Nice job!
I assume you use 1 color 3D print and then paint the characters? Is that the reason why they stick out about 1 mm from the panel?
Anyway, this doesn’t work for me as my “game” is to have an as realistic panel as possible. I know, this is not a functional requirement, but I just like this challenge 
No I used a Cura post processing script to do a filament change at 3mm.
Then switched to white and printed the characters. It was exciting when it worked!
It’s better than painting which can be inconsistent and doesn’t cover the text sides.
The filament change is fiddly, but with prototypes you get used to it.
When I do the ECAM panel I’ll try the public laser which the local library is getting this month, we can use it @£15/hour with help at hand.
They do have a light gray. Maybe they will send you a sample to check for proper color. You might get lucky. One of the great advantages of doing it this way is the crisp lettering. I was never happy with the results using the CNC for small (2.5mm) lettering.
BTW. That’s some beautiful work you do.
Just wondering what laser power you need. If I looked at the documentation, I guess you need CO2 laser of at least about 20W. I’m only having a 1.6W laser on my Snapmaker 2.0.
And you are right that engraving doesn’t work well. I tried this in the beginning, but quickly changed to laser engraving. I’m spraypainting my panels, and then laser engrave them. Crisp results!
Nope. The faceplate and buttons in the pic are made with my Snapmaker. Those were done with the 1.6w laser. The ones on my collective were done with the lower power laser that came with the original Snapmaker. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/7oApXPoTs8Y 11:13 shows the faceplate.
Can you tell me the display model?
Hello @EthanMiller9315 ,
You mean for the MCDU? I already answered this in this thread. See here. I even checked the link on AliExpress, and it still works.
Hi Hans, Thank you for all contributions to the Cockpit Builders. I started to build a MCDU 4 years but stopped as FS2020 had so many deficiencies. I have a good PCB for it & the display unit on order. I read your CockpitHardwareHub User Guide & also have your example program running in an Arduino. Your code example was very helpful & I noted you used 2 EFIS buttons however I do not understand what Key codes for the MCDU buttons you used. Did you ever publish that? Can I just use the Key Face info as you did for the EFIS box?
Hello @Piney1930 ,
The MCDU buttons are controlled by “H-command”. There is no native support for H-commands in my tool, but you can easily use the execute_calculator_code method, which are the so called “X-commands” in my tool. Below I show the list of commands for the left MCDU. If I remember well, FBW doesn’t support the right MCDU (or that should have changed recently).
In the below, I just copied the code extract from my MPLAB X IDE environment, which is the one I use to program my PIC microcontroller. The commands are wrapped in a function call to USBSend, but that is of course irrelevant for you. You just need the part between ““.
/* 001 */ USBSend("VOID_X:(>H:A320_Neo_CDU_1_BTN_AIRPORT)", NULL);
/* 002 */ USBSend("VOID_X:(>H:A320_Neo_CDU_1_BTN_PREVPAGE)", NULL);
/* 003 */ USBSend("VOID_X:(>H:A320_Neo_CDU_1_BTN_1)", NULL);
/* 004 */ USBSend("VOID_X:(>H:A320_Neo_CDU_1_BTN_4)", NULL);
/* 005 */ USBSend("VOID_X:(>H:A320_Neo_CDU_1_BTN_7)", NULL);
/* 006 */ USBSend("VOID_X:(>H:A320_Neo_CDU_1_BTN_DOT)", NULL);
/* 007 */ USBSend("VOID_X:(>H:A320_Neo_CDU_1_BTN_DIR)", NULL);
/* 008 */ USBSend("VOID_X:(>H:A320_Neo_CDU_1_BTN_FPLN)", NULL);
/* 009 */ USBSend("VOID_X:(>H:A320_Neo_CDU_1_BTN_NEXTPAGE)", NULL);
/* 010 */ USBSend("VOID_X:(>H:A320_Neo_CDU_1_BTN_2)", NULL);
/* 011 */ USBSend("VOID_X:(>H:A320_Neo_CDU_1_BTN_5)", NULL);
/* 012 */ USBSend("VOID_X:(>H:A320_Neo_CDU_1_BTN_8)", NULL);
/* 013 */ USBSend("VOID_X:(>H:A320_Neo_CDU_1_BTN_0)", NULL);
/* 014 */ USBSend("VOID_X:(>H:A320_Neo_CDU_1_BTN_L1)", NULL);
/* 015 */ USBSend("VOID_X:(>H:A320_Neo_CDU_1_BTN_R1)", NULL);
/* 016 */ USBSend("VOID_X:(>H:A320_Neo_CDU_1_BTN_PROG)", NULL);
/* 017 */ USBSend("VOID_X:(>H:A320_Neo_CDU_1_BTN_RAD)", NULL);
/* 018 */ USBSend("VOID_X:(>H:A320_Neo_CDU_1_BTN_UP)", NULL);
/* 019 */ USBSend("VOID_X:(>H:A320_Neo_CDU_1_BTN_DOWN)", NULL);
/* 020 */ USBSend("VOID_X:(>H:A320_Neo_CDU_1_BTN_3)", NULL);
/* 021 */ USBSend("VOID_X:(>H:A320_Neo_CDU_1_BTN_6)", NULL);
/* 022 */ USBSend("VOID_X:(>H:A320_Neo_CDU_1_BTN_9)", NULL);
/* 023 */ USBSend("VOID_X:(>H:A320_Neo_CDU_1_BTN_PLUSMINUS)", NULL);
/* 024 */ USBSend("VOID_X:(>H:A320_Neo_CDU_1_BTN_L2)", NULL);
/* 025 */ USBSend("VOID_X:(>H:A320_Neo_CDU_1_BTN_R2)", NULL);
/* 026 */ USBSend("VOID_X:(>H:A320_Neo_CDU_1_BTN_PERF)", NULL);
/* 027 */ USBSend("VOID_X:(>H:A320_Neo_CDU_1_BTN_FUEL)", NULL);
/* 028 */ USBSend("VOID_X:(>H:A320_Neo_CDU_1_BTN_A)", NULL);
/* 029 */ USBSend("VOID_X:(>H:A320_Neo_CDU_1_BTN_F)", NULL);
/* 030 */ USBSend("VOID_X:(>H:A320_Neo_CDU_1_BTN_K)", NULL);
/* 031 */ USBSend("VOID_X:(>H:A320_Neo_CDU_1_BTN_P)", NULL);
/* 032 */ USBSend("VOID_X:(>H:A320_Neo_CDU_1_BTN_U)", NULL);
/* 033 */ USBSend("VOID_X:(>H:A320_Neo_CDU_1_BTN_Z)", NULL);
/* 034 */ USBSend("VOID_X:(>H:A320_Neo_CDU_1_BTN_L3)", NULL);
/* 035 */ USBSend("VOID_X:(>H:A320_Neo_CDU_1_BTN_R3)", NULL);
/* 036 */ USBSend("VOID_X:(>H:A320_Neo_CDU_1_BTN_INIT)", NULL);
/* 037 */ USBSend("VOID_X:(>H:A320_Neo_CDU_1_BTN_SEC)", NULL);
/* 038 */ USBSend("VOID_X:(>H:A320_Neo_CDU_1_BTN_B)", NULL);
/* 039 */ USBSend("VOID_X:(>H:A320_Neo_CDU_1_BTN_G)", NULL);
/* 040 */ USBSend("VOID_X:(>H:A320_Neo_CDU_1_BTN_L)", NULL);
/* 041 */ USBSend("VOID_X:(>H:A320_Neo_CDU_1_BTN_Q)", NULL);
/* 042 */ USBSend("VOID_X:(>H:A320_Neo_CDU_1_BTN_V)", NULL);
/* 043 */ USBSend("VOID_X:(>H:A320_Neo_CDU_1_BTN_DIV)", NULL);
/* 044 */ USBSend("VOID_X:(>H:A320_Neo_CDU_1_BTN_L4)", NULL);
/* 045 */ USBSend("VOID_X:(>H:A320_Neo_CDU_1_BTN_R4)", NULL);
/* 046 */ USBSend("VOID_X:(>H:A320_Neo_CDU_1_BTN_DATA)", NULL);
/* 047 */ USBSend("VOID_X:(>H:A320_Neo_CDU_1_BTN_ATC)", NULL);
/* 048 */ USBSend("VOID_X:(>H:A320_Neo_CDU_1_BTN_C)", NULL);
/* 049 */ USBSend("VOID_X:(>H:A320_Neo_CDU_1_BTN_H)", NULL);
/* 050 */ USBSend("VOID_X:(>H:A320_Neo_CDU_1_BTN_M)", NULL);
/* 051 */ USBSend("VOID_X:(>H:A320_Neo_CDU_1_BTN_R)", NULL);
/* 052 */ USBSend("VOID_X:(>H:A320_Neo_CDU_1_BTN_W)", NULL);
/* 053 */ USBSend("VOID_X:(>H:A320_Neo_CDU_1_BTN_SP)", NULL);
/* 054 */ USBSend("VOID_X:(>H:A320_Neo_CDU_1_BTN_L5)", NULL);
/* 055 */ USBSend("VOID_X:(>H:A320_Neo_CDU_1_BTN_R5)", NULL);
/* 056 */ USBSend("VOID_X:(>H:A320_Neo_CDU_1_BTN_MENU)", NULL);
/* 057 */ USBSend("VOID_X:(>H:A320_Neo_CDU_1_BTN_D)", NULL);
/* 058 */ USBSend("VOID_X:(>H:A320_Neo_CDU_1_BTN_I)", NULL);
/* 059 */ USBSend("VOID_X:(>H:A320_Neo_CDU_1_BTN_N)", NULL);
/* 060 */ USBSend("VOID_X:(>H:A320_Neo_CDU_1_BTN_S)", NULL);
/* 061 */ USBSend("VOID_X:(>H:A320_Neo_CDU_1_BTN_X)", NULL);
/* 062 */ USBSend("VOID_X:(>H:A320_Neo_CDU_1_BTN_OVFY)", NULL);
/* 063 */ USBSend("VOID_X:(>H:A320_Neo_CDU_1_BTN_L6)", NULL);
/* 064 */ USBSend("VOID_X:(>H:A320_Neo_CDU_1_BTN_R6)", NULL);
/* 065 */ USBSend("VOID_X:(>H:A320_Neo_CDU_1_BTN_E)", NULL);
/* 066 */ USBSend("VOID_X:(>H:A320_Neo_CDU_1_BTN_J)", NULL);
/* 067 */ USBSend("VOID_X:(>H:A320_Neo_CDU_1_BTN_O)", NULL);
/* 068 */ USBSend("VOID_X:(>H:A320_Neo_CDU_1_BTN_T)", NULL);
/* 069 */ USBSend("VOID_X:(>H:A320_Neo_CDU_1_BTN_Y)", NULL);
/* 070 */ USBSend("VOID_X:(>H:A320_Neo_CDU_1_BTN_CLR)", NULL);
I hope this helps!