Using Pots With Helios

[Deezle]

Hey guys, I'm finally ready to build more panels for my pit. Chief among them is the A-10C Lighting panel. I know I can use DCS-Bios, but I wish to keep the Arduino as an HID so I can easily map it to other aircraft in game. I followed the below video on mapping the pots to the A-10 using Helios, since the A-10 does not have native axis mappings for any of the control panels. However it does not work. Has something changed, the video is quite old. Or am I doing something wrong?

 

 

Edited June 14, 2016 by Deezle

[RightStuff]

Not sure if your approach is so easy as it should be. AFAIK you need EOS to make Arduinos and Helios working together. This thread is a good starting point: http://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=108160

 

Pls keep us (at least me ;)) informed concerning your built.

I never made Helios/Arduino working flawless: Too much SW-hangups forced me to fly another approach.

 

Good luck!

[FSFIan]

AFAIK you need EOS to make Arduinos and Helios working together.

 

In this case, the Arduino is acting as a HID device, so it will show up just like another joystick. Through Helios flexible mapping system, it should be possible to get most inputs to work (even rotaty encoders if you assign different joystick buttons for different directions).

 

If you want any outputs (LEDs, steppers, etc) you will need to use EOS (or something else supported by Helios, such as Phidgets boards).

[RightStuff]

Ian;2810482']In this case' date=' the Arduino is acting as a HID device, so it will show up just like another joystick. Through Helios flexible mapping system, it should be possible to get most inputs to work (even rotaty encoders if you assign different joystick buttons for different directions).[/quote']

Thanks for clarification, Ian.

Though it's really strange, that the setup of Deezle isn't working the way as it should.

[7rooper]

I can use any HID device to work flawlessly with Helios even if it's a pot. Just follow that video by the letter. It clearly shows that you need to select LUA SCRIPT and add the trigger_value command line.

[Deezle]

Yes, I have the Arduino programed as an HID joystick with button and axis inputs, so it acts just like a joystick.

I can use any HID device to work flawlessly with Helios even if it's a pot. Just follow that video by the letter. It clearly shows that you need to select LUA SCRIPT and add the trigger_value command line.

I've done that. I've also tried mapping to other axes on other devices with no luck.

 

I do know my SimShaker software does not play nice with Helios and makes it laggy, so I'm no longer using Helios as a display for gauges and such, maybe it's also effecting inputs too. I'll do some more fiddling tonight.

 

 

This would be a lot easier if ED would just give the A-10C axis inputs to map to.

[Deezle]

I just checked my old gauge profile and it's no longer working either... Turns out my Helios setup was messed up and with all the DCS changes since 1.5 came out I had forgotten that I needed to copy the Export.lua from the main install over to the saved games portion of the install.

 

Works great now. I'm very excited that I'll be able to control the A-10 properly while still leaving these controls mapable to other aircraft in the game!

[Warhog]

Hi Deezle

 

I was using an HID card for some panels I,d built before DCS BIOS came along. The pots that I had were attached to the card and through Helios I was able to use them in game. The problem I had was the noise they generated made this huge signal which caused problems reading other switches in Helios. I would always get a Stuck Button message and that meant leaving the gaming and restarting it. Eventually I disconnected them and then everything ran properly again. Since then I have used rotary encoders in lieu of pots and that's been an agreeable solution with no undesirable side effects.

[Deezle]

Hi Deezle

 

I was using an HID card for some panels I,d built before DCS BIOS came along. The pots that I had were attached to the card and through Helios I was able to use them in game. The problem I had was the noise they generated made this huge signal which caused problems reading other switches in Helios. I would always get a Stuck Button message and that meant leaving the gaming and restarting it. Eventually I disconnected them and then everything ran properly again. Since then I have used rotary encoders in lieu of pots and that's been an agreeable solution with no undesirable side effects.

In my tests with DCS-bios I had problems with the noisy pots causing a lot of data transmission IIRC, but I was able to find and add a filtering code so nothing was transmitted until I moved the pots. I do not plan on using any switches in Helios, but if it is a problem hopefully I can filter it out.

 

Currently my biggest problem is figuring out how to code the encoders so they output button presses from the Arduino, I'm not having much luck on that front.