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Building a Cockpit Setup for Simulator Games?

Posted by Cliff on from the flashing-lights-and-switches-everywhere dept.

Milo_Mindbender asks: "For awhile I've been looking at building a cockpit-like setup for playing simulation games. One problem is finding a way to hook up a large number (up to 100) of lighted push-buttons in the thing and interface them to a computer that would poll the switches and control the (Tri-color LED) lights. Since the buttons/LEDs won't be clustered together, it would be nice if each button (or group of 4-5 buttons) could be on some kind of multi-drop network so the thing wouldn't turn into a wiring nightmare. The trick is that you don't want to miss button presses and you want to let people hold down multiple buttons without the setup getting confused. The big problem though, is cost. Anybody got an idea of how this could be done, preferablly with off-the-shelf parts, for under $5-$10 per button including the button?" Combine this idea with the earlier article we did on LCD-screens-for-cockpits, and you might have a kick-ass setup! Networked mech sims, anyone?

3 of 33 comments (clear)

  1. This has a lot of wires, but... by dasunt · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Take apart a standard AT or PS/2 keyboard. Now, inside of most of them are a few layers of plastic with electronic traces, and a small bit of circuit board with one big chip (the encoder). How a keyboard works is that the keys are arranged in a grid of wires, and when you press down on a key, you connect two wires in a grid. With a little bit of work recording the electronic traces, you can figure out what keys connect what pins on the encoder. Congradulations, you now have a 101 button method of input.

    Now, if you want to be lazy, then here's this link: Happs Controls, which has less inputs, and only works on win9x/NT/Mac, but saves you from wiring. Even if you go with the homebuilt solution, Happs sells a variety of buttons, and gives a price discount for large quantities. (I believe the price drops happen at 10 and 100 unit quantities.)

    (Happs, btw, is a supplier of arcade game parts.)

  2. Multiple monitor support in flight sims by sphealey · · Score: 3, Interesting
    Are there any home flight sims that support multiple monitors in W2K or WXP? I like flying CSF2, but it always seems to me that if I could get some basic peripheral vision from 2 additional monitors showing left and right views (or to go nuts, a total of 5 monitors: forward, left, right, up, and back) that it would be a LOT more realistic.

    I would think a dual processor Xeon system with 2 GB RAM and 3 video cards should have enough horsepower (sic) to handle this type of setup, but is there any software that can do it?

    sPh

  3. EPIC board by lungofish · · Score: 2, Interesting

    You need an EPIC board from R & R electronics:

    http://www.mindspring.com/~rrelect/epic/info/tea se r.shtml

    At least, that's what all the hardcore cockpit builder guys I know use. One just bought a cockpit from a little fighter (it's an F-5 or one of it's variants that wound up in a scrap heap) and is in the process of rewiring the whole thing to run off an epic board.