KSP controller Ideas

[HighFructose]

I like the ones with the three colors, and I would probably only get 4 of them, maybe 5. I'd want liquid fuel, oxidizer, monoprop, and electric charge. Also maybe atmosphere, bit I'm not sure yet.

those lm9413s are pretty expensive, but I think they would be worth it for cool resources display.

Now I'm thinking about my annouciator panel (definitely spelled that wrong), and what I want it to show, and how I'm going to build it. Probably I'll put overheating, ground proximity, low fuel, low oxidizer, low monoprop, low elec charge. Maybe I'll put if chutes are safe to open, but I'm not sure if that's sent in the packet. If not, I'm sure there's a list for the chutes, and safe speeds that they could be opened. Any other ideas?

For building the actual annouciator display, I'll probably get a sheet of plexiglass, and I'll make little dividers for each segment, and I'll throw in a diffused LED into each one. It'll be pretty easy to build, and coding it shouldn't (knock on wood) be too hard. 

For my Master caution and Terrain, I'll wire a buzzer to the master caution, and then I'll be able to press the button to quiet it, but the light will stay lit, until the caution is over, and It will reset itself to play sound if it triggers.  The terrain alarm is harder, since I want to play a certain sound. I've found SD card modules that have a 3.5 mm jack output, and then you would plug into a speaker that would play the sound. The arduino sends a signal to the  SD card module, which plays a certain .wav file, and then it plays through the speaker. I'm going to probably use an old speaker from a dead laptop that I have 2 of, so I can mess up on one.

Not on the subject of alarms, but I found this great instructable http://www.instructables.com/id/OnOff-switch-for-a-USB-Powered-Device/.  This is what I'll do to turn on the kindle when it's in my panel. I'll be able to remove it, but it will be easier to flip the switch, and it will turn on whenever power flows to it. 

Edit: what is the best way to cut plexiglass? I wonder if I should use that stuff for the front of my panel where I mount everything. It seems more ridged than .125 inch aluminum, not to mention cheaper. I can paint it I believe, and it would look good.

Edited August 10, 2017 by Scout1218

[stibbons]

17 minutes ago, Scout1218 said:

Edit: what is the best way to cut plexiglass? I wonder if I should use that stuff for the front of my panel where I mount everything. It seems more ridged than .125 inch aluminum, not to mention cheaper. I can paint it I believe, and it would look good.

Yes, it's easily painted. I sanded the side of my acrylic that I was painting, but didn't otherwise do any preparation. Drilling holes is easy, just start with a small bit and gradually work your way up. Cutting internal holes should be fine with a hacksaw/jigsaw and a little bit of care. But the best way to do it would be to find a local maker space and use their laser cutter or CNC mill. Precise, square cuts and no fuss.

[richfiles]

Just do be careful when cutting and drilling acrylic (plexiglass). If you go too fast, plexi will very easily crack.
I find I much prefer to work with polycarbonate, but the trade off is that I think it scratches a little easier. It's a bit more flexible though.