Interface Hardware/Softwares

[samer747]

Gentlemen,

One of the most difficult subjects of simulation is interfacing flight hardware to software which what I put myself into .  I lack of experience when it comes to interfacing and I really need some help directing me on the right path. The plan is building a full cockpit using mostly flight hardware which I began to collect since last year and eventually interface all hardware to work with PSX.

There are lots of interface cards and lots of different software/plug-ins that I've been reading about to interface the hardware including ARINC 429 panels, I like to start interfacing at least the basic switches by myself for now but I need some help from the professionals to direct me to which cards and software I should start with, minimum coding. I read lots of posts on the forum, some have done a great work interfacing to PSX which brings some hope to my project.

I'm grateful to any support and help as any information might save me hours and hours of work and research.

Thanks to all,
Sam

[Jeroen Hoppenbrouwers]

There's a bunch that developed interface hardware pretty much directly for PSX and real aircraft hardware. They diversified a bit but it's a good start:

https://simulatorsolutions.com.au/simstack/

Caveat: I am not a customer of them because I don't have a sim at home, but they are friends. Sorry for that  :-P

"Limited amounts of coding" is going to stop you pretty soon, unfortunately. There is no such thing as plug and play when you want to interface real aircraft hardware. However it also is not rocket science, it's just aircraft science, which is not that difficult. Getting to learn to fix things up is definitely a challenge but well worth it.

One of the things you can already do today is to teach yourself how to talk to PSX at the network level. This is independent of any programming language or platform; PSX was designed from the beginning to be easy to interface to, and it absolutely shows. I'm building a web page to explain things using Python. Any other language will do. There's plenty of support on this Forum.

http://www.hoppie.nl/psxpython/


Hoppie

[the mad hatter]

where are you located ?

[samer747]

Thanks Hoppie, I did speak with Rodney from simulator solutions but I still need some basic information knowledge about the different types of inputs/outputs ....etc, as far as the actual aircraft systems I'm very familiar with it,  this is what I do everyday, I'm an avionic, but when it comes to interfacing the hardware this is totally different game. If there is any tutorials, videos or reading materials you guys think might help me understand basics would be great.

I'm located in the bay area California.     

[Jeroen Hoppenbrouwers]

...this is what I do everyday, I'm an avionic, but when it comes to interfacing the hardware this is totally different game...

Ha funny, for me it is the opposite of course, I look at the aircraft from inside the avionics boxes and envy PSX for its simplicity in interfacing  :-P

You need to pick up two areas of knowledge:

1. PSX and how to "think" like it from an interface perspective. See the Networking part of this Forum.
2. Basic electronics in between real aircraft avionics and PSX.

The second area you probably know a lot about already. It depends a lot on what mechanism (interface board brand) you select but principles remain universal. Try to separate concept from implementation and it usually clears out pretty quickly.

PSX networking is easiest to grasp by playing with it. There is no replacement for hands-on work here.

Something stupid like connecting a simple (Radio Shack) toggle switch to the FMC left/right selector is a perfect starting point. Don't try to go for the big boxes. Start with switches and lamps. That is 90% anyway.

Once you get this under your belt, the rest is merely an extension.


Hoppie

[the mad hatter]

deleted content

[samer747]

I agree and this what I want to do for now which is basic switches and some lights, do you recommend a specific board? there are multiple brands such Arduino, FDS, IOCards.....etc, same thing for software there are lots of different ones which I'm not sure about SIOC, Mobiflight, PSXseecon and lots more in the addon section. I would like to use component from what you guys are familiar with, it will help if I have a question.

[the mad hatter]

heres my two cents    prior to wiring switches etc  ..get "up.down left right faster slower and stop"  sorted with whatever out the window view  you want  ..always keep those items working   thats is task enough 😁 the switching can be added later ...

[Jeroen Hoppenbrouwers]

It's also important to truly decide to build the sim twice. You will build it twice even if you do not want to, so getting this firmly planted between your ears is the sane thing to do.

So, for your first sim, it may be best to go for a cheaper solution that does not scale well. You can prototype various things to get a feel for it. Use an Arduino for this, another board for that... see what works best. And see how you would approach the large-scale second sim construction including racks of boards, wiring, etc. just like a real aircraft, because that is what you end up with... the equipment bay and associated backplane (Wire Wall) of a 744...


Hoppie

[the mad hatter]

again  here is 5 cents this time   build a simulator not the aircraft   there is a huge difference ....  just getting the up dwn etc etc   working is challenge enough   think about the items required to achieve just that with whatever instruments are important to you , I suggest since you are in the States  budget a trip to TX  its going to save you a whole lot of grief in the future...

There is easy way and the hard way   both require will require 1.do overs 2. time 3 money   lots of item 3  did I say lots of item 3?

 

[RogerH]

The Mad Hatter has a good point.

I'm currently building a cockpit - but to keep me sane I have a simpler setup which uses some of the ideas and methods which will be employed once i have the shell completed.

i use SIOC+Psxeecon for a lot of the inputs Also joysticks and joystick cards, Arduino for 7 segment displays etc. I have a wide selection of different interface methods.

The 'sanity sim' as I call it, is not a flight deck, but still has the aim of reducing mouse and keyboard use (although as someone pointed out to me recently - ironically mice and keyboards are now appearing in RW cockpits!).

This has helped me understand and implement some of the technologies while not having to wait till my limited construction skills and time get around to making a shell fit to be populated with gizmo's!

Get things working first and you'll be able to enjoy the simulation-marvel that is PSX, and work on the cockpit in the background.

Best of luck!

Roger.

[the mad hatter]

That was worth a full dollar of advice   excatly  the up dwn  etc first  and keep those working always in  short  always keep your sim flyable   which was the first objective   right  otherwise you get caught up in non flyable eye candy

[Jeroen Hoppenbrouwers]

Related advice from an ex-model-railroad-builder. Keep the thing running. At all times, allow at least one circuit to be hands-off runnable so you feel something "works." No worse feeling than "when I start modification X, it takes seven weeks without being able to run it, so I need to wait until I have seven weeks off." Because this means you won't start it.

Same by the way for software. Once you break it open, you have that nagging feeling you are under water. Only when a compile delivers a working thing again, even if it isn't complete, you can breath freely.

At work I even suffer from "open commits" on the repository. As long as I have uncommitted stuff on my local system I won't sleep. Seriously.


Hoppie

[samer747]

What works for me for now is to prioritize interfacing, flight controls and throttle quadrant first which I will definitely get help with it, then the push  buttons for the main systems that I use often when I fly which I will try my best to program myself, then everything else. I'm aware that this is a long term project and very time consuming but at the end it should be rewarding.

[Jeroen Hoppenbrouwers]

Ha. No. It should be rewarding from the start.   :-P

Building the thing is the goal. Not flying it. Once you have completed it, you want to build the next one.

[RogerH]

Ha. No. It should be rewarding from the start.   :-P

Building the thing is the goal. Not flying it. Once you have completed it, you want to build the next one.

heh! Hoppie's right. I have built a Grob 109, Cessna 172, Baron 58, Boeing 738, Boeing 744 in progress....