- via hidraw, using the direct kernel modul (based on https://github.com/torvalds/linux/blob/master/samples/hidraw/hid-example.c)
- via the hidapi library, https://github.com/libusb/hidapi, crossplatform, on Linux largely equivalent to the above
- using the modbus protocol over serial (not yet implemented)
- using the modbus protocol over CAN (not yet implemented)
The SimplexMotion class provides high-level methods (e.g. setPID
or runSpeed or running a torque-control loop with your own
torque-computation callback). The SimplexMotion_Communication class
provides direct write/read access to all SimplexMotion registers, but
still agnostic to the choice of communication/implementation.
Related
- SimplexMotion manual (including register documentation): https://www.simplexmotion.com/documentation/manual/SimplexMotionManual.pdf
- SimplexMotion servo motors: https://simplexmotion.com/products/simplex-motion-servomotors/
- Python package using the Modbus RTU protocol: https://github.com/srikanthsrnvs/pysimplex
Installation
- standard cmake build:
git clone https://github.com/MarcToussaint/SimplexMotion-driver.git
cd SimplexMotion-driver
mkdir build
cd build
# by default, the hdiapi is compiled call `ccmake ..` to switch to another implementation
cmake ..
make
- Plug in the motor via USB, check
dmesg, device paths need general write permission
sudo chmod a+rw /dev/hidraw*
Testing & Calibration
The test/test.cpp implements basic testing of the motors, including simple methods to calibrate cogging, rund constant speed, run direct torque controllers, run the threaded computer-side torque controller. Please look into the source code.
A basic test (running small constant speed) is
./simplexMotionTest /dev/hidraw0
Cogging calibration is
./simplexMotionTest /dev/hidraw0 cogging
To test threads and multi-motors, change the source directly.