FC3 USB all in one panels. Batch 2!

[Apache600]

Hello all,

It's been a while since I've posted anything on the control panels I make. I've been rather side-tracked with my " The Museum Relic" campaign. Now that the campaign is done, and going through the integration process with ED, it's back to panel building! Anyway, thought I'd quick show this off. (Was initially reluctant to after seeing the recent work by some of the members here. Work that Tacno has been doing with the A-10C Holy crap that's amazing!!!! check it out if you haven't already! My approach at these panels is a bit different. I am trying to go for simplicity, and the A-10C just doesn't allow that :P With this, all you have to do is plug in the 3 USB hook ups, fire up Xpadder, and double click DCS. And then there's simulatoregp .... utterly amazed by what you've got there with the KA-50)

 

Here's the first picture of the batch. Nothing to outstanding, but it does take a LOT of work to even get to this point. The most difficult cuts here is the one long slanted piece that runs the width of the board. That piece is a pain because of the geometry of it, and the 3 different contact points it makes with with frame of the panel:

 

 

After that, I removed all the panels that will have buttons and switches on them. Here I am figuring out where I want to put the new buttons as well as create the grid on all the boards so I can do the initial drill point. I don't go ahead and cut the hole that fits the diameter of the switch right away, that can be messy, chip the wood, and it's hard to line up. Instead I do a really small 1 mm or so drill point for each button.

 

 

With the button holes all drilled out, it's time to place the buttons. Drilling out each button usually requires 3 separate drilling applications (is that even a term?) The 1st is mentioned above as a pre-drill hole placement. Then I do a larger drill to the back of the board that hollows out the place for the button or switch. This is done because some of the buttons are two thin and you wont get any of the screw threads to poke out the other side. Then finally I'll drill the exact fitted size on the front of the board that is the diameter of the button. Here we have the two Batch 2 panels sitting alongside my prototype.

 

 

As you can see .... I ran out of buttons. More are on order. Getting to this point was the "easy" part. Now comes the wiring. It may be a while before I update this with any progress, because the wiring is slow going and boring. ...and also I have to order new circuit boards since I used the last of them up on the prototype and forgot to re-order them.

 

 

 

If you're interested in seeing the original post for the prototype control panel, check it out here! http://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=136509

And here's a link to the youtube video I made showing off the control panel with the SU-25T in action:

 

 

And since I'm in the habit of throwing links on the thread here, here's the link to my campaign. It should be available in the DCS stores soon. http://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=164322

(And yes, I already have thoughts of building panels for the Mig-15 and F-86. Nothing off the drawing boards yet though)

 

- Apache600

Edited May 8, 2017 by Apache600

[Brewnix]

That's awesome..

[Apache600]

Quick Collage update!

Top Left, I'm shaping the diodes to fit the bread board correctly. I have to shape 6x6x12 of these damn things. 432! and then each one requires 2 solder points to the bread board. These are the breakout boards so that I can more easily utilize the matrix of the Leo Bodnar boards. The diodes are needed so that if you press two buttons at once, a 3rd button won't "ghost" and appear pressed without you wanting that done.

 

Top Right. Here I finished cutting all the individual bread boards so that I can fit half of one Leo Bodnar functions on it. These cuts are made along the metal strips so that I won't have unwanted electrical signals crossing over to a series of buttons where it shouldn't be.

 

Center. All of the graphical overlays have been printed and cut.

 

Bottom Left. Each board has been completely disassembled and labeled. Off to paint!

 

Bottom Right. The painting has begun. Gotta go get some more paint cause I just ran up. Had rain all last week so I didn't paint then. We have a couple of days of sunshine in the forecast (hell ... it's California, we probably won't be seeing rain again until November)

 

 

- Apache600

[Apache600]

Another Collage update (because it's easier than doing a series of pictures)

 

Top Left: Here I am placing all the Diodes in the break out bread boards.

 

Middle Left: With all the Diodes placed and soldered, not it's time to test all the connections and make sure the Diodes do their job correctly (I actually found one that wasn't working ... out of 432 diodes)

 

Bottom Left: Here I am mating all of the graphical cutouts with their respective boards.

 

 

Top Right: After all the graphics and panels are joined, not it's time to cut out each button and screw hole.

 

Middle Right: And now it's time to place every button and switch in their spots on the boards.

 

Bottom Right: Reconstruction of the base of the control panel, and (not seen in picture) cut out some additional holes on the individual panels so all the wiring can flow properly.

 

 

- Apache600

[Apache600]

Collage 3 update. Getting so close to the finish line. One thing I'm not really showing is my schematics. Sorry, gotta keep somethings an in-house secret. But really, it's not that secret anyway. I derive my own matrix off of this helpful guide from the Leo Bodnar site (It's why I make those breakout bread boards) http://www.leobodnar.com/shop/index.php?main_page=popup_image_additional&pID=204&pic=3&products_image_large_additional=images/2BU0836A_04.jpg.

 

Top Left: All the boards are ready for wiring.

 

Middle Left: Ready, Set, SOLDER! Here i'm also cutting the wires to their specific length needed to reach their specific breakout bread boards

 

Bottom Left: This is tedious, and takes a long time. You can see the other boards leaning against the wall, that have already been wired.

 

Top Right: With the boards wired, it's time to connect them to their respective breakout bread boards

 

Middle Right: You can see I'm working with both control panels at the same time. Might as well do one right after the other, so that the nuances with one are fresh in my memory for the other.

 

Bottom Right: Working on the back of the control panels now. At this point I finished wiring 2/3's of the control panel to the breakout boards. You can see it gets quite messy with the amount of wiring going on. This is the backside of the angled board that holds the targeting designation and whatnot.

 

 

- Apache600

[Apache600]

IT'S DONE! Collage picture 4

 

Top Left: Connecting all the break-out bread boards onto the pins that go into the Leo Bodnars

 

Middle Left: Mounting the Leo Bodnars on their board

 

Bottom Left: It's all hooked up. Time to test it! This actually took a few days, because there's always a few gremlins when testing. Turns out I made a mistake in my schematic, so that needed fixing with a few of the swtiches. There were a few dead buttons (really annoying, but an easy fix) But the biggest problem that I had was that the Target Designator joystick's Y Axis was shot. I had to replace the joystick which was NOT easy to get to.)

 

Middle Top: There she is, tested and put together.

 

Top Right: Another angle

 

Middle Right: Artsy Macro shot. Ok, not really. I suck at art.

 

Bottom Right: How she looks when hooked up and ready to go!

 

 

 

Thanks everyone for following along. This one is ready to be shipped off to its customer! Looking forward to hearing what they have to say about it.

 

- Apache600

[agentdarnell]

Love it. Great job.

[Wolfman_ARG]

Question: You could pass the electric circuit you used so that each button or knob is interpreted by your computer as a button. I do not know which driver can be plugged via usb to do this type of work.

I like you very much.

[Sokol1_br]

He use Leo Bodnar BU0836 USB controller board* - a "PnP" HID joystick controller.

 

So the axes/button/switches/rotary knobs/encoders of "button panel" is seem by Windows/Games like any conventional joystick axes/buttons but without need to install custom drivers (e.g. Saitek, Thrustmaster, etc).

 

* Besides L.Bodnar controller board you can use any other of today available USB joystick controller board, or cheap Arduino + proper firmware (MMjoy2, EasyJoy 32 One...) or even write your own firmware based on Arduino sketches.

 

Today anyone with DIY skill for make solders can do this kind of panels. Plenty options - read to use - of electronics.