Lazy days of summer...

Well, the CNC machine has been together and operational for a few weeks, but the software and computer system are being a bear. EMC for Linux(Ubuntu) installed like a dream... The last FOUR times I installed it. Something glitches out, or I install the wrong software  at the wrong time.

POOF. Re-install. Reconfigure. Lather. Rinse. Repeat.

Now, somewhat stable, I am investigating software to design the lettering and switch holes to cut into the Lexan. It occurred to me that with all the time and money I have invested up to now, I could have outsourced and installed a dozen units. Learning is fun!

I completely dismantled the entire center console unit, which up to now has been the very core of the project. It just wasn't matching the picture in my mind. Things kept getting added, stability became an issue, and it just wasn't RIGHT. I am confident enough with this design that I will be gluing and painting this version shortly.

Pics and some new design sketches soon - looking forward to a few days of R&R. Consider it shore leave, as I know this fall will be a very active and busy one as my "day job" winds down from the summer rush.

Revisions, revisions, revisions...

The golden rule of the project has always been MAKE IT PLAYABLE. In-game, I have been taking notes and adding features.

While the voice activation was AMAZING (check out http:\\voiceattack.com!) I added Teamspeak3 so that space was no longer so cold and lonely. Flying with a friend on the line adds a huge amount of fun, and I went back to the original design of switches and displays. With VoiceAttack, I could have easily gotten rid of every button and switch in my design. So, for now, voice commands are used for the other games in the stable.

Found a few more software utilities for the Arduino Mega that will put 60+ switches in to the computer from the panels with almost no coding on my part. That should speed up the design, although the code did not look too complicated. With the impending arrival of the CNC machine and additions to the PVC framework, it looks like the forward control section will be well on its way this week.

No pictures this post, as I have revised the frame three times so far, and more revisions tonight. I also logged another 6-8 hours in-game, taking notes all the while. Expect big posts this weekend with some of my (poorly executed) attempts at foam panel mockups and my first prototype panel design. I will also share some of my research library of web sites and information that got me this far!

P.S. - UPS is on its way... Looks like I will be taking a few days to assemble the CNC! I will cover that project as well, so stay tuned!

Video Posting Time...

I finally got around to uploading some videos. These show what I have in action. By not committing to a specific plan just yet, I have had the freedom to move things around and not have to rebuild everything over and over as I change my mind. 

Here's the first revision , trying out the basic configurations and seeing if the entire project was viable! My PVC "pods" worked well enough for the controls.

Lucas is playing the Freespace2Open mod Diaspora , a Battlestar Galactica total conversion. He was much more interested in piloting a fighter than a rust-bucket freighter... 

The latest version - Revision C - as in, "I had to move the F#&!!! thing THREE TIMES"...

I do a walk-through of the setup as it is, and a demo of implementing Voice Attack for command recognition. This does NOT mean I'm not going to switch-and-LED the crap out of this project, but it sure is cool to have the computer respond to voice commands, especially in combat!

Some of my initial sketches for switch panels and displays. I am still modeling a lot of my build on these ideas, but as I prototype, I heavily modify the design to either improve play-ability or accessibility. Four other pages cross-index the key commands and indicators to specific panels, so at least I know what I am building towards. Right now, the navigation controls are most challenging, as the game interface is difficult at best, and there's no way to develop a device to mimic the on-screen control... YET. ;)

More to come... Waiting on a big UPS package this week. Time to prototype  the panels... ;)

Gratuitous High Tech Gizmos

Well, I had to move the hardware back downstairs. Something about my son wanting at least a portion of his room back (they live with their Mom, but they like their space when they are with me). Besides, with the heat and distance from the testing computer and tools, it made more sense to have it back downstairs. So, I dismantled it. Again...

I took off the arms for the side monitors - looks like I am going with a 2-3 monitor setup, with a large main and small system monitors/touchscreens. It's NOT the wrap-around I initially went for. Post-testing, I can honestly say it wasn't all that great. (I know the aspect was off, etc.) I have seen triple 22s that are cool, but it's not the look I am going for. Besides, I can always incorporate that into the fighter/mech pit I will build with the leftover parts from this build...

I hate birthdays. Reminds me of everything I thought I would have done with my life by now. So, I get a bit bummed out. And I deal with being bummed out by buying new toys.

http://mydiycnc.com/

Yup. The kit's on it's way. Despite not having the space or ability to complete the center console enclosure, I decided to focus on the switch panels and bezels. And what better way to do that than your very own CNC machine? Yeah! That's what *I* thought!

Honestly, since all of my panels and controls are going to be custom, I would have to outsource them anyways. And that costs money. LOTS of money. I figure I can always use the machine for 2D work at my studio and make a few custom carved art pieces and make the money back. I can also cut PCBs for circuits, and create back-lit panels for all of my control units. Google it - they are SICK! Since my GeekPit is designed to be fully modular, I can swap out Evochron panels for Mechwarrior, or drop in controls for Freespace 2/Diaspora, X Series, etc...

I have to strong-arm my carpenter friends. I am running out of clamps and duct tape. Time to commit to the center console design, now that I have decided to forego the triple screen for this build. An enclosed nose and 3/4 enclosure around the pilot's chair. The monitor scheme is set, so time to start sketching and designing.

After I CNC a few switch panels...

I'll post the results.

Sidetracked by Arduino

I have to be honest - when I finally managed to break through the simplest of tasks (making a pushbutton send a keypress to the laptop) I was pretty damn excited. After 20+ years, programming and electronics started to come back to me. For a reasonable cost and a little bit of time, the Arduino (and clone boards) are remarkable devices that can do almost ANYTHING, provided you are clever enough...

So many "OOOH! I can build THAT!!" moments that I am having to go back to my original notes and avoiding adding any additional "features" until the core interfaces and switch panels are configured and functioning.

I have the Arduino Micro board and the Teensy3, but may get another Teensy as they are STUPID SIMPLE to program and wire, and are easily set to show up as keyboard/mouse/joystick with no additional drivers needed. I have Arduino Uno and Mega boards for controlling lights and environmental issues (fan control) and the huge number of switches I thought I was going to need.

I have  been considering adding voice recognition to the cockpit. Seems like a cool idea to be able to yell, "VERYS! Raise front shields!" and have the system respond by doing that. More fun with Open Source software. Maybe some day I will have a chance to try it out and see whenther I can get it to simulate key-presses at a low enough level to be useful in-game. Game noise itself is also a factor. Since I need a headset for chat anyways, this is a viable idea to explore.

After sketching concepts for cockpit panels (AGAIN), I started seeing the original hodgepodge ideas coming back. Shield control should be "glass cockpit" style touchscreen. All targeting functions should be done through the MFD(s). Cargo and scanner functions on touchscreen "pages" or tabs, with target info (ya don't need both at the same time) on another touchscreen. Big, center-console mounted pushbuttons for NAV/INVENTORY/TRADE plus an ENTER key.

I already have the schematics and code for using a Wii Nunckuk as the primary mouse. Get rid of the trackball once and for all.

So many plans, so little time that I am not flitting about like a cracked-out squirrel, trying this and that. Research is great, but the GeekPit is not getting built any faster. Almost time to take a break from electronics and programming to solder up some test panels. I could use them at any time in-game, so that's progress AND I get to play...

Mounting the monitors... AND THEN...

Kenny hard at work mounting the big screen
hanger, adding more stability to the arms. 

Ok, Ken - what are you doing wrong?
We avoided a bloody mess this time...

Positioning the first monitor in portrait mode. Almost perfect!

The mounting pipe is clamped and  ready to tighten up.

Tightening up did not go as expected...

Ever tried to solder black pipe? Neither had we. Didn't work...

Both clamps installed and tightened.
We tapped a hole and added a metal screw  to keep the main bar from twisting. 

MDF, my new best friend. Monitor mounting pads in a jiffy!
Spacers between the monitor and pad cleared the bolt heads. 

The monitors all mounted, ready to rock!!!

The whole setup, live. 

You notice the side monitors are now LANDSCAPE MODE? After SIX HOURS of trying to get Windows, Eyefinity or SoftTh to run PLP, we gave up. The TV is a much larger screen, but lower resolution than the side monitors. No frreaking way to get the image to line up even remotely close. In the interest in being able to play, I am back to using the main screen as the game window and using the side monitors for system information and navigation maps. I'll be replacing the 39" with another 22" HP to decide whether to go for the wrap-around viewscreen or put smaller system monitors below the 39" and close the whole project in more closely. I adjusted the field of view with the main screen to a fairly realistic angle that doesn't make you puke, but adds a great sense of depth. 

The PVC control pods are destined to become equipment mounts or something else. I want the controls mounted to the chair, not separate pods. Cheap prototyping rocks, and the pieces were never glued, so I can use the pipes and angles for the enclosure frame or what have you. 

One step forward, two steps back, but I still flew in her for three hours last night! ;)

New Stuff, New Headaches...

So, my Arduino/microprocessor collection has grown to include a Teensy3 board and an Arduino Micro. They look great next to the Uno and Mega boards I already have for other projects. The Micro was an impulse buy (what isn't?!) because I had so many issues with the Teensy board. I did manage to figure out the user-error parts with the Teensy, and I *may* have fried the onboard LED. Remove the conductive foam BEFORE plugging in... Just sayin'. But the damn thing is up and running, and keyboard emulating it's little heart out. The Micro is a sweet little device as well, UNTIL...
(We'll get there...) Now, back to the issues at hand.

WAAAAAAAY back in the Stone Ages, I was a prodigy computer programmer. I was doing BASIC on a TRS-80 in 7th grade, teaching teachers how to write their own programs and teach kids how to do the same. I "graduated" to an Apple II+ that my parents mortgaged my brother's college education for. I left college mid-semester when my programs were beyond what the professor could follow. A smart-assed 18yo, thinking I should have been teaching the class! A year later, I enlisted as an Electronics Tech in the Navy. For two years, I was in schools 8 hours a day, learning basic and advanced electronic theory and application. I still think I could figure out resistor codes if I tried hard enough... Age and wretched abuse take their toll on memory and cognition.

Two minor details - Navy Electronics is *slightly* different than classical engineering electronics. Seemed everything ran "backwards". The other issue - I have an amazing gift for blowing up electronics, and I don't even need to touch them to make that happen! I would walk into a room and blow light bulbs (still do!), and street lights shut off when I travel under them. (No joke - look up "SLI" on Google. It's not that uncommon...)

So, fast forward 20+ years. Here I am, wiring up microprocessors and re-learning programming. Absolutely nothing seems to be ringing any bells. It's literally like starting from scratch. And I am especially leery of my "gift" accidentally rendering the microprocessors to bricks. Grounding straps need to be connected to EARTH ground, if possible.

"Hello World" is my new best friend. Every basic circuit, every simple line of code, is painful to train the brain around. But small victories are so much sweeter now, and the hardware is finally running as it should. Learning new things can be painful.

My first keyboard emulation project hijacked my computer  and flooded every application with a constant stream of keypresse that took DAYS to program out of the Arduino. But I know what NOT to do, and in a way, it was fun...

So, here's a shout out to those who program, and those who tinker with breadboards and circuit design. I have the plans, I have the layouts, I have the functions, I have the controls. Now to pull it all together...

HEEEELP!!! ;)

She may not be pretty...

The whole point of the blog is to document the progress of building the simulator environment, so here is how it looks so far. NOTE: I claim to have no skills other than basic hand tools and a persistent vision of how things should look when it's finished. EVERYTHING is in prototype stage, and will probably stay that way...

MONITOR MOUNTING FRAME

The legs were give to me, and I liked the back-angle idea for mounting the surprisingly light 39" monitor, so I drilled a few holes and mounted the HUGE flat-screen mount directly to it.

While the corner bolts were certainly large enough, there was little real stability. The design flexed, and made me nervous enough to come up with a few cross-braces. Lucky I live 3 minutes from Home Depot...

(Why YES - that *IS* an R2 Astromech droid back there!)

This would make an ideal place for the angled footrests. I was originally thinking of rudder pedals, but I have another idea to put metal or pvc leg supports off of the pilot seat with pivoting foot pads. A linkage will run back up the arm to potentiometers in the seat base itself, with spring returns. So, the footrests will suffice until I get the leg pieces built. The forward pod really needs stability, and I can use this as a lower mount point for the center console instruments some day... 

This was the preliminary setup. Only one MFD so far, but ideas were flowing quickly at this point.. The Mimo 7" Touchscreen would work well as a center console display, so that went in after slapping a piece of MDF to some PVC electrical conduit and junction boxes. Strong, adjustable, and had a bit of that "tech tubing" look I was going for.

Classic, blurry phone camera view but as you can see it's functional. Stability was really not too much of an issue, but the finished unit will be supporting an additional 2 22" monitors off to the sides as well as a center console to mount the instrument panels and controls to the "Forward Pod". My design is based on the idea of separate, interlocking elements: A forward (Display) pod, control pods, and the command chair and overhead controls pod. I am still working out the details on modular wiring connections between the pods so I can swap them out, and move the seat to accomodate different sized pilots.

A shot with better lighting, showing more of the gizmos attached  Despite the pic, the monitor WAS level... Or maybe it wasn't. Fixed regardless.

You can see the two PVC control "pods" - they are simple 1" Schedule 40 PVC frames, and a few USPS boxes to mock up possible ideas for control panels. The Saitek X45 Flight Stick & Throttle are resting gently on MDF plates. I did not mount them down yet as my desk chair's legs bump into the frames and they set too far out of the "comfort zone". I held off closing them in until I was set on controller placment and angle. It's very easy to add or modify the frames at this stage.

Both Thrustmaster Cougar MFDs are mounted to another MDF panel along with the Mimo. And yes, I left the base on the TV - it made a convenient shelf for now.
I "stickered up" a second keyboard for additional controls, but between the sticks and the MFDs I rarely have to use them. A second keyboard sits on the PC.


I have already logged 7-8 hours on this prototype setup, and almost as many hours taking notes and deciding on what is most important to accomplish next. My summer "busy" season has let me down so far, so my construction plans are on hold, unless I dumpster dive form materials and barter for labor. Time to play with switches and wiring (I already have that stuff on hand!) A Teensy3 board is en route for switch and lighting controls. I may not have a place to mount the control boxes, but I will have controls! Prototyping is ongoing...
-----
Now that it's playable, time to look into building the pilot's chair. The controller pods will connect to a frame that the chair slides into. The front monitor/control pod is a separate unit from the chair module, and the controller pods are linked to each other and the chair "nests" into that base. I wanted to mount controls to the chair, but couldn't find an easy way to get out of the sim! My original design  featured an overhead console that arced over the headrest with displays and controls. I still like the idea better than mounting yet another forward-hanging mass from the monitor supports. Another 2 monitor/control panels are going to come off of either side of the head via adjustable arms

Egress will be from the left, after backing the pilot's chair away from the controls. The wall on the right will be a mock-up of the craft's interior, but the left side will either be a heavy cloth drape or a partial mock-up. A full enclosure has to wait until I find more room.

The monitor *IS* higher than most sim setups. That's because the pilot's chair sits higher than a typical fighter "bucket"seat. This is a command chair, and the ship is not pulling massive Gs- she's a mercenary freighter!

More as I gather and organize my notes. A LOT of sketches and design ideas have come together as I wait for the manpower and the supplies necessary to build the seat. 

Finding things that don't exist...

I started out on this project with a pile of old notebooks, game manuals, and a billion of those little cardboard counters from space board games, a bunch of spare computer equipment and monitors.

In a short period of time the "parts pile" grew to a 39" tv/monitor, 2 Thrustmaster Cougar MFD panels, a Saitek X45 stick/throttle combo, 40 feet of PVC, a few dozen fittings, and a bunch of gizmos and cool looking stuff from discount stores. Donated office chair parts, odds and ends furniture and a bunch of cardboard shipping boxes destined to become mockups for the systems and controls.

I bought an Arduino UNO and a Mega board, a ton of switches and LEDS, a 7" USB touchscreen, ATI card supporting 5 monitors... And things got serious. Not only does the interior need to LOOK like the command section of a 142,000 ton Independent Merchant Craft, but it has to ACT like one. Every switch, dial, gauge and light needs to DO SOMETHING. That flashing red light over there means something is broken, smoking or planning on failing. As complete an immersive experience as possible.

I am re-learning the programming languages I used to know by heart. Of course things have changed in 25 years. There's a LOT more that can be done, if you're clever enough. I had to beg, borrow and misappropriate a good portion of the power and hand tools I lots over the course of two divorces and countless moves. And, so far, it's been all on me.

As a professional tattooist, I do have the ability to barter for skills I do not possess, or simply can't do as well as I would like. but getting people on board for the most insanely GEEK project is a bit daunting. One friend casually replied that this project is about the best birth control method he's ever heard of. Fair enough. My new "girl" is costing me an arm and a leg, but I can always just switch her off when she acts up.

My son thinks it's great, and he's my primary test pilot. If he can figure it out, he's in heaven. Lucky for me there's enough projects to work on I can let him fly for hours while still making progress. His enthusiasm and questions make me rethink aspects of the project. My seat(s) and control schemes are being designed so that he is as comfortable in them as I would be. My teenage daughter, on the other hand, rolls here eyes at the piles of parts and the smell of solder flux. Don't let her kid you - she's flown in it as well. She keeps the project grounded and makes sure I eat and sleep occasionally.

The project is built around a metal frame holding the monitor and center "pod" MFDS and touchscreen monitor, a semi-comfy char and two "control pods" of PVC framing and MDF, a vast improvement from the cardboard boxes and spare furniture I was stacking things on. All the controls work, and each addition adds to the "realism" of flight. I stop my projects long enough to log an hour or two in-game, never losing sight of the need to keep it playable and FUN! The modular design concept means I can prototype equipment on another system and plug it in when it's working, so it's always available for a quick mining run or bandit-clearing mission.

Logs, pics and notes are on their way. Hope you enjoy following the journey!

-Rick

From Alpha to Omega

Thanks for checking out my posts!

Since I was about 14, I have been fascinated about the idea of creating a simulated spacecraft interior. Not the "low tech" of actual space-faring vessels - who wants a Space Shuttle sim taking up half of their living space? It takes DAYS to get halfway to the moon! Nope - I wanted a deep-space explorer like the one's from my favorite movies and books. 

She's not pristine. She's not even pretty. Hell, half of the time she doesn't even work properly!

Back then, computer technology looked green-on-black. You wanted color, you bought an Atari. No way to model any sort of believable environment without A LOT of imagination. So I scaled down, played with my Legos, and let the dream die off. There was school. Then the military. Then fumbling around, kids, divorce(s)... In short, I had to GROW UP.

As fate would have it, something in me woke up when I found a treasure trove of games, books and notes from those days long gone by. That starry-eyed kid had sent me a time capsule -"Don't open til you're OLD!" My kids were fascinated at first, but now they look at me sideways, always asking me - "Dad! Have you EATEN today?!" and roll their eyes at the gizmos, gadgets, and computer hardware scattered about the house. 

The goal, over the coming few years, is to build an enclosed spacecraft cockpit for use with games like Evochron Mercenary, the X series, and Freespace and it's mods. Anything that provides a rich, detailed sense of being "out there". I'm not developing a fighter sim here - it's a fully immersive big kid playset where every switch, light and terminal helps to engage the imagination. No motion platforms or cramped buckets - there's room for a pilot AND copilot/navigator (as long as they are small, and bathe regularly...) Best of all, this project is MODULAR - each element and piece developed from prototypes. The thrill of victory, the agony of defeat, all right here for your consideration.

As the project grows from it's infancy to a full-fledged prop-quality environment, I will be detailing the journey as best I can, even if it's just to document my journey into madness. I'll be posting ideas, research, implementation and EVENTUALLY the plans and process to build your own components and interface them!

Enjoy!