Control potentiometer hookup

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dbrunone
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Joined: Mon Dec 09, 2013 2:36 am

Control potentiometer hookup

Post by dbrunone » Wed Jul 25, 2018 8:03 pm

I'm contemplating the prospect of finding an old cockpit section and turning it into a simulator....tons of good info on here, but I'm hung up on the concept of adapting the actual glider controls to joystick inputs. It looks like the best route is to get a Leo Bodnar interface board and hook up potentiometers to it, actuated by the spoiler/flaps/pedals/gear....could someone post pictures of how they physically got the controls to move a potentiometer, such as what types you used, etc? How did you do the control stick (or did you just use a stock joystick there)?

I think I could figure out the electrical side but I would like to benefit from someone's experience on the mechanical side if possible. Thanks in advance

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wickid
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Re: Control potentiometer hookup

Post by wickid » Wed Jul 25, 2018 8:47 pm

I used magnetic angle meters from an electronic throttle control used by german car makers. They are more expensive but do not loose calibration. If you use regular potentiometer they will loose calibration after a while.

All hooked up to a POKeys IO board. Very easy graphic interface. No programming required. The angle sensors just need 5v, ground and signal.

How to connect very much depends on your cockpit. Ours is an ASK 21 and had the original controls still in the fuselage. We just hooked them up to those.
PH-1504, KOE

dbrunone
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Joined: Mon Dec 09, 2013 2:36 am

Re: Control potentiometer hookup

Post by dbrunone » Thu Jul 26, 2018 9:51 pm

Could you post some links for what you used (pokeys and the angle sensors)? Also and pics of the ASK21 interface to the sensors?

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wickid
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Re: Control potentiometer hookup

Post by wickid » Thu Jul 26, 2018 10:28 pm

Pokeys:

https://www.poscope.com/product/pokeys57u/

Sim:

Image

Overview of the I/O and electricity supply to the sensors. This is hidden behind the rear instrument panel

Image

Image

Aileron sensor:

Image

Airbrake sensor and our construction to simulate locking and resistance:

Image

Rudder and elevator sensors. Rudder force is done by elastic bands, the elevator by springs under the front seat.

Image

I can't find the exact make and model of the sensors. But it is something like this (but then a 5 volt version):

https://www.conrad.com/ce/en/product/18 ... e?ref=list
PH-1504, KOE

dbrunone
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Joined: Mon Dec 09, 2013 2:36 am

Re: Control potentiometer hookup

Post by dbrunone » Fri Jul 27, 2018 2:36 pm

Thank you this is great! You put a lot of work into that, especially the airbrake mechanism. So it looks like the sensors only rotate through a small arc, maybe 90 degrees or so? I assume you don't have issues with accuracy (movement resolution) with the small arc?

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wickid
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Re: Control potentiometer hookup

Post by wickid » Fri Jul 27, 2018 3:06 pm

dbrunone wrote:
Fri Jul 27, 2018 2:36 pm
You put a lot of work into that, especially the airbrake mechanism.
Those are mostly spare parts from a K8 and K6 we had lying around. :lol:
dbrunone wrote:
Fri Jul 27, 2018 2:36 pm
So it looks like the sensors only rotate through a small arc, maybe 90 degrees or so? I assume you don't have issues with accuracy (movement resolution) with the small arc?

No problem at all. Controls are smooth when flying with the sim. Our sensors are 120 degree models. The sensors give an output of 0 to 5 volt from 0 to 120 degrees. Ofcourse you want to get as close as possible to the 120 degrees as possible. But because of place constraints in the fuselage we get a signal between about 1 and 3,5 volt which is more than enough to get the correct calibration.

The setup trough PoKeys is really easy. Just connect the output (0~5 volt) to one of the analog ports. You can check the input voltages trough the software. The board than acts as a joystick for windows. Calibration is done trough the standard windows joystick calibration tool.
PH-1504, KOE

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