wriley's A-10C build

[wriley]

My build is starting off very humbly. I have one proof of concept panel built. The panel was designed in Google Sketchup and built using .125" plastic and a laser printed label. Eventually these will be cut using my home built CNC but I am still learning how to use that.

[Tnt Snipes]

Looking good mate...i am also building it, i wish i could do the wiring bit on my own... is it easy??

[RogueRunner]

what will you use to send the keypress to DCS?

[wriley]

Looking good mate...i am also building it, i wish i could do the wiring bit on my own... is it easy??

The wiring is pretty straightforward for simple toggle switches. It will get more complex once I get to the panels with rotaries. There are a lot of great tutorials on the web for wiring controls don't be afraid to dive in and try it yourself.

 

what will you use to send the keypress to DCS?

Right now I am just using the built in joystick button mapping but am working on my own software with logic that will interface via network with Export.lua. This will work around the limitations of the built in functions that do not have a set on/off state. For example on this panel the Battery Power function only appears to have a toggle control, you can't set it to off or on. This leads to cases where your physical switch position does not match the simulator state.

[wriley]

I have started designing the main instrument panel. This will not be an exact replica as I am using the "good enough" principle and the measurements are all guesswork. My Thrustmaster MFDs are on backorder so I will wait until they arrive to start laying out that part of the panel.

 

My software is also working nicely for interfacing. How cool is it to throw a real toggle and have the sim react? :thumbup:

[twig05]

Right now I am just using the built in joystick button mapping

Can you explain this? Do you use some sort of board with included software or some other hardware? I am interested in pursuing this sort of stuff but don't really know where to start on the interfacing aspect. Any help would be appreciated, especially if you have some good references. Thanks

[wriley]

Mockup #2, AHCP

[wriley]

Can you explain this? Do you use some sort of board with included software or some other hardware? I am interested in pursuing this sort of stuff but don't really know where to start on the interfacing aspect. Any help would be appreciated, especially if you have some good references. Thanks

 

Until I build something better I am using a custom joystick controller with 64 buttons. These buttons are wired to my toggle switches on the panel. I then assigned the buttons to commands as shown in this post.

 

Since that time I have written my own software that reads the buttons, performs logic, and then sends commands via the network directly to the simulator (search this forum for "Export.lua" for discussions about this). If you are not up for writing your own software then you might take a look at products like Helios that are mentioned in this forum.

 

Good luck!

[Duckling]

Hi Wrilay. Panels looking good. :thumbup:

 

A question. I see from your pics above that they are drawn as baseplate + lightpanel. The panel produced looks like a "baseplate" only. Is it a test or you modified first idea of some reason ?

 

I've had my eyes on a homemade CNC setup but haven't came close to it yet. Has the "altered" plans something to do with any limitation of the precision of the CNC ?

 

Cheers

Gus

[wriley]

@Duckling: These panels are just "mockups" to flesh out my CAD design and test my software. My CNC is nearly complete, lacking only a speed controller to be able to mill plastic effectively (20,000 RPM + plastic = melted mess). The final panels will be fabricated/engraved by CNC to look like the CAD design.

[wriley]

A forum member asked for the dimensions I used for the AHCP so I'll post them here. Note that these are my own creation and may or may not reflect the actual panel in any way. :)

 

The large holes are 1/2" and the small are 1/4". Adjust for your switches as needed.

Edited March 4, 2011 by wriley

[wriley]

Some more work on the main panel design. I'm going to use my TM Cougar MFD's which are smaller than the real thing so the proportions look a little off.