CDU screen output using arduino

[Braeden108]

I found a wild hare up my exhaust today, maybe that's where I got this idea. I so bought a arduino pro micro the 8mhz one. I wanted to use MMJoy with it but that takes the 16 mhz one. I bought the 16 mhz one and MMJoy works great. But now I have this little arduino collecting dust. And so I had this crazy ass idea. Get some old point LCD display out of something maybe an old graphing calculator and make a CDU display for the A-10. Anyone have any wild ideas for this? The funnest part of this is I have zero coding skills and basic electrical abilities. I know what a zener diode is and I wire my own sticks. I'm also broke so, this is a low budget production. :megalol:

[Warhog]

Why don't you have a read through this thread.

http://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=141096

 

It will open you up to the many possibilities available for adding real switches, displays, LEDs, volume controls etc. Best of all the users guide will show you how to program it with simple cut and paste coding depending on what you want to do with it.

 

Btw, for low budget situations, i recommend buying Chinese arduino clones. I just purchased 10 Pro Minis for $1.65 each on eBay.

[Braeden108]

Sweet thanks I'll take a look. And about those clones, once you deal with the USB chip comparability issues and upload your code are they plug and play from them on?

[FSFIan]

For a CDU screen, I would recommend against the Pro Micro. You'd be forced to use the DCSBIOS_DEFAULT_SERIAL mode, and while that works for a handful of buttons and LEDs, using it with an output that takes a while to update (especially a graphical display) won't end well.

 

Use an Arduino with an ATMega328 controller so you can use DCSBIOS_IRQ_SERIAL mode instead. That mode will interrupt the main program (i.e. display updates which can take several milliseconds to execute) to process new incoming data. I recommend the Arduino Nano to start with so you don't have to mess with a separate USB-to-serial converter.

[Sokol1_br]

Maybe you find a HID joystick code for 3.5v PRO Micro - are several Arduino code around - and use then as base for "button box"... instead display. Buy a proper Arduino for this function.

 

DCS Bios can't be used only for Input?

[FSFIan]

DCS Bios can't be used only for Input?

 

Of course you can use DCS-BIOS for "input-only" boards as well. It includes almost any control in the cockpit of supported aircraft. The notable exception are things that you can't click with the mouse, such as the primary flight control axes or some HOTAS buttons.

 

I'll probably add the HOTAS buttons at some point in the future when I get around to it.