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Roll yer own HID console?


stranger

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I've been playing/experimenting with 21st century versions of what used to run dishwashers in the 80's. It got cheaper and easier and insanely more capable.

 

 

 

There's a ton of support, free IDE and libraries to do things like USB-HID (to the PC be a stick/mouse/keybd/combo) with 13 12-bit analog pins (axes, mouse) and loads of button support on a $12 ARM-M0 chip board. There's working examples to modify and a helpful community to anyone who makes an effort.

 

 

 

If you have a stick worth rewiring (Thrustmaster?) or want to build a control panel, reading inputs and sending changes along to the PC through HID is not coding the Mars lander hard by any stretch, the HID library makes it basic and there's support and materials on the maker's site pjrc.com.

 

 

 

There are good solid stick movements sold for arcade machines and industrial controls and some may remember the IL2 forum threads featuring cut and weld floor-mount full size sticks made from Volvo U-joints, those guys got super-smooth control & performance. They used magnets on the joint axes and linear Hall sensors held just over with Bodnar boards to get sensors, buttons, no-wear touch-buttons, etc to HID.

 

 

 

I have wired piezo audio pickups up as buttons that sense how hard they were tapped and quick they were released, not shitting. A very soft touch took about a microsecond to determine, a typing tap took a few mics and a hard smack with a screwdriver handle took about 3000 while a harder smack broke the 10 cent (when I bought 100) 10mm disk. I wanted to see what they will take beyond expected. They can tell a tap from a touch even through cover material. The button can have trigger pressure.

 

 

 

Futurlec sells affordable sliders. The "stereo" (audio quality) bare sliders are 30mm and IIRC pretty cheap. The handle is extra. Trimmers!

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I don't have a shop Geezer. I've breadboarded projects including the piezo force sense learning what I can do well.

 

 

 

I was a programmer/developer with some hardware skills before 2000 when things got bad for me. End of summer 2011 a friend sent me a link to a thing called Arduino that could be programmed and I got one. I had lost a lot of code skills I picked up in the 90's but not before and I used those with Arduino. I wrote state machines in late 80, early 81, getting up to speed on Arduino was not hard at all. I can get you links to the Pachinko Machine restorer whose software I straightened out but the guy in Budapest did not post pics of his automated, calls his cellphone and posts data to his website greenhouse, but that took months of back and forth as I don't have a good day so often.

 

 

 

On that forum I try and find beginners who are ready and see if I can save them 2 or more years of time getting past the top-down mindset. I do have examples that can be merged to teach how to "do many things at once" and get into event driven code and headed towards using objects and pointers.

 

 

 

HID stick software is in the shallow end of the pool, more than 10x easier than less than 20 years ago thanks to advances still going on. It's there for the ones who want and are maybe tired of what's on shelves or want a clear edge over that or maybe just want to add a thing with a few sliders for trim or engines.

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well stranger, you have gone this far...you better post some pictures.

 

Well actually if I get around more there is the HackPGH maker club downtown but night meetings mean night walks home from the bus stop, which is usually safer in the past few years. They have shop space and tools for members and sub-groups by hobby.

 

 

 

With a controller that reads the stick it'd be possible to add a button that would start trimming pitch to relieve fwd or back stick. IMO the most use for it is when you're all but trimmed already. Hit the button, let the stick center, it won't be instant. Do that when the stick is pulled way back and auto-pitchtrim might take a while to finish that, it could be a mistake by then.

 

 

 

Try the www.arduino.cc site or type arduino in youtube search.

 

 

 

Since I got into this hobby my health got better. It's because I do things and write a good bit of tested working code every year.

 

 

 

Leo Bodnar has a 12-bit joystick board with connectors for $25.

 

http://www.leobodnar.com/shop/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=94&zenid=3481fbc62ec766c67a3a8c9442a850c4

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