Wow. What's that part for? Center-mounted joystick?

Yes, that was an early example. I mounted the magnets directly on to the joystick piece. After thinking about it for a while I decided to extend the shafts and mount the magnets where they will be more accessible. That way I can take care of all the mechanical elements first and once all that is done I can make and adjust the magnet mounts to suit.

I should mention by the way, that all the sensors will be Hall effect, hence the emphasis on the magnets.

Here are some pictures of the center mount joystick arrangement. The big almost vertical bolt will hold the joystick, the little bit of tube behind it is only used as a stop so the whole thing doesn't swing 360 degrees!

The first two show the joystick at what will be top-right and bottom-left.




Close-up of the assembly.



These last two pictures show the throttle assembly. Two throttles mounted side-by-side. The rod projecting forward will be used as a friction stop. There will be one per throttle and the little bit of plastic around the rod on the left holds eight magnets that provide the friction. The other end will obviously be connected to the throttles.

Before you know my workmanship too much please note that the mounts are temporary and only there so I can work out the dimensions and positioning. I imagine they will be quite sloppy in use the way they are.





You can probably see that the 'square' white plastic piece with five holes is important to me! I made a mould for it and can now make them from the plastic I mentioned earlier quite quickly. I put the ball bearings in to the piece when I make them so it's all held in place very tightly. The ball bearings can pop out if required too.

Wow, custom joystick and throttle as well? That's a lot of work! Looking forward to see what you end up with!

Ice, I'm looking forward to seeing what I end up with too!

My first milestone will be simulating a glider in 'Condor', I hope that's only a few weeks away.

I suspect the project will never be 'finished'.

I spent some more time on the throttles (air brake in Condor). when I tried out the throttles with the magnet friction locks I found them to be very 'sticky'. I didn't like that at all so I thought about how to do it better and came up with a way that's working very well. I use the plastic to make a sheath for the friction rods. I've included some photos of how this is set up later on but first I thought you guys may enjoy some photos showing how the original friction locks with magnets were made:






And here it is cooled down and mounted on the throttle. I wasn't happy with the feel though.


Here is the improved friction lock system. The plastic sheaths the friction rod. I'm not sure how long it will remain consistent for. It will be interesting to see.

What is the plastic and where did you find it?

It's called 'Polymorph', although it goes under different names. An eBay search for Polymorph will get you plenty of sources. I paid around AUD$50 for a kilo delivered to Australia.

Thanks. I'll look into it.

I've made some progress in the last few days. I've moved the seat forward to put the panel within easier reach. I don't remember why I originally put it a little further back. Probably just a layout mistake. Once the seat and therefore panel were in the right positions I was able to find the right position for the rudder pedals. Here is what I settled on:



I can't say I'm too happy with the Saitek Pedals, the brake action is way too soft and the only way to use the pedals without having the brakes on is to push only on the round metal part at the bottom. If you rest your feet on the main part of the pedals the brakes are almost guaranteed to be applied unless you're thinking VERY hard about it. Even then holding your feet up is just not comfortable for long periods of time.

The last photo shows the center mount joystick gimbals bolted on to the pit and a temporary joystick in place. The nut you see in the middle actually joins the short thread below it to a larger bolt sitting on top.



I think I'm now ready to remove the controls from the cockpit and wire them up to the controller board.

Very nice!

g.

Thanks Gene!