Pleasant Hardware

 When it comes to the cockpit build, four main things happened (roughly speaking): I finished several additional instruments for the dashboard Changed the core software architecture Brought the Stewart platform up from the basement and reworked it both mechanically and electrically Started building a full cockpit on top of the motion platform Even though this list is roughly in chronological order, I’ll start with point 2, since it ended up influencing point 1 as well (at least towards the end). Integration Hell (aka Cable Chaos)  Changing the core software architecture Even though it’s really convenient and quick to hook everything up using 3rd-party solutions like Air Manager or MobiFlight, things get messy fast once the project grows beyond a certain size. It’s not just that discrete wiring for stepper motors, encoders, buttons, and so on quickly turns into an impenetrable mess of cables. What really stood out to me is how a slightly more complex setup can turn into a maint...

Originally published 23. December 2024 I already finished the Attitude Indicator. I plan to do a more detailed writeup and a video on this one, so for now, only to images. From the front, it looks more or less like any other DIY Attitude Indicator. However, while it is almost never needed during normal flight, I have always disliked the fact that most DIY Attitude Indicators have a roll limit to avoid tangling the wires. One solution could be to use a slip ring for the cables of the pitch motor or servo. However, my idea was to over-engineer the entire thing by designing it with coaxial motor shafts, placing both motors for the two axes outside the moving cage. The truly challenging part was getting the software to work. Over the last two weeks, I’ve been designing and building an HSI from scratch. I couldn’t find any DIY versions of an HSI. Since a typical HSI requires (at least) five axes to operate (six in my case), I quickly decided to keep the mechanics as simple as possible and u...

 Originally published 16. November 2024 Apologies for not posting in six months—I didn’t expect summer to bring so many distractions! Here’s a quick summary of what happened during the hiatus: Switches Still in spring, I designed, printed, and installed all the switches for the main switch panel. The switches are based on the elegant design by Jay727 on Thingiverse . Using this design as a foundation, I created a “full-width” version of the switch and embossed the writing on both the front and top of the buttons. I printed the switches in white “ABS-like” resin: Next, I applied thinned black paint to the areas with writing, ensuring that the paint filled all the grooves of the letters. Once the paint dried, I sanded away the excess paint and any faint layer lines from the print. Using wet sandpaper was crucial to minimize the (likely unhealthy) microplastic dust. Here’s a short video showing the post-processing of one of the painted switches: Unfortunately, I didn’t have any red re...

Originally published 21. May 2024 After finishing the GNS 430 installation , I moved on to the analog instruments of the dashboard. A great source of inspiration, as well as Fusion 360 designs, is Captain Bob's YouTube channel , which features a variety of aviation-related projects. Inspired by his content, I decided to try his design for a Turn Coordinator. I used his design almost unchanged; however, I applied the same technique for the text and graphics on the instrument that I also used in the GNS 430 build: instead of using stickers, I embossed the text and lines directly onto the 3D-printed faceplate and then painted them white with a paint pen: Although Captain Bob's design was intended for FDM printers, I had no trouble adapting it for my resin printer. Additionally, since I don't own a laser cutter, the clear screen is not a laser-cut piece of acrylic glass as originally designed, but rather a simple overhead transparency sheet cut with my trusty eight-year-old Sil...

Originally published 1. May 2024 The first device I built was the GNS 430 GPS unit. Here's the finished thing: I wanted this to have with backlit buttons and real dual rotary encoders. After searching the web for a while it became clear, that I had to design this myself. The screen content comes directly from the flight sim. But since I'm currently running the sim on a Macbook Pro, and thus do not have an option to connect too many external displays, I use AirManager for grabbing the GPS' display content directly from XPlane and sending it via a network connection to a Raspberry Pi 4. This works surprisingly well, even over wifi. Unfortunately the Raspberry doesn't have enough GPIO pins to also drive all the buttons and encoders. I originally planned to build two GNS 430 units anyway (as there are two of them in the simulator) and it's no problem for the Raspberry Pi 4 with its 2 HDMI connectors (and the AirManager/AirPlayer combo) to provide the display content for...

Hi, After starting a build log for this project on hackaday.io a few years ago, I ran into issues with how the build logs are organized there. So I decided to move my build log for my DIY flight sim cockpit here. I’m hoping this move will make it easier to post updates more regularly and keep track of the project’s progress. I’ll be moving my existing posts over from the old build log and then share an update on where the project currently stands, along with the next steps. So, here’s what’s happened so far… The Beginning (January 2024) Piper Arrow III Sim Cockpit Originally, I set out to build a dashboard for a Piper Arrow III for use with flight simulators. The idea was to keep it modular so it could be set up and taken down easily on a desk, since I didn’t have space in my apartment for a full, stationary cockpit. The setup was meant to be centered around my CH Products yoke and rudder pedals, which I had already owned for years. Since then, the scope of the project has evolved quit...