The ARDUINO
UNO and ARDUINO
DUEMILANOVE Cards
The
Arduino Duemilanove or Uno Card,,,,
The
Arduino Duemilanove/Uno Card is a “wee brother” of the mega card ,,, a lot cheaper ,,, about US$ 25 - $30.
They
are available all over the world in electronic or robotic shops.
Before
you get confused, the Duemilanove and the Uno cards are exactly the same,,
they just use different USB drivers.
As
bought it has 14 in/out pins (of which, 6 can be PWM if required) and 6 analog
in pins (which can be used as digital pins as well).
You
can change the 6 analog-in pins to digital pins (That makes it 20 pins in
total) and that is what I have done.
If
you are “talking to it” via the USB cable,,, then the in/out pins drop to 18
because Pins “0” and “1” are shared
with the USB cable.
You
program it via the USB cable and use it via the USB cable. No power supply is
required.
I
normally use the Arduino Mega card but have produced this page as a “tempter”
for some-one starting out that has one of these cards.
All
in all a great wee card for putting into sub-assemblies that don’t need a lot
of in/outs or the complete interface to a modest cockpit.
Or
More
info on these cards at… http://arduino.cc/en/Main/Hardware
Software
for them ….
As
noted in my “Projects” page, I’m have been doing this for my cockpit and
haven’t really thought about what other people would want.
BUT
I have thought I should do a basic setup and freely share it. ,,, So here it is ,,,, This project would be
suitable for a starter cockpit or a basic setup that can grow from small
beginnings.
What’s
needed ?????
An
Arduino Duemilanove card, or an Arduino Uno or Arduino Mega card. (It will work
on any of these cards)
Install
and have a play with the Arduino software (Freeware)
Get
to understand what a PDE file is and how to load them into the brains of the
Arduino.
Hardware
,,,,
The
card. (Obviously ! ! ! )
11 LED’s
(I used the largest ones about 10 mm across)
2
push button switch’s. (For the spoilers)
1
toggle switch (For the gear)
3
old meters that suit. (Or just use LED’s if you haven’t got any meters)
Some
resistors.
1
piezo sounder. (A cheapie low voltage one.. NOT a buzzer)
Wire
it as so ,,,,, (Thanks Tinycad for the
wonderful CAD program)
You can download the above picture here ,,,, http://www.jimspage.co.nz/wiring_uno1.jpg
Hint
No.1,,,
I
didn’t use fancy plugs etc ,,, just
basically plugged the Resistor required straight into the sockets. (After
trimming)
If
your resistors are “fatter” than the ones I used then just bend the end that
plugs in, into a tight step to one side. (Don’t go out wider than the body of
the resistor though as it could short to the one beside it.)
Putting
the Arduino into a small high-walled box helps this physically or, once its all
together, hot-glue all the resistors together to make a “plug”.
Sooo
,,,,
Yes
the pictures show a mega card.
Hint
No.2
When
things get a bit “bigger” there isn’t enough GND pins for all the cables coming
from different directions.
To overcome
this I use a socket from an old computer cable, short them altogether and plug
that into a GND socket on the board. You can see this in the bottom right
picture, in the bottom right corner of the box. I used a cable tie to “strap it” to the box. Or you could use hot
glue.
NOW
I have heaps of GND sockets.
Hint
No.3
For
the end of the wires that didn’t have a resistor, I used the same method but
used the off-cuts from the previous resistors and covered the solder join with
heat-shrink to insulate them from one-an-other.
Here
are some pictures from my “In the house
flying setup” ,,,, (Where I do most of my flying and programming)
These
pictures clearly show the test Duemilonove (that would normally be hidden in
the panel) in its box, the connection method and also the extra GND socket.
This
picture shows what the Duemilonove is driving ,,,, Bordered with yellow ,,,
Then
install the my software ,,,,,
Link2fs_Arduino_uno1 ,,,,,,
(I
see in the green box, there shows 231 ,,,
I was obviously flying at 231 feet above ground when the screen grab was
taken)
Tick
the box’s of what you want to use and you are away.
Once
you have saved a “profile” you only need to click that profile and the big
yellow button and your away.
The in’s and the out’s …
The
choice of the in/outs was a nightmare
In
the end, the in/outs were chosen to assist in the fun of flying and to improve
your flying skills so systems (except the gear) were dropped off the list.
Autopilot
,, APU,, and similar stuff were considered “systems” and with the small number
of pins on the Duemilanove/uno, it just didn’t make sense to go there.
The
gear was a “must have” amongst just about everyone.
The
alarms will catch you out when your flying habits get “sloppy”
The
spoiler/air brake was a “must have” for me with my type of flying,, so I
actually pulled rank on that one.
The
meters being there speak for themselves.
The
peizo adds another dimension to FSX flying with the sound coming from your own
panel and for other reasons. (Over-speed flaps etc)
link2fs_
Arduino_Uno1
This
works, as downloaded, with the Arduino Duemilanove card and also the Arduino
Uno card.
The
PDE file is included.
And,,
YES ,,, this will work with an Arduino Mega card ,, you just need to change the
pin numbers in my software and the PDE file to suit.
You
can download the link2fs_ Arduino_Uno1.zip
here ,,,, www.jimspage.co.nz/link2fs_arduino_uno1.zip
This
was built with FSX SP1 and XP32 ,, but
I have included in the Zip file, win 64 compatibility stuff. (Vista and Win7)
FSUIPC
is NOT required ,,, Just FSX and a
spare USB port.
It will
NOT work with FS9 ,, only FSX.
Summary
….
Think
about it ,,,, Put a card on a sub-assembly ,,,
only 1 cable going to it (a USB) ,,, no ribbon cable ,,,
,,no
power cable ,,, no power supply ,,, testable by itself during construction.
Simply
just plug the card into a USB port on your computer (Or a powered USB hub) and
your away.
Any
changes,,, You just pull out the wire (or resistor) from the socket “hole”.
This
is NOT a system to replace expensive cards and the necessary learning curve of
programming them ,,, it is a quick and
easy
“buy a card,, wire some things to it ,,, load the software ,, tick some boxes
,, and your away flying.”
I
don’t know of any other card for in/out stuff that is so cheap and easy to get.
Any other cards are dearer and most require FSUIPC ,,, more cost.
I
recently spotted in a forum ,, a “home brew” card for 8 LED “outs” only and the
board plus some main components added up to US$20,, plus you needed a USB
serial converter ,,, Hells bells ,,, the Arduino Duemilanove are only about US$25 and way more versatile ,,, AND
you don’t have to build it !!!.
The
above program will probably be the only one I am going to do for the smaller
Arduino cards… I produced it to get
people who were “thinking” about it, to give it a try.
I
use Arduino Mega cards as there are far more pins to do things with and any
other release would be using them. (If I release anything at all)
NOTE:
For the simmers not conversant with the above cards ,,, These cards are not made
in their “raw” state for simmers.
You
need to program the board itself with code (a PDE file) and of course you need
to have software on your computer that
talks to the board AND to FSX.
Support….
The
same as all my other stuff,,,
Use
at your own risk.
There
is NO support.
This
is what I done ,,, It worked for me.
If
it don’t work for you, then go and try something else.
Dated 19 March 2011
