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I just thought I would share what I am working on. I normally hate posting a WIP because I tend to get super enthusiastic about a project and then never get around to actually finishing it. I felt that I had to share this though. I see so many awesome controllers for this game and I always wanted done of my own. I originally was working on a my own controller using a type of wood that was left over from when it was being used to make a child sized rocking chair. The wood turned out too thick to mount any switches or buttons to it. Everyone on here seems to have made, or at least started, their own controller and it always appeared to involve ordering custom printed circuit boards, CNC machining, 3D printing, and so on. I just don't have the access, or the financial means, to make that a reality, so I have had to go low budget. After finally getting fed up with all of my components collecting dust, I decided to take a trip to the local Walmart. After a walk through of the store, I ended up buying craft popsicle sticks and wood glue. It is actually turning out nice. The wood is pretty strong after you glue a brace to a row of sticks and let the glue dry completely. I also have access to a power drill and a Dremel drill that I managed to get my hands on when I attempted to make my own controller the first time. In the pictures I have the LED lights that are going to be the annunciator lights on the panel. They are very bright and clear LEDs so you can't tell what color they are, so I had to label each of them at the LED. This works out fine since you won't be able to see the writing after the entire enclosure is finished. I still haven't figured out what to do for the face of the panel. I used to work on military aircraft and I really liked the black plastic covers that had the lettering for the annunciation cut away so that the light shows through the lettering. Since I think that takes some kind of laser cutting and that just isn't going to happen, I will have to figure something else out. Maybe marking out some transparent sheets meant for stencils and then cutting away with an Xacto knife. I am seriously thinking of just making the entire thing out of popsicle sticks. It turns out to be strong enough to work with after the glue dries, and it just makes me think it is something that would be found at the Kerbal Command Center in the early days of a career play through. On a last note, I wanted to post this because I want to show that a controller is possible on a budget. The housing for the controller doesn't need to be super expensive to turn out decent. Put that extra money into the lights, buttons, switches, potentiometers, Arduino boards, etc. The code that makes it all work is the brilliance that is KSP Serial IO by zitronen. On a side note, holes were drilled in the sticks so the LED can poke through. Underneath that is a hole that the wiring is fed through. It is all coiled up just to make it easier to store it all. I have the wiring cut in order to accommodate connecting it to the Arduino board for testing. I didn't want to make it a permanent arrangement, just in case, so the LEDs are sandwiched together by two lengths of twist tie. As for the lighting: All the Custom Groups (CG) are blue SAS/RCS/Light is green Gear/Brake is red Fuel/Mono/Elec Cau (cautions) are yellow the two open are just blank spots on the panel Fuel/Mono/Elec Warn and Overheat/Stage Lock are all red. The layout was originally different so that is why Gear and Brake are in with SAS, RCS, and Light. I am currently working on gluing sticks together to give the lights individual compartments to avoid lighting up the wrong indication on the panel. I am gluing the entire length of the sticks to fill any gaps and I plan to cover or paint over that so it completely blocks all light that could come from other LEDs.
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