Community Event / Creation DIY Controller and Throttle

Cataclysm72 · Sep 17, 2015

thanks blairvoyach.

Today's update has to do with making the frame as demonstrated by the legos. I cut the beams, drilled the holes, sanded the wood and assembled it only to realize i've constructed a very unstable monstrosity, not even suitable for a prototype. Somewhere i must have made a wrong measurement. So i scd everything and now i'm prepping to just bolt the screen to the frame with two simple fixed triangles. I need to be playing the game and get a feel for distances to the screen and the sticks to make good judgement on dimensions. it's more fun too.

Cataclysm72 · Sep 17, 2015

Here's the end of the days result. If you don't mind i'll be playing for a few days.

UPDATE: The first missions were awesome. The screen is at a nice low angle (easier on the eyes), but with a triple display setup it may come a little too close to the controls and perhaps it should be a little higher up. Not an issue for now!

I will be making nicer pictures when I cleaned up the place a little.

Redhornet · Sep 18, 2015

In my opinion it's actually better in the long run you did the screen position mock-up. It will give you time to see how you like the set up, time to think about how to engineer it and most importantly... TIME TO FLY!!!

I do this sort of thing with almost all of my builds around the house, I make a mock-up, then a prototype and live with/use the prototype for a week or 2. (I also get Mrs. Hornet's opinion/suggestions, VERY important part of the process...) I can then finalise the design and build the final piece knowing it will be precisely what I want.

Take the next week, fly around and noodle it...

Cataclysm72 · Sep 18, 2015

I'm a 43 year old man, but i'm back to being a little boy because I got an unannounced visit from my old dad; he was was so proud of my building skills! Sure enough he had to bombard my wood working skills because he had to compensate, lol. I totally agree with him on that topic so no harm done. It feels like coming home with a good report card!

Cataclysm72 · Sep 20, 2015

News!

I noticed I was missing a few buttons so I just added a momentary switch and 5 pushbuttons to my setup. 3D-printed a small mounting plate and soldered the buttons to the wiring. I had some extension points left on my joystick board so all I needed to do was plug them in. It is awesome to be able to upgrade your own joystick this easy.

Cataclysm72 · Sep 23, 2015

Now the prototype of the logic board serms stable i've send the design to a pcb maker to tidy it all up at notch.

Redhornet · Sep 23, 2015

Cataclysm274 said:
News!

I noticed I was missing a few buttons so I just added a momentary switch and 5 pushbuttons to my setup. 3D-printed a small mounting plate and soldered the buttons to the wiring. I had some extension points left on my joystick board so all I needed to do was plug them in. It is awesome to be able to upgrade your own joystick this easy.

View attachment 63356 View attachment 63357

Yes, yes it is! You sir, may be getting a lot of PMs from me in the near future as I'm now considering a button box build...

Cataclysm72 · Sep 24, 2015

Redhornet said:
Yes, yes it is! You sir, may be getting a lot of PMs from me in the near future as I'm now considering a button box build...

I'll be getting 10 (or 12) of these PCB's even though I only need 2 (and 2 backups), so i'll probably put the others up for sale.

Blairvoyach · Sep 24, 2015

Cataclysm274 said:
I'll be getting 10 (or 12) of these PCB's even though I only need 2 (and 2 backups), so i'll probably put the others up for sale.

My guess? GONE IN SECONDS

If I didnt' already have two of Leo Bodnars boards and a spare one too, I'd jump at one of these. You've done some awesome work here and inspired a heck of a lot of other CMDR's to follow.

Makes my F22/TQS USB conversion look feeble.

Cataclysm72 · Sep 24, 2015

Blairvoyach said:
My guess? GONE IN SECONDS

If I didnt' already have two of Leo Bodnars boards and a spare one too, I'd jump at one of these. You've done some awesome work here and inspired a heck of a lot of other CMDR's to follow.

Makes my F22/TQS USB conversion look feeble.

Those kind words made me smile!

I kind of wished i had the energy to finish tje details. Right now the thing looks like it was in the last photo (with the wooden frame). But with my new work starting i notice i have little energy left for doing the woodwork. At least i've got some design stuff worked out in my head, and everything is good enough for a 45 minute pirate hunting session every other day! I'm proud how far i have come. The illness sucks, but things like this make it just a little nicer.

Cataclysm72 · Sep 25, 2015

Sneak preview:

Blairvoyach · Sep 26, 2015

I really need to do something like that. My Throttle already has 14 switch positions and three axes, I can just about remember what they are programmed for. Now I've added another load of switches to take the count up to 32 (max the BU0386X can use), I lose track. Trouble is that I also use my HOTAS in DCS so switches are bound to different systems depending on which aircraft I'm flying. What I was thinking of doing was to get some of that Aluminium coated sign board (black anodised face and white HDPE core) and engrave templates I could just drop over the switches, I have a CNC router so the engraving is no problem, I'd need quite a few though

I see you also have LED indicators on yours too.

What have you used for your switch plate? Looks good anyway.

Cataclysm72 · Sep 26, 2015

I have no CNC router but I have limited access to a laser cutter. I'm using diffuse white acrylic plate right now, which I spraypainted and then engraved. I'm still working out the details trying to get some perfection going.

Cataclysm72 · Sep 27, 2015

This is so amazingly cool. The back panel lighting works like a charm, and this is only with a single LED!
The panel a sandwich of spray-painted acrylic sheet with 'tank grey', laser cut to size and engraved with the proper font. Switch guards are 3D-printed and coated for a soft finish.

This commander is very proud of today's work.

Enride · Sep 27, 2015

Cataclysm274 said:
This is so amazingly cool. The back panel lighting works like a charm, and this is only with a single LED!
The panel a sandwich of spray-painted acrylic sheet with 'tank grey', laser cut to size and engraved with the proper font. Switch guards are 3D-printed and coated for a soft finish.

View attachment 64933

This commander is very proud of today's work.

That looks amazing! Masterful, commander, masterful!
Im so jealous at all of you who do the backlit panels! I dont have access to anything to aid in this without spending a fortune so Im still unsure what approach to take.

t00thPIK · Oct 1, 2015

Cat, I haven't checked the forums much over the past few weeks, but I'm glad I did! You have made some amazing progress, and as Blairvoyach said, you're an inspiration! Keep up the great work and keep getting better!
I'll be watching intently

Cataclysm72 · Oct 1, 2015

t00thPIK said:
Cat, I haven't checked the forums much over the past few weeks, but I'm glad I did! You have made some amazing progress, and as Blairvoyach said, you're an inspiration! Keep up the great work and keep getting better!
I'll be watching intently

In that case I have little news other than that i've been working on a small keypad to go next to the switch console. If haven't had much energy to work on the seat itself, but I have been enjoying a little ED gametime to compensate. I hope I don't fall for the trap that every builder falls in, which is "don't start playing until it is finished or you will never finish".

Enride · Oct 1, 2015

Cataclysm274 said:
In that case I have little news other than that i've been working on a small keypad to go next to the switch console. If haven't had much energy to work on the seat itself, but I have been enjoying a little ED gametime to compensate. I hope I don't fall for the trap that every builder falls in, which is "don't start playing until it is finished or you will never finish".

That "trap" is inevitable

As soon as you "just want to test fit everything and take it for a testflight" youve lost the battle!
Doesnt mean the war is over though, but it might take a bit longer!

Cataclysm72 · Oct 1, 2015

Enride said:
That "trap" is inevitable
As soon as you "just want to test fit everything and take it for a testflight" youve lost the battle!
Doesnt mean the war is over though, but it might take a bit longer!

It never was a battle. I've had enough battle in my life for the past 3 years. But all puns aside I definitely see your point!

Cataclysm72 · Oct 1, 2015

Here are a few shots of the button panel. They are supposed to say 0,1,2,3 etc though 9 with a OK and CANCEL. I don't have a real purpose for them yet, so until then i just call it a Multi Purpose Comms Panel. The other switch should be used to toggle comms, for example MUTE microphone or something.

While this seconds panel looks ok (i copied the concept from the first panel) i'm not too pleased with the button alignment. Somehow it doesn't look up to par with the rest of the designs. They look misaligned, and fiddly. Which is a shame, because they have an excellent clicketiclick feel to them and work perfectly.

For the switches of the buttons I used old ALPS switches from a space 1995 keyboard. I had to make new keycaps because i couldn't find the ones from the original keyboard. So the keycaps i 3d-printed, sanded, and sprayed with a few coats of PlastiDip.

I may try this one again by recessing the buttons into a grid panel (see further down) so you don't actually notice the misalignment. To do that, I would have to recess the buttons by mounting them on a second board which would make the design even more complex, adding to a total of 4 layers (front, coloring, switch mount, led lighting panel).

Anyway, that's all for now. Enjoy the pictures.

Below is an image from the Apollo Lunar module. It looks much tighter. Also it has light coming through the numbers. That would be cool too.