Category: Dropship

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch/?v=A4CeMiI81ak]

So the last piece of the puzzle was acquired this week – a two-axis USB inclinometer.  The USB port runs in serial so with a little help from CodeProject I was able to create a method that reads and converts the 8-bit outputs for X and Y and stores them in the equivalent of a DirectX Vector2 struct.

Serial Inclinometer Source Code (C++)

I also have a functional demo app for the joystick using DirectInput (in the SDK) so now I have to make the main set of algorithms that take an X and Y angle from the joystick and adjust the platform as quickly as possible to match what is set in the joystick.  We don’t want to hit the cushions on the actuators so there will be some playing around with the ramps and algorithms which will be further modulated in the future based on increased weight/decreased reaction time.

The inclinometer is more intuitive feedback (IMHO) than 4 position sensors on the actuators which, in the end, actually costs more than this little inclinometer because you need another A/D converter and calibrations anyway.

I found out the hard way that helicopter and military aviation headsets and helmets with integrated headsets use different impedance electronics than general aviation.

I found an HS-1 on eBay for pretty cheap.  I took apart the SPH-4 and rewired it… which went really well but made me sad because the guy I bought the SPH-4 from took really good care of it!

Finally got the roll actuator tracks cut and the framework built to support them.  I will be so happy when I am done working under the trailer!  If you are cutting 2″ square steel pipe you must have an angle grinder with a cutting wheel.

I placed the main cylinder and cut the deck boards around the pitch actuator channels.  Next step is to secure the main cylinder and cut some channels for the roll actuators.

My boss has had a long-standing program to encourage prompt meeting attendance – if you are late, you owe a buck.  Once the pool grows to a C-note we donate it to a worthy cause (last time it went to Jack’s Heart Fund).  This time my boss made an online ballot using our Encompass product and asked us all to cast a vote.  He added me to the ballot because of this project and I was just tickled.  To the amazement of us both, I won!

I am deeply appreciative of the support from my coworkers and friends in the development team.  I promised to post what I purchased with those funds and you will find it very fitting – it is a cylinder to replace the center column which will hold the majority of the weight of the enclosure (approximately 1600 pounds) and allows for up to 16 inches of heave.

I think it would be great as a group to take the simulator to Children’s Mercy (one of our clients) when it is finished.  The feeling is priceless!

I took the double-cardan to a local machine shop and they removed the extra 2″ steel pipe off the end, tapped and threaded a hole into the bottom of the yoke for a 3/4-16 bolt and then welded a flange on there that I had bought as a makeshift spring perch.  After I got it back I painted it blue… 😉

We had a successful mission to Texas and back.  We even received a compliment about the trailer from a toll operator in Oklahoma!  The mission was not without casualties – somewhere in the first half of the trip back we lost one of the two ramps (we think it was a defective locking pin because we have a picture of it properly locked when we departed).

I had to open a section of fence and turn it into a gate so we can move the trailer again more easily later.

Brand new 2009 model year deckover trailer just east of Dallas.  I will be accompanied by my friend Philip who had no hesitation when I called and asked him to join me out of the blue!  State Farm agent is coming out over my lunch break to have me add it to my policy.

I got some time to assemble the platform framing for the enclosure (foreground) and the frame for the motion base that will sit on the concrete pad (background).  My son came to inspect my work.  The universal joint looks awfully small compared to the platform.