MFG CROSSWIND UPDATE - CUMULATIVE CHANGELOGHi all
First I apologise for Inactivity here. I focused on pedals production, firmware development, making upgrades to the pedals and responding to e-mails, listening to customers suggestions ... ... ... ... ...
This post is cumulative update to the work that is presented in this thread so far...as well as on my website. I've shipped pedals with upgrades already...but didn't publish such info yet...so here it is.
I will separate it in
5 sections : Hardware upgrades, software and firmware upgrades, Extra cost options, future upgrade announcments and status
HARDWARE UPGRADESRudder tension spring hook change to allow more tightening of the screw - more force on the pedals to accomodate airliners more realistic behaviourOld vs new :
Old with maxed out force :
NEW with maxed out force :
Changed the way braking spring is hookedThis was done mainly becouse some springs are produced a little out of tolerance which sometimes coused squeeking sounds...so I "forced" the spring to behave like I want it to
Some of the first sets shipped with a sharp edge where cable is exiting the front lever which might couse the cable to wear out prematurely. I've First made a service bulletin to those customers to make a loop with the cable like this :
After that...I smoothen those sharp edges. Tests confirmed the big radious cable loop is a way to go.
Still...all cables which twist extensively will eventualy loose contact. I thought about that a lot since rest of the pedals are made to last much much longer. After Testing various cables I found the right one. Test result was a suprise. Main advantage of new cable is that cores are shielded with quality polyurethane instead of PVC. It has coper shielding net around...and thicker rubber all around. Cable diameter is larger while coper cores are actually smaller...preventing cable to swing in very small radious. Due to the material useed cable is still very flexible. Shrink tube is used to prevent any movement around connectors. All of that makes it as robust as it could possibly be.
new cables with sensors and connectors attached : These cables are already being shipped in pedals for a while. It's easy to replace old cables with the new...if old customers ever need to.
Serial NumberingEvery set from S/N 0003 has a engraved serial number...but I think I did not post a picture of it yet.
There are also some other minor changes "under the hood". Owners of the first sets will notice that holes for wall spacers on this picture are beweled, while on their pedals these are not beweled. Also on this pic too :
You can see beveled screw holes on braking shaft...normaly not seen after assembly...but there happend some chipping while machining in production. Some of the first customers know about it.
It could be said that I've polished my production technique to prevent minor imperfections and remove sharp edges on many places.
SOFTWARE AND FIRMWARE UPGRADES"Brain" of the pedals got the most attention.
- BOOTLOADER : firmware is easy to upgrade from windows. When new firmware is published...customers update it in a few clicks. This proved to be important not only becouse of new features.
- Resolution is increased to full 12 bit - 4096 true positions on all axis
- MFG Configurator tool - pedals have it's own software to adjust them. I present you what is now already V1.3
Such application is made to tweak the settings of the MFG Crosswinds. More important...to abandon windows calibration completely. Once pedals are set up to your liking settings are saved within electronics of the pedals and will stay there even if you move to another PC. Software is not necessary unless you want to tweak it again or change the angle of the pedals...as software is requied to calibrate the "viewing angle" of the braking hall sensor which is changed every time you set up angle of the pedals...simply recalibrate.
I'm proud of oversampling features in the firmware as well as averaging and decimation method used to filter the noise on the axis. Customer can turn it on/off...or tweak the strenght of the filtering.
DEADZONES - some users think that there should be some small deadzone to prevent accidental braking...some think there should be none. Also some users prefer to know that pedals are perfectly at 50,00% in the middle while other admire response to the slightest imput around the center. Well...I've made it possible to tweak it to customer liking like no other manufacturer.
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You think I did nothing special there ? Or maybe you think your joystick don't have a deadzone ? Well THINK AGAIN.
Simple test...move your joystick very slowly around the middle of the axis while you look at the reading in something like DIVIEW software. You will definitely notice a small portion in the middle where joystick movement don't react in windows. EVEN ON WARTHOG !!!... That's "deadzone center" Number of positions which will not be read by windows in.In MFG Configurator you can turn it off or set it up to 40 positons. My Default is 8 positions out of 4096 - that much is almost impossible to notice by your feet;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
Also...within firmware...you can revers axis...turn centering on/off, calibrate sensors (start-stop button), view the version of the firmware and see if pedals are connected or not. More features to come :-)
Previous firmware had "autocalibration"...every time you replug pedals or turn on your PC pedals autocalibrated. That didn't work well...now I prefer that calibration is stored within electronics....but will possibly add checkbox for autocalibration if customers request.
EXTRA COST OPTIONSCAM5 centering profile = 11 eur
Cam's are explained in a PDF document that you can open here on my google public folder
https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B5U6NoLzIkn9elZlLWJ4Rmk1Rk0&usp=sharingWidth adjustment plates set = 19 eur
These are explained in youtube Video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mrSWkC_1HkFUTURE UPGRADES AND ANNOUNCMENTS - STATUSCurrent extra cost options are in stock, but I will develop and produce more of these. First to see the daylight are :
CAM7 - cam that was requested by the customers to be like CAM6 cca 30% around the center and then continue toward end of deflection without progressive increase in strenght at all. It's purely COMBAT CAM ...not realistic :-)
US FIGHTER COMBAT STYLE FOOT PLATES - a.k.a. F16...don't know yet how to call these. It's been on my priority list for a while but ever since I started producing I lack of time to make them. My own wish is to make these very soon.
- new customers will be able to choose what foot plates style to ship with pedals
- also...will be able to buy additional set with pedals
- existing customers will be able to buy a set as an extra to ship separately
GREY/BLACK Color of the pedals. Now I can make a definiteve announcment that this will happen...don't have a time frame yet...and don't know if I'll continue to produce WHITE/BLACK or not.
CUSTOM ENGRAVING EXTRA COST OPTION.
Winner of ATAG Bliss MFG Crosswind giveaway is finally in contact with me. I will make some custom engraving on the pedals for him as promised and will set the price for such work and make it possible.
MORE FIRMWARE UPGRADES....I have a few more ideas there...we'll see what is doable so I won't announce each feature...but will simply send a link to customers whenever it's ready so they can upgrade.
PEDALS AVAILABILITY
I'm still booked up front. Currently I'm booked cca 1 month up front. I'm working on it to satisfy demand and have pedals in stock so that will hopefully happen soon.
In a meanwhile...all info about ordering from my website is stil valid :
http://www.mfg.simundza.com/