Modular Panel WIP

Anyone know what happened to the project - or Blue?

Hi All, I've been away for a while. Just finished the lower centre console unit. I have it mounted to the MonsterTech joystick mount. All buttons/knobs controlled by an Arduino Nano. Some of the buttons look odd as they've been swapped for VR friendly buttons.

I found this thread while looking for inspiration for my own 3d printing adventure and ended up reading the whole thing. Your panels are incredible. A lot of your solutions to switch mechanisms have given me lots of ideas.

I think I might have to upgrade my printer as seeing your ability to print at small tolerances has made my now aging AnyCubic's prints look dated.

Just one question, I know you're using DB9 connectors for the RS485 bus. How are the modules in the stacks connected together? I've seen the ports on the side, are you just lining up the ports as you design and build?

9 hours ago, FlusterCuck said:

I found this thread while looking for inspiration for my own 3d printing adventure and ended up reading the whole thing. Your panels are incredible. A lot of your solutions to switch mechanisms have given me lots of ideas.

 

I think I might have to upgrade my printer as seeing your ability to print at small tolerances has made my now aging AnyCubic's prints look dated.

 

Just one question, I know you're using DB9 connectors for the RS485 bus. How are the modules in the stacks connected together? I've seen the ports on the side, are you just lining up the ports as you design and build?

 

Thanks, it was a fun build, learnt allot along the way. You’ll enjoy the creativity process.

A good printer means more time designing and less time getting frustrated with the printing process. You want to get to a point where you design it once, send it to the printer, wake up in the morning and it’s done.

Yes they line up to pass the bus through to the next module. However for the main front panel they are connected via ribbon cable, but the same process. I later added ground lines between the signal paths, I recommend doing that.

If you have any questions let me know, happy to help.

cheers

John

5 hours ago, Blue73 said:

Thanks, it was a fun build, learnt allot along the way. You’ll enjoy the creativity process.

A good printer means more time designing and less time getting frustrated with the printing process. You want to get to a point where you design it once, send it to the printer, wake up in the morning and it’s done.

Yes they line up to pass the bus through to the next module. However for the main front panel they are connected via ribbon cable, but the same process. I later added ground lines between the signal paths, I recommend doing that.

 

If you have any questions let me know, happy to help.

 

cheers

John

For sure. I can't quite stump up the cash for the same printer that you have but Prusa looks to be a winner right now. My printer is from around 2017 so I imagine it's much easier to get consistent prints out of them than it used to be!

Excuse the ignorance here, when you say 'ground lines between the signal paths' do you mean an additional ground between each connector to clean the signal instead of the ground just being connected through each module?

2 hours ago, FlusterCuck said:

For sure. I can't quite stump up the cash for the same printer that you have but Prusa looks to be a winner right now. My printer is from around 2017 so I imagine it's much easier to get consistent prints out of them than it used to be!

 

Excuse the ignorance here, when you say 'ground lines between the signal paths' do you mean an additional ground between each connector to clean the signal instead of the ground just being connected through each module?

These days you don’t need a Zortrax, I see plenty of much more affordable printers producing similar results.

My bus uses GND lines between RX and TX lines.  

E.g. +12V, +5V, +5V, GND,RX,GND,TX,GND,GND  (9 lines/pins)

cheers

John

1 hour ago, Blue73 said:

These days you don’t need a Zortrax, I see plenty of much more affordable printers producing similar results.

My bus uses GND lines between RX and TX lines.  

E.g. +12V, +5V, +5V, GND,RX,GND,TX,GND,GND  (9 lines/pins)

cheers

John

 

Ah right, I'm with you, so physical separation between the lines using ground. Clever!

Hi, I created a mount for a wireless keyboard. Cheers John

I am really impressed with your design of the trusses and interfaces. How the modules and frame are connected. To be honest, I am trying to reverse engineer by looking at your pictures and trying to design them in Fusion 360..... not easy, but doable..... 

Is there any way, you can share some more detailed pictures  or drawings of the modular system? I am not asking for STL files (this time...  ) 
I have switched my own project from a F 5 to a F-16 (as a training project, eventually wanting to "graduate" to a F-100 simulator for a museum) and have bought teejays plans. Learning curve is steep, but your work is great inspiration, also to find own solutions. 

What material do you print with? I use ABS when printing the few FDM parts I make, which is strong but prone to delamination on thicker parts. Of course, my printer uses 3mm filament which cuts the options a bit 

Nice work on it all!

Les

This thread is simply amazing.  @Blue73 the cockpit you've created through 3D printing is unreal.  I have been looking for a Hornet UFC to print and your version is simply a work of art.  Consider me yet another hungry fan looking for those STL's.

Right now I am printing P51 components for me and 2 flying buddies from AuthentiKit and from what I can see, your attention to detail and design skills rival what Phil's done over on his site.

I'm subscribed and will continue to follow your progress.  Thanks for sharing pictures and committing to releasing STLs when you've got them in a place where you can do so.

i know i am like 5 years late - but this is epic!  many thanks for sharing. I have started some elements prior to reading this, but some fantastic lessons and insights here.

@Blue73 you are gentleman for documenting and sharing this.