Important News!

We have accepted an offer on our home and will soon (spring) be starting work on our new house (and shop).

This means that the enclosed Mechpit will have to go.

I am willing to sell it as is without the electronics for 500.00 if you want to pick it up in the vicinity of Grand Rapids MI.

What stays in: Anything made of wood, the seat, the controllers (joystick, throttle, rudder pedals and the Teensy++2.0), the trackball, AC light and switch, and AC fans.

If you want the entire pit as it sits I will take 1200.00 as is.

Thanks everyone for following along.






My design is not exactly original, I got the basic idea from a pit built by Choowy and posted on several forums (thank you for the inspiration Choowy!). Here is his thread on SimHQ:

http://simhq.com/for...or_Cockpit.html

While inspired by Choowy's pit mine is very different, it has a rear door that tilts down and the chair rolls out the back so the pilot can stand up and exit. I thought this would be more immersive, etc. I was thinking of having the entire pit tilt up and forward but eventually I want to add motion to the pit (2 degrees of freedom [2DOF]) and it would need to be more solid. And of course it is has a few more angles tossed in there for fun.

I have a CNC table, this makes it a bit easier to cut the parts out.

The electronics will consist of a Leo Bodnar BU0836 controller card. This card will provide 8 Axis (12 bit) and up to 40 buttons (32 standard and 8 more from the 4 way hat inputs). I have used several of these cards over the years in other simpits that I have built.

My other simpits can be viewed here:

http://simhq.com/for.../3488474/1.html

http://simhq.com/for...tml#Post3283545

The PC is up in the air yet, have not decided between building an AMD 8 core or an Intel i5 2500 (I dont overclock so no need for the K version). My main PC is an i7 3930K but I really do not need that much power for the Mechpit.

Hinged hatches with pneumatic lifts will allow access to the PC, monitor housing and wiring.

It will have full environmental controls. In the winter the heat will be provided by fans from the PC area and in summer cooler air will be piped in from the base. I will have an environmental control panel set up to open and close the panels and adjust the airflow.

The Monitor will be a 28" 1920x1200 Hannsfre (same one from my previous simpit) with a secondary at 10-14"

I will either scratch-build a joystick and throttle or use a Thrustmaster Cougar if I can find one for a reasonable price. I have a Warthog right now in the office but that will stay there.

The entire pit will sit on a wood base (MDF framed in) which will in turn sit on a metal framework for the motion assembly.

I will post pictures as I get things done, feel free to post helpful comments.

CAD image that I created to work from:



Ribs being assembled





The basic structure:




The seat without upholstery (faux leather and memory foam soon to come). Hard to see but the sides of the chair have latticework similar to that found in Choowy's build. It has a shot coat of flat black, still needs some sanding before final painting.





More to come as I get it assembled.

I used planed 2x4s on the nose assembly but I have a better system designed that needs to be cut out on the CNC using 1/2" MDF.

One major "Woops" that I have come across so far.....the Mechpit is designed to give plenty of headroom....unless you are like me. At 6'4 I whack my head every time I roll into it. I might add a few inches to the bottom before I sit it on the base.[u][/u]

Propnut that looks great!! Cant wait to see the interior. Really good idea to fabricate the pieces like that with your CNC, makes it easy to get quick results.

Hopefully you can add the height you need without upsetting the armrest heights.

Nice Job!!

Thanks Choowy, adding a couple of inches to the bottom will actually made the control surface height better as I have long arms as well and I designed it that way. Shorter people will find a higher deck height more confortable.

Update: Todays effort.

I added 3" of height for my noggin by adding a frame along the bottom.

Added the base to tie things together.

Did the armor plates (sheeting) and the front access panels.

I am in somewhat of a quandary...I have the MDF plates to finish the sides but I also have a great deal of 1/4" black, green, red, yellow, white and clear plexi (Craigslist find) that I could use instead. The idea would not be to see out for myself but it would make it look more like a cockpit. What do you think?

The access panel on the front bottom is for the PC, it will slide up and out like a power core...forget which movie I saw that in, but I have 20" full extension slides that will work perfectly for that. I plan on text saying something like "Danger! Power Core!" and safety stripes, etc. Or some such. I will decide for sure when I get there.

Tuesday will see the completion of the exterior including the rear door and storage compartments (the sticky outy place on the top back).

That looks like a sweet setup there.

Looks great, you'll be finished in no time.
The black plexi idea would look pretty good and give you some internal lighting. It would look a little like a Madcat, similar to this. Apologies for the poor graphics.

Oh man... that is just begging for some LRM "ears" to be added. (Maybe a fridge or a storage in one, and a microwave in the other! LOL )

Very nice!

CyBerkut....LRM pods...hmmm......

Choowy, I think I will go with your idea but instead of using the black plexi I will finish it in MDF and then paint those panels black.

I was thinking of the panel lines, I could have used the CNC to engrave those but I thought I would do it with paint and a black marker instead. This way I can change it up later if I want to. Too late now, regardless.

I am soooo going to borrow detail ideas from you. Your chair, interior layout, etc.

Great looking Mechpit! For the panel lines, have you considered auto striping tape (name?) used for pinstripes on a car? I'd bought 2 packages of pinstripe tape on a clearance sale a while back for details on mine....then promptly lost both in the chaotic mess that is my office....so I don't know exactly how it would work out. With the wide variety of colors and widths, it could give many possibilities for added detail.

Cheers!
Derek

DRAWINGS! MUST HAVE DRAWINGS!

g.

If you still wanted to add the panel lines you could do like I did and roll it on its side, use a temporary guide piece tacked in place and run a V groove bit in a router around wherever yo wanted to add lines.

After the panel is painted you can weather the lines to make them stand out a little more but dry brushing some ground up charcoal in the grooves.

If you want to get really crafty where you have joins where the panels meet you can fill it with a gap filling compound using a large nozel and squeeze it in like its a welded seam.

Or just use a regular gap filler and get an ice cream stick with the end shaped like a inward radius and smooth out the filler in a way that finishes the surface like a weld.

Oh you are good....I like the "weld joints"

Choowy's attention to detail (for something that is fictional, no less!) and creativity should be considered legendary. That simulated weld seam is a great idea for making a mech pit more earthy.

PropNut, if I were taking on a project like yours, I'd borrow heavily from Choowy also.

Some bondo in a cake frosting tube might work pretty well too...

g.

Update:

The Teeny++ 2.0 USB HID controller arrived this afternoon. This thing ROCKS!

http://www.pjrc.com/store/teensypp_pins.html

I used Generic HID which is a drag and drop programing utility. It is as simple as choosing the board, dragging components next to it and clicking connections between the components and the board. There is a screenshot of the program below. I can name the device anything I want, in this case it shows up as "Mechpit Controller" as a joystick device.

http://generichid.sourceforge.net/

It is so easy to work with, and the possibilities seem endless.

I was able to easily configure the controller to have 64 buttons (8x8 matrix) and 8 axis. I plan on a button for each hat switch for 4 buttons each rather than using 8way hats. I never use the angles anyway. Windows of course does not recognize any more than 32 joystick buttons but SVMapper sees all 64 and I can assign keyboard strokes to the second set of 32.

I might go back and add rotary switches and whatnot later. Depends on what I will need. That is the great thing about this hardware, I can make changes at will later.

Notice the white connector strips in the background, I will need 8 of those for my matrix (with an extra 4 terminals left over as these are 12 terminal strips).

I purchased the pin version so it would plug into a breadboard. Lots easier to experiment with it that way.

I plugged buttons and pots into it for testing and messing around.

Thanks goes to Foust in the MWOnline forum for the suggestion and links to information.

Don't forget that you need to use isolation diodes on that switch matrix!

g.

Whats that phrase about teaching your grandmother to suck eggs?

I didnt forget, I have a large package of them ready to go. Need to cut lengths of wire and solder the mess together. I should make a PCB and do it that way but I think the terminal strips are handy for connecting the buttons.

Good point though.

I'll get back to you after I'm done giving my grandmother sheep stealing lessons....

g.

Update:

My controllers arrived today. Now to stuff the Teensy controller in there someplace....going to need a bigger hammer

OMG you are taking me back 12 years with that picture

I'm boggled that TM still makes those rudder pedals.

g.

Yes sir, Thrustmaster has a new distributor; Craigslist.org.




Finished rewiring the HOTAS, have not gotten around to the rudder yet but that is a very simple change. I decided to run new wires up through the handle of the F-22 both was that fun. Had a heck of a time getting it back together with a 2" bundle of wire up there

Everything is working, I will get pictures of my Franken-HOTAS later after I fit them to the pit. I used Cat-5 cable and RJ-45 connectors and receptacle (wall mount). I will create a box to house the Teensy++ 2.0 set (I am going to add a bunch of DIY axis and even more buttons eventually).

I am telling you, the Teensy++ 2.0 is the greatest thing since sliced bread

On another note:

I picked up a used PC to be the Power Core for my Mechpit.

Intel Core i7 950
XSPC Rasa 750 Water Cooling
MSI Big Bang Xpower motherboard
MSI Nvidia GTX 560 TI GPU
6GB Kingston HyperX TI Memory
Corsair HX 850W Modular PSU
500GB HDD
Cooler Master HAF 932 Black & Blue Custom case.
ASUS 24" LCD LED Monitor

I agree about the Teensy++. Arduinos and their derivatives are just awesome bits of hardware.

BTW, thanks for the link to GenericHID, I'd never heard of that before. It looks to be very useful!

g.

Amazingly so, all I have to do is drag and drop. It brings joystick programming to the masses (well, who needs anything else right?)

I am going to pick up a 3rd unit to build the CNC pendent that the author of GenericHID built.

It's nice to be able to grab generic hardware like that instead of having to go with purpose-built hardware like Leo Bodnar's stuff or the old Beta Innovations hardware (which *rocked*).

It's popular among the ShopBot guys to use wireless XBox controllers as pendants. I've got the hardware but I haven't had a chance to buy the software (http://pinnaclegameprofiler.com/) and get it set up for use with the ShopBot control software.

That pendant design would be nice for my MaxNC 10 open-loop mill though. You use Mach3 on your machine, correct?

g.

Yes, Mach3. I also use a wireless game controller but use SVMapper to simulate the keyboard strokes. I would like to have incremental movement like his pendent gives.

NEW PHOTO UPDATE:

The shell is sealed and painted. Detail work will come later, I am still deciding on how I want to do panel lines, and other external features. I might have an electric motor to hide (for the door) and whatnot so that will take some more thought.

The framework for the monitor is in place, the center console has also been installed and the two switch and control panels are sitting in there until I figure out exactly where the components will be placed. Everything is removable using #10 hex head bolts into blind nuts. If I decide to go with a larger monitor (leaning that way) then I just have to remove the upper assembly (4 bolts) and make a new one.

The bottom or base will get a coat of black later to make it appear that the mech is above the ground, and of course if my motion platform plans come through it will actually be above ground.

This thing has room for many, many, many switch panels. I am hoping that MWO will have support, eventually, for aux monitors (maps, etc) so I have room for two 9" LCDs to be installed on both sides. I am also planning on picking up to Thrustmaster Cougar MFDs to place in front of them.

W O W, I mean, just wow! Excellent work and craftsmanship just like your WW1 simpit. Fantastic attention to detail. I am very impressed.

Thanks Redhornet.

Yesterday I painted the interior black.

I spent most of today doing some CNC work for a customer so there has been little progress since yesterday.

I did, however, have time to mount the Hotas in the side panels and make a couple of memory foam pads to run the length of the panels behind the HOTAS (never forget comfort, lol). They are covered in faux leather fabric and look pretty good (my opinion).

Working on two 45 degree panels that will join the controller panels to the instrument panel, but that is only on CAD so far.

Looks great! Cool to see the progress pics.

Looking great PropNut, nice external finish. Cant wait to see the interior fit out.

Thanks Derek, Choowy.

I wanted to get to the point where the pit was usable and then add features as they are needed or I have ideas. Choowy I really like how you did the exterior of your Mechpit and am leaning heavily toward copying you.

Cool to see and read the status on this and other pits.

Picture update:

Installed the PowerCore ™ today, the PC is up and running, now I just need to clean it up and start making panels.

Ignore the glue streaks and poor paint work inside the pit, every black surface that you see will be covered up by black plexiglass (instrument panels, light panels, gauges, etc) eventually. I just put the black paint in there so it did look so...wooden

The trackball (MAME type) arrived today and is installed in one of the 45 degree panels , it is very handy. I plan on getting a wireless small form factor keyboard which will be clipped to the sidewall by magnets when not in use. Right now I am using a really poorly made cheapo keyboard from the grocery store. It is destined for the round file as soon as I no longer need it. Typing on that thing is a chore.

I will get pictures of the Teeny++ when I tidy it up a bit. I only had one 6 port wall plate to use so need to pick up...many...more. I am thinking of mounting the next teeny on the ceiling (behind a panel) to save on wire, this way the buttons would not need to travel so far to reach the controller.

I picked up a cheap USB throat mic and ear bud for comms and have yet to install the speaker system. TrackIR is in but I need to make a housing for it and of course the controllers are working great.

The whole thing needs to be cleaned out...anyway...here you go:

The seat in its cushioned goodness...this thing is like sitting in a recliner...I could easily fall asleep. Comfy.



Inside, sorry for the reflection off the monitor, I should have used a better angle. Not the temporary interior lighting, lol. Again, all gaps between the front and back of the pit will be covered with instrument panels.





The MAME style trackball (Ebay 25.00) with buttons. It glows green...cool!



The Power Core ™ lol. I purchased a Suncom UV blue acrylic case. As you can see I am not great at cable management.









The Power Core ™ is mounted on a swing-out door (hinged on the bottom with piano hinge) which swings down into the pit and back to horizontal for maintenance (chain catch).







Thanks for looking!

It's going to be hot in there with that thing whirring along above your feet

Not once you see the environmental controls that I am building. I have four fans at the rear either pushing air into the pit for cooling, or pulling air from the front for heating. There will also be two fans mounted on the front under the PC to help the airflow along. I picked up several furnace filters which will also be mounted in line with the fans to control dust in the pit. All of this will be controlled via an environmental control panel located above the pilot. The fans are 9" slimline window fans (AC) for the back and two 120mm fans on the front (DC). This way in the winter the PC will heat the pilot and in the summer cool air will get to the PC from the cockpit.

Looks great Prop! It will be interesting to see whether MWO works TrackIR into their game or not and follows through on their promise of multiple screens.

Have you talked to anyone in the actual beta? If you haven't you should buy a founders pack and get in as fast as possible. There are mechanics in your pod that don't pair well with some of the aspects of gameplay in MWO. PM me if you want more info.

Hi Kahlied, please do PM me with your ideas, I would like to hear them. Unfortunatly as the game is still in Beta the NDA prevents anyone from discussing game aspects outside of the MWO private forum (or other forms of private discussion).

I do have a founders package and my setup works very well indeed with a certain game. I use TrackIR Mouse emmulation for some aspects of a certain game as well. Ok, now I just feel silly doublespeaking, lol.

Looking nice, I did find with mine that the small fan seemed to do a good job circulating the air for cooling. You've made quick progress, any idea when you'll be finished?

You got me motivated to add a few things that I had planned but not completed, I'll post some updates soon.

Finished?!!

Never.

But it is playable right now. I have many many features etc that I want to add in the future though.

Yesterday I CNC'd the fan covers yesterday and built one of the two rear air intakes and exhaust units. These have two A/C fans (9") each, one to pull air in for cooling and the other to pull air out for heating. I ran the wiring for the control panel, just need to paint up a few sheets of white 1/4" acrylic so I can cut the panel out. After that I need to make the front fan units, one 120mm fan will pull air into the front area for PC cooling and cockpit heating and the other will pull air out for cockpit cooling. Those are 12v and will require another set of controls for the cockpit environment panel.

Dang Propnut that is great work there...if I had the time, resources and drive to complete the task I would be all over it. As it stands my measely simpit has been stalled since May for one reason or another.

Sorry to hear that Reschke, where are you at on your project?

Update:

Have not been doing much, mostly playing...a certain mech game....in the Mechpit.

The Mechpit is..well...a pit. I need to get some cleaning done in there, which I do after ever few steps are done. Once the entire pit is assembled (panels, etc) I will give everything a good sanding and repainting to get a slightly glossy finish.

What little that did get done:

Added the bass shaker to the bottom of the seat, so I needed some way to connect the wires and still allow the chair to roll out of the pit. I came up with a simple solution, but it does need to be refined. The chair portion is good, the inset copper plates look very nice but the springs that touch the plates look a bit...low quality, lol. This was a prototype, I am already designing a set of contacts that use PVC tubing. They will look pretty good once they are painted up. Might put labels on them that say "Coolant Lines" or some such





Speaking of cooling, here is one of the rear fan units. This one blows air from the outside in. The housing outside was cut using the CNC (I thought it would look better...but my design really doesn't "stand out". I might redo them). The outside housing holds a paper furnace filter to keep dust from being pulled into the pit. The inside still needs some type of fan cover, I can whip one out on the CNC later though. Both fan control units will be on the center upper switch panel.







I added some switch panel frames, one on the left in front of the throttle, not sure what it will be used for as yet but there are soooo many choices, lol. The upper panel has the TrackIR in the center, the Environmental controls will be up there as well as the PowerCore (TM) controls and readouts.

Notice the 24"x36" headliner panel? 1/4" black acrylic sheet. I am sheeting everything in this stuff (Craigslist find a year or so ago). The Switch panels will be white 1/4" acrylic painted gloss black.









And of course I took Choowey's advice and painted the front to look like cockpit windows.

Nice Propnut, starting to take shape. The rear vent system looks great, one of the things that adds to the realism is the noise from fans running.

The idea to link up the Bass shaker when the seat is retracted is clever. Hopefully you don't get too much current loss through the spring contact. There are some connectors available that do cater for type of fitting, they have a sort of open end that tapers in so it doesn't matter if the plug and socket aren't aligned.

Looks pretty roomy inside.

That is a very good point Choowy, I was thinking about ordering these:

http://www.amazon.com/Keep-It-Clean-SDXP3-Modular/dp/B003TVL5N8/ref=sr_1_1?s=automotive&ie=UTF8&qid=1346633442&sr=1-1&keywords=door+jamb+contacts

OK, that may work, this is the type of thing I have seen also used.

Self Aligning Plug/Socket

Got the panels all cut out and ready to be assembled but due to job hunting and working part time gigs when I can I haven't had much time to keep it all rolling along. If I can find a good weekend to do final fit and assembly then I might be able to knock it out and put the paint on it.

I have the monitor and switch panel holders all cut, sanded and ready to assemble. Just need to find another way to mount a couple of other boxes for extra controls and a keyboard holder as well.

Guess what?! My new camera body came in the mail today (Sony a300), the other one broke when I dropped it off a table in front of 50 or so students...boy did I feel like a schmuck! So I am back up and running with the picture thing.

Anyway, here is the photo update:

First off, I needed to connect the Mechpit to the family router but that is across the driveway and the yard so I picked up a really cheap but seemingly powerful USB wireless N device. Two antenna seem to draw in the signal very well, I get 5 bars. I know that wireless is crap for gameplay (never seem to have a consistently great ping) but with the distance and the look my wife gave me when I suggested that we dig a trench across her sculpted and landscaped yard I have chosen to go wireless instead She did say that I could put the Mechpit in the garage when it is finished though and this I just might do as it would be more convenient and get it out of the way for paying jobs. Long story short, here is the housing for the wireless device:



On the the PC controls AKA Fusion Core Controls. Which are situated next to the environmental controls, the spectrum label denotes the type of lighting in the cockpit, I have white for full spectrum lighting and red for combat lighting:





The switch panel in front of the throttle (switches and labels will be added as I need them):



And a couple of pictures to show the progress of the side switch panels. Again each will have labels and switches added as I need them. They are all removable panels, etc. Notice the light strips on the right side, the left side will have the same thing, just need to pick up more lights.





Thanks for tuning in!

Propnut, that is looking awesome! I'm 6'4" myself, and my first thought on seeing the first picture was about headroom.

Are you using your CNC to make your panel lettering? I struggle with that on my little unit.

I can't wait to see this as it progresses. Keep at it!

Dudley

Hi Dudley,

Nope, I cheated. I have a Brother label maker. I can do white text on black labels....

I too tried to do mini lettering on my CNC but it is just not that precise. It will do pretty well up to about 1/4" lettering but any smaller and it starts to look like hell. And I have to go very very slow.

I ran into the same problem. I found a great way around it, that also lets me backlight my panels. Have a trohpy shop use a laser engraver to scribe the panels. I literally just got it all working in my pit today. I have to tell you, it would look AWESOME in your mech pit. You could even do it in blue to match the power core!

Simpit panel backlighting

Just sayin'!

Wow, that is extremely well done. Your fit and finish is much better than my efforts. I do like your backlighting and I have lots of 1/8" white acrylic sheeting (cast acrylic). I did paint up a couple sheets already...I will call around to see what laser engraving costs are. Thanks for the pointer.

David

Hey Propnut, that's looking great, nice idea using the label maker. I couldn't find black tape so I used a different method. The panels Dud made look sweet, if you can find the machine to do that it sure makes a difficult job easier. Don't spend too long using it, you'll never get it finished!

Thanks Choowy, I had not planned on keeping the labels as they are. They are just placeholders until I came up with something else. Dudley's idea is very appealing but that means that the project is not "mine" anymore. Sounds silly but I wanted to do everything "in-house". Although truth be told I have already compromised that by using the PC case that I did. I had planned on building my own (I also build custom PC cases) but when I saw it I realized that it was a perfect fit for this project.

Dudley, a question...what did you paint your panels with before they were laser etched? Were you given any special/specific instructions on how to prep them for etching?

I used flat black enamel PRIMER. I use the primer instead of the paint as it has a little more bite to it than regular paint does. I tried several brands and they all seem to be about the same, as long as you do the simple things like shaking it well before use and applying in the right conditions. I almost ruined a panel when I tried spraying it when it was over 100 in the garage... not good. Thankfully, some laquer thinner pulled it right off.

Also, depending on your manufacturer of the acrylic, you may want to wipe down the side to be painted with some alcohol, thinner, paint prep, or just good ol soap and water to ensure that it doesn't have any release or casting agent left on it.

I took the trophy shop a spare panel first time I went in to experiment on so he could find the correct settings for the laser engraver to run at. It came out really nice too.

I know what you mean about wanting to do everything in house. I didn't want to have to outsource any of the building components either. I tried all sorts of ideas, and they all fell short of what I wanted:

> Printing the panels on white paper then bonding the 'panels' to clear or white acrylic... thing decopage.
> Same as above but doing it on clear overhead projector transparancy sheets
> Using dry transfer lettering on clear or white acrylic, then overpainting with black paint, then picking the letters off
> Making custom decals that covered the whole panel using the Pulsar Pro FX system. Decal Pro Almost worked, but if you cover the whole panel, you get little cracks in the big decals that become instantly visable when you turn on the backlight. They do have a way to make it work by applying all of the lettering in smaller pieces, then masking over those and painting the entire panel black. I tried it, and it did work, but in the daylight you can see the difference between the painted areas and the decal words.
> Using my Carvewright CNC to engrave the letters into the panel. I've done this a couple of times for oneor two panels, but it doesn't look near as nice as the laser engraved ones. The CNC just doesn't do well with letters that small and shallow.
> I even tried using some glow in the dark lettering and a black light in the room.

If you come up with a way that works other than the laser engraver, please let me know!

On a side note... I was lucky enough to be taken on a tour of the sim manufacturing shops here at Luke AFB a couple of months ago, and they use a laser engraver to make their panels as well. Tried to sneak out with their laser... but they saw the 4' x 3' bulge under my shirt! :0 It was an AWESOME shop though... CNC machines, 3d Printers, gauges, bezels, seats... ar-ar-ar (insert Tim Allen grunt).

I love the back light panels Dudley. I'm going to have to use that in my POD.

Great work Prop, keep it going!

Been sick lately so very little has been done in the shop. Felt better today so I redid the transducer seat contacts.

I thought about what would need to connect to the seat, and therefore the mechwarrior. A mechwarrior needs coolant circulating in his/her coolant vest (to fight the heat that builds up in a cockpit). So I disguised the assemblies as coolant conduits.

This is what I came up with, it retracts under spring pressure up to 3". The chair will depress the contacts to about 1.5" and clip into the floor catch.

Please bear with me, I have a new camera and have not yet set up the auto focus fields so it is a bit wide for close ups.

Those look great Propnut. It really has the mechwarrior feel to it... now if you could just get the system to play some sort of heavy mechanical or Transformer 'whoosh' sound!

I can't remember, what are you using for a locking slide under your seat.. how does it keep pressure against the contacts?

Dudley, I am using a simple spring latch in the center front of the chair.



I was thinking of making it look like an eject handle.

New Idea:

I am removing the monitor and side panels to redo the console/screen area. I want to have a more dashboard look and feel to is. Working CAD now to figure it out.

Nice work, don't forget lots of black and yellow warning tape!

Think cross between fighter jet and tank...

Propnut... you mean like this?






Great minds think alike!

I put mine on the side because I center mounted my joystick. I started out with the pull ring, but fashioned this handle that I like even better.

Can't wait to see the redesign of the instrument panel!

Dud

Yes Dudley, exactly like that one. I did not make mine adjustable though. I figure that since the position of the seat does not matter as I do not use rudder pedals why bother? I plan on having the rudder pedals mount on an adjustable platform later.

I had planned on putting it on the side as well but I made the chair and opening for same a pretty tight fit and there was no room left.

PropNut, where did you find that gate release?

tnx.

g.

Hi Gene, you can find them at most farm supply stores or larger hardware stores. I purchased mine at Tractor Supply.

This is the exact one that I am using:

http://www.tractorsupply.com/national-hardware-reg-v820-chain-bolt-zinc-3541136

Thanks. I think I can build myself something similar that's smaller and more suited - I want to use it as an adjuster lock for rudder pedals. Right now I have a pair of pins I have to manually remove to adjust the pedal position.

I was hoping it would be cheaper to buy out.

g.

I designed a pin lift system that would work perfectly for that. In essence it is a pin with a head (picture a very fat nail) that is loose enough to drop down into a hole to secure the rudder pedals in place. The nail it attached to a fork which is kept in the down position by a simple spring under the handle of the fork (not a dinner fork of course). I did not make any drawings for this, just made it up as I went along out in the shop.

Ah, that would work too.

g.

Propnut,

For starters great work! Between you and choowy you've given me a lot of ideas for improvements to my pit. The one question I have for you is how do you handle the power requirements? With my current setup I've almost used up 2 6 outlet surge protectors and both of those are on a the same 15 amp circuit that's shared with other stuff. I've added up the loads and as long as I don't have everything powered up at the same time I'm ok. But with all of the additional ideas I'm coming up with I'm afraid of going over.

Keep up the good work and the updates!

I never really thought about that before Sabre. The PC does not draw its full power. You might get a Wattmeter (plugs in between the appliance and the outlet) and see what your real world usage is. In the shop I have 15amp outlets for some of my smaller machines, I can run a 3hp edge sander, drill press and a chop saw without popping the EFI. None of those are under a heavy load though.

Hey, where in Michigan are you at?

Grand Blanc, which is a suburb of Flint.

For my setup I have a lot of 120v stuff; pc, 3 monitors, ffb wheel and joystick, and lighting. I'm thinking about converting some of the 120v lighting to 12v cold cathod or maybe leds. Even though mine's not a mech pit I'm thinking about going the enclosed route as well to improve the immersion and have more panels for more buttons and bling.

Propnut, what is your power draw? Just under 800W?

Jamf, not sure. Have not ran a check on it yet but I am not worried really.


Another update:

I wanted to have a keyboard handy but did not want a keyboard in evidence so I needed to hide is somehow. If any of you have seen my Generic Simpit you might have noticed the keyboard tray that I used in that pit. Unfortunately a keyboard tray still looks like a keyboard tray. So I thought about velcroing a keyboard to the sidewall and pulling it off when it was needed. But putting it on my knees during play is not so great. So I came up with a unique idea. I created a triangular panel that rotates, giving me buttons and switches in one position but rotate it and I have the keyboard handy. I do not have any pictures right now, the unit does work and has a layer of black paint drying now. I will get some pictures of it tomorrow after I install it back into the pit.

That is all for now, I am feeling better so I should be able to grind out more updates soon.

Hey Propnut, you mentioned motion control. I had a quick look at whats going on out there in DiY land and there's a whole new hobby to look forward to. The possibilities are endless.

I've got half an idea to start a 2 axis racing sim.

Look forward to some updates.

Hi Choowy, yes there are so many different possibilities. I am planning on a simple DOF setup but might add more if I can come up with a good actuator system. Something this heavy would require hydraulics and that would just be too expensive.

Update:

The keyboard mechanism is installed. The rotation works perfectly with stops to keep it from moving too far forward or backward.

Keep in mind, the pit is half torn apart and I am redoing several things so it looks like...well it looks like a pit to be honest

Two open bays for buttons and switches

Prop,
I LOVE that idea! I'd tried to do something similar for my pit, but I couldn't get the clearance for the rotation without completely redesigning the pit. How much clearance do you have between your legs and the switches when it is rotated to keyboard use? Don't want any uncommanded functions when you are typing.
Keep at it!
Dud

Hi Dudley,

Actually it is narrower than it looks, my legs are on either side of the rotation module so clearance is perfect. I too was worried about that so I made a cardboard mockup before making the final unit.

I very seldom use the keyboard so I am not too worried about needing it. Any key that is needed in-game will have a dedicated button for it. I am making different control panels for different games, MWO, IL-2, RoF, etc.

Propnut that's a great way to integrate the keyboard, nicely done. Did you leave room to motorize it?

Motorized...hmm...I had not thought of that....but it is pretty easy to do....

Have you guys seen this? It give me some ideas for improvements.

Mechpit Video

Not a very good picture but it illustrates the latest additions to the pit:

I added two switch panels above the monitor, an angled housing for the secondary monitor, MFDs to the center rotating control panel and not pictured is a cut down center pedestal. There will be another angled housing for a touch screen tablet on the right.

Nothing to do with Mech pits.....I just wanted to point out how cool it is that there are so many Michigan builders out there!

"Si Quaeris Peninsulam Amoenam Circumspice"

Yeah, I talked with Corvair way back and while I like his pod it's very basic too. Dimensionally it looks fantastic but I never got the feeling like he built it for immersion. Not to invalidate his design or build, but more that I like what Choowy and Prop are doing way more because the immersion is just so freaking fantastic and I grew up on the VR2.5/3.0 pods which had loads of buttons to use.

I like the second monitor off to the side. I decided against that as I chose to go with the 30" monitor and pretty much ate up my side space. I'll use a 13" monitor at an under angle.

Long overdue update:

I added switch panels and switch bays to the upper sides, above the monitor, and in front of the throttle.









Also, I did a test run to see if my CNC would do fine text at 1/4" of an inch. I painted several 24x24 panels using black Krylon (ok, actually really cheap Walmart spray paint that took a week to dry).

I used a 1/32 (1/8" shank) up-cut spiral bit set at 1/32 cut depth running at 10 inches per minute.

I was very disappointed in that it seemed that light did not shine through very well...then I remembered to peel the protective paper off the back...DoH!!

Not perfect but unless you take close-up pictures you cannot tell.

If you've got one, try it with a V bit and see how that does.

g.

A V-bit doesn't work as well actually; leaves chaff along the edges of the cut. This method works a bit better as it is actually doing a pocket rather than a tool path.

Love the look of that light fitting!

Are you going to put a white LED behind each word now? Maybe drilling 3 holes and "gluing" the LEDs into them with clear silicone improves brightness?

Thank you.

On the backlighting I plan on following DudleyAZ's example and use PC case lighting in each switch enclosure for backlighting. This would make the lighting very subdued but bright enough to still see the lettering. I tried it out in the pit today by placing the test plate over the MFD switch panel, the lettering was very clear.

Prop,
I think the results you had using the sprial bit worked out really well! Are you using a home built CNC, or something off the shelf?

I think you'll really like the case lighting cold c-tubes. You could even do different panels in different colors. I am experimenting with a way to get specific words to be different colors, but it is turning into too big a pain in the butt... I just can't leave well enough alone!

Good job, I can't wait to see it all lit up!
Dud

Hi Dudley,

My CNC is a DIY scratch build (except the electronics). Here is the build thread for the CNC router table:

http://www.cnczone.com/forums/diy-cnc_ro...cess_story.html

I used the same lighting with my Generic Simpit build but I used clear plexi and printed paper for panels (sandwiched), I have a drawer full of green and blue (and blacklite) tubes and transformers.

I had planned on sending the panels out to be laser etched as you had done but I was pretty sure I could do them myself, just took me a while to get around to trying it. The correct bit and speed (as always) was the key.

Very nice setup!

I think my wife regrets the day my little Carvewright CNC showed up. It started the process of constant improvement... "this thing is cool honey, but if I had the next step up I could do so much more..." Kinda sounds like talking about the simpit...

We are looking to retire in a few years, and when we move I hope to find a place with space for a nice dedicated shop with space for lots of cool toys... I mean serious tools. Yeah, that's what I meant!

Hey! Our house is for sale!!!

If I was headed to Michigan, and the shop tools came with it, we'd talk!

Looking good man. I found a local vendor that charges 8 bucks for laser etching on a 24x24 sheet of acrylic so I'm going to try that with them and see how it turns out.

Can't wait to see it lit up. Especially since we're in open beta now.

The other day I started to cut out the text on my switch panels, starting with generic engine controls (for IL-2, etc). The nice thing about this pit is there is plenty of room for as many switch panels as my little heart desires. Unfortunately I made a mistake and set the plunge depth on the CNC for the initial passes (lines around the different positions) to 1/16" deep when they should have been set for 1/32" deep. This means the bit plunged in past the cutting length and made 1/8" melted grooves. ICK. Fortunately it was only one panel but I put that aside for a few days so I could finish these:

Picture Update:

I added the air purifiers for the life support system. They are mounted to either side of the pilots head to ensure clean, if hot, air during combat.

Propnut,
What fans are you using and any problems with noise with them being so close to you? The reason I ask is that I've been inspired by you, Choowy, and Dudley to take my pit from open to enclosed and I'm looking for ventilation designs and specs. Keep up the good work!

Prop thats looking great, nice job with the stickers. That's a perfect font style too.

Nice job Prop! Hang a damp rag on the intake side and you might be able to get some cooler air coming in if the heat is an issue. I'm beinging to be inspired by your work to download the MWO beta... there always seems to be something new to play with!

I am using the guts out of a dual window fan unit. I am told that there is a helicopter rotor noise in the background when I speak in TS but otherwise it does not bother me. I thought about having one in the front of the pit sucking air out for good flow but I doubt I will need it.

My shop has radiant heat flooring so it is a constant 60f in the winter, heat is no worries. The summer months get hot but again since I have concrete floors it stays pretty cool out there and the fan is enough for cooling then.

PropNut, when making my pit I studied yours and Choowys ...if you have time take a look

Looking good. The font works great. I've found that my design with a 30" monitor is significantly limiting my ability to fit control panels. I may resort back to a 27" monitor to see if it fits.

I used to be on the multi monitor or huge monitor bandwagon but I find that with head tracking I really do not need a larger screen space, as a matter of fact it is a detriment to comfort and visibility. And as you mention, it allows for more control space.

Finished (finally) a full switch panel to add to my Mechpit. As this is really a generic simpit I wanted an engine control panel but something that looked a little different than just a row of buttons.

As pointed out by Andy below...I should have used spellcheck!

Hi Propnut,

Panel looking very good. Did you screen print text and lines ?

May just be 'cause I'm from across the pond, but should it not be "extinguisher" instead of "extinguser" ?

Sorry if I've just ruined your day .....

Cheers,

Andy

DoH!!! Spellcheck Spellcheck Spellcheck!!! Now I will have to make another one...otherwise it will bug me forever, lol. Good thing I have lots of blanks and they only take 10 minutes or so to turn out on the CNC.

The text: No, the lines and text are all engraved using a 1/32" bit on my CNC router table. That text is 1/4" high, I have done another panel (for Evochron Mercenary) that has 3/16" lettering as well. The paint that I used is awful, it sort of chips up with the cutter. It was very very cheap, I should have (and later did) spent a bit more money for a better quality rattle can paint. A different panel that I used with the better paint worked perfectly.

Edit: I want to point out that the text and lines are all backlit. The base material is white acrylic (cast) painted white. All I do is engrave it by 1/32" deep and then, as Dudley has done, put cold cathode lights behind the panels.

That looks great Propnut. Too bad about the typo... just look at it as a practice run that was highly successful!

I do more practice runs than finish runs, lol. But I have to admit that it is always fun.

A couple of updates to my CNC table have really helped. I built a Zero Z tool (automatically finds the zero for the material) and changed my shuttle controller over to a Contour (brand) Shuttle Pro (v 1.0) to move the head around. Awesome, and cheap @ 20.00 via Ebay, way to control the movement of xyz. Lots of buttons so I can control start/stop, zero for each, etc.

If you are like me... in the garage...
The summer is to HOT and the winter is too cold to play...

winter I use two space heaters to just warm it up fast and shut em down and the PC and electronics keep it warm enough in fact enev in the winter I have to run the AC if im going to play awhile
summer I have a small 110 AC window unit

either way insulating the pit is a good idea for noise factor alone not to mention weather

sorry for the pic prop not trying to hijack your thread...propnut and choowy inspired my design

Interesting Hotwire. Scroll back a couple of pages to see the discussion on heating and cooling. I have radiant floor heating so nice and toasty in the winter. In summer the heatsink in the center of the concrete floor keeps it nice and cool.

By the way, love the warning sign outside the cockpit door

Important News!

We have accepted an offer on our home and will soon (spring) be starting work on our new house (and shop).

This means that the enclosed Mechpit will have to go.

I am willing to sell it as is without the electronics for 500.00 if you want to pick it up in the vicinity of Grand Rapids MI.

What stays in: Anything made of wood, the seat, the controllers (joystick, throttle, rudder pedals and the Teensy++2.0), the trackball, AC light and switch, and AC fans.

If you want the entire pit as it sits I will take 1200.00 as is.

Thanks everyone for following along.

Grats on the sale of the old and grats on the new Home...sounds like a new pit will be in the works soon...hope you budgeted in the home loan LOL