Flight Sim Single Rotary Knob Switch with Pushbutton

thingiverse

PLEASE POST YOUR MAKES AND COMMENTS TO MAKE THIS BETTER AND LET ME KNOW OTHER THINGS YOU MIGHT WANT ME TO MAKE!! This device is way to emulate a Flight Sim Single Knob Rotary Encoder with out an encoder. Use it for Flight Sim 2020, X Plane, Prepar3D or any flight simulator. I have to say I am pretty proud of this design. You can mount it with the existing supplied threaded shaft and nut, just like any knob/switch, or you can merge it in your own design of a control panel print. If I say so myself this little thing is pretty cool. No Arduino, or encoder switch needed. But you get the real feel and functionality. This print uses 6mm micro tactile switches to serve the functions of the encoder. It works very well and it is really nice to have knobs where there are knobs and not push buttons. I spent A LOT of time and many revisions on this design to make it as efficient and realistic as possible without the expense and hassle of a full blown encoder. I have to say this really gives you the feel of knobs and digital encoder without the PITA and expense. FUNCTIONS: Rotary knob plus a push button if desired. If not I included a back plate with no switch holder. The shaft does not go round and round but you forget about that once you start using it. You turn and hold to have the knob continuity increase/decease value, then pulse the knob to do single digits. Altimeter example: You then program the knob to change altitude. You then can use the push button to assign altitude as some jets do. EASY! The design takes into account the thickness of your panel to mount or you can use as is not mounted in a panel.I included a short and long shaft so you can use what works for your setup. PARTS NEEDED: Quantity of 3, 6 x 6mm x 5mm Momentary Tactile Tact Push Button Switches (about $5.00 for 100 of them) This is what I use but it was out of stock https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07VSNN9S2/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 Replacement https://www.amazon.com/DAOKI-Miniature-Momentary-Tactile-Quality/dp/B01CGMP9GY/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=6+x+6mm+x+5mm+Momentary+Tactile+Tact+Push+Button+Switch&qid=1600640136&s=industrial&sr=1-1 Quantity of 4, #4 – ½ wood screws (cut to about 2/3 length) USB Arcade encoder $9.48 (Will support 5 of the switches) https://www.amazon.com/Reyann-Arcade-Encoder-Joystick-Fighting/dp/B00UUROWWK/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?dchild=1&keywords=USB+arcade+encoder&qid=1600645388&sr=8-2-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEzRTA5U1dDOEZNU0U5JmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwOTQyMjE4UFcwUlVXMzZLMkIxJmVuY3J5cHRlZEFkSWQ9QTA0Mzc1MzY3WDVURkhEN1gxOTUmd2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGYmYWN0aW9uPWNsaWNrUmVkaXJlY3QmZG9Ob3RMb2dDbGljaz10cnVl Add about 40 cents in plastic and the switch costs less than a dollar! $12 for everything you need. Awesome! Printing: I printed all parts at 0.12 layers using a 0.4 print nozzle and PLA. The part tolerances are fairly tight but you could try other settings. The parts that really need to be printed fine are the front plate an the shaft nut. This is due to the threads, also print this 100% fill for strength. You can tighten the nut surprisingly tight and that is how you mount this into a control panel. Also the small knob should be printed with fine settings due to the fitment if the shaft in the front plate and the teeth needed to interlock with the shaft. l. In addition the big knob looks better printed fine but that's up to you. Assembly: See the exploded diagram for the order of assembly. You have to glue the micro-switches in place I found 5 minute epoxy worked best. I pre-positioned the switches and slid the shaft in place to make sure they would trigger before I glued them in. This also allows you to adjust the feel of the knobs to your liking. You can add/remove knobs slack as you see fit. Personally I like the knob to have some slack between switch pulses. When gluing the 2 switches in the front plate make sure you leave room to push the wires down into the notches in the micro-switch holders as you need the back plate to sit flush when you put it on. For the micro-switch in the back plate, assemble the device and note where the end of the knob shaft moves up an down for the push button. Mount the switch so it triggers from a push of the shaft and then put a blob of glue behind it. Epoxy works really well for this. Notes: I printed all parts at 0.12 layers using a 0.4 print nozzle and PLA. The part tolerances are fairly tight but you could try other settings. The parts that really need to be printed fine are the front plate an the shaft nut. This is due to the threads, also print this 100% fill for strength. You can tighten the nut surprisingly tight and that is how you mount this into a control panel. Also the knob should be printed with fine settings due to the fitment if the shaft in the front plate and the teeth needed to interlock with the shaft. How I Designed This Many hours and trial prints Started thinking about this and how to do it. Became a little obsessed with it. I needed one 6mmx6mm switch for another project but the smallest quantity I could get was 120 for 6$5.00 so I had 119 lying around and wanted to use them. Came up with many designs and this one worked best. Refined it and built many iterations to make it as bullet proof as I could. I will be updating it I am sure but it is pretty good I think and awesome for flight sim. I will take this design and make a single knob version for heading, altitude etc. ENJOY and let me know if you like it!