Upgrading the Caution Panel (and laser cutting PCB's)
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 12 ธ.ค. 2022
- Upgraded the Caution Panel so it no longer runs on a Phidgets 64 LED card, but now uses DCS BIOS and an Arduino.
I made some custom PCB's to mount the LED's using prototype board and laser cut them to shape.
Big thanks to Craig at mysimpit.co.uk/ for doing all the hard work.
Check out his TH-cam Channel here:
/ @craigsmysimpit
And watch his detailed Caution Panel video to work out the programming and wiring here: • DCS A10C Prototype Cau...
If you have any questions about my setup please check out my website: thewarthogproject.com/
Or ask in the Discord:
/ discord
All my plans, panel files, and 3D printing .stls are free for download at: thewarthogproject.com/downloads
And check out my Instagram at:
/ thewarthogproject
00:20 - The Old Panel
01:58 - The New Design
05:28 - Laser Cutting PCB
11:03 - Building the New Panel
15:10 - Cold Start
18:22 - Take Off
21:08 - Engagements
23:15 - Testing the Caution Panel
27:12 - Emergency Landing
Theme Music-
Darkling by Kevin MacLeod
Link: incompetech.filmmusic.io/song...
License: creativecommons.org/licenses/b...
Can't wait for you to build the ejector seat!
Your simpit is freaking at God level. Everytime I talk to a normie about my pit or Sims in general the conversation usually turns to your channel and I send them a link. You have truly set the bar for amature home enthusiasts. I've seen your videos detailing how much you have invested in your pit, but have you ever sat down and put a value on your time? Hypothetically speaking if you were to make an exact replica of what you've already made, what would you charge. I realize that you've spent countless hours researching and building etc, but just curious what realistic price you'd put on building a second one.
Thanks man. No idea how much I'd charge for my time, but it would probably have a few of zeros on it lol.
@@thewarthogproject nice, I also wonder how you have your display set up to show no cockpit? Do you just zoom the FOV in so it's not visible? Always wondered.
@@cre8ive34 that's native in DCS, just press Alt - F1.
@@thewarthogproject nice didn't know that, thanks for the reply, and tip.
Just as I bought everything to make my very own panel, you upload! Love your videos!
Amazing. (RE: the flight at end of video) You should hook up smoke generators to fill your cockpit with smoke for cases like this LOL. Now, that would be funny
Looks great. Thanks for sharing your build process. I need to get my K40 laser back in operation and make some smoke
But not too much smoke! Check those earth cables!
Enjoyed, nice work.
Disassemble an old laptop or monitor and use the excellent diffusing film behind the LCD. Sometimes it's 2 layers. This makes a super even illumination of the fonts. I have almost the same cockpit as you thanks to your files!
A good use for smashed TVs. This same lens and the high CRI backlights also makes them good studio lights.
I was just about to type something along these lines. I am curious how well it would work though as the backlighting on a TV is around the outside of it rather than directly behind.
Missed ya mate! Gorgeous work as ever.
YES! A new video!
Nice landing mate!
Fantastic
I am amazed by your work. it's incredible. I can't even imagine how much work went into this...
Great stuff as always! Your videos inspired me to get a K40 laser a while back and I use it to make custom TM Warthog faceplates now. One thing I have learned while doing that is if you use a spoil board and tape some cardboard to it and then cut the outline of what you are engraving it makes a perfect jig. You could probably rig that up on the honeycomb with some 3D printed fasteners. Saves me a lot of guess work trying to line up the material precisely. Anyway, love your channel for all the entertaining and educational stuff you do!
Finally, a new video. 😄
hello je viens de découvrir votre chaine, je suis bluffé de vos réalisations... très beau travail
hello I just discovered your channel, I am amazed by your achievements... very nice work
For anybody interested, Just draw your PCB and have it manufactured. WAY easier. You can even have them SMT the LEDs in 0603 packages, which is really cheap
I think he's just pressing his advantages of having his own laser cutter, and support the local businesses as most of the advanced PCB manufacturing are in China, and hobbyist PCBs like what he's using are sold locally.
Where is the fun in that!?
I bet that PCB smells amazing 😂
Gorgeous, if I had a pit like this I'd be flying into danger all the time just to get a chance to fiddle with all the gauges and knobs to handle the damage. Have you experimented with grinding the lenses flat on the LEDs? Should reduce the directionality of the emitted light and reduce the need for diffusion as much in general.
You could always get your pcb's from something like PCBWay or JLPCB, hell you could even add the arduino and matrix hardware on the board directly, or just add headers for the plugin experience (probably easier to do that now with all the shortages). Would save some effort and size, even more if you use SMD leds, simplify it even further with individually addressable RGB leds (no need for the matrix hardware).
Just commented and saw yours🤣
Exactly same ideas. I would use a cheaper microcontroller like a STC8 and a bunch of WS2812 or just two normal 0603 green LEDs for each. I have a reflow oven and PNP machine, and JLC offers free PCB twice a month, so it would be really easy for me to mass produce these. I also have laser cutter and CNC at the school lab, so I could just by myself, make ten to a hundred of these for really cheap per day.
I actually said the same thing to my friends at the lab, about how cheap and easy it would be to make these cockpits if we made everything standard and made in batches at a time. But sadly there just aren't enough simulator enthusiasts here in China to make batch production a economical idea. I guess 10,000 yuan (1500USD) for a cockpit is still too expensive for the majority of people, including me. And even worse, in economically developed places, where people do have the money to spend on hobbies, estate is really expensive so there is no spare room to set up a cockpit.
@@yuxuanhuang3523 Yes, my thoughts exactly, the benefit of the WS2812's being that you can chain many of them onto a single controller. Depending on the libraries used all you would need to watch out for is memory use. I.e. Adafruit and fastled libraries allocate 3 or 4 bytes of ram per led. Doesn't sound like much until you try to drive large numbers of leds. At any rate you could split out over multiple microcontrollers or use the more powerful ones (stm32f4, stm32f7 even). Overall cost would drop significantly I would guess. SMD components generally are far cheaper than THT stuff is these days. Also would not need as many arduinos or USB connectivity, even WiFi would be an option I guess or if you don't like that use a 1-wire or 2-wire protocol that connects everything to a single central controller. How marketable (for lack of a better word) it would be is harder to judge.
@@yuxuanhuang3523 i think he wants a challenge. Plus, most of the a10 are legacy tech, so PCBs are usually old school and handmade. Th0
@@xConundrumx Actually I followed a 373 sim maker in China and they used ethernet. They say USB hubs 1. has limited ports because they limit the layers, 2. are sometimes unstable when plugged with multiple devices.
Ethernet for switch panels doesn't have to be high speed, but having the ability to connect every panel POE is really cool. Just being able to use something like one 50-port switch, even without POE, would make wiring way easier
@@yuxuanhuang3523 The problem with POE is the limited power plan. But I agree in the end ethernet is probably a better way to go if you get up to that point. Here I would recommend looking into a Polish company PoLabs. They have a number of motion controllers (for stepper/servo/etc motors) for sims that also employ actual motion feedback. But more importantly they have a couple of ethernet based systems, one of which (the pokeys57cnc) I use for instance on my cnc's. What is great about them is that they have their own expansion system that allows you to couple additional input and output boards to the main controller and to make things even better they have the PoBlocks software which is a GUI based 'macro' language that you can use to design complex behaviours with in a graphical manner. Simple example would be you press a momentary pushbutton connected to one of the input boards and the controller automatically toggles an output on or off with each press (a status led maybe). All handled at the controller level with no need for the PC to do anything.
Somewhat related TH-cam video y'all might appreciate: th-cam.com/video/Nd8rPN_9v-k/w-d-xo.html
Different skills, same attention to detail...
Excellent. I looked through your downloads from the site and didn't see a wiring layout / schematic for the leds on the panel. The solder on the pcb is pretty shiny and hard to make out whats what. Thanks
Folks without a laser cutter would likely do best to cad out their PCB and have someone like JLC or PCBWay do it for them.
Is this a project that will EVER be complete? 😆
Needless to say, you do a great project, and do a perfect job on documenting and filming. Just one thing: why don't you start to design your PCB, using KiCAD or some other free electronic design tool. Your mechanical design, especially the surface finishing looks so professional, what it's kind of inadequate to solder the electronics on prototyping boards.
How's the curvature ratio on the screen worked for you? Does it feel natural? Do you need to move the pit back/forward help "tune" the theater?
Did you consider a pcb with surface mounted LEDs? A company such as PCBWay would make one for you.
I was thinking how is he going through the copper, but yeah you can't as copper is an excellent reflector for 10.6uM Co2 lasers. Nifty idea though.
Yep, cuts through one side of the board where there isn't any, then I just bend it to break the thin copper it can't get through.
I know it's been a while since you posted this. What vinyl wrap do you use? It's such a genius use of material I want to use it!
On the off chance that you see this can you link us what switches you use, wiring, heatshrink etc. essentially what you specifically you use to wire say a switch to a usb encoder or arduino? Trying to figure out the names specs of everything and what it would take to wire a switch up safely, from wire, to heatshrink, pins and blocks.
Did you make your checklist yourself or is it available online somewhere please?
I think this is a better design than the actual cap lol, does it get hot af though?
Fantastic work ! I would like to know how to get the Connection between arduino and dcs Software. Ist there any guide?
its through a piece of software called 'dcs-bios'
How do you set Idle in the Hornet without using the keybind?
Is this possible to make a HUD, not a projection on screen?
Would printing the spacer block in white pla or even painting the inside silver increase the brightness of the output allowing lower current to the leds? Nice build Cheers
I've found aluminium adhesive tape works well too. It's called "speed tape" at work because it's used on the outside of aircraft for temporary patches.
I tried printing it in white, but the light bleeds through it into the other indicators. I also tested it with some mirror vinyl sheet on the inside, but the result was no difference.
@@thewarthogproject I put some on the PCB as well. 😁
My comment is over a year late, but if you ever redo any indicators again, you can and should use adressable leds (like neopixel) they are very expensive compared to other leds, but you can controll as many as you like from only one pin.
Is it for us to build one of the sim cockpit following your website and videos? I'm 16 years old and want to build a similar or if not the same build as yours when I have the opportunity but I'm worried I don't have the right knowledge to do so.
maybe a Bluepill with Freejoy-Firmware is easier to configure
First to BRRRT!!!
Maybe stupid question, but isnt arduino current limited to something about 200mA? So that would mean connecting about 10 LEDs at max without damaging it, but in here there is way more LEDs connected?
What power is the laser bud? I was never able to manage to cut PCBs on my 60W.
You need the right wavelength. Infrared from something like a CO2 laser 100% will not work. You need UV.
@@tissuepaper9962 I've got a CO2 matey, just doesn't seem to have enough power to get through the copper tracks
Your set up just wows everytime. Love it. But here's what gets me confused.....how do you get your simpit to pitch and roll together with the screen images like you're flying in a real Warthog? Blows my mind.
@@ThyerHazard Oh wow! I could've sworn it was. Looks so much like so. Thanks for clearing that up.
He might As Well buy an actual warthog cockpit at this point.
Just curious, what lazer engraver is this?
You could possibly have used the laser to make a pilot hole for the drilling.
Yeah true, I just like the cross because my drill press has a laser projected cross on it.
Quick question for you regarding the K40. Being a dumbass I bought a diode laser thinking it would cut acrylic. It wouldn't even cut plastic syran wrap, lol. Got a K40 now. I'm using Lightburn but it a little wonky in which device controls the power output, the dial on the laser or Lightburn. I've heard of K40Whisperer (which I haven't dabbled with) and I noticed you're using LaserCad. How does this program work regarding the laser output? Do you control on the laser control panel or within LaserCad? Also do you mind sharing your cut settings (power and speed) for cutting and engraving on the acrylic with the K40? Thanks
I recall reading suggested setting for the K40 on his website. If you look there you’ll hopefully find your answer. It’s under the Laser engraving section I believe. Good luck.
Very nice cockpit simulator. My only constructive criticism would be that you should have to turn your neck further to see the wings and engines. Other than that that thing is great 👍🏾
Hello! help please !!!!! I connect and program the Arduino, I do everything according to the instructions, everything works fine, but when I open the DCS the game just does not connect to the board, I realized this because when I turn on the toggle switch in real life it does not turn on in the game, I tried many combinations but still did not help ((((( please tell me someone! thank you!
What is your day job again?
Bob's your uncle
I think you could've gotten away with MUCH less wiring if you used an individually addressable LED strip. Is there a reason you chose not to do this?
Not trying to be cynical :D
I've experimented with it. Couldn't get the code for it to work with DCS-BIOS. Seems nobody has yet.
Me flying my a10 with an Xbox controller
I want to do this so bad, but I'm so freaking lost I don't even have a HOTAS yet 😭 being 46y with a back injury doesn't help matters either! Why does the universe have to have such a twisted sense of humor at my expense!
You don't need a HOTAS. This cockpit wasn't built in a day: it's very modular. You can build build a panel, start using it, and add another one. There's no set order.
@@nielsdegroot9138 thank you Sir for putting this into correct perspective! It's just overwhelming to see such an awesome setup & not know where to start... But you are absolutely correct, no one ever said it all has to be done at once, piece by piece like any other project. Appreciate your taking the time to talk sense into my impatient ass! 😇
*promo sm* 😇
lol first? we do that here?
Yeah, no one can see you at 5,000 feet in that truck. They are waiting like clay pigeons, for you to break them. And when you woke up...