"Where does he get those wonderful toys...?"

... From China. Ok, I'd feel bad, but the places I'd get them from in the States, get them from China. Just eliminating the middle-man and saving a few bucks. But DAAAAAAMN - don't plan your week on whether something will arrive or not.

I thought I'd give a tour of my electronics box to demonstrate:
A) My dedication to this project's vision and electronics requirements.
B) My complete detachment from reality in regards to moderation.

Keep in mind, this is my ELECTRONICS BOX.
Pics of the greebles, controller stash, spanking new PC and the like will be forthcoming.

This is the "Ambilight" clone test - I was incredibly psyched about how easy it was to install and wire, and the effect is absolutely AMAZING! In addition to controllable lights for "condition" (Red/Yellow/Green) and the ambient lights for the back of panels and "running lights" in the cab, this little gem will add a HUGE level of immersion durong dogfights and atmospheric entry. And DAMN are they bright!

Bags of goodies from China. Wire connectors, a whole bunch of various switches, and power interfaces for breadboards. The power units support USB power and an external adapter to keep things modular. 

Aircraft knobs from the aircraft rotary switches. Some of them have up to 5 gangs and 10 terminals each! They built them to last, that's for sure. My LED box with a few hundred individual LEDS. I just got another 50 RGB's for about 5 bucks. Just had to wait 3 weeks for them to arrive.

These are the aircraft switches, snug in their temporary storage home. These things are BEASTS! Off to the right you can see an arcade joystick just waiting to be installed as thruster controller. Or maybe I'll build that arcade machine I always wanted...

Arduinos, Teensy and some of the breadboards. More commercially available switches waiting for homes. A box of randomness including annunciator lights from the panel. Not sure whether I can use them, but they're just too cool to toss out. 

More geeky goodness - LCD displays, keypad and terminal blocks for PCB boards. Modular hookups is the key - I don't know my final setup, so those allow me to disconnect and reconfigure without resoldering. There's the new power modules for breadboards - these bad boys can be connected to USB power or wall wart adapters to drive the breadboard circuits. On the right, one of the four LED strips I bought on clearance at "that electronics place"...

The big box of resistors - You never know when you need one, so I go a bunch. The KeyWIZ, LEDWiz and two of the USB game adapters pre-wired for switches. I've been impressed with the ease of setting them up, but I haven't had a chance to reconfigure the key mapping for game control. The Groovy Game Gear stuff has utilities included, but the generic Chinese boards might require some AutoHotkey or Joy2Key to maximize their usefulness.

The Goodies Box. Note the 7221s - these chips drive RGB LEDS and are ideal for running the individual LEDS needed for panel indicators and LED matrices. I picked up 2 8x8 matrices (bottom right) and can't wait to play with them! The two huge LEDS are 6-segment domes. I'm hoping to modify a hard drive indicator project to animate the light for my "artificial intelligence" computer VARYS. Think "HAL 9000 meets R2-D2". VARYS responds to VoiceAttack scripts - incredible voice recognition for about $8!

More ICs and general electronics stuff. A lot of these are for other non-sim projects (as if...) but they're all neat and tidy... For now. 

As a tattoo artist during the day, I have bought used tattoo equipment just to get it off the streets. The machines I destroy, but the power supplies... I always knew a variable DC power amp might come in handy for something. The one on the left was a nice find, and the smaller amp will be useful for less critical power needs. And it helped to keep my community safe from unlicensed skin hackers. Professional artist are your safest bet!

Here's the collection dominating my dining room table. I'm fortunate enough to be able to invest in these types of projects, but I admit that the more goodies and gizmos, the easier it is to get distracted. I've gone back to my original notes on design philosophy and what I'm really trying to build, and matching the components to the elements I most wanted to incorporate. Despite the daunting tasks of circuit design, programming, and creative kit-bashing, I really think I have a chance at building my dream man-cave from these humble parts. 

I'm not dead yet...

Despite real world setbacks, the project continues!

I stared looking at plans online for an enclosed space that I could mount my custom panels into. Simsamurai has a great selection of general aviation setups, and with some modification I could make them work. But the biggest problem was space. I RENT a small house. I rent from my ex-wife. Although we get along well, the thought of a major installation in the space was really not going to cut it. The project has gone well beyond a simple desk modification. My vision was of a full enclosed space, completely devoted to the illusion of a spacecraft interior.

Ok, so now what?

Well, I *could* build a small out building. Thoughts of New England winters (and summers!) without climate control, makes that a NO. Kids rooms upstairs are also a no - I'd need to partition a room inside the room, and that's too much construction for a very niche project. I want the space, but not at the expense of someone else losing theirs.

I had the PVC sim setup in the bedroom closet for months, until the significant other moved in. Now, I really needed the huge closet space. Damn.

Now, I have an opportunity to pick up a tow-behind camper in good shape from a friend that simply wants it off his property. Large enough to house all of my ridiculous ideas for a full spacecraft environment, built in heat, power, lights... I could gut it and install my own wall panels, control boards, computers, lights - all of the crap I've been buying and storing in closets. And it's MOBILE! I could tow it to conventions, show it off, let other people enjoy it. A new dream takes form.

Wall panels can be created from foam insulation board coated with a thin layer of resin. The resin reinforces the foam and allows any type of paint (and layers of paint) to be applied without destroying the foam beneath. The foam can be cut and shaped easily, and fiberglass can be used to contour everything from dashes to bulkheads. The panels themselves are MDF fiberboard, easily drilled and cut. Backlit panels will be CNC'd from painted acrylic so the indicators and text will shine through. I will be posting concept sketches and the finished panels as they are developed.

More electronics components coming daily. Notebooks full of design ideas. Hours of poring through other sim projects, set design and prop manufacture. CNC, CAD, Arduino and Processing. Breadboarding prototype circuits and testing ideas. And I can't build anything until I have the space to build.

It's all in fun. Thanks for keeping up with the blog. More info as the project continues!

Star Citizen and STILL MORE HARDWARE...

I'm a citizen in ... Star Citizen

I finally broke down and got myself pledged for Star Citizen, scoring a sweet Freelancer and all the fixin's.
The PLUS package included a bunch of real-world stuff that I thought would look great in the bathroom reading rack. (Isn't that where ALL the great thinkers get their inspirational moments?)

I also joined the IEC Organization, as the crew there seemed to be all about having fun and watching each others' backs. Seems until the snow clears out and the sun beats down and drives the penguins off the deck, I simply don't have the room to start cutting the panels and the "bucket". The PVC frame has been great for prototyping the the space I'll need, but it's not even close to the polished look I was going for.


So, what's a frustrated imaginative guy to do with all this spare time?

ORDER MORE STUFF!

I decided to grab a few USB arcade boards from a Chinese supplier, and at $10 a piece, I had to buy two. I should see them before my kids go off to college. The number of inputs, coupled with the Teensy, Mega, Uno and Micro should get me by. Actually, I'm being sarcastic - I simply don't have the time to program the interfaces I'm looking for, and can much more easily just connect all my switches to an arcade board and sort it out on the PC side.

The prototype for the controls is based on the aircraft panel I have, and I've decided to re-purpose that entire assembly to the fighter pod instead of the main sim pit. My son's been excited to fly with me, and building a fighter setup is simply a matter of building the bucket and installing the prototype panels. I can play and test and buy time for the carpentry necessary for the enclosure on the bigger pit.

But what about the lights? LED programming should be a lot easier than my research indicated. I can wire them, put proper resistors in line, even build a voltage regulator/driver - but how do I control them to flash and drive the displays?

Groovy game gear to the rescue. I picked up a USB input (with rotary support) and an LED driver with configurable software to enable the lights to flash in response to different conditions. Simple power indicators can be done off the switches themselves - I want power-up sequences, damage indicators, missile warnings... And I didn't feel like self-taught engineering and programming mastery. It's been well over a year - I'm itching to FLY THIS DAMN THING!

So, while I wait for the friendly delivery guy to arrive at my day job, I sketched out some rough panel layouts:

Well, I *WAS* in the middle of a Dexter marathon... And screw rulers. I just wanted to get ideas down. The controls are based on the Evochron controls that aren't mapped to the MFDs or joystick/throttle buttons, but I am expanding for Diaspora, Freelancer, and the X series so that all systems are within easy reach.

Once I tweak them and redesign them in Illustrator, the paper and cardboard mockups can begin! Photos to follow - this should be entertaining.

The computer system is now within reach - my local PC vendor did me a solid, and I've been paying it off in chunks. She's a custom build in a custom case (specs to follow), but it should be more than enough horsepower to run anything coming down the pike. And the case design fits in perfectly with the aesthetics of the pit environment - I may build it into the center console for easy access. Custom switches out to the sim environment means never having to reach for the case to power things on, and hard drive LED will be on the main system panel.

More to follow - we're nearing prototyping and construction within the month!

News of the project's demise are highly overrated...

Well, for those that even remembered this blog exists, I'll be updating a lot more frequently as the winter has set in. Real life intervened in good and bad ways, but I have been researching and designing more ways to spend money I don't have to build something I don't have space for...

After all, that's the whole point, right?

In the "I'm not reinventing the wheel" department, I managed to snag ANOTHER Teensy3, Arduino Micro, and enough LEDS, switches, and controls to pilot a REAL spacecraft. I started hoarding project boxes and old plastic containers with unusual shapes. 

My plans were laid.

And then, I was gifted with a "complete" aircraft control panel. Now, I don't know which particular aircraft, and it appears that it was a secondary panel, but the switches were intact, and I now have a working platform for the main control panel.

All those glorious old school aircraft switches are waiting in bags (after a few hours spent removing them and the wiring harness remains). I was hoping to use the wires already attached to them, but the insulation was cracked and I KNOW it will cause faults the minute I try to rely on them.

More design considerations, now that I have become a poseur fan and follower of Chris Robert's Star Citizen. Whatever my design philosophy, I need to be prepared first and foremost to integrate my design scheme with the potential that SC seems to be bringing to PC simulation. It's nearly impossible to design on speculation and rumor, so I am reinforcing the "modular" concepts in the hopes that I can swap modules in and out to take advantage of everything Star Citizen will have to offer. I'm saving my lunch money to pre-buy the Freelancer package, as that beautiful ship seems to be right in line with my original concepts. Glass cockpits be damned - I'm going to toggle switch that beast as much as I can.

Design concepts and build pics to follow, as this is just an update to let YOU, the EXTREMELY PATIENT follower of this blog, that there's a lot more information coming. I'll share what I have learned and keep you all in the loop as I begin the construction phase.

 It would be great if the 14" of snow (so far) would magically leave my deck so I can get on with it!