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

[richfiles]

5 hours 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.

How are you going to use the engine readout? Will it mimic the Apollo usage and show engine activity, or are you using it for something else? Is it going to be all or nothing (all five circles light together), or will it scale with throttle level? What I mean by that is, for example: none lit for 0%, 1 lit for 1-25%, 2+4 lit for 26-50%, 1+2+4 lit for 51-75%, 2+3+4+5 lit for 75-99%, and 1+2+3+4+5 lit for full throttle. The lighting pattern shown is COT balanced, so would kinda make sense. Just curious what your plans for it are. It really looks great!

[richfiles]

5 hours ago, ajden said:

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. 

I've just learned KiCAD to make PC boards. Have not learned any form of 3D CAD. What do you use? I'd be kinda interested in maybe reworking that inner hole to be rectangular, to fit a flat lever toggle switch. That ought to provide more clearance for the side walls. Either that, or I might consider switches with anti-rotation levers, and possibly a stubby lever. Those are a thing, but they might cost a bit more than the Sparkfun ones. With that, I could both eliminate rotation of the tab and possibly just reduce the hole depth slightly, to below where it would perforate the side wall.

One other question I had, is does the switch's nut fit over the tab lever attachment, or do I need to assemble the switch to the panel first, and then epoxy the tab onto the lever after?

Edited December 22, 2017 by richfiles

[qzgy]

29 minutes ago, richfiles said:

Have not learned any form of 3D CAD. What do you use?

Like for models for a 3d printer? At school, there are two things commonly used - Onshape which is web-based and free and Autodesk Fusion (which might need a license - People use a student license). Both work fine, although Fusion is a lot more complex.

Him I don't know.

[Pvt. KASA]

4 hours ago, richfiles said:

How are you going to use the engine readout?

I wanted to do it really simple, green when the engine is doing what it is supposed to do, yellow when there’s a deviation in thrust and red for failure. I wanted to make the complete ascent with the launcher automatic so I think it’s unnecessary to show the throttle level, but maybe I will do it different, I’m not sure yet.

[ajden]

15 hours ago, richfiles said:

I've just learned KiCAD to make PC boards. Have not learned any form of 3D CAD. What do you use?

One other question I had, is does the switch's nut fit over the tab lever attachment, or do I need to assemble the switch to the panel first, and then epoxy the tab onto the lever after?

I used the free version of sketchup. Apparently in the last couple of weeks that version became browser-based. That stinks, i used a lot of plugins that probably wont be supported anymore. The tab style toggle is a great idea. 

The nuts do fit over the tips. Its a tight fit at first. Note that the digital model has a very square profile. I spent some time with a hobby knife to round over all the edges so they looked more like the real thing. After that, they fit with no problem. 

[hugopeeters]

@Mulbin, I have a WiP custom controller as well. Here's my topic link (pending mod approval): 

 

[mr. engino]

This is perhaps the coolest thing I've ever laid my eyes on! Personally I was considering building a prop computer control panel, but now I can build one with an actual purpose! A few questions though:

1) Does anyone happen to know where I could find parts for a project like this?

2) How would I hook something like this to the computer? Arduino?

Edited December 30, 2017 by mr. engino

[hugopeeters]

1 hour ago, mr. engino said:

This is perhaps the coolest thing I've ever laid my eyes on! Personally I was considering building a prop computer control panel, but now I can build one with an actual purpose! A few questions though:

1) Does anyone happen to know where I could find parts for a project like this?

2) How would I hook something like this to the computer? Arduino?

Plenty of parts on sparkfun, alibaba/aliexpress, electronics webshops, etc.

Yes, an arduino does the translation and communication between the computer and the controls.

Do some digging around this forum and /r/kerbalcontrollers and you'll find some tips and how-to's. I am planning to write up my complete build process and share my designs and code.

[mr. engino]

38 minutes ago, hugopeeters said:

Plenty of parts on sparkfun, alibaba/aliexpress, electronics webshops, etc.

Yes, an arduino does the translation and communication between the computer and the controls.

Do some digging around this forum and /r/kerbalcontrollers and you'll find some tips and how-to's. I am planning to write up my complete build process and share my designs and code.

Thanks for the advice! I was hoping I could get my parts from a brick and mortar store (radioshack, wherefore art thou!?!?), but I guess online shopping will suffice. It's also a good thing I found my arduino micro recently, now that I finally have a use for it!

[mr. engino]

I am pleased to announce that after finding what I hope is a suitable arduino library, my custom control panel, which I have thusly named "Kerbal cONtrol PANel [KONPAN]", is now underway! Here's a link to that topic here: Project KONPAN

Edited January 3, 2018 by mr. engino

[hugopeeters]

I understand this niche is too small for a sub-forum, but why isn't this post at least a sticky like the other ones about cinematics and pics?

[richfiles]

On 1/4/2018 at 6:00 AM, hugopeeters said:

I understand this niche is too small for a sub-forum, but why isn't this post at least a sticky like the other ones about cinematics and pics?

A while back, this post was temporarily stickied, much like many other posts that have been highlighted from time to time. What actually is stickied changes from time to time, so people in all different categories get a chance to be in the spotlight. This particular post was stickied around the time of the forum software change about a year or two back. I seem to recall the old forum software had some option to mark or sort a section's posts by a tag of some sort. I dunno. Back then you could easily single out "hardware" or something like that. The new software, I think, couldn't do that as nicely, or at all. I think it got stickied back then, to let it stand out.

I've always felt this belonged in the Game Mods section. The people running the forum don't have the same view. They see this as a "fan work" because you can't download a controller, and people might be "disappointed" if they try to download a mod to run external controllers, only to find that <gasp> some assembly is required...  (I wish we had a more sarcastic eye roll, and not just the "oh you" eye roll). Apparently, the application of effort to flesh out the communication mod with physical hardware puts us in the same category as 3D prints, paperworks, animations, art, and fanfics... 

It's a point I will NEVER agree on, but as the saying goes, "mods are gods", so it's their way or the highway. This post actually being sticked, was actually kinda in response to the overall opinion that this is more mod than fanwork, and it might not be as visible to the people looking for such things, as any one of us would consider this a mod to our actual game, and not a standalone work inspired by it. It was a compromise. We're still stuck here, relegated to the fan art section, but we got our month or so in the spotlight.

The other good news, is this is a popular topic, so it pops to the top often! Not as often as it used to, before I started my own build thread though! LOL 

Now if only I could get enough free time to actually pick up and work on mine again!
I'm so swamped at my first job, that it's actually cutting into my ability to keep up on my second job, not to mention free time! Yikes! 

Edited January 7, 2018 by richfiles

[hugopeeters]

Oh well, we'll just keep it up top by submitting lots of content

[hugopeeters]

IT. IS. DONE!

More details here: 

If there is any details missing from my thread, let me know. I'd be happy to explain things in more details.

 

[mountaineerman]

Way to go, she's a beaut!

[richfiles]

12 hours ago, hugopeeters said:

IT. IS. DONE!

I have been consistently amazed by the speed, organization, planning, quality, and talent that you've packed into this spectacular build! Truly an awesome controller!

[hugopeeters]

3 minutes ago, richfiles said:

I have been consistently amazed by the speed, organization, planning, quality, and talent that you've packed into this spectacular build! Truly an awesome controller!

Can you please call my manager and get me a raise?   Seriously, thanks so much for the great compliments.

I've done it all for the love of Kerbalkind.

And buttons.

I like buttons.

[hugopeeters]

You can read more on how to build it here: https://www.instructables.com/id/KerbalController-a-Custom-Control-Panel-for-Rocket

[hugopeeters]

On 1/22/2018 at 10:49 AM, hugopeeters said:

You can read more on how to build it here: https://www.instructables.com/id/KerbalController-a-Custom-Control-Panel-for-Rocket

Wow, this is taking off like a pair of S1 SRB-KD25k's! Hackaday.com is featuring my build now too. And it will be on makezine.com this week or next as well. 

Edited January 24, 2018 by hugopeeters

[Freshmeat]

@hugopeeters: I am just gonna leave this here. It links from the front page right now:

https://blog.arduino.cc/2018/01/24/create-a-custom-kerbal-space-program-cockpit-with-arduino/

I think that is a sign of "making it"

[hugopeeters]

5 hours ago, Freshmeat said:

@hugopeeters: I am just gonna leave this here. It links from the front page right now:

https://blog.arduino.cc/2018/01/24/create-a-custom-kerbal-space-program-cockpit-with-arduino/

I think that is a sign of "making it"

Wow did this thing blow up... like a Kerbal rocket with not enough struts.

Standing on the shoulders of giants here, thank all of you for the inspiration and the majority of the code!

[EwingKang]

Hey, just saw the official Arduino post on G+, it is marvelous !!!!!

I'm here to give you my congradulations!

[cyberKerb]

I'm in the beginnings of gathering hardware for my control panel and I'm looking for inspiration on one element in particular. I've got a number of ebay orders incoming, so it's only just starting.

I've seen a few panels where the 'stage' command is just a push button and for some reason I have a quirk where that's never sat well with me. Yes, I've used the spacebar forever, but when I envision using my panel, I see a pull lever of some sort recessed into the upright part of the panel that I have to pull to activate the next stage.

I'm thinking doing a DIY version of "something like"^TM the below pictures, although I've not decided on whether the handle will be vertical (left pic) or horizontal (right pic). It will probably end up being a hidden push button behind the panel that the unseen part of the lever would hit to activate, but the UI would be a pull action that would come out ~20-30 degrees from the panel and a spring return. If I can work out how, I'd love to add bit of a mechanical "clunk" (rather than a wimpy 'click') at the end of the lever action to indicate it did something, but still have a smooth return action and not have to go over the clunk again..

I had a passing thought to kluge/mount a ratcheting socket wrench as the lever, but decided the tinny clicking wasn't quite what I was after.

Anyone done anything like that idea? Feedback is welcome.  

 

 

[monstah]

10 hours ago, wile1411 said:

 

Geek time: I recognized the design as from the Alien franchise right away, but something was off...

Turns out this is from the Sulaco (second movie), which is clear from the red and grey design as opposed to Nostromo's white, but the logo on top (inside the grey rectangle) is from the first movie's "Weyland" Corp, not the sequel's "Weyland-Yutani"

In any case, you may want to add a spring mechanism to return it to its original position. For the "click", I'm picturing a smaller spring that gets pulled with the lever, but is released back to its original position before the lever finishes its movement. I can't explain it better, but it's like the trigger mechanism inside one of these:

 

[cyberKerb]

45 minutes ago, monstah said:

Geek time: I recognized the design as from the Alien franchise right away, but something was off...

Turns out this is from the Sulaco (second movie), which is clear from the red and grey design as opposed to Nostromo's white, but the logo on top (inside the grey rectangle) is from the first movie's "Weyland" Corp, not the sequel's "Weyland-Yutani"

In any case, you may want to add a spring mechanism to return it to its original position. For the "click", I'm picturing a smaller spring that gets pulled with the lever, but is released back to its original position before the lever finishes its movement. I can't explain it better, but it's like the trigger mechanism inside one of these:

Yeah, spring return is in the plan. As for the click, the BBQ lighter investigation is worth a look. I've checked out a few breakdown on YT they were salvaged for the igniters proved interesting. Thanks for the suggestion.
Actually - that search lead me to a interesting mechanism playlist:

Extra Geek time: While looking for a lever, I found the aliens airlock lever and was reading about a prop group that traced the red piece to an old CRT TV grill.

Edited February 6, 2018 by wile1411