mbshaikh Posted July 14, 2021 Posted July 14, 2021 Hi All, I have just finished up on a custom collective I made so I could fully enjoy the new helos. I really wanted the new Virpil unit but felt it was a bit out of my price range so decided to see what I could come up with myself. I’ve never really made anything custom like this before, so it was a learning experience. Still, I’m quite pleased with the result. Some technical facts: 1. Four momentary buttons, four two position switches, two analog joysticks, a slider and a rotary encoder. This is in addition to the collective axis. 2. Each axis sends a joystick button press at the extremes of its range, so any axis can be used like a digital button. In this way the hats and slider can be used digitally as in the KA50. 3. The rotary encoder can send either button presses or be used as a virtual axis. I use it as the throttle, since I wasn’t skilled enough to make a twist grip. 4. The whole thing is powered by an ESP32 microcontroller in the grip. It runs over Bluetooth. Next small upgrade will be to attach a 10000mah power bank under the boot to make it completely wireless. 5. Constructed out of a few handful of 3D printed parts, but mostly out of hardware from Home Depot. A lot of plumbing parts have been used. For example, the handle is PVC pipe covered with foam rubber pipe insulation, and the counterweight for the unit is an iron tee connector. The clutch that keeps the handle in place is a cut piece of nylon tube connector under great pressure (the end result stays in place and yet moves very smoothly with very little force needed) The bracket to connect to the chair is made out of a metal strap tie and some wood. The unit is removable from the chair in seconds by removing a single bolt. My sanding and painting work is questionable but good enough for my needs. All in all a super fun project, and I’m almost disappointed it’s finished. I need to find something else to build now! Anyhow, any comments or questions welcome! 6
Ala12Rv-Tundra Posted July 24, 2021 Posted July 24, 2021 pretty decent work!! i5 8400 | 32 Gb RAM | RTX 2080Ti | Virpil Mongoose T-50 base w/ Warthog & Hornet sticks | Warthog throttle | Cougar throttle USB | Orion 2 throttle base w/ Viper & Hornet grips| VKB T-Rudder Mk IV | Oculus Rift S | Buddy-Fox A-10 UFC | 2x TM MFDs & 1x WW DDI | 2x Bass shakers | SIMple SIMpit chair | WW TakeOff panel | Andre JetSeat | WW Hornet UFC | WW Viper ICP FC3 - Warthog - F-5E - Harrier - NTTR - Hornet - Tomcat - Huey - Viper - C-101 - PG - Hip - SuperCarrier - Syria - Warthog II - Hind - South Atlantic - Sinai - Strike Eagle - Phantom - Mirage F1 - Afghanistan - Irak
Rick50 Posted July 25, 2021 Posted July 25, 2021 Nice! You should share more pics of it's development if you have it! Maybe make a custom cyclic to match? Or mod an existing stick to be a great cyclic?
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