Stepper X27 + VID6606

[albafer]

Hi Joe,

I have used a mask (stencil) and my hands are my pick & place machine, let me show the process...

You have very interesting ideas. I discovered the x27 without stopper and concentrics ones few months ago but I didn't buy yet. I will investigate about the A4988 driver.

Talking about the AM and VID6606 I feel that simvim handles motors more smoothly, working with accelerations, etc. but I don't know if AM is able to work in this way or even if it will be able to do in the future.

I am discovering AM step by step and it is really amazing but I need to improve my programming skills to enjoy every corner of this software.

I apologise but I have no blog or channel. If you don't mind, I'll show my progress on the forum.

Regards,
Carlos

[jph]

Hi Carlos, sorry for the late response I was not about yesterday.
I must confess your P&P machine (The Mk. 1 human hands ) are extremely accurate !.
A mask/stencil is so good. Quality work. It also looks like lead free solder ? - apart from the 2 x 0 ohm resistors and the through holes which seem to have been added later using leaded ?
What are you using for the flow process ? - a hot plate or oven and then solder the through holes by hand ?
I am really looking forward to your other work.
Joe

[albafer]

Hi Joe,

You are a really expert about soldering matter. You are absolutely right about everything.

The solder paste is lead free, but the solder wire for manual soldering has leaded. It is very easy to use the stencil for the SMT component and then all you need is a tweezer and patience.

I have used a hot air station and the result is not bad.

Talking about other works... I have redesigned the board for the Shahada FMC and adapted it to the hispapanels panel and the result was really very good (I can show it to you if you want), but since I have discovered AM, I think the best option should be to redesign again to have an AM option or even readapt the software without any hardware change.

My next work will be a multi radio module, the idea is to have COM, NAV, ADF, etc, in a few buttons and only 1 (dual) controller. My original idea is to use 7 segment displays, but I'm checking the Arduino libraries and, maybe, I will change the 7 segments displays for a small display (even tactile).

Carlos

[jph]

HI Carlos,
No, I am no expert , Just far too many years working with electronics in general. nearly 50 years ago I used to design and make all my own boards (started on TAG boards in the military - no PCBs at all), then eventually had boards made but nowadays I must confess I can't be bothered (I am too idle )as there is too much work involved haha . I tend to work with radio electronics more than anything at the moment. Mainly repair work on Ham Radio equipment.
It is really good to see others doing such superb work though and I really enjoy seeing the results of their endeavours. I wish these options for CAD/CAM had been available even 30 years ago !

Yes, I would be really interested in seeing your FMC board. The HISPA FMC is very good. There is also the CSP unit - https://www.cockpitsimparts.co.uk/23-fmc-cdu-
Cockpit sim parts do really nice stuff as does Minolo at HispaPanels. CSP don't do an MCP though which I am surprised at. I have the Hispa 737 MCP and EIFS panels but they are still on the shelf . One day...............
Too many transceivers at the moment.
I think the only Hispa unit I do not like is the radio panel. It is completely wrong and looks out of place.
The acceleration you mentioned is definitely something I would love to see implemented. Using the X27, for example, can lead to missed pulses due to lack of acceleration capabilities to overcome the inertia. The datasheet for the X27 recommends a slight acceleration up to speed for this very reason.
When you get time maybe take a look at simmessageport which is part of AM.
Basically, you can do anything that can be done on an Arduino and link this to AM for full control. As an example, there is a lovely arduino library called 'accelstepper' - this is totally amazing - search accelstepper to see what I mean. simmessageport from AM is also an Arduino library so you can just add it to your arduino sketch in the same way as any other lib. I did some tests with it but it was quite few years ago it was excellent. Using messageport you can basically do ANYTHING that an arduino can do and add this to AM via the messageport link and functions. So anything that is not natively supported in AM can be used by this custom 'catch all' feature.
Joe

[albafer]

Hi Joe,

maybe, you worked at the beginning of electronics in the world, absolutely amazing!

I will try to use those libraries and improve my design, let me try and I will show you

My FMC...

I am working on modifying the buttons to improve the feel and appearance.
Carlos

[jph]

Hi Carlos,
Great work (again )
That is the Hispa unit yes ?
What is the size and resolution of the display you are using with the driver board ?
Also, what exactly is the Pi Zero doing ?. is is running the full FMC logic ?. Is it running your own custom program or a commercially available program ?.

Also, what are you planning for the buttons ? soft touch etc ? - are you making them yourself or having them made ?

I was considering using a PC with a triple output GPU to drive small units like this using the actual sim aircraft displays as popouts hence driving the HDMI to LCD converter directly. I happen to have 4 (or more ?) spare PC's with Nvidia GPU's. I have at least 2 GTX970 gpus and also 2 GTX660 gpus so each machine with them can drive 4 individual HDMI units. The PC's are simply surplus Lenovo corporate units with upgraded PSUs and processors. All overkill for AM or AP but I already had a stack of GPUs and the machines along with the upgrades were cheap. Even after accounting for new 550W PSUs and 3470s processors and SSDs they cost me less than 200 euros per machine. The GPU's were extra but I already had those.
There are still many around on Ebay. My units are Lenovo Edge 72 TOWER (they must be tower, not small form factor) as otherwise standard parts will not fit such as PSU and GPUs etc. All the internals of the lenovo towers are industry standard so can be replaced with 'standard' parts. They are advertised now for about 70 euros. A superb machine. Anyway, I digress
Just another option for driving HDMI screens, but, It will be very interesting to see how your unit is driven ( as per the Pi Zero etc)
Joe

[albafer]

Hi Joe,

It's a mix between Hispapanels and Shahada's design. You can see this incredible development on his blog (https://blog.shahada.abubakar.net/?s=73 ... +pcb+board). I only adapted both ideas in the same board.

This design is based on a Raspi as a brain and manage all the button and is connected with the Xplane with a plugin. The result is really good and works really well.

As I said you, my new upgrade will be the buttons. I'm lookinf for 2 diferent improves:
1. Increase the realism with a diferente shape.
2. Increase the realism with a diferent feel when you push them.

Talking about the screen, I'm using a 5 inch display (ZJ050NA) with HDMI interface and the resolution is 640x480.

With this system, the FMC is completely autonomus and connects via wifi. Easy, clean and cheap.

Carlos