Simple Apache Collective

[Spelmann]

I have always loved the Apache and have played most of the simulations of that aircraft going back to the Commodore 64. When ED announced the new module, I was thrilled. I am planning on piloting it with my son as CP/G, but when I saw the Collective I was concerned. I have a Thrustmaster Warthog stick and throttle, and I felt like the throttle wasn’t going to do that massive two position collective justice. So, I decided to build my own.

 

I started from an Amazon generic handbrake. I wasn’t satisfied with the Hall effect sensor they had because it gave more of an on/off effect rather than a true sliding scale, so I replaced it with an Arduino Micro with my own Hall effect sensor. I removed the spring and installed a plastic washer on the axle which provided the friction I needed to keep the collective in place.

 

Next I drilled some holes in a pair of plastic bud boxes for all those beautiful switches. I installed four 3-way tactile switches, four five way tactile switches, a three-position switch and four buttons. I left off the chop and BUCS switches since I was running low on inputs on the Teensy 4.1 microcontroller I was planning on using. I also added a 3DS controller for the Cursor Controller. My son 3-D printed out hats from a Thingverse entry for the tactile switches (2- / 3- / 4- / 5- Way HAT POV Switches for HOTAS).

 

Finally, I used 1” PVC pipe for the collective handle and glued the bud boxes in position using some plastic epoxy. Some heat from a heat gun allowed me to bend the PVC to the desired angle and it was bolted to the handbrake controller. I wire-wrapped all the switch connections and installed the Teensy in one of the bud box lids. A little black paint and some silicone wrap on the handles and the collective was finished.

 

I mounted the whole thing to my desk chair using 8020. It turns out there are multiple sizes of 8020, and I way overshot my needs but at least it will be sturdy. The collective shows up as two USB joystick controllers, one with a single axis and the other with two axes and 39 buttons. After a little programming to assign everything to the proper pins I was in business.

 

The collective works great. I am getting used to pulling to go up and pushing to go down but everything is working. It does feel slightly fragile, and I may have been better off attaching the bud boxes in a different way. I think a little care will keep me safe.

 

I plan on assigning the top controls to (Clockwise from Upper left) FCR Scan, FCR Scan Size, Sight Select, Cursor Controller, Cursor Display Select and FCR Mode. The red button on the stick is for Cued Search and the button behind that can't be seen is the Cursor Enter. On the bottom controls: Polarity/Boresight, Search/Landing Light, Search/Landing Position, Stabilator Control, TADS/PNVS Select with the Jettison Button on the side.

 

I have tried it on several helicopter modules especially the Black Shark. But I really excited to see it shine on the Apache. I have been encouraged over the years by all the excellent work I have seen here and wanted to share my efforts with the group even though my polish is not as fine as most of you.

[Ala12Rv-Tundra]

I think it's the same handbrake model I used for mine. 

What I did that improved the feeling a lot is adding a motorbike steering damper, it's cheap, friction is easy to adjust and keeps the collective in place with no hands. 

Mine so far durante have any electronics besides the Hal sensor axis for collective axis. 

Great work. 

The silicone handling is a great addon, mine is the raw bar metal. 

[Spelmann]

Tundra,

I definitely stole the idea for a handbrake from somewhere. Could have easily been you. My collective is light enough that friction is holding it in place very well right now, but if it loosens I will look into adding a damper. I'm pretty lazy, so I don't do more than is needed for what I have, which can come back to bite me.

My handle is painted PVC and I didn't like the feel of the paint on my hand, which is why I went to the wrap. It was easy and feels good.

[davidjb]

Nice work !

I have also used that handbrake base for a collective. Couple of points. It came with a leonardo board and the programming was probably fine for a handbrake but was too steppy for a collective ( maybe  ~100 steps). So I  wrote a new programme and uploaded which uses the max resolution of the board ( 1024 steps?) That works much better at no cost. Still using the original hall sensor.

There was quite a bit of lost movement especially in the side slots. A couple of custom 3d printed bushes helped a lot with this - not sure how long they will last , but doing fine so far and easy to reprint.

+1 on the damper.

I really need to get around to making a button box for the end 

[Spelmann]

David,

Mine also had the Leonardo board. I never even thought to try reprogramming. I saw the orientation of the Hall sensor and the magnet and figured it wouldn't work. Glad I was wrong for your sake.

I'm excited to put my buttons through their paces. Hopefully you'll find some time to add to yours. I really wanted to print a more accurate handle shape but I don't have the skills to draw it myself and I got impatient waiting for someone else to be generous.

[davidjb]

Spelmann,

Thanks for the encouragement. Just for reference, here is a picture of my collective/ handbrake.

You can see I rearranged it with the handle the other way round- works for me!

[Spelmann]

David,

Thanks for sharing your implementation. That looks great. I especially like how compact and out of the way your damper is. You managed to fit it in nicely even though it needs significant throw.

I orientated my collective base the other way simply for ease of mounting. When I have time I will post a picture of it mounted to the chair.

[Sacarino111]

HI.

Check this one. I did it (3 at the same time) and can tell it ist GREAT! Only one of the Arduinos have 256 buttons, plus 8 axis, special features for rotary encoders... more than enough for that cyclic.

Saludos.

Saca111

 

https://forums.eagle.ru/topic/97434-an-arduino-usb-hid-controller-composite-usb-controller

 

[Syd]

On 2/6/2022 at 9:58 PM, Spelmann said:

I started from an Amazon generic handbrake. I wasn’t satisfied with the Hall effect sensor they had because it gave more of an on/off effect rather than a true sliding scale, so I replaced it with an Arduino Micro with my own Hall effect sensor.

I came across your topic since I have the same problem as yours. Original board and hall sensor works more like a switch than axis.

In the original design the magnet slides closer and further from the hall sensor and I can't imagine any magnet and sensor that would give satisfactory axis effect in this configuration (distance the magnet travels is around 17mm). In my previous projects hall sensor always had magnets rotating around it.

Did you change orignal magnet? What type of hall sensor did you use?

 

Thanks for your help.

Edited September 29, 2022 by Syd

[No1sonuk]

6 hours ago, Syd said:

I came across your topic since I have the same problem as yours. Original board and hall sensor works more like a switch than axis.

In the original design the magnet slides closer and further from the hall sensor and I can't imagine any magnet and sensor that would give satisfactory axis effect in this configuration (distance the magnet travels is around 17mm). In my previous projects hall sensor always had magnets rotating around it.

Did you change orignal magnet? What type of hall sensor did you use?

 

Thanks for your help.

 

For some ideas for Hall sensor configurations, have a look at this:

He uses two different magnet/sensor configurations that both do the job.