• Controller

Actuator control

There are a plethora of actuators and ways to conrtrol them. The OctoMY™ controller interface is quite ambitious in it's attempt at supporting them.

Actuator classification

From a usability perspective, actuators are classified in the following ways:

Motion Type

	Description	Example
Rotary	Actuators that produce rotational motion.	DC motors, servo motors, stepper motors
Linear	Actuators that produce linear motion (straight line).	Linear actuators, solenoids, lead screw actuators

Movement Range

	Description	Example
Continuous	Capable of continuous 360-degree or infinite motion.	DC motors, stepper motors
Ranged	Limited to a specific range of motion (e.g., 0 to 180 degrees).	Servo motors, piezoelectric actuators

Feedback Type

	Description	Example
Position Feedback	Provides feedback on the position of the actuator.	Servo motors with potentiometers
Speed Feedback	Provides feedback on the speed of movement.	Rotary encoders, tachometers
Force Feedback	Provides feedback on the force or load applied.	Actuators with built-in load cells

Control Method

	Description	Example
Open-loop	Operates without feedback; performs predefined actions.	Basic DC motors, solenoids
Closed-loop	Uses feedback mechanisms to adjust and control the movement accurately.	Servo motors, stepper motors with feedback

Power Source

	Description	Example
Electric	Actuators powered by electrical energy.	DC motors, AC motors, stepper motors
Pneumatic	Actuators that use compressed air to generate motion.	Pneumatic cylinders, pneumatic valves
Hydraulic	Actuators that use fluid pressure for movement.	Hydraulic rams, hydraulic motors

Actuation Mechanism

	Description	Example
Electromagnetic	Uses magnetic fields for motion generation.	DC motors, stepper motors
Piezoelectric	Uses electrical charge in piezoelectric materials to create precise movement.	Piezoelectric actuators used in precise positioning devices
Electrostatic	Uses electrostatic force for actuation, typically in micro-scale devices.	MEMS actuators, electrostatic relays

Actuator control interface

Actuator definitions management

quint8 maxActuatorsSupported()
quint8 actuatorCount()
QString actuatorName(quint8)
qreal actuatorTargetValue(quint8)
qreal actuatorDefaultValue(quint8)
ActuatorMotion actuatorMotion(quint8);

Actuator state management

void setLimp(quint8 index, bool limp)
void setTargetValue(quint8 index, qreal value)

Optional specialization/convenience actuator state management

void setLimp(const QBitArray &flags);
void setTargetPose(const Pose &pose);
void center(quint8 index);
void limpAll();
void centerAll();
QString debugString();

Actuator control example

Servotor32 implements IController.

Servotor32 supports up to 32 RC servos controlled using the standar RC protocol of PWM from 500 to 2000 microseconds of pulse width to signal servo position.

The Servotor32 implementation will implement Icontrollerin the following way:

• usesSerial() reports true, and uses OctoMY™ provided serial port
• maxActuatorsSupported() reports 32 to support max 32 actuators
• maxSensorsSupported() reports 0 and does not support any sensors
• maxLobesSupported() reports 0 and does not support any lobes or processing
• hasConfigurationWidget() reports true to say that this controller has a custom user interface.
• configurationWidget() returns an UI which allows you to set up serial comms to the controller over USB/Bluetooth serial, and where microsecond high and low trim can be adjusted per actuator.
• All actuators are hardcoded to have ranged motion