Modular Panel WIP

[aniron]

2. Any particular reason why you used VGA connectors for the implementation of the RS-458 (MAX-485/-487)? Would that not leave you with a number of spare connections on the VGA connector, seeing as you only need 4 wires (VCC, GND, A, B)?

 

 

Those aren't VGA connectors.

 

VGA is DE-15, (15 pins in three rows), this is DE-9 (9 pins in two rows), or what would have been used for the serial port on an older, pre-USB computer.

 

 

I got a bunch of actual VGA connectors to use for this purpose along with cheap ubiquitous VGA cables where needed. Could probably push three RS-458 buses with some room to spare for backlighting, USB etc. through that.

Edited December 10, 2018 by aniron

[Elphaba]

Hi.

 

The tailhook, launch bar and 'other' switch top cover that you have on the rear of the warthog throttle - is this available to buy or plans for 3d printing?

 

I can't even find mention of what it's called or how it's works / mounts.

[aniron]

Hi.

 

The tailhook, launch bar and 'other' switch top cover that you have on the rear of the warthog throttle - is this available to buy or plans for 3d printing?

 

I can't even find mention of what it's called or how it's works / mounts.

 

Blue has posted those files here:

https://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=217518

[Blue73]

Hi All,

 

I've had to change direction with the whole air unit design. I had completed and installed the right hand air unit, but the second set of 40mm fans made it too loud. The single set on the left was okay but with the right, it's too much.

 

So I'm breaking my modular design for the air unit. It is an add-on to the upright frame so it's optional. The frame itself will become a slave unit.

 

This is still work in progress so I'm not certain it will be the final solution.

 

 

This is the fan suspension mounts that inserts between the bars of the base. The 3d printing layering locks this in tightly with no glue.

 

 

 

Here's the mounts installed with the elastic bands to provide mechanical isolation with the frame. No fan vibration is transferred to the frame using this method.

 

 

The San Ace 80 fan mount.

 

 

Fan is hooked into the bands using 3d printed T mounts glued to the fan base mount.

 

 

Upper and lower air ducts. The upper duct is a prototype and will be molded into the upper frame. It has guide vanes to evenly rotate the airflow 30 degrees. The lower will be glued to the base of the upper frame. To prevent the transfer of vibration, no physical contact is made with base of the duct and the fan.

 

 

Mock-up that shows roughly where the ducts will be installed.

 

 

cheers

 

John

Edited December 15, 2018 by Blue73
Current CAD Design, missing box duct.

[Battis]

Speechless! Simply amazing!!!

[Blue73]

Hi All, I've been working on the electronics to drive the fan. Made a mount to house the bus transceiver, Arduino and fan drive unit. It slots into the lower bars. I first tested using the fan's PWM control pin, I had to abort that idea as this fan has a non zero RPM with 0% duty cycle, I want more control on the low end so I'm supplying the PWM drive current. It's isolated as usual with an optocoupler. This fan can really push the air but is quiet at normal speeds.

 

Updated CAD model.

 

Completed electronics, just need to cable the bus lines to the white sockets.

 

 

Here's the top section and duct attached to show how it all fits together. I didn't build the 3D supports properly so the printing got a little rough towards the top. Not an issue as this is the back frame.

 

 

Completed air box. I've spread the air vertically by angling the lower guide sections. You can see this in the CAD cutaway diagram above.

 

 

cheers

 

John

Edited December 21, 2018 by Blue73

[Blue73]

Thanks Battis!

 

 

Speechless! Simply amazing!!!

[RightStuff]

I'm always curious to see how you go forward and improve the design.

And as always: Still impressing!

 

Thank you for your detailed documentation:

It is as well very motivating to keep me digging for the mysteries of F360. ;)

[Blue73]

Thanks RightStuff, as everything needs to be designed from scratch progress is slower than I'd like. It's literally head down, one foot in front of the other at the moment.

 

I'm always curious to see how you go forward and improve the design.

And as always: Still impressing!

 

Thank you for your detailed documentation:

It is as well very motivating to keep me digging for the mysteries of F360. ;)

[Blue73]

Hi All,

 

The first draft design for the wing fold mechanism is complete. Just need to thread the handle beforeI can begin the first print. It makes liberal use of magnets in a N-S-N-S pattern around the rotation axis. This will give me a good positive lock for the three positions (Spread/Hold/Fold.) Each half position produces a N-N and S-S line up which should make it pop to the correct position. The arm has a north and south facing magnet with an apposing side. I plan on using a variation of this design for the air bleed dial. Five HE sensors are used to determine the handle's location.

 

 

cheers

 

John

Edited December 23, 2018 by Blue73

[VampireOne]

Awesome Job John .... i have finally assembled my Prusa printer and am in the process of trying out its capabilities.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Blue73]

Let the fun begin! I've used mine to print spare parts for many things around the house. From garden sprinklers/retic connecters, equipment stands, feet for my soundbar, replacement part for the toilet, Oculus camera and hmd stands, roller wheels for my heater, egg tray to fit a fridge compartment, book stand, broken plastic part replacement, etc. It is good having a printer around the house, it can give you a solution to problem for nothing more than a 30 mins in F360 and a few hours on the printer.

 

cheers

 

John

 

Awesome Job John .... i have finally assembled my Prusa printer and am in the process of trying out its capabilities.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Blue73]

Hi,

 

The wing fold lever is mechanically built, just need to wire up the HE sensors. The magnets work very well, it feels like it's all metal under the hood, good positive lock on each position. Below is a diagram that shows the design using magnets and HE sensors, it's easier than trying to put into words.

 

 

Printed plastic parts with brass guide rods.

 

 

Assembled parts.

 

 

Merry Xmas everybody!

 

cheers

 

John

Edited December 26, 2018 by Blue73

[Tinkickef]

John..

 

Once again I am in awe of the sheer talent and innovation you display. I am inspired...

 

Spent the morning laid on the sofa with a 3x dog blanket snoring and slobbering over me, just watching youtube vids about 3d software and printers.

 

Not quite ready to dip a toe into 3D printing yet, but it is coming....

 

I have been watching reviews of the Creality Ender 3 and am thinking that maybe this would be a good starter machine.

[Blue73]

Cheers mate :) Did the same a couple years back after watching James Bruton robot builds. Bought a cheap Chinese printer shortly after but spent more time fixing the printer than printing. Out of sheer frustration with the print quality and number of failed prints I bought the Zortrax. Best move I could have made.

 

 

John..

 

Once again I am in awe of the sheer talent and innovation you display. I am inspired...

 

Spent the morning laid on the sofa with a 3x dog blanket snoring and slobbering over me, just watching youtube vids about 3d software and printers.

 

Not quite ready to dip a toe into 3D printing yet, but it is coming....

 

I have been watching reviews of the Creality Ender 3 and am thinking that maybe this would be a good starter machine.

[Tinkickef]

Cheers mate :) Did the same a couple years back after watching James Bruton robot builds. Bought a cheap Chinese printer shortly after but spent more time fixing the printer than printing. Out of sheer frustration with the print quality and number of failed prints I bought the Zortrax. Best move I could have made.

 

What CAD app do you use?

 

I was once given a knock off copy of Solidworks, back in Win 98 days and enjoyed tinkering with that for awhile, designing enclosure boxes and car parts ect, but no way to physically make anything led to my interest falling by the wayside.

 

I downloaded freecad yesterday to have a play with it, but every time I tried to start a new model it crashed to desktop and I uninstalled it in frustration. Waste of SSD room.

 

Solidworks costs an arm and a leg and while autocad 3D looks very similar to solidworks, it looks to also be expensive.

[Blue73]

Grab Fusion360, it has a free license option, all my work is done in there.

 

cheers

 

John

 

What CAD app do you use?

 

I was once given a knock off copy of Solidworks, back in Win 98 days and enjoyed tinkering with that for awhile, designing enclosure boxes and car parts ect, but no way to physically make anything led to my interest falling by the wayside.

 

I downloaded freecad yesterday to have a play with it, but every time I tried to start a new model it crashed to desktop and I uninstalled it in frustration. Waste of SSD room.

 

Solidworks costs an arm and a leg and while autocad 3D looks very similar to solidworks, it looks to also be expensive.

[Blue73]

[Tinkickef]

Looking very good John.

 

I presume you have not done the L/H front panel with the gear handle yet?

 

 

I sourced and used this genuine USAF surplus aircraft gear handle for my rig.

 

 

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Control-Assembly-UP-DOWN-Landing-Gear-Lever/323618208488?hash=item4b5925fae8:g:WtUAAOSwKtlWkcJG:rk:1:pf:0

 

 

I have no idea as to aircraft it fitted originally, but it is obviously one with electric gear operation as it comes with two milspec microswitches. One for up, the other for down. Of course it has the correct selection gate, ie pull out and push back in before selection can be made.

 

 

All I did was fit a 50mm lever extension to mine with a pair of RC aircraft wheels for the selector handle itself and made an enclosure to mount it in, in the appropriate place for the Hog when viewing in VR.

 

Price has gone up a little since I bought it, must be two years almost now; it was originally about $35, but for $50 its still a steal in my book for a genuine Rockwell Collins aircraft part with the correct "feel".

 

 

I am sure you could easily make the correct handle lever assembly to fit to it, or even make the lot by copying the design of the mechanism.

 

Hope it helps.

 

 

 

Pic of it fitted and in action with my other switchboxes. Anyone familiar with the hog cockpit will see the crude but visually (in VR) placed layout and everything works.

 

 

I am a little embarrassed to post my crude attempts at a VR pit in such exalted company as those that are really into building home cockpits on here but everything falls to hand when sat in the Hog cockpit and I like to tell myself, as long as it works, it does not matter if it looks crap because everything is overlaid by the headset image.

You can see the landing gear lever in the pic.

 

The most immersive switch of them all is the canopy raise and lower switch just below the PC case. This really is a must for VR immersion. Take my word for it.

 

 

 

%5Bimg%5Dhttps%3A//i.imgur.com/zyXbfYa.jpg[/img]

Edited December 28, 2018 by Tinkickef

[Blue73]

Nice setup, with VR it doesn't matter about aesthetics, as long as your brain believes it, it's good enough. Love that wheel placement, reaching out for a landing gear in VR is really cool, the tactile feedback really enhances the immersion.

 

If you look on page 7 I have completed the left hand console including the gear. I checked the NATOPS reference, I think the Hornet only has a mechanical stop and gear doesn't pull out and in, I'm not sure though I'm probably wrong on that. I haven't implemented the twist to activate the emergency gear action.

 

My aim is to build this 'desktop' modular pit using nearly 100% 3D plastic parts. I've trialed embedding fishing lead weights into the wing sweep handle to give the handle more inertia. That plus the magnets is turning out well, I may go back and retrofit my other controls with techniques I've learnt along the way.

 

I do like how the Hornet's flap toggle switch is right beneath the gear handle. On full burner take-off it allows for quick gear retraction and flaps up.

 

 

Looking very good John.

 

I presume you have not done the L/H front panel with the gear handle yet?

 

 

I sourced and used this genuine USAF surplus aircraft gear handle for my rig.

 

 

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Control-Assembly-UP-DOWN-Landing-Gear-Lever/323618208488?hash=item4b5925fae8:g:WtUAAOSwKtlWkcJG:rk:1:pf:0

 

 

I have no idea as to aircraft it fitted originally, but it is obviously one with electric gear operation as it comes with two milspec microswitches. One for up, the other for down. Of course it has the correct selection gate, ie pull out and push back in before selection can be made.

 

 

All I did was fit a 50mm lever extension to mine with a pair of RC aircraft wheels for the selector handle itself and made an enclosure to mount it in, in the appropriate place for the Hog when viewing in VR.

 

Price has gone up a little since I bought it, must be two years almost now; it was originally about $35, but for $50 its still a steal in my book for a genuine Rockwell Collins aircraft part with the correct "feel".

 

 

I am sure you could easily make the correct handle lever assembly to fit to it, or even make the lot by copying the design of the mechanism.

 

Hope it helps.

 

 

 

Pic of it fitted and in action with my other switchboxes. Anyone familiar with the hog cockpit will see the crude but visually (in VR) placed layout and everything works.

 

 

I am a little embarrassed to post my crude attempts at a VR pit in such exalted company as those that are really into building home cockpits on here but everything falls to hand when sat in the Hog cockpit and I like to tell myself, as long as it works, it does not matter if it looks crap because everything is overlaid by the headset image.

You can see the landing gear lever in the pic.

 

The most immersive switch of them all is the canopy raise and lower switch just below the PC case. This really is a must for VR immersion. Take my word for it.

 

 

 

%5Bimg%5Dhttps%3A//i.imgur.com/zyXbfYa.jpg[/img]

[Nanne118]

Wowzers man, that is looking more and more awesome by the day!

 

I noticed what looks suspiciously like a radar altimeter in your Fusion CAD image: would you be willing to expand your detailing on this somewhat if and when you are making your update on the rad. alt?

 

Not that you are normally withholding on the details and instructions, I find this whole slew of updates a very forthcoming and detailed explanation :D I am just wondering how you will interface the rotary knob, the needle for displaying the altitude warning and the needle(s) for displaying current rad. altitude / altitude alert (altitude alert needle being that little triangle that goes around the outside).

 

I think it has been asked before, but you use the F/A-18C DCS-Bios Library by AndreW to interface the panels into DCS?

[Blue73]

Cheers mate. Yes it is the radar alt, but it's not complete yet. I play in VR so other than the rotary dial the rest is not necessary. However I am planing on making this gauge fully functional, I have some new techniques I'd like to try. The complete design has been sketched just need to model it in F360.

 

Yes I certainly do use Andrew's F-18 DCSBIOS library.

 

cheers

 

John

 

Wowzers man, that is looking more and more awesome by the day!

 

I noticed what looks suspiciously like a radar altimeter in your Fusion CAD image: would you be willing to expand your detailing on this somewhat if and when you are making your update on the rad. alt?

 

Not that you are normally withholding on the details and instructions, I find this whole slew of updates a very forthcoming and detailed explanation :D I am just wondering how you will interface the rotary knob, the needle for displaying the altitude warning and the needle(s) for displaying current rad. altitude / altitude alert (altitude alert needle being that little triangle that goes around the outside).

 

I think it has been asked before, but you use the F/A-18C DCS-Bios Library by AndreW to interface the panels into DCS?

[Blue73]

Hi All,

 

Electronics are now complete and tested for the wing fold handle. I found that the two surrounding magnets created a psuedo south pole next to the sensor so they had to be removed. Still has a good detent feel so no issue.

 

This is the electronics "saddle" that wraps the mechanism.

 

 

Sensors installed and apposing magnets removed. The top cover is removed here to show the magnet arrangement.

 

 

 

 

cheers

 

John

Edited December 29, 2018 by Blue73

[VampireOne]

Whoa. Cannot wait to See the finished stl files

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Blue73]

Hi All,

 

 

The wing sweep lever is finally complete with working code. I had to write a small amount to manually send the required DCS.BIOS control messages from the 5 HE sensors.

 

The front panel has all the cutouts ready for the upcoming dials and indicators.

 

The handle has six fishing lead weight balls embedded to make the handle feel allot more substantial.

 

Ignore the quality of the faces, the light coming from the side accents the 3d printing lines. In reality it can't be seen and the black is much darker than it appears here. Text will be lasered properly later.

 

 

That AV Cool switch will need to be brought forward 1mm.

 

 

 

 

 

cheers

 

 

John

Edited January 1, 2019 by Blue73