3D printing costs (Modding project)

[Sonic2k]

Isn't an Arduino a bit much just to drive an LCD?

I was wondering the same thing. And that, with it being a hobbyist flavour microcontroller.

They make me laugh nowadays with Arduino this and Arduino that... nonetheless still a limited, and hobbyist-grade product, pretty much like the venerable 555 timer.

 

[ponder]

Sorry about that, I have read your post a few times and I still don't get it.

Cut a hole in your existing 3.5 cover large enough for the inside of the bezel to fit but small enough for the outside.

Alternatively cut a hole big enough to fit the lcd in your 3.5" cover and glue/bolt it to the back. Next get a piece of perspex or vinyl (2-4mm thick) and have it cut so it's the same size as your 3.5" cover and cut a center hole for the LCD so it overlaps the LCD sligthly. This will also give you a nice finish when you stick it over the 3.5" cover. Have it professionally laser cut and finished (polished) at a place as it's hard to get a neat finish at home. They can do this from a CAD drawing.

 

[Elite Override]

Cut a hole in your existing 3.5 cover large enough for the inside of the bezel to fit but small enough for the outside.

Alternatively cut a hole big enough to fit the lcd in your 3.5" cover and glue/bolt it to the back. Next get a piece of perspex or vinyl (2-4mm thick) and have it cut so it's the same size as your 3.5" cover and cut a center hole for the LCD so it overlaps the LCD sligthly. This will also give you a nice finish when you stick it over the 3.5" cover. Have it professionally laser cut and finished (polished) at a place as it's hard to get a neat finish at home. They can do this from a CAD drawing.

Thank you very much, I'll look for a laser cutting place in Bloem, though I doubt we have one. I guess I could try using a 3.5", that might even work better.

 

[ponder]

Thank you very much, I'll look for a laser cutting place in Bloem, though I doubt we have one.

You will have, just google for a laser cutting or a signage place, I found several in Bloem with a quick search.
Or contact http://www.perspex.co.za/ContactUs.aspx explaining what you want to do and ask them to point you in the right direction.

You don't have to use perspex as it might not match your pc plastics, a textured vinyl might be better.

 

[Elite Override]

You will have, just google for a laser cutting or a signage place, I found several in Bloem with a quick search.
Or contact http://www.perspex.co.za/ContactUs.aspx explaining what you want to do and ask them to point you in the right direction.

You don't have to use perspex as it might not match your pc plastics, a textured vinyl might be better.

Many thanks. It seems that Chillies might do laser cutting, but that might not even be neccessary.

I don't know why I never thought of the 3.5" bay (Feeling so daft right now)...It fits almost perfectly. It might be much simpler, just screwing it in place after drilling some holes. Gonna open the case and see what I can do there.

 

[eitai2001]

A bit off topic, but let me know how the Arduino performs ... I would love to get something like this to build onto a simulator, but most of the stuff is overseas and hard to get ... this is obtainable.

 

[Elite Override]

A bit off topic, but let me know how the Arduino performs ... I would love to get something like this to build onto a simulator, but most of the stuff is overseas and hard to get ... this is obtainable.

Well, the arduino is fine, no complaints. Everything about it just works.

 

[eitai2001]

Does it interface easily with a PC ... does it pick up as a keyboard/joystick or what? I'm more interested in using the buttons and led light output functions

 

[Elite Override]

Does it interface easily with a PC ... does it pick up as a keyboard/joystick or what? I'm more interested in using the buttons and led light output functions

It interfaces with the pc via usb (when programming, you use a serial interface), you get a driver so it is identified as an arduino. If you just want to use buttons and LEDs, there is no reason to connect it to the pc other than transferring/compiling the code to it, and providing a power source.

 

[eitai2001]

Well the use for it will be for the buttons to do stuff in a PC based flight sim, and the flight sim will then output information to the led to switch on or off ... I.e. light off if landing gear is up, etc ... I'm not a programmer or electronics guru, so it could get too complex for me

 

[Elite Override]

Well the use for it will be for the buttons to do stuff in a PC based flight sim, and the flight sim will then output information to the led to switch on or off ... I.e. light off if landing gear is up, etc ... I'm not a programmer or electronics guru, so it could get too complex for me

Ah now I get it. It should be...moderately simple. BUT you would have to learn how to program. There is no other option.

Allow me to give an example of how I would do it:

The app on the arduino will check whether any buttons are pressed, and if they are pressed, they will change the state of the LEDs. It will then send a message via usb to the pc, where another program will interpret the message and send a keystroke to the simulator.

This has one flaw though, it doesn't check the result of the button press. If for some reason the landing gear cannot be lowered, your arduino will still light up the LED since the button was pressed. Checking this result in the flight sim will be very difficult unless it has some kind of addon/plugin support.

 

[eitai2001]

The software does support letting an external program know that the light is on / off, etc ... but my issue would be to create that program ... There are apps created for other I/O Interfaces, but none of which I can buy from South Africa. There is an opensource one too that if I knew how, I could build ... but I don't have a clue how or the means to program ICs, so that went out the window

 

[Elite Override]

The software does support letting an external program know that the light is on / off, etc ... but my issue would be to create that program ... There are apps created for other I/O Interfaces, but none of which I can buy from South Africa. There is an opensource one too that if I knew how, I could build ... but I don't have a clue how or the means to program ICs, so that went out the window

Get yourself an introductory book on c++, work through it, and then you'll be fine with basic arduino development.

 

[dc_grimm]

The software does support letting an external program know that the light is on / off, etc ... but my issue would be to create that program ... There are apps created for other I/O Interfaces, but none of which I can buy from South Africa. There is an opensource one too that if I knew how, I could build ... but I don't have a clue how or the means to program ICs, so that went out the window

I have some experience in getting the pc to talk to an arduino and to send data from the arduino to the pc via the usb cable using C#.

There are a few good resources that I used to help me.
Lemme know if you get stuck and I will help you as soon as possible.

If you can find a site that explains how to connect the flight sim to a c# app then the rest is very easy.

 

[eitai2001]

Thanks for the offer of assistance bud ... at this stage I'm putting all my cash to actual flying, so it will be a couple of months before I touch this project again ... I already built the centre instrument console complete with LCD for instruments though

 

[dc_grimm]

Thanks for the offer of assistance bud ... at this stage I'm putting all my cash to actual flying, so it will be a couple of months before I touch this project again ... I already built the centre instrument console complete with LCD for instruments though

coolness
i wanna do that one day.

 

[eitai2001]

Well give me shout in about 8 months and maybe I can organize you a flip

 

[ronaldsmack]

Great information! There are quite a few 3d printers available and that they are gradually getting smaller and cheaper. But i think even if the machines themselves are cheap but there is still a lot of money that will be paid out for the materials to print them as well as other things. Thanks for sharing.

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