xray20 Posted September 6, 2018 Posted September 6, 2018 I have been experimenting with a VR cockpit that has tactile controls in the right position. Using Rexroth aluminium framing I can adjust the position of the controls in 3 dimensions so they are in exactly the same position that the VR image says they should be. Positioning of the HOTAS and the gear switch was fairly straightforward. Last week I installed two DDIs. This was the biggest test as the image and reality had to be correct within about a centimetre. It works. I can reach out and touch any of the DDI buttons and they are pretty much exactly where my hand/eye coordination says they should be. I found that the rig must be adjustable for this approach to work. The final position of the DDIs is not where I estimated them to be. For some reason they are slightly asymmetric, even though my VR image is carefully centred. Additionally I have put tactile bumps on my keyboard using Sugru. These emphasise the important keys (F1, F5, F10, alt, @ etc.) and allow me to access out-of-sim controls without breaking immersion.
Aries Posted September 6, 2018 Posted September 6, 2018 Great work, I also use MFDs in front of my VR seat, but use the rift's nose-peek "capability" to push the Harrier MFD butons for example... The wheel lever looks really cool, simple and functional... [sIGPIC][/sIGPIC] ...the few, the proud, the remaining...
BlacleyCole Posted September 6, 2018 Posted September 6, 2018 What seat did you build around? BlackeyCole 20years usaf XP-11. Dcs 2.5OB Acer predator laptop/ i7 7720, 2.4ghz, 32 gb ddr4 ram, 500gb ssd,1tb hdd,nvidia 1080 8gb vram New FlightSim Blog at https://blackeysblog.wordpress.com. Go visit it and leave me feedback and or comments so I can make it better. A new post every Friday.
xray20 Posted September 7, 2018 Author Posted September 7, 2018 The seat is from a Ford Focus. I got it from the local breakers. It works fine. Good fixing points and range of adjustment.
DDSSTT Posted September 10, 2018 Posted September 10, 2018 How do you use the MFD when in VR? Easy, feel... I put a little hot glue dot on each of the center buttons for reference... also having them in the correct locations is a must. [sIGPIC][/sIGPIC] http://www.csg-2.net/
streakeagle Posted September 10, 2018 Posted September 10, 2018 Great job! Your cockpit is the first one I have seen to really utilize what I have been thinking about for a while now. I want to build something similar to this... but I want to slide in complete front panels and left consoles, possibly right consoles, too. All with special connectors so interface with USB control boards that never move when you swap out panels. A key aspect is having adjustable sliders and pivots so that the height, depth, and angle of every major surface can be readily adjusted to match the particular cockpit. For VR, all you need is physical switches, knobs, and levers. No need for functional gauges and CRTs, which really lowers the cost and complexity. This is the way to go. Of course, if you are like me, you still want to have the option to use a large flat panel display rather than VR, supporting an LCD behind the MFDs to provide both MFD crt displays and gauges would still be a great option if you have the time and money to mess with it. I have neither right now, so I am content to watch others like yourself perfect the implementation of the cockpit I will eventually have. [sIGPIC][/sIGPIC]
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