T.A.P.O.R. KSP SimPit Oddyssey

[marzubus]

That is so awesome! I need analog gauges!

[T.A.P.O.R.]

I like the way they look, but am not sure of the usefulness really.

Last week I chanced a bid on a bunch of old VU's, it turns out I've won.

I was really only interested in one of them (guess which one).

I still haven't managed to get the OLED to do anything.

Its missing the CS pin and is not the common four pin display I see elsewhere.

This is making it hard to find a decent tutorial.

The OLED isn't integral to my plan, so I'm not fussed at this point.

[KK4TEE]

Nice project! Quick question: What color is the PCB on the back of the 7 segment displays you are using? I've recently put in another round of parts orders and found some nearly identical in appearance to the ones I had issues with except they have a blue PCB with a different layout. I'm wondering if you happen to have gotten yours from the newer batch. Thanks!

[stibbons]

I was thinking about picking up one of those Freetronics OLED modules for a navball display on my controller. They look pretty great. But suspect a larger monochrome display would look better with my panels.

[T.A.P.O.R.]

Nice project! Quick question: What color is the PCB on the back of the 7 segment displays you are using? I've recently put in another round of parts orders and found some nearly identical in appearance to the ones I had issues with except they have a blue PCB with a different layout. I'm wondering if you happen to have gotten yours from the newer batch. Thanks!

Thanks for the complement KK4TEE

But I'd have to say that your project exceeds mine in ambition, presentation & execution.

Mine are green as displayed in the pic below (sorry I didn't have one from before I did my sloppy wiring).

The pins are only at one end and don't offer a DOUT.

They're totally different from the picture on the ebay seller though, which was more like the ones on your thread where you had overheating.

The yellow wire that dominates the picture is soldered to the DOUT pin of my first module.

It didn't look (or measure on the multi-meter) to be connected to anything at all.

I'm not getting any errors at all with my two displays wired in series.

Unfortunately I can't link to the seller as the auction I bought them on has been archived & don't recall who I bought from.

I've bought 4 more from a different seller (I think) they are yet to arrive in the post.

Pins from left to right are DIN CS CLK GND 5v

I'm nowhere near finalising my design as I'm still waiting for parts to arrive, but will probably go for an L shaped arrangement with the bulk of the panel to the left and the displays under my monitor.

Its probably going to be built from left over MDF from my pickle jar shelf and timber I've scavenged off hard rubbish.

That said, AmeliaEatyaHeart put me on to a laser cutting company who had reasonable prices.

Not sure I can commit to that just yet for I am a fickle beast who cant sleep for want of KSP.

[T.A.P.O.R.]

I was thinking about picking up one of those Freetronics OLED modules for a navball display on my controller. They look pretty great. But suspect a larger monochrome display would look better with my panels.

I'd thought of this too, but I am in no way clever enough to work out how to do it!

Consider me your local interested idiot.

What I'd really like to do is replicate GHUD on a larger colour screen

My G15 is starting to fail.. keys stick etc... and replacing it is kinda expensive these days!

What kind of monochrome display do you have in mind?

[KK4TEE]

Thanks for the complement KK4TEE

Mine are green as displayed in the pic below (sorry I didn't have one from before I did my sloppy wiring).

The pins are only at one end and don't offer a DOUT.

They're totally different from the picture on the ebay seller though, which was more like the ones on your thread where you had overheating.

The yellow wire that dominates the picture is soldered to the DOUT pin of my first module.

It didn't look (or measure on the multi-meter) to be connected to anything at all.

Thanks for the reply and the picture! I think I saw the ones you got with the single input during my search. It didn't even occur to me to just get those and solder a wire on to the DOUT. Good thinking

I'm glad to hear you aren't having any errors with your displays. Even after the fix on mine they would occasionally loose sync and need to be restarted. My blue PCB displays are still in shipping, so I'll see how well they work once they arrive. In the meantime, I'm working on a sort of expansion board for my DSKY. I've dismantled it and am rebuilding it (better, stronger, faster, and with fewer dropped packets!). I took the interchangeable faceplate idea from Marzubus and ran with it. I'm setting my expansion board up with 125mm faceplates that mount to 140mm boxes so everything prints nicely.

Work in progress:

[T.A.P.O.R.]

Oh how I wish that I had a 3d printer or better yet, a cnc mill (budget = sad face).

There is a 3d printing service available local to me, but its not very convenient to test out prototypes.

The hard part will be deciding where to place things.

I've got 2 monitors 4:3 & 16:10 as represented by the gray blocks in the background.

The simpit itself is the blue section that wraps around the keyboard placeholder in the foreground.

LED & VU displays will be in front and the switches off to the side.

Though I have taken inspiration from your design and am considering backlighting the text for RCS, SAS, GEAR etc

Much easier to be laser cut, but I'll probably go with a MDF & a sharp chisel (its what I have laying around).

Lots of little bits of wood to be glued for the frame.

Why so many?

The thing is on a 5 degree slope.

I don't have a table saw, so I make do with my drop saw.

Edited March 21, 2015 by T.A.P.O.R.

[marzubus]

Nice! I actually was inspired by KK4TEE's control panel, and went and bought my 3d printer when I saw that upper control panel which KK4TEE designed. I also went for the simple metal, but with the heated bed upgrade. Made a huge difference to my print quality!

KK4TEE, do you mount cherry-MX's on that upper panel? Or what buttons will go in there? I really want to go with Cherry MX's but its so damn expensive for just a couple of those buggers.

Edited March 22, 2015 by marzubus

[marzubus]

That looks really cool! great progress. What are you going to treat the MDF and wood with?

[T.A.P.O.R.]

I'll probably prime it with some house paint & then use a can of spray paint (do I go traditional neutral or a bright colour?).

Spraying onto MDF without priming gives a weird finish.

Decals will be a combo of stencils & press on letters.

Rustic I know, but this is probably just going to be a prototype.

I am going to re-do the support frame, as the 19mm pine I was using takes up too much internal space.

Instead, the frame & support structures will be made from 6mm masonite (more leftovers).

The launch button is a bit of an annoyance as I'd like the front of the panel to be quite low, but the switch mechanism is not accommodating to my desires.

Hopefully the rest of my parts arrive this week. Then I can get on with making holes for the displays.

[marzubus]

I've had some success with Maston primers on mdf. I build an arcade cabinet and I'm very happy with the finish. A bit pricey but I think it's good.

[T.A.P.O.R.]

I've had some success with Maston primers on mdf. I build an arcade cabinet and I'm very happy with the finish. A bit pricey but I think it's good.

ooh, their hammer finish range looks like fun.

[marzubus]

ooh, their hammer finish range looks like fun.

I would send u pics but I don't think it helps for 'feeling' the Finish. anyway, I highly recommend it. Family owns a paint shop, so I have access to such knowledge.

[T.A.P.O.R.]

I would send u pics but I don't think it helps for 'feeling' the Finish. anyway, I highly recommend it. Family owns a paint shop, so I have access to such knowledge.

Its almost like we're twins!

My father-in-law worked in the paint industry for decades.

I can't see any suppliers in Australia for Maston though

I did use one fancy brand of spray-paint ($22 a can I think) on a pawn shop guitar that turned out pretty nice.

Usually its just the cheap stuff.

See the red/white case in my OP.

Not the best pic but it looks pretty good.

One drawback is you need to clear coat it afterward, otherwise the red rubs off on everything!

Another draw back is the clear coat is no good to cover the wax letters as it makes them melt and do weird stuff.

[marzubus]

Its almost like we're twins!

My father-in-law worked in the paint industry for decades.

I can't see any suppliers in Australia for Maston though

I did use one fancy brand of spray-paint ($22 a can I think) on a pawn shop guitar that turned out pretty nice.

Usually its just the cheap stuff.

See the red/white case in my OP.

Not the best pic but it looks pretty good.

One drawback is you need to clear coat it afterward, otherwise the red rubs off on everything!

Another draw back is the clear coat is no good to cover the wax letters as it makes them melt and do weird stuff.

Wow that red looks amazing! Looks almost like powder coating. My dad was a Country Manager for Dulux before he opened his own paint shop. So he was down on Australia some times.

[T.A.P.O.R.]

KK4TEE, do you mount cherry-MX's on that upper panel? Or what buttons will go in there? I really want to go with Cherry MX's but its so damn expensive for just a couple of those buggers.

What is the benefit with the mechanical keys?

I only came across them recently in an email from a computer shop about some horribly expensive keyboard.

I was thinking about a set of these:

They're not mechanical, but come with a mounting plate and are available separately.

I've held off as shipping is a bit more expensive than I'd like at the moment.

Here's a link to the seller store

[marzubus]

What is the benefit with the mechanical keys?

I only came across them recently in an email from a computer shop about some horribly expensive keyboard.

I was thinking about a set of these:

http://i3.ebayimg.com/02/i/001/45/81/35cc_12.JPG

They're not mechanical, but come with a mounting plate and are available separately.

I've held off as shipping is a bit more expensive than I'd like at the moment.

Here's a link to the seller store

I really like the feel of the clicky cherryMX keys. For WSAD keys for instance.

[T.A.P.O.R.]

My old VU meters arrived.

in contrast to the oled, they're much larger than anticipated!

Pretty sure it's bakelite too.

I don't think I'll do the unthinkable and try to change the decal behind the needle.

Hopefully it actually works!

Edited March 24, 2015 by T.A.P.O.R.

[KK4TEE]

Nice! I actually was inspired by KK4TEE's control panel, and went and bought my 3d printer when I saw that upper control panel which KK4TEE designed. I also went for the simple metal, but with the heated bed upgrade. Made a huge difference to my print quality!

KK4TEE, do you mount cherry-MX's on that upper panel? Or what buttons will go in there? I really want to go with Cherry MX's but its so damn expensive for just a couple of those buggers.

Yep, those are indeed slots for Cherry MX keyswitches. I bought them in bulk when I was building my Ergodox keyboard and got a few extras for the DSKY project, so shipping was already "paid for". They're probably overkill for this project, but they feel really satisfying to press. I'm glad I could inspire your project and you could in turn inspire my new design. I love this community

You're also right about the heated bed upgrade. I added mine after the fact and it also made a huge improvement. It really should be the standard.

What is the benefit with the mechanical keys?

I only came across them recently in an email from a computer shop about some horribly expensive keyboard.

I was thinking about a set of these:

http://i3.ebayimg.com/02/i/001/45/81/35cc_12.JPG

They're not mechanical, but come with a mounting plate and are available separately.

I've held off as shipping is a bit more expensive than I'd like at the moment.

Here's a link to the seller store

I got a set of those for my first control panel build, the one I built into a pelican case, and the metal mounting bracket they come with is nice but the key switches themselves are really flimsy feeling. If you don't have access to a 3D printer or a CNC machine they might be worthwhile for their ease of installation and uniform look.

[T.A.P.O.R.]

Thanks for the advice on the keys.

might give them a miss and stick with toggles.

Mulbin's panel has a great solution to backlit labels.

I tried finding long lengths of the stuff to no avail.

Could be a cheap/easy solution to printing my own bezels

Edited March 24, 2015 by T.A.P.O.R.

[T.A.P.O.R.]

Small update (if it can be called that).

Not much time to do anything fun this week.

I'm still waiting on a bunch of stuff to arrive, but the VU meter really threw me off balance.

As much as I like missile switches, I'm leaning toward using mini toggles as they're a: cheaper b: smaller footprint c: I have heaps of them with wee hats.

The panel is about 74 cm or 29 1/2 inches wide and yet seems to be easily filled up.

Especially with that big old VU meter, which I simple must use (unless of course it doesn't work).

This is the basic layout for the action groups and the corner of the square at the bottom is the centre point for the launch button.

The silver thingies are my LED bezels.

[T.A.P.O.R.]

Actual progress.

After discovering the old Bakelite display was dead, I changed plans.

Here's my "vision" for the project.

As stated in the KSPIO thread, I don't know what to display with the two seven segs on the left and the LCD.

Lots of parts are still in transit, including the two clock modules.

One for time to Apoapsis and the other for time in the "real world".

The real world clock wont be connected to the Arduino at all and will run on battery so I'll need to add clock controls on the front panel too.

I did work on the control board yesterday and as you can see there are many switches and LED bezels.

The LED bezel on the top left will be wired to the KSPIO handshake light.

I've added in a rotary switch to control what is being displayed on the VU.

This is for (as I see it) maximum flexibility, since it allows for chemical rockets, aeroplanes and ion propulsion.

Also I just like the look of the chicken head knob next to the 1966 VU.

The current switch is single pole, so I think I need to invest in a double pole switch to avoid suing up precious pins on my Mega for the LEDs.

Then again... maybe they can refuse to light up when the tank is empty?

Left to right I have Xenon, Mono, LFO, Jet, Air Intake.

Electricity will have it's own read out via a Led Bar graph.

I've left a fair amount of space down the bottom in case I decide to add in a key panel for QWEASDZX for those times when I want to fly entirely on the control board.

Edited March 28, 2015 by T.A.P.O.R.

[Freshmeat]

Holy Cow, that is a large work you have there. Very impressive.

Do not connect LEDs directly to the Arduino, use a shift-out or display IC instead (74HC595 or MAX7219). Having tried both approaches, the IC's let you extend if you want, and as you say enable you to have an effect when the ressource is out (I would go for blinking).

Further, you might want to consider your AP clock. Instead, how about detecting whether AP or PE is closest, and display time to that? Throw in a 7seg block in front to read A or P and you are gold (or two LEDs).

You asked about the LCD display, and I want to suggest adding a rotary encoder beside it so it can display whatever you need for the situation. I plan on doing that when I get back in orbit.

[T.A.P.O.R.]

Progress has halted as my family demanded a sojourn to a cabin in the woods.

My connection to the world has been limited by the ionosphere and my cellular provider.

I think that I'll add provision for the encoder and tinker some with shift registers.

my original plan was just the altimeter and a couple of switches.

things kind of got it of hand.