Racing simulator button box

Dev Blog 5

I decided to switch from Dahl DDC to the Arduino Joystick library for ease of use and having the possibility to use it outside of simhub.

I 3D printed the enclousre and it fits without any problems. All holes are perfect size for the buttons and screws and the spacing for the aluminium extrusion mount is correct. Exess pace for the components is also a feature to fit the pico and all wires.

Dev Blog 4

I printed the body and front plate however i accidently ran out of fillament with about a hour left😑 in a 10 hour print.

Optimised the body to print faster and use less material also fixed issues with the front plate with the screw holes and holes for rotary switch and square buttons.

Time to print V2.

Dev blog 3

Cad model is finalized and ready for 3d printing, next i will make a wiring diagram and 3d print then solder all connections and use Dahl Design DDC paired with simhub to turn the raspberry pi pico into a hid device over usb.

Next steps : 3d print enclousre, flash pi with code, wiring diagram, solder connections and assembly.

Dev Blog 2

Layout finalised and rough 3d model made.
Next i need to figure out how i will mount it exactly to my 4080 aluminium extrusion.

Dev Blog 1

When thinking of doing a new project i alwaus try to think of 2 things : a problem and a way to solve it.
The What Why and How always come in mind when brainstorming ideas. A good project is always the best foundation but you also have to have an idea how you will overcome said problem.

I found a problem and that was in my racing simulator where i didnt have enough inputs on my wheel and had to go over to my keyboard by my desk each time i wanted to do something such as press escape or connect and disconect my trailer in euro truck simulator.

First thing i did was find the needed hardware for something like this so rotary encoders switches and buttons come in mind. I had to choose what inputs i was needing the most so when i chose those inputs i picked what hardware would be best for that. I ended up with 4 push buttons a 2 way switch and a 8 way rotary encoder.

Next i made a blueprint on paper and measured all mounting holes and made a prototype drawring to see how the layout will look. With there being 14 total inputs i also have to choose a microcontroller and i think i will choose the rp-pico for this task.

Next step : cad design in onshape.