Thinking about starting a project...

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Hi all...

Apologies if I've been quiet... My project / thoughts aren't dead... Last week i was on annual leave so we spent half of it trying to sort out my little boys room & the end of the week we spent a few days down in Wiltshire visiting Longleat Safari Park...

4 days back in work then off upto Newcastle tomorrow night for 2 days for the Rugby League Magic Weekend at St James's Park...

I still have plenty of question to throw in the ring if anyone fancies answering them...???

Eric
 
Well, yesterday I sat down at the bench to assemble the contact wafer onto the prototype switch mechanism (it isnt difficult), but other interests elbowed in, and apart from tidying a pile of bits into one box no progress was made on the switch.

JimB
 
Lol... I know that feeling!!! I'm currently sourcing other parts like "common" switches & buttons in any case so there's absolutely no rush!!!

In the case of an arduino, do you need one arduino per switch / button, or can a single arduino control multiple items???
 
ntypeman said:
In the case of an arduino, do you need one arduino per switch / button, or can a single arduino control multiple items???
Click to expand...
Many sizes of Ardino.. But the micro ( the one I'm favoring) has quite a few IO's! 24 I think.. so that won't be a problem.
 
I suppose a good start is the switch from JimB.. I didn't see my spare micro when I looked, but another won't be an issue to get.

Once I have a board I'll test it out with a "simulated switch" to make sure windows see's it. Then before I send you the driver I'll make sure all bases are covered...
 
Thanks Ian...

So right now, there's nothing I need to try & order???

Whilst I'm on & talking to you, my head is doing a zillion mph regarding other possibilities... A speedometer is up there on the list... what sort of motor would it take??? A potentiometer or a stepper motor??? Apologies if I don't make much sense, I'm not an electronics expert!!!

Eric
 
Speedo's are driven by servo motors... Depending on your accuracy determines the price... I played with RC servo's and they are not really repeatable.. .However! I did mess with PWM and not PCM.. Although PWM gives a decent output, the space ratio needed to drive a servo accurately needs more resolution...

It still not an issue, but I don't have one to hand.. I managed 20 bit resolution on an RC aeroplane back a while since... It worked tons better..

The trouble we'll be getting into is, the joystick driver I'll be playing with doesn't receive data from the PC, I do know that force feedback joysticks do, but the driver I was playing with doesn't cover that..

I'll look into it though...
 
Okay.. Looked into... It appears the same guy who brought us the Joystick library has another library with force feedback..

I have a force feedback joystick... I'll see if I can tap into it!!!
 
Ian...

If it helps, have. Look at this thread that I started on the Dovetail Games Forum:

Output From Ts...

Hi all... does anyone know if it it possible for TS to provide an output for an external source??? By that i mean would you be able to theoretically...
forums.dovetailgames.com

It may help, or may not???

Eric
 
The main thing I need to do is extract speed from the game... However!! I don't have it, so I have been looking to the forums for ideas.. Nada as yet.. The SimHub you posted gets the rumbles from the sound card.. We could simulate the speed, dependent on the switch, but will not account for uphill / downhill... How do the brakes even work on a train?
 
Ian...

theres a controller called a "Rail Driver" which works with TS... Its a generic type cab controller but is based on an American locomotive cab / controls and not really what I'm after...

On it is a digital speedo that reads out the speed you are travelling in game, so presumarably there's a way of obtaining the speed readout somehow...???
 
Last edited:
Have a look at this info and the package linked to in it:
**broken link removed**

Dropbox

www.dropbox.com

It's supposed to add an interface for external controllers such as joysticks - and I believe joystick & keyboard emulation are standard Arduino libraries?

Plus, it gives a data output and there is also an arduino program in there to get that data and allow it to be displayed - the speed etc. ??
 
Hi RJ looking at that code it has replacement DLL's to output the desired effects... A tad more in depth than I want to explore..

I was going to ask the OP to plug a force feedback joystick into the sim to see if it rumbles with speed!! Otherwise it has to be totally notch simulated..
 
Ian Rogers said:
I was going to ask the OP to plug a force feedback joystick into the sim to see if it rumbles with speed!! Otherwise it has to be totally notch simulated..
Click to expand...
Unfortunately I don't possess such an item as I'm not "that sort of gamer" who uses such devices... although saying that I do have a usb xbox controller... would that work???
 
Should do.. Xbox controllers have force feedback.. and are PC compatible..
 
Ian...

Re the above quote, I had this reply off the designer of the program... Does it make any sense to you???

"Hi Eric

You haven't given yourself an easy project there
In order for your power handle to talk to my program, it need to appear in windows as a joystick. You can do this using a Arduino Leonard or Pro Micro and the Arduino Joystick library.
You could also convert a ready made joystick that has anologue inputs too.

My program will detect the loco you are driving and set itself up with the releveant notches (if any), in the case of the 87 it is
Off 0.0
Run Down 0.286
Notch Down 0.5
Hold 0.6
Notch Up 0.7
Run Up 1.0

Again my program automatically converts your joystick range to a value between 0 and 1 which is what TS expects.

With regards to connecting up external gauges, most people use either stepper motors or servo's to convert the gauges or they use digital displays or small lcd displays again with a Arduino controlling them.

So in a nutshell, all you need to do is connect your controller/gauges to a Arduino, modify the example Arduino code I have supplied with my program to get them talking to my program and you are done."

I'm still trying to get my head around the fact of do you need a joystick or a switch...???

Eric
 
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