Hi folks!
Hoping someone here can help point me to some sample code or the direction to go for what I'm trying to do.
I've been working on a full-scale Gemini space capsule simulator for the last year. Mechanical construction is about half done. All of the switches, dials, etc. are being duplicated. Not sure how I'm going to do the onboard computer yet but that's another story. I've made a joystick reproduction of the one found in the original capsules, and am using an Arduino Leonardo as a joystick simulator to provide those inputs to orbiter. I can also do keyboard emulation to send switch values to the program.
Where I'm having difficulty is in figuring out the best way to send values from Orbiter to the Arduino in order to drive mechanical dials. I've got dials (made using servos) for indicating altitude (during launch/reentry), acceleration, fuel levels, attitude, etc. Didn't want to use electronic MFD displays since those weren't authentic. Anyway, I've made good progress toward building all those instruments and they're controlled by Arduinos. But my weakness is in figuring out how to get the values sent over. I'm assuming I'll be using OrbConnect? Easiest thing for me would be if there is a way to send the values over a Com port since I'm familiar with Arduino serial comms. But I'm not as familiar with Windows programming. I can do VBA (like in Excel) and also C++ (as in Arduinos). I can figure out what I need to do if there is any sample code I can hack.
Has anyone seen anywhere an example of code that gets values from Orbiter and sends them over a serial interface? Really appreciate any advice that anyone can offer. Thanks!
Marc
Hoping someone here can help point me to some sample code or the direction to go for what I'm trying to do.
I've been working on a full-scale Gemini space capsule simulator for the last year. Mechanical construction is about half done. All of the switches, dials, etc. are being duplicated. Not sure how I'm going to do the onboard computer yet but that's another story. I've made a joystick reproduction of the one found in the original capsules, and am using an Arduino Leonardo as a joystick simulator to provide those inputs to orbiter. I can also do keyboard emulation to send switch values to the program.
Where I'm having difficulty is in figuring out the best way to send values from Orbiter to the Arduino in order to drive mechanical dials. I've got dials (made using servos) for indicating altitude (during launch/reentry), acceleration, fuel levels, attitude, etc. Didn't want to use electronic MFD displays since those weren't authentic. Anyway, I've made good progress toward building all those instruments and they're controlled by Arduinos. But my weakness is in figuring out how to get the values sent over. I'm assuming I'll be using OrbConnect? Easiest thing for me would be if there is a way to send the values over a Com port since I'm familiar with Arduino serial comms. But I'm not as familiar with Windows programming. I can do VBA (like in Excel) and also C++ (as in Arduinos). I can figure out what I need to do if there is any sample code I can hack.
Has anyone seen anywhere an example of code that gets values from Orbiter and sends them over a serial interface? Really appreciate any advice that anyone can offer. Thanks!
Marc