6 ms·

Kerbal Control Panel

204 points by jsnell 10y ago

Animats 10y ago
That's a very nice piece of work, especially for the methods used. If you want to make a front panel without going out and buying a large format laser printer, there's Front Panel Express. All they do is make metal plates with holes and lettering. The lettering is engraved and powder coated. I've used their service, and they do a nice job.
- Luc 10y ago
  In Europe that would be Schaeffer in Germany. They do the complete housing as well. Very nice. In fact it seems they were involved in setting up Front Panel Express: http://www.schaeffer-ag.de/en/company/company_history/ http://www.schaeffer-ag.de/en/company/company_history/
  - semi-extrinsic 10y ago
    Yes, if you try to visit the Front Panel Express site from Europe, you are redirected to Schaeffer's site with the same service.
- Malic 10y ago
  I've used Front Panel Express's services as well - +1 - they really do a nice job.
RickS 10y ago
Google cache, since the site seems to be buckling under load: https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:JEozcOqy2J0J:www.sgtnoodle.com/projects/kerbal-control-panel/+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:JEozcO...
- aninhumer 10y ago
  Unfortunately that doesn't pick up the images which are half of the content here.
  - petepete 10y ago
    The images appear to load for me.
    - aninhumer 10y ago
      What I mean is that the images are still being served from the original server. They load eventually, but very slowly for me.
kuyan 10y ago
Here's another mirror, as Google's cache doesn't display the images. https://archive.fo/bRaGJ https://archive.fo/bRaGJ
sam4ritan 10y ago
on one hand, i would say 'some people have too much free time' on the other hand, i DO say 'i know what i am gonna spend my weekend on'
- TeMPOraL 10y ago
  > on one hand, i would say 'some people have too much free time' I'd say, that's why free time is awesome, and we need much more of it.
satyajeet23 10y ago
Thats amazing! Love the design, programming can be improved I think.
throwaway7767 10y ago
That's a really cool project. The choice of joystick is disappointing though - an arcade stick? Those are digital only, usually either 4- or 8-way. Kerbal would be better controlled with a real analog joystick. But I guess the game probably doesn't support analog input.
- moron4hire 10y ago
  No, it supports analog input. I have to say, though, if you're building a custom digital controller, it's usually easier to just crack open a cheap USB keyboard and repurpose the PCB. They are small, support lots of buttons, and already have drivers on your PC.
  - sandermvanvliet 10y ago
    Now that's a clever idea, never thought of that.
    - moron4hire 10y ago
      The pin-out on every PCB is different. I've even seen two apparently identical keyboards have completely different pin-outs. But it's not very hard to figure out the mapping. Just open up a text editor and test out combining two different pins. Usually, there are three "long" pins on the ends of the PCB and about 30 short pins in the middle. You combine a long and a short pin to make a key code. This is where N-key rollover problems come from, so if you want your controller to support multiple button presses, you'll have to be creative in your selection, which means you will only be able to use it in apps where you have arbitrary control over key bindings.
  - AstroJetson 10y ago
    Or use this device https://www.adafruit.com/product/1535 https://www.adafruit.com/product/1535 It lets you put 12 switches on it and then acts like a keyboard. I've used it for a couple of custom input projects and it works well, nothing to do on the PC. Using a digital joystick would then be the way to go. I like his choice of that input device. But, like Quequau, I've never been able to get into Kerbal. I guess I could go whip a panel up, but at the end of the day not sure that it would be enough to catch my interest.
Quequau 10y ago
I never could get into KSP. I really love this project, though I have the feeling I'd spend the time, energy, and effort building something similar and get right back to the point where I just can't get into the game.
- munchbunny 10y ago
  What about the game did you find lacking?
  - Mithaldu 10y ago
    It's not about something being lacking. I adore KSP as well, but i can't get myself to play it. Just not my slice of cake.
    - Quequau 10y ago
      well answered!
- jscheel 10y ago
  Their osx support killed it for me. I don't have a gaming computer anymore, and trying to run it on my mbp ran into nothing but terrible performance and constant crashes. I would switch to the playstation version, but I don't want to buy the game again, when I already purchased it and it doesn't run well.
  - Bartweiss 10y ago
    When was the last time you tried it? The OS X version is still a bit slow to load, but it's far better than it was a year or two ago. I get basically no crashes and fairly reasonable performance these days, so it might be worth another look.
    - pavel_lishin 10y ago
      I get performance that's largely indistinguishable from my desktop - although, I will admit that I only played on my mbp maybe 5% of my total play-time.
ferongr 10y ago
Ironically, the controller itself looks more sturdy than the wobbly, jello ships in KSP proper (doesn't help that Unity's physics engine chokes on KSP's complexity).
- merpnderp 10y ago
  To be fair, I'm not sure there is a physics engine that can handle KSP in real time.
paulftw 10y ago
A guy at our makerspace in Sydney built a couple times larger system with working seven segment speed & fuel indicators, two joysticks, etc. That was last year, I think the project kept growing since. Here's a demo video from last year's Makerfaire: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCuNyiseJ5g&feature=youtu.be&t=110 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCuNyiseJ5g&feature=youtu.be... edit: grammar
Erwin 10y ago
I love that solid hardware. It reminds me of this unique Xbox game that came with an extremely large controller: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steel_Battalion https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steel_Battalion -- 2 joysticks and 40 buttons. $200 for the game and controller.
Something1234 10y ago
I think I saw something similar in one of the Linux magazines in Barnes and Noble like a couple of years ago. I wonder if they're the same thing. Still a cool project.

204 points by jsnell 10y ago

That's a very nice piece of work, especially for the methods used. If you want to make a front panel without going out and buying a large format laser printer, there's Front Panel Express. All they do is make metal plates with holes and lettering. The lettering is engraved and powder coated. I've used their service, and they do a nice job.

Luc 10y ago
In Europe that would be Schaeffer in Germany. They do the complete housing as well. Very nice. In fact it seems they were involved in setting up Front Panel Express: http://www.schaeffer-ag.de/en/company/company_history/ http://www.schaeffer-ag.de/en/company/company_history/
- semi-extrinsic 10y ago
  Yes, if you try to visit the Front Panel Express site from Europe, you are redirected to Schaeffer's site with the same service.
Malic 10y ago
I've used Front Panel Express's services as well - +1 - they really do a nice job.

RickS 10y ago

Google cache, since the site seems to be buckling under load: https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:JEozcOqy2J0J:www.sgtnoodle.com/projects/kerbal-control-panel/+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:JEozcO...

aninhumer 10y ago
Unfortunately that doesn't pick up the images which are half of the content here.
- petepete 10y ago
  The images appear to load for me.
  - aninhumer 10y ago
    What I mean is that the images are still being served from the original server. They load eventually, but very slowly for me.

kuyan 10y ago

Here's another mirror, as Google's cache doesn't display the images. https://archive.fo/bRaGJ https://archive.fo/bRaGJ

sam4ritan 10y ago

on one hand, i would say 'some people have too much free time' on the other hand, i DO say 'i know what i am gonna spend my weekend on'

TeMPOraL 10y ago
> on one hand, i would say 'some people have too much free time' I'd say, that's why free time is awesome, and we need much more of it.

satyajeet23 10y ago

Thats amazing! Love the design, programming can be improved I think.

throwaway7767 10y ago

That's a really cool project. The choice of joystick is disappointing though - an arcade stick? Those are digital only, usually either 4- or 8-way. Kerbal would be better controlled with a real analog joystick. But I guess the game probably doesn't support analog input.

moron4hire 10y ago
No, it supports analog input. I have to say, though, if you're building a custom digital controller, it's usually easier to just crack open a cheap USB keyboard and repurpose the PCB. They are small, support lots of buttons, and already have drivers on your PC.
- sandermvanvliet 10y ago
  Now that's a clever idea, never thought of that.
  - moron4hire 10y ago
    The pin-out on every PCB is different. I've even seen two apparently identical keyboards have completely different pin-outs. But it's not very hard to figure out the mapping. Just open up a text editor and test out combining two different pins. Usually, there are three "long" pins on the ends of the PCB and about 30 short pins in the middle. You combine a long and a short pin to make a key code. This is where N-key rollover problems come from, so if you want your controller to support multiple button presses, you'll have to be creative in your selection, which means you will only be able to use it in apps where you have arbitrary control over key bindings.
- AstroJetson 10y ago
  Or use this device https://www.adafruit.com/product/1535 https://www.adafruit.com/product/1535 It lets you put 12 switches on it and then acts like a keyboard. I've used it for a couple of custom input projects and it works well, nothing to do on the PC. Using a digital joystick would then be the way to go. I like his choice of that input device. But, like Quequau, I've never been able to get into Kerbal. I guess I could go whip a panel up, but at the end of the day not sure that it would be enough to catch my interest.

Quequau 10y ago

I never could get into KSP. I really love this project, though I have the feeling I'd spend the time, energy, and effort building something similar and get right back to the point where I just can't get into the game.

munchbunny 10y ago
What about the game did you find lacking?
- Mithaldu 10y ago
  It's not about something being lacking. I adore KSP as well, but i can't get myself to play it. Just not my slice of cake.
  - Quequau 10y ago
    well answered!
jscheel 10y ago
Their osx support killed it for me. I don't have a gaming computer anymore, and trying to run it on my mbp ran into nothing but terrible performance and constant crashes. I would switch to the playstation version, but I don't want to buy the game again, when I already purchased it and it doesn't run well.
- Bartweiss 10y ago
  When was the last time you tried it? The OS X version is still a bit slow to load, but it's far better than it was a year or two ago. I get basically no crashes and fairly reasonable performance these days, so it might be worth another look.
  - pavel_lishin 10y ago
    I get performance that's largely indistinguishable from my desktop - although, I will admit that I only played on my mbp maybe 5% of my total play-time.

ferongr 10y ago

Ironically, the controller itself looks more sturdy than the wobbly, jello ships in KSP proper (doesn't help that Unity's physics engine chokes on KSP's complexity).

merpnderp 10y ago
To be fair, I'm not sure there is a physics engine that can handle KSP in real time.

paulftw 10y ago

A guy at our makerspace in Sydney built a couple times larger system with working seven segment speed & fuel indicators, two joysticks, etc. That was last year, I think the project kept growing since. Here's a demo video from last year's Makerfaire: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCuNyiseJ5g&feature=youtu.be&t=110 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCuNyiseJ5g&feature=youtu.be... edit: grammar

Erwin 10y ago

I love that solid hardware. It reminds me of this unique Xbox game that came with an extremely large controller: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steel_Battalion https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steel_Battalion -- 2 joysticks and 40 buttons. $200 for the game and controller.

Something1234 10y ago

I think I saw something similar in one of the Linux magazines in Barnes and Noble like a couple of years ago. I wonder if they're the same thing. Still a cool project.