Wet Compass and Stepper Motor

Support for Arduino in combination with Air Manager and Air Player

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Ralph
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Re: Wet Compass and Stepper Motor

#11 Post by Ralph »

Yes without a calibration signal it will never be able to calibrate, it'll spin to eternity.

Blue_Wings
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Re: Wet Compass and Stepper Motor

#12 Post by Blue_Wings »

I see! i spend hours thinking I was doing it wrong ! I am very new to AM and arduinos and I'm not sure how to work with sensors and information I'm coming across are not exactly beginner friendly.

So I guess I'm back to square 1 and AM4 is not the solution. i'm a bit disappointed since MobiFlight can do this while being very beginner friendly and free. the only issue is that it does not support the Nano.

Is there anything you would suggest?

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Re: Wet Compass and Stepper Motor

#13 Post by Ralph »

Mobiflight does it the dirty / lazy way. We can make that as well (although my engineering heart will bleed), but you still need buttons to set it into the correct position. And you'll have the risk that it starts to drift after a while.

If you want to do it in a decent manner, then you use for example a fork light barrier. You can get those things very cheap.

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Sling
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Re: Wet Compass and Stepper Motor

#14 Post by Sling »

Blue_Wings wrote: Wed Dec 02, 2020 7:25 pm I see! i spend hours thinking I was doing it wrong ! I am very new to AM and arduinos and I'm not sure how to work with sensors and information I'm coming across are not exactly beginner friendly.

So I guess I'm back to square 1 and AM4 is not the solution. i'm a bit disappointed since MobiFlight can do this while being very beginner friendly and free. the only issue is that it does not support the Nano.

Is there anything you would suggest?
The problem with making things too beginner friendly is you lose some of the required flexibility for more advanced instruments and users. You could introduce a basic and advanced mode but then the folks using it in basic start asking about features and instruments that would need the advanced understanding. Long story short is there is a learning curve but it becomes easier the longer you work through it.

Blue_Wings
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Re: Wet Compass and Stepper Motor

#15 Post by Blue_Wings »

Making things beginner friendly will certainly get more people into the hobby. How about that ? More people means more products sold. isn't it important ? Developers have to take a step back and think of the big picture, think of whether they are doing enough to help attract new audiences to the hobby.

Flight simulation is much more complex and demanding than real aviation. If you think about it, real aviation is the one simulating the hobby! Now you need to know about electronics and related skills, programming in multiple languages, 3d modeling and 3D printing, usage of workshop tools and other skills. This other than the time, effort, money and place needed to learn and practice all of that. Keep in mind that you need to know about real aviation first. Honestly some simulation products are becoming a distraction from learning and practicing aviation. Yesterday I have invested 6 hours to make a stepper motor turn with x-plane without success. Turns out you need to go for an engineering degree first.

Also there is elitism growing within the hobby that does not welcome new comers and their silly demands and annoying requests. I don't think this helps getting more people into flight simulation.

Something as simple as getting a stepper motor turn with the compass of x-plane should not be exclusive to people who can code. New beginner also deserve to get the same attention and support that advanced users get. Keep in mind that AM is a paid software not a freeware like MobiFlight and Simvim. Also keep in mind that the most important goal of flight simmers is to learn and get better at aviation not get better at individual products.

I hope this forum and the sim innovation community will be more open and supportive to beginners and that they do their part in lowering the threshold needed to get into the hobby.

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Ralph
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Re: Wet Compass and Stepper Motor

#16 Post by Ralph »

We are, and that's what the hardware functions are for. But I sometimes get the feeling (hypothetically speaking) that these beginners think that their hardware will be put together by magic elves and will come to life. You will always have to put some effort into it.
Please take don't take this as an offence, but take the stepper motor script you used for example, you asked why it kept spinning, how did you think that it would know its position? That's what I meant with magic. Magic doesn't exist :)

You can go the Mobiflight route and calibrate it by hand. But why not take that little extra step and do it the decent, more professional way? We're here to help, you can ask all the questions you want and you'll end up not only more knowledgeable, but with a better end result.

Blue_Wings
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Re: Wet Compass and Stepper Motor

#17 Post by Blue_Wings »

Aren't "these beginners", that you are making fun of, your paying customers ?

Didn't "these beginners" buy your software in order to get their hardware work ? Your software doesn't do magic, that's for sure !!

Instead of counterproductive sarcasm, you could've pointed me and people like me into the right guide or direction. A temporary solution would have been much appreciated too. A link, a video, anything.

I have no issues with putting effort. As a matter of fact, i have spend so many hours trying to figure this out on my own and did not want to bother you or others. I did not expect though that you will provide a solution that you already know it won't work without mentioning anything that could have saved me hours of frustration and going into the wrong direction. I am sure that I'm not the first one who tries to achieve this simple thing and that there must be a script that can make this happen with a certain sensor that I can purchase. You haven't shared any of the like.

Keep in mind that your customers are working adults who have to juggle a career, family, social life, and other interests and can't afford to spend weeks on every software they use. That where product experts like you should come in and offer help and guidance, not sarcasm and ridicule. But that's yet another example of the elitism and arrogance I was talking about.

Please take don't take this as an offence, go back to your first posts, you'll see that you have overpromised and underdelivered.
Last edited by Blue_Wings on Thu Dec 03, 2020 3:13 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Sling
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Re: Wet Compass and Stepper Motor

#18 Post by Sling »

Blue_Wings wrote: Thu Dec 03, 2020 1:31 pm Making things beginner friendly will certainly get more people into the hobby. How about that ? More people means more products sold. isn't it important ? Developers have to take a step back and think of the big picture, think of whether they are doing enough to help attract new audiences to the hobby.

Flight simulation is much more complex and demanding than real aviation. If you think about it, real aviation is the one simulating the hobby! Now you need to know about electronics and related skills, programming in multiple languages, 3d modeling and 3D printing, usage of workshop tools and other skills. This other than the time, effort, money and place needed to learn and practice all of that. Keep in mind that you need to know about real aviation first. Honestly some simulation products are becoming a distraction from learning and practicing aviation. Yesterday I have invested 6 hours to make a stepper motor turn with x-plane without success. Turns out you need to go for an engineering degree first.

Also there is elitism growing within the hobby that does not welcome new comers and their silly demands and annoying requests. I don't think this helps getting more people into flight simulation.

Something as simple as getting a stepper motor turn with the compass of x-plane should not be exclusive to people who can code. New beginner also deserve to get the same attention and support that advanced users get. Keep in mind that AM is a paid software not a freeware like MobiFlight and Simvim. Also keep in mind that the most important goal of flight simmers is to learn and get better at aviation not get better at individual products.

I hope this forum and the sim innovation community will be more open and supportive to beginners and that they do their part in lowering the threshold needed to get into the hobby.
So flight swimming is more complex than real aviation huh. I don’t think so. What you are doing with a sim is building your aircraft. I think you are mistaking that for flying. Compare eggs with eggs. Build a sim or build a real plane. No comparison.

You can sim without getting into the really technical stuff if you choose. Just as in life if you can’t or don’t want to do something yourself you have to pay someone else to do it.

I personally think this forum is very welcoming to beginners. When giving help to anyone new you always have to establish the knowledge level before giving suitable responses. Sometimes that comes across as not helpful.

I’m real sorry you feel this way but I accept the viewpoint.

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Ralph
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Re: Wet Compass and Stepper Motor

#19 Post by Ralph »

Wow, chill! I even said that it should not be taken as an offense, it was just to point out the problems we face with beginners. I think you did not read my message: I said that we are here to help and that you can ask all the questions you want. And instead you begin complaining. What more do you want from us? :o

Blue_Wings
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Re: Wet Compass and Stepper Motor

#20 Post by Blue_Wings »

Lool you have spent the time arguing not helping. If you wanna help others maybe start with dropping that passive-aggressive attitude.

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