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...