New Forum Survey: Homebrew Cockpits (see below)

[RIC_BARKER]

Damn you JBaymore! you made me snap this time!! LOL!

It's been great fun watching your progress thus far, and I have to say it all looks very well thought out, and you are a master with your hands (ooo-err!!).

So, with all this encouragement and great tips, I've decided I'm going to give it a go. I want to make some rudder pedals first, but I need to get some bits together. I've already dismantled the old vaccum cleaner for parts....

I have a digi-cam so I'll record my efforts with the workmate and the drill for your amusement!!  ;D

Ric B.

[Polynomial]

ill give one hint . . . . the eyes and the ears create motion . . . by merely blocking out surrounding references i.e. putting your 'sim' into a box or something, you will experience motion, i.e. tilting, flipping etc. etc.  Plywood casing i might say. . . . i just probably confused you.

[RIC_BARKER]

Yup, I agree with that.

My problem at the moment is money and space. Money I can generate, space I cannot.

I figure in the end I want a "generic" 2/4 engined cockpit, enclosed, with all mod-cons. That will have to wait until I can get some more space. For now, I'm going to concentrate on my rudder pedals, as it's something I've wanted for ages, but never got around to.

Once I've made them, I'll draw up a set of plans so anyone who wants to can make their own.


Ric B.

[JBaymore]

ill give one hint . . . . the eyes and the ears create motion . . . by merely blocking out surrounding references i.e. putting your 'sim' into a box or something, you will experience motion,

Polynomial,

Yes... I certainly plan on this.  

Still trying to decide how much "realism" I want to expend on this enclosure issue.  I know that the base (footprint) of the sim will be rectangular.  What I am pondering is if the upper part will be constructed so that it tends to taper inward like a real cockpit.... or if it will just sort of be "boxy".  You could say that I'm deciding on how many polygons I'll use  ;).

Another issue in this upper part design is the forward (and eventual side) display(s).  I may start with monitors........ and eventually want to go with a projector for the forward.  Trying to figure out how to design it so that it can start one way.....and then end up the other over time without having to do a major rebuild.

best,

...................john

[JBaymore]

[quote]
Damn you JBaymore! you made me snap this time!! LOL! .............
So, with all this encouragement and great tips, I've decided I'm going to give it a go. I want to make some rudder pedals first, but I need to get some bits together. I've already dismantled the old vaccum cleaner for parts....

[JBaymore]

Construction of Main Panel Support Structure

OK...... next in the construction installment documentation of my "little" project.  See earlier in this "Homebrew Simulated Cockpits" thread for what has gone into it before this.

This unit shown here will be the support structure that will hold two monitors on the lower shelf that will be the "glass cockpit" primary flight display in front of the pilot and the Nav display and the "backup" control instrument displays.  On the upper shelf part the glareshield will eventually be located projecting out over the front surface ....and then on the very top of it all will go the outside display monitors.

Photo #1



Again as in the other stuff........ 3/4" MDF for the upright sides and 1/2 MDF for the shelves.  Pine furring for the attachments.  All is "screwed and glued".


Photo #2


The two narrow strips are for the back of the unit....will be against the back wall of the cockpit under the "windscreen"........ to add structural integrity to the "legs" of the shelf.  They will get covered from the inside later to shield them from view from the pedals side of thngs.


Photo #3


The holes are again for wiring passthroughs...... and are lined up to match the holes drilled in the adjacent shelf structure.


Photo #4


Photo #4 shows the completed unit.  It sits to the immediate left of the other shelf unit (shown in prior posting) and the two butt up tight together on the common vertical wall.

To the left of this unit will eventually be a side wall armrest type console that will have some controls and the sidestick mounted on it.  It will buttt up to the front panel edge alligned with the left side vertical support.  The "corner" area that will be formed by the two modules will be a space that will contain pieces of cockpit support equipment and electronics.


So...... that's where it all is for now.  Next step will be to add the panel "facing" to the whole thing that will form the panel backdrop that the various instrument modules get "screwed" onto.

Of course in the case of the "glass cockpit" stuff....... they will actually be holes showing the monitors displaying the instruments behind the panel shield......... with a fake "mount" put on the front to increase the realism.  Eventually I MAY get some real instrument modules to augment this.... but that will be WAY down to road.

Cost for this part is about $15-18 USD in wood and screws and glue ..... and maybe 2 1/2 hours of time.

best,

.................john

[JBaymore]

Major Simulated Cockpit Programming Breakthrough Tonite

I plan on utilizing a bunch of "glass cockpit" features in my homebrew cockpit.

[RIC_BARKER]

Great work on the VB gauges there John, sounds interesting - keep us posted!

I've decided to hold off on the rudder pedals for a while (I need to get some other stuff sorted first - like makinga new chain device for my bike, I managed to crush my other one yesterday!  :-/ ).


I've decided to take some time to design my cockpit properly. I know I want a glass cockpit, probably with Boeing style gauges, purely because I prefer the look. I'm in a quandry about how big to make it. I think maybe full size, but with blanked instrumants on the FO's side is the best way to go, otherwise creating a full 180 degrees+ view will be hard to create. I found a picture of the sort of thing I want to do on the web, I've reproduced it here:

This design looks ideal, but I'd really want to use a large projector for the forward/side views. Maybe I'm thinking too big? Has anyone here ever used those 3D goggles? Are they any good?

I'm still trying to think of where to put it all. We have a converted attic room here that would be ideal, but it's a bedroom at present. I need to come to some sort of arrangement with my parents first, my mother won't be happy about loosing the space, and my father will be concerned about the fire hazard I'm sure. Time to move out maybe?  ::)

Ric B.

[pete]

Some facinating stuff going on here guys.

As the original post was about whether it was worth having a forum for this - well looking at this I would have thought it probably was.

A forum would ensure that this great stuff is not lost & will be evident to a wider audience.

If you want one - tell me what, where , etc....

I'll be ditching some of the un/little used forums soon so there'll be plenty of room on the page ..

[Smoke2much]

Thanks Pete.

We promise not to upload too many pictures of our work!

As for exactly where it should be, you're the boss-man.

Thanks again.

Will

PS Sarah and I will enjoy your bottle.  It's a pity you missed yesterday!

[JBaymore]

Ric,

That photo you posted there is very much where I am headed with my cockpit........ except just not even HAVING the FO side of things at all.  I just can't find THAT much space in the house at the moment.....and no one to SIT in the FO position anyway.  My "modular" design is such that in the future I could add the FO position just by duplicating what I am building on the left side.  You might think about that.

The "fire danger" part you mention I had already thought of relative to my OWN safety sitting in a wooden box full of plastic coated wiring and electrical gear..... not to mention the whole house.  Luckily I AM (supposedly) the "mature adult parental unit" in the house..... so no mom or dad to "satisfy".  

Like a normal aircraft.......  I already decided that the cockpit has to have some sort of REAL fire warning device.... ... and some means of general REAL fire suppression.  The minute it goes fully "enclosed"..... everything changes a bit, I think.

I will mount mini smoke detectors inside a couple places in the unit with their power supply lines tieing into switches on the overhead panel, with LED's showing their status.  They'll just use their normal alarm sounds.  

For general protection, one of them will remain on even when the unit is powered down.  The power to my unit will come thru one master switch, and the whole thing will be FULLY off when not in use.

Fire suppression at the minimum will be having a large ABC type fire extinguisher in there within easy reach.  I may set something up more like the suppression used in a commercial kitchen with pipes taking stuff inside the panels.  That will have to wait...... very complicated to do right and to have a good "failsafe".  I could set it up to have a solenoid actuated valve trigger off of the alarm pulse on a smoke detector...... but a single false.... and some expensive computer stuff goes "bye bye"  :'(.

Thanks for joining in here...... makes me feel a little less "nuts".  

best,

..................john

[Smoke2much]

Just a thought John, but if you could put in an extinguisher system you could also put in a dry ice system.  Very handy for CFS sessions....

Will

[JBaymore]

A forum would ensure that this great stuff is not lost & will be evident to a wider audience.

If you want one - tell me what, where , etc....

Pete,

Thank you........thank you....... THANK YOU!  

I think this subject as a "forum" will nicely compliment all the other stuff that is going on here ar SimV.

I think that where it goes is completely up to you.  My one suggestion is that it might sit physically next to the hardware forum...... since, as Will pointed out a while back,....... when all is said and done...... you got a big whopping piece of hardware sitting there  ;).

The exact title is kinda' tough.  

Some quickly thought out possibilities:

"Simulated Cockpit Construction"
"Simulated Cockpits"
"Homerbrew Cockpits"
"Simulated Homebrew Cockpits"
"Simulated Homebrew Cockpit Construction"
"Cockpit Construction"
"Homebrew Simulated Cockpits"
"Cockpit Hardware and Software"
"Cockpit Construction"
"Homemade Simulators"
"Homemade Simulated Cockpits"
"Homemade Cockpits"

and of course........

"Large Complicated Box Into Which You Pour Money"


Will......Ric... Professor... BaileyGirl......Hyperion.....Fido Andrew....Polynomial.......others..... chime in with suggestions, please.

best,

...................john

[JBaymore]

[quote]Just a thought John, but if you could put in an extinguisher system you could also put in a dry ice system.

[JBaymore]

Will,

Thinking on that further about CFS..... (which I have never flown).........

With the FSUIPC interface ...... my guess is that there is a variable about "aircraft damage" or two hiding in there.  You could used some Visual Basic code to monitor the status of one or more of them and then send a pulse to an I/O interface running off of the parallel port or the serial port or even the USB port to activate one or more devices in the cockpit that do a Disney-esgue "special effect" like simulated fire in the cockpit.

For someone who was good with both hardware and software.... probably would be pretty simple.  But that is NOT me  ;).

best,

.................john