totm june 2019 Custom hardware / simpit repository. For people who take KSP a little too far.

[Pvt. KASA]

Logic Analyzers are awesome! I tried to troubleshoot my code for several hours, now my LA arrived and I fixed it in 2 minutes, I typed in the wrong value in the check for the first Bit (at the beginning of the message a 15ms long HIGH is sent and on the receiver side the controller checks for every high it gets if it is longer than 12ms and if it is, it thinks thats the start of the message. I typed in 1,2ms by accident and saw it immediately with the LA!

 

@richfiles I would love to get a tape but shipping to Germany would be more expensive than hiring an artist to draw it by hand I assume.

If it is ok with being folded you could put it in a letter...

What does 1 tape cost without any shipping?

Edited May 22, 2017 by Pvt. KASA

[richfiles]

16 hours ago, Pvt. KASA said:

Logic Analyzers are awesome! ...
 would love to get a tape but shipping to Germany ... What does 1 tape cost without any shipping?

I have an old Gould Biomation Logic analyzer that I've always wondered if I could ever repair. It's ANCIENT... Maybe late 1970s or VERY early 80s. It has a CRT screen... The catch... It's mostly built using small scale logic, early memory chips, ECL (emitter coupled logic) gates... Really old stuff! The thing is just HUGE!  I got it for free ages ago, and ultimately, I've decided my next oscilloscope MUST be a mixed signal oscilloscope, with a logic analyzer function built in. A modern analyzer would be more useful, both function wise, and for not taking half my workbench. For me, I'd want to be able to use it to analyze pulse propagation in the neural networks for my robots, in relation to motor drive outputs. Also probably Arduino stuff... 

Regarding the tape, I don't yet know what the costs will be. My tape meter will be 3 feet long (just short of 1 meter), simply because that's how long my tape is. Truth is, if i wanted to work with other materials, i might have simply done a much longer meter, with even more divisions. Since my meter is a fixed length loop, I had to work within the available space.

At the very least, I'll share my experience with having the tape made. If the price comes back as being quite reasonable though, I don't think shipping will be an issue. A first class package under 8 ounces can ship from US to Germany for around $14. Those flat rate boxes are way overpriced.

[Pvt. KASA]

How would you want to repair a logic analyzer without an logic analyzer? 

 

I think 1 Meter is ok, a bit longer may be better but if 1 meter is the max. length its ok. How do you do the layout? I found DraftCad, do you have an alternative?

[qzgy]

Hello. Thinking about building an arduino-based simpit. Just a question - is it more advantageous to have the Mega or the Due? I'm not really sure whether speed will matter in this case, or whether it is better to have the extra analog ports of the mega.

(And if it matters, I do already have some experience in coding, electronics, and light carpentry. Not necessarily to the point of the stuff already here, but some)

[richfiles]

On 5/26/2017 at 0:47 PM, Pvt. KASA said:

How would you want to repair a logic analyzer without an logic analyzer? 

I think 1 Meter is ok, a bit longer may be better but if 1 meter is the max. length its ok. How do you do the layout? I found DraftCad, do you have an alternative?

It's been a long time since I looked at it... Might just be a power supply issue. It uses ECL chips (Emitter Coupled Logic) rather than the typical TTL or CMOS versions, as ECL comprised some of the fastest chip speeds until CMOS overtook it int he early 1990s. Problem is, it's kinda power hungry, so it has a big beefy 400 or 500 watt power supply. If it's just a power issue, then it's an easy fix... I just never got around to bothering to look. I THINK it's A Gould Biomation K100-D... But I'd have to runout to my storage unit to see. I think it had 16 lower speed 20 MHz probe channels, and 16 active probe channels, good for up to 100 MHz (though it only has a memory of 1024 words). Looking at the manuals online, I'm seeing dates of 1980 and 1981... Definitely not bad speeds for that era! These days, that's nothing. Basic entry level stuff. The main issue is the SIZE! It's HUGE! 19.5 kg/43 pounds, 22x45x55 cm (9x18x19 inches). It's a bench beast!

I also have the service manual for it... So I probably COULD actually pinpoint a fault in the unit if I really wanted to. I just haven't had the desire to go digging.

As for the tape length, 1 meter is the limit for my specific tape meter, because it's in a continuous loop. A reel to reel style tape meter could be made longer than a meter, if desired. It would only require a different scale. As for format... I don't know yet. The shop knows this is a one off, low priority job that'll only net a small fraction of a fee, compared to large batch orders. They've been too busy lately. I asked what format i could submit a file in though, so if it's something I can work in, I might do the layout myself... Honestly, I was probably gonna work in a large high res image format, if they can accept that. Unless they say otherwise, that's all I can think of. As for the design, it's a bit inconvenient, as it requires each printing to cure, as the tape has to be rotated around to expose the next blank section, while the previously printed section faces down then. My particular design will take three separate printings, so it's a really unusual print job.

Edited June 9, 2017 by richfiles

[stibbons]

On 2017-5-27 at 10:37 AM, qzgy said:

Just a question - is it more advantageous to have the Mega or the Due? I'm not really sure whether speed will matter in this case, or whether it is better to have the extra analog ports of the mega.

One factor where the extra speed/power can come in handy is dealing with floating point numbers. Neither of those processors have an FPU, but the slower chip can really start to struggle if you're trying to do a lot with peripheral comms and shunting floats around. The biggest issue I've seen in the KSPSerialIO thread is with serial comms falling out of sync because the Arduino code is too busy dealing with floating point math to keep the serial buffer drained. 

Not an impossible situation to deal with (most of the time, just hacking the Arduino serial lib to give it a buffer to match the KSPSerialIO packet size is enough). But something to consider. 

[Antipaten]

Depending on what you want to do you can handle a lot of calculations with simple fixed point arithmetics. Convert from float to integer, shift left ten bits (equivalent to multiplying with 1024) and you get approximately four decimals to work with, do your arithmetics, convert to a float and divide by 1024 and you get your result. You have to be aware of precision loss when multiplying and dividing to know how many decimals are actually valid in the end, but it makes a big difference in speed.

[richfiles]

http://hackaday.com/2017/05/30/microchips-pic32mz-da-the-microcontroller-with-a-gpu/

Just saw over at Hackaday, that Microchip has released a microcontroller with a 2D GPU and 32K of RAM to make enough room for graphics. For the various navball and custom display projects... This seems extraordinarily promising!

[keb]

Hi,

I started a new topic to post the result of work, but I guess it could have fit well here as well.

link: http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/index.php?/topic/162249-analog-gauges-and-ground-tracks/

 

 

[Stoney3K]

On 12-5-2017 at 6:37 PM, Pvt. KASA said:

EDIT: It kinda works. Every 2nd transmission i get the right message but in the other messages I only get zeros for all bits.

Are your controller Arduinos powered off the 1-Wire? That could be messing things up, because it could send them into brownout detection mode if the message is too long.

You could get the power from the motor wires via a voltage regulator and use optocouplers on the Arduino's outputs.

[Pvt. KASA]

No, I wrote my own 1 Wire Protocoll. I just connected 2 Arduino powered by USB and connected them with a single wire. I now know (thanks to the Logic Analyzer) that the only problem is the inaccurate timing of the Arduino. I think I will change the protocol on the receiver side to not just read every 1ms but to check how long a pulse is and the time in ms is the number of bits that are high or low. If i do it like this the small inaccuracies will have no impact. I hope you understood what i mean...

[mountaineerman]

On 11/26/2016 at 5:44 PM, mountaineerman said:

Hello Mulbin, I have a contribution to make! Here is my little album: http://imgur.com/a/GFKPg

 

Hi @Mulbin , I was just wondering if perhaps you missed my original message - would it be possible to add my Console to your collection?

[richfiles]

This is too awesome not to share! 
I mean, come on... RIP JEB! How can you NOT want these keys! 

I also ordered a set of planets, cause why not!

I know they're almost done taking orders. I know I should have shared them earlier. I just forgot about it... Two weeks ago...  
So sorry guys! Still, I said screw it, and committed to buying them. LOL 

Edited August 30, 2017 by richfiles

[Hacourt]

My first post. So please go easy on me :).

I've been working on component mockups. What you are about to see is ugly but my attempt to build flag indicators (barber poles). I would be interested if anyone else has tried these. 

It's just to test the concept. I have the workings of this here...flag indicator gallery.
With the right encouragement i might start my own thread on this project. Feed back is welcome always.

Simpit layout
Switches, electromagnetic indicators and flashing things
Apollo style (kind of) gauges

(this is fun though right?)

Edited September 19, 2017 by Hacourt

[richfiles]

2 hours ago, Hacourt said:

My first post. So please go easy on me :).
I've been working on component mockups.

That's great work for being mostly mockups! Nice job!

For the flag indicators, the drawing is... Are you showing two possible methods of actuation, or is there some mechanical magic I'm not grasping? One option, if you're going with a slide style mechanism, might be to thread a screw into the servo horn and use that screw as a "pin cam" to actuate. It's pretty simple and straight forward, and the benefit, is you can orient the servo endwise to the panel, instead of sideways. That'll let you mount the flag indicators closer together. The back of the moving part of the flag indicator needs a slot that the screw head fits into. As the hobby servo rotates, the screw can freely slide side to side, but slides the whole sliding assembly up and down.

In this example, rotation of the round part moves the slot left and right. With the servos in this configuration, the only limiting factors with packing flag indicators close together will be the width of the servo and the diameter of the servo horn.

Good luck on your build!

Edited September 20, 2017 by richfiles

[Hacourt]

I've spent weeks ruminating on this flag indicator and i never thought of that solution. I went from convoluted servo arms with hinges and have settled on the simplest solution i could think of. This.......

You can see some of the ideas i had on this image. Although i haven't powered it, i have tested the rotating circle and it looks good. The other advantage to this (other than the simplicity) is the discs can actually overlap inside a housing. This means that i can stack the servos, close to each other. I have to figure out lighting but i don't think that will be too hard. 

This is the latest simpit mockup. Comments are needed at this stage....  

Latest mockup

 

 

[Robisodd]

This is made of awesome. I'm actually building something like this for my school science fair right now and I came here for inspiration, no disappointments, great work.

[ajden]

Well here's mine.

Made using a lot of help from Zitronen's KSP IO plugin. This sprouted from a need to display Radar Altimeter and Ap/Pe without having to keep switching camera views and mousing over the respective nodes. It turned into something more....obsessive. The Apollo style DSKY is based off of Fran Blanche's excellent work disassembling REAL Apollo vintage DSKYs to try to produce a perfect replica. Look her up on the YouTubes if you're an apollophile. I didn't think I was going to use this screen for anything, but 4D systems has a cool mode in their "Visi Genie" software that let me upload custom images for the LED digits so I was able to make these EXACT copies of the Apollo electroluminescent digits. 

I've used switch covers to prevent accidental aborts and stages, as well as to release the fairings and chutes. This has cut way down on the whoops factor already. Also, I have a "SAS DISC" option which switches my SAS mode to hold automatically when my VVI gets within 5 m/s of 0. Keeps my landers from flipping upside-down if I overcook the landing burn by just a tad. 

The "Bus Master" switch hibernates probes, deactivates reaction wheels, and basically just disables anything that uses electricity for loooong warps, etc. 

Edited December 20, 2017 by ajden
now with actual pictures

[richfiles]

6 hours ago, ajden said:

Well here's mine.

Those switches... They are amazing! I know where to get the switch guards (I'm wanting to weld wire loops like the old school style, as opposed to using the modern switch guards), but the tab lever toggle switches! Did you find an affordable source for the Honeywell switches, find a replica, make the handles, or just spend, spend, spend!? I'm genuinely curious, cause those look GREAT!

That DSKY display is exquisite, as well! That's just an unmistakable segment style, and is INSTANTLY recognizable! I didn't even realize it was an LCD at first. That's a cool bit of software to make that work!

AMAZING job! 

Edited December 20, 2017 by richfiles

[mountaineerman]

@ajden, that is a work of art! Such clean design, such elegant work! I just did several double-takes. Professional looking pictures too - ahhhh - so many things to compliment.

I too, am curious about where you got such wonderful parts! I would love to use the switch guards, paddle toggle switches, and plastic-cover-backlit-pushbutton switches in my own build.

[mountaineerman]

And I am very curious about how the backlighting works. Is the panel some sort of clear plastic that is masked and then etched? How is lit up from within?

[ajden]

Thanks for the compliments guys! 

Good news! The switches are just normal SPST toggles from Sparkfun. The guards and tips are just 3D printed! Here's the link I used to download the file below. I had to hack off about 2-3 mm of the end of the switch so that they would fit the tips, and wouldn't stick up above the guards, but this wasn't a big deal. A lick of silver metalic paint and viola!

https://natronics.github.io/NASA-switch-guard/

For the light up buttons, these are really hard to find here in the states. I think adafruit had something for like $30. Sheesh. Go on ebay and look up "6v illuminated momentary pushbutton." They have these in a range of colors and voltages. Get whatever color you want, but get them in 6V so you can drive them straight from the arduino (theyre not LEDs, they're actually little incandescent lamps.) I used waterslide decal paper to make the words that go underneath the clear plastic colors. You can see tutorials on youtube for how to use this paper in your ink jet printer,  including spraying them with acrylic so the ink doesn't run. These buttons feel FANTASTIC. The tactile click is really nice.  Bad news is you have to wait 6 weeks for them to ship from Hong Kong, but you'll pay like $2. Bargain of the century. You can get the button covers separately from ebay or alibaba as well.

The material for the panel is a clear acrylic sheet. I did all of the layup in Sketchup and took it to be laser cut. Almost all of the 3D models of my components were available in the sketchup warehouse, or directly from the distributor like Sparkfun. I did it in two steps: they laser cut all the openings, then I spray painted everything flat gray, then they laser etched the words. The backlighting is just white LEDs driven by the same Arduino Mega that is doing everything else (hint look at the TLC 5940 chip to drive your LEDs, even the mega doesn't have enough pins natively.) I saw somewhere that "Futura Bk" was a good approximation of the apollo-era font. That's what I use throughout. 

At first I went with a 0.220" acrylic sheet. This turned out to be way too thick for my panel mount components. I ended up buying from Home depot. They have a thickness that is a little thinner (though a bit flimsy). I don't remember the exact thickness but it was closer to 0.1". Lowes has a stock that is even thinner (a bit too flimsy for me) that was like 0.8". The brand was "Optix" if I recall.

Those backlit gauges are just the 5V panel gauges with a hole cut in the back and a while LED stuck in with an LED holder. The metal card replaced with paper is just see-through enough. It looks washed out in my pictures, but it looks perfect in person.

Another hint: for the indications and warnings panel...use tracing paper with a 3D printed segmented "box" behind. 

Cheers!

Edited December 21, 2017 by ajden
corrected some mistakes

[richfiles]

9 hours ago, ajden said:

Good news! The switches are just normal SPST toggles from Sparkfun. The guards and tips are just 3D printed! Here's the link I used to download the file below. I had to hack off about 2-3 mm of the end of the switch so that they would fit the tips, and wouldn't stick up above the guards, but this wasn't a big deal. A lick of silver metalic paint and viola!

Those tab lever style tips fit large toggles, right? I mean, it looks that way from the pictures, but I just wanna be sure.

Man, I wish China would just mad produce those puppies... They mass produce everything else... 
$82.20 on Shapeways to have 30 of them made in Polished Metallic Plastic, or $58.20 for basic white... I wonder if it's better to go with the basic and just paint it?

Either way... So worth it! 

They throw up a thin wall flag. Did you have any issues printing them? I presume once they are epoxied onto the end of a switch, they will be structurally sound. Just curious if it's an issue that came up with manufacturing?

Edited December 21, 2017 by richfiles

[Pvt. KASA]

I also made a little bit of progress and made some panels out of clear acrylic. Some parts (everything except the windows) will be painted later.

I also made some paper cutouts and a big piece of paper in the shape of the panel to play around with the arrangement. The last thing I did was working on the guidance computer.

Edited December 21, 2017 by Pvt. KASA

[ajden]

9 hours ago, richfiles said:

Those tab lever style tips fit large toggles, right? I mean, it looks that way from the pictures, but I just wanna be sure.

They throw up a thin wall flag. Did you have any issues printing them? I presume once they are epoxied onto the end of a switch, they will be structurally sound. Just curious if it's an issue that came up with manufacturing?

The swtiches are these toggles from Sparkfun: https://www.sparkfun.com/products/9276

The hole I set into the switch tips was 5mm in diameter by 8mm tall. The hole in the original model did result in little holes hear the top of the switch. Even with the re-worked hole in the tip, I got some places where a hold showed up in the wall, but then when I glued these to the switches, it filled the hole in and the paint covered it up!

Two things of note:

First, the silver paint tends to tarnish after a few weeks of using the switches repeatedly. Not really a big deal, but making them out of polished metalic plastic will probably look awesome and last longer. 

Second, these toggle switches allow the switch lever arm to rotate. With just a blank toggle, it is tough to turn and not noticeable anyway (cause it's round). But when you add the switch tip, it gives you enough leverage to twist the tip as you work the switch. I'm an OCD person, so this is a big deal for me. Might not be a big deal for you. 

1 hour ago, Pvt. KASA said:

I also made a little bit of progress and made some panels out of clear acrylic. Some parts (everything except the windows) will be painted later.

 

I love the panel with engine status lights! Straight out of Apollo.