Which are the best interfaces to build a DIY home cockpit ? I mean, not those made by professional builders or companies, but the hard DIY cockpits made with MDF, wood, single switches wired one by one, glued plexiglass annunciators, servo and stepper motor gauges, etc.
What is working at this point for MSFS 2020 ?
Here is my set-up:
Opencockpits MCP, EFIS, radio panels (only NAV) and USB servo configured with SIOC and FSUIPC 7
Pokeys board (56E and 56U) used as a joystick or configured with FSSymphony and SIOC.
Arduino Mega board with Lua code (not yet working for me)
CRGsim avionics gauges and Eicas
Saitek yoke
Self made throttle quadrant based on Pokeys usb board configured as a Joystick
It would be intersting to know which other hardware is used (es. Leo Bodnar boards) not only for inputs but also for outputs (annunciators, servos, etc), pros and cons.
For Hardware-Inputs (Switches, etc.) => Check out the Software Mobiflight with Arduino-Boards.
For Display Ouput (show Gauges, etc. on a specific Display) => Check aut AirManager (paid)
Hi, I join this thread because I’m quite interested in the topic. I don’t have experience in interfacing with FS2020 and I was exactly wondering where the different protocols and links are defined.
I was thinking to start to make some instrument panel but I’m missing the interface part…
Thanks for your contributions!
In my opinion the SIOC system is extremely poweful and versatile and works very well with FSUIPC that for me is a must for many reasons.
The only limitation is that SIOC requires other softwares in order to control other devices (like Pokeys or Arduino, in my case I restored FSSymphony 2 that works with the Pokeys, because at the moment I can’t get Luacom to work with FSUIPC 7).
Lua could be another powerful tool, I think also for Arduino.
I must do some testing with Mobiflight.
SPAD works mostly for Saitek panels, or can handle also other boards ?
This is a pic of my cockpit. I built it trying to fit everything inside a wardrobe, for 2 reasons:
I can close everything inside and maintain my room almost clean and “normal”
I have a more “cabin” effect when I switch off the lights and the doors act as the cabin walls
there are many limitations though, the most important is that I am limited to a 32" 21/9 screen…
but the effect is reasonably good considering the other aspects.
The website looks half abandoned… but as for many other systems, I can’t find the definition of the communication protocol. That is what you need if you want to build something by yourself…
Wow. Spectacular.
But have you used all commercial panels or have you been building them by yourself? In which case, how did you know how to make them talk with the computer?
Try MobiFlight (https://www.mobiflight.com) together with FSUIPC. A lot of sim values and events are already supported (limitation comes from current FSUIPC)
Do I understand correctly that MobiFlight requires Arduino? I don’t want to use some generic board, I design my own hardware… but from the tutorials it looks like it loads automatically the code on the Arduino board, or have I got it wrong?
Well, the idea is that Arduino boards are really cheap and widely accessible. So you can configure the I/Os to your needs. If you need a LED on Pin 3 you configure it and then later you can assign a variable from the flight sim and you output its value to the LED (0 LED off, anything else LED on). This works with stepper, LCD Displays, servos, 7 segment displays.
Also inputs are available, switches, buttons and encoder. And you can write to flight sim variables.
Well, yes, but as electronic engineer I build my hardware besides, I use Microchip, I used Atmel long time ago but I really didn’t like them. I have all the development tools for PIC/dsPIC, plus a few drawers full of samples that I would like to use.
If I want to build a flight panel I can design the PCB to fit all controls, displays, etc., connect everything together. From what I was reading on the forum of MobiFlight at the end it’s just a serial communication over USB, it’s not a “real” USB driver, let’s say. Is the protocol not available by choice or it’s just me that I can’t find it?
well maybe you could do it all by yourself from scratch. Most users however don´t, so for them it is easy. You can also still design the PCBs for the avionics and have them interface with the Arduino. But I guess you really want to design that part too.
Thanks. As I wrote the plug-in modules are the MCP, EFIS and NAV radio (from Opencockpits), and these are interfaced using SIOC code available on the net, that requires FSUIPC running.
All the rest is hand made using MDF and some panels from Hispapanels (I do not have a laser engraver so I need panels with translucend signs for backlighting). These parts are currently powered with 2 Pokeys boards and interfaced with FSSymphony and sioc code through FSUIPC offsets.
The overhead panel is from FlightSimPM (only the panels and annunciators) the hardware (switches, leds, rotary switches, wiring, interfacing, etc) is assembled from Amazon parts and some from Opencockpits (737 style).
Backlighting is made with LED stripes. The power is supplied by an ATX ps for 3,3 - 5 and 12 V plus separate power supply for stepper and servos.
The monitor is connected to my desktop PC through an HDMI switch (Aukey) - simply pressing a button I transfer the video from my desktop to the 32" monitor of the simulator. All the rest is connected via a Gigabit switch and powered USB switch.
The audio uses the HDMI cable to reach the cockpit so it is switched automatically from the desktop - this allow me to have a comfortable table to program and test, and quickly transfer to the cockpit to fly.
Here is my overhead top with pokeys and led driver.
Its not, it may be an old site but the guy delivers a top notch product. You simply get a button or toggle, wire it to the controller card and plug it in via USB. You can do 30 buttons on one card. 2 cards for 30 bucks you can design an entire panel
Designing from scratch seems to be like re-creating the wheel. I mean I can understand the desire to build from the ground up, but it thinking of the build phases you’d never get a sim going! Design/build and program circuit board just to work a few buttons, the time then to build the panels, physical cockpit, then putting it all together. Building the cockpit alone is a huge amount of work.
I don’t see why, honestly. Arduino is just a demo board for people who don’t know how to do electronics, the microcontroller part of the circuit takes literally ten minutes to design and route. Everythings else is the specific design for the application, and that’s not reinvented, that is simply… designed. I understand that people don’t know how to design or build electronics and go for that, same for me for PC software, I wouldn’t know where to start.
The application for an instrument panel itself is very easy: read inputs, send outputs. The difference is, if I do the hardware, I can do what I want, and in a lot easier and cleaner way than using a general purpose board. I can add stepper motors for gauges, read encoders as I like for the controls, I can use one single connection for all panels, etc.
The issue for me is that, while I’m fairly decent with microcontroller programming, I’m complete useless with computer programming, so I need to rely on external software, and for that, I need a minimum of documentation on the communication protocol.
I was thinking that it would have been relatively easy to find -at the end, who sells the software doesn’t sell the hardware in this case, so if the interface is open you increase the amount of people who can use it. I have been building equipment for my telescope making it compatible with protocols of commercial equipment, for example, to be able to use the same drivers (again, I don’t know how to do them) and those are far from claiming to be “open”… But in this case it looks like it´s not that transparent.
I’m more of a hardware build guy, I’ll weld the frame of the cockpit, design and print/laser cut all the panels. You can program all the electronics. We’ll hire a button guy.
besides, I use Microchip, I used Atmel long time ago but I really didn’t like them. I have all the development tools for PIC/dsPIC, plus a few drawers full of samples that I would like to use.
