Community Event / Creation DIY Controller and Throttle

Cataclysm72

Cataclysm72
Update:

I rebuilt the foot controller with new, stronger parts. The black one is the new one. Nothing big, just better.

IMG_2945.jpg

IMG_2951.jpg

http://www.simplicate.info/2016/01/08/updated-rudder-control/
 

t00thPIK

t00thPIK
Staggeringly good progress, Cat. Very impressive, quality work.
I haven't played Elite for a long time. I had a break once I completed my EDtracker, in part because it wasn't very successful. A few months ago I bought the components to build EDtracker's updated version, which I plan to build very soon. Videos from Horizons has the Elite bug growing inside me again.
Congratulations on completing your dream Elite HOTAS to a playable state. Somehow, I suspect you're far from finished, however. Looking forward to future updates and a production release date and price point (;))
 

Cataclysm72

Cataclysm72
Today i had to replace a 5-way hat switch in my joystick. 6 months ago i damaged it when pulling off the thumbstick with a little too much force (for service) amd today it finally gave up. I had a few spare and with only 6 wires to resolder it was an easy job. However: it totally proves that you need to pick your parts with care. These 5-way hat switches from ebay may be cheap, but believe me that the low price comes wth a reason. These switches certainly weren't meant for 50million presses MTBF LOL.

end rant.
 

WhiteShadow

WhiteShadow
Still amazes me of your ingenuity Cat.. I'm really impressed with everything you've created here! (sigh) I definately need to invest in a 3D printer!
 

Cataclysm72

Cataclysm72
WhiteShadow said:
Still amazes me of your ingenuity Cat.. I'm really impressed with everything you've created here! (sigh) I definately need to invest in a 3D printer!
Click to expand...
The gimbal design took most of my time. The panels and the switches weren't that difficult to make after i learned to work with the lasercutter. The joystick definitely was trickier because i had to redesign it a couple of times to improve the strength of the setup. For the monitor stand i had some excellent pointers from the members of my local hackerspace.

Next to the hardware is of course a big bunch of ELECTRONICS. I'm using a small Arduino Pro Micro (Leornardo compatible) and a bunch of IO extenders and led drivers. To get it all together i made a custom PCB. On the software side i started with NicoHood's work but quickly came to the conclusion that it needed some custom solution.

The setup needs no drivers as it reports itself as a HID compatible game controller. Stuff like calibration is done in hardware.
 

Sanderson

Sanderson
You really should consider marketing a new HOTAS. I'm serious, just made a thread about it the other day. If you have the ambition and the capital I think you could be rich in a very short (considering) amount of time. The market is just begging for a new HOTAS.
 

Cataclysm72

Cataclysm72
Sanderson said:
You really should consider marketing a new HOTAS. I'm serious, just made a thread about it the other day. If you have the ambition and the capital I think you could be rich in a very short (considering) amount of time. The market is just begging for a new HOTAS.
Click to expand...
I have experienced that customers' expectations are too high for my nerves. I will probably never attempt to make a product ever again in my life, thanks to a few very annoying '     y little princesses'. In one case I enrolled in a paypal refund conflict because a customer was incapable of removing an access panel from his old setup; my product (and manual which contained the instructions) were returned to me. It turned out the package was still sealed and unopened. The         didn't even bother to read the manual. Took me a month of my life.
 

who?

who?
Fantastic work, just stumbled onto this thread now.

Is the dashboard under the middle screen fully functional? What controls do you have mapped there? (I assume this was asked before, but it's 19 pages... :) )
 

Cataclysm72

Cataclysm72
who? said:
Fantastic work, just stumbled onto this thread now.

Is the dashboard under the middle screen fully functional? What controls do you have mapped there? (I assume this was asked before, but it's 19 pages... :) )
Click to expand...
Yes, fully functional!

console_panels_dwg.png

Front panel, left to right (check the screenshot for designs):
- landing gear
- cargo scoop
- hardpoints
- flight assist
- rotational correction
and on the second panel:
- 10 generic pushbuttons (i mapped them ranging from FSD to next target, etc. basically anything that can't be mapped on a switch)
- comms channel (mapped to enable/disable microphone)

the buttons on the throttle base:
- enable headlook
- lights
- silent running

the buttons on the joystick base are currently not mapped to Elite functions
- SW1 (is this one is enabled when powering up, the joystick enters calibration mode)
- SW2
- SW3, enable mouse mode (uses HAT1 for mouse and trigger for mouse buttons)

On the throttle:
- boost
- thrusters left/right, up/down (analog X/Y)
- reverse
- UI focus
- chaff

On the joystick:
- fire
- secondary fire
- select target ahead
- HAT1: power distribution and/or UI navigate
- HAT2: select next target/next weapon layout/next destination/highest threat
- push buttons for HAT1/HAT2 are unmapped, they were hard to press without moving sideways (cheap switches)

There's no driver or joystick management UI as it is a generic HID device. Everything is mapped in Elite configuration.
 

who?

who?
Thanks for sharing, that's an amazing setup you have there.

I thought I was pretty 'leet just with a HOTAS, pedals and head-tracking. I am putting together a tablet app as a "2nd screen", but it remains to be seen what FD will include in the API as it has loads of potential.
 

Cataclysm72

Cataclysm72
who? said:
I thought I was pretty 'leet just with a HOTAS, pedals and head-tracking. I am putting together a tablet app as a "2nd screen", but it remains to be seen what FD will include in the API as it has loads of potential.
Click to expand...
You are most welcome!

On that topic of the API, I very much doubt that Frontier will ever come up with a real-time feedback API (reporting states like 'lights currently on/off, inertia vectors etc.) for us builders to respond upon. In contrast to proper simulators like the outdated Microsoft Flight Simulator, there are very very very few people playing the game with full immersion. Implementing such API would give Frontier Development not much more $$$, while adding the feature will no doubt cost a significant sum. To me, FD has proven that it'll focus on adding new features rather than fixing existing important bugs/playability/OSX support/force feedback/etc., which I why I stopped preparing my setup for such feedback systems.

In the rare case that other developers surprise me with a new space sim combat game that they've been working on for several years, (other that the vaporwarian Star Citizen), i very much doubt them to include a simulation API as well.
 
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