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400+ pages. 7" x 9 1/4" |
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Trade paperback binding. |
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Read what others are saying:
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for a review by Gene Buckles of Simpits.org.
Building Simulated Aircraft Instrumentation is an in depth
introduction to making functional "steam gauge" style engine and
flight instruments for use with recreational flight simulators. It describes in
detail how air-core movements, servos, and stepping motors work, and illustrates
through projects how to use them to simulate A/C instrumentation.
This is a hands-on book. Although there are a few engineering descriptions,
it is primarily through the projects that the different simulation approaches
are demonstrated. The projects were chosen to illustrate a range of simulation
techniques. Each project is documented with complete mechanical drawings,
electronic schematics, and if a micro controller is used, with a commented
firmware listing.
This is a book for flight sim hobbyists, but realistically, the content tends
to above average complexity. Building a simulated aircraft instrument requires a
variety of skills including metal working , the ability to construct electronic
circuitry, and a touch of assembly language programming. That said, the metal
working is limited to cutting small flat pieces of sheet aluminum and brass,
drilling holes and making a very few, simple bends. The circuitry can be built
on perf-board, and the key knowledge about assembly language is how to download
and run the free assembler from Microchip. The assembly code is included in the
book.
If you were in a bookstore holding a copy of the book, you could thumb
through it for a bit more detail, and read a few paragraphs to judge the writing
style. Since you aren't, take a look at the following chapter descriptions, and
click here to download a sample chapter (PDF).
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Air-Core Movements is an in depth description of the mechanism used in
a great many automotive and marine tachometers, speedometers and fuel gauges.
This is a simple, robust movement that can swing the needle in a number of
different simulated A/C instruments. The chapter covers the capabilities and
limitations of the movement, as well as, describing methods of electrically
driving it.
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Air-Core Construction is a guide to building an air-core movement
using readily available materials. There is certainly no reason you couldn't use
a commercially manufactured unit, but they are not normally retail items and may
be hard to find in small quantities. Generally they are sold in quantity to
other manufacturers who use them in their products, like cars. In any case,
building an air-core movement can be a satisfying endeavor, and this chapter
tells you how. |
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Air-Core Airspeed Indicator builds on the previous chapter by adding
analog electronics to drive the air-core movement. Well, it's nominally analog.
I tossed in a few logic elements, but it's still mostly analog and does not
require programming a micro controller. The operation of the circuitry is
covered in detail. You get the schematic, a block diagram and a couple of pages
explaining how it works.
This chapter also provides an introduction into the general mechanical
construction of all the simulated instrument projects. The approach is simple,
consisting mostly of making straight cuts and drilling holes. Additionally, the
method of providing internal instrument lighting is detailed.
You probably noticed the picture is one of a fuel gauge. I actually
prototyped the project as a fuel gauge, but decided the book needed an ASI more.
Fact is, this project can be any single pointer type indicator you desire.
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Air-Core Vertical Speed Indicator is the last chapter in the air-core
section. It presents the design of digital electronics to drive an air-core
movement. It is based on a PIC micro controller, and interfaces to the host PC
through an RS-232C serial com port. The circuitry is pretty simple, consisting
of three chips, four if you count the voltage regulator. Most of the project's
complexity in is the firmware. There are several pages providing an overview,
because, while the assembly listing is commented, it's nice to have a rough
idea of what's going on before diving into the thick of things. |
Servo Principles opens the section on servo-based instrument
simulations. The servo approach is frequently used in both flight-rated and
commercially produced simulator instruments. Servos come into their own in
applications requiring the movement of relatively large indicators, like the
horizon in an attitude indicator.
The chapter overviews RC servos, presents a one-chip RC servo tester, and
lists a number of RC servo sources. It covers the inner workings of an
electromechanical servo loop, and presents a few rules of thumb for adjusting a
self-made servo loop. The remainder of the chapter provides useful information
about some of the (electro-) mechanical odds and ends that often are needed in
servo loops: motors, potentiometers, shafts, bearings, bushings and gears.
Stepping Motors opens the third section. It describes
hybrid and can stack motors, two types of stepping motors quite useful in
simulating instruments. It covers full stepping, half stepping and micro
stepping. It discusses motor acceleration and deceleration. Finally, it presents
several circuits for electrically driving stepping motors.
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Stepping Motor Gyro Compass demonstrates how to use a relatively high
resolution stepping motor (400 steps per revolution, in this case) to make a
direct drive gauge or instrument. The high torque of the motor makes it a good
match to the relatively high mass of a compass card disk, but there is nothing
to prevent using this approach for any single pointer style gauge. The chapter
introduces the optical interrupter as a sensor to indicate the zero position of
the compass card disk. The electronics portion of the project is based on a
micro controller. |
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Stepping Motor ADF/RMI Head expands on the previous chapter by using
two motors to drive a pair of concentric indicators. For an ADF or RMI head, one
indicator is a compass rose disk and the other is a pointer. The basic mechanism
can be used for a dual pointer style gauge such as a helicopter rotor and engine
tachometer, or an engine oil temperature and pressure indicator. The chapter includes
drawings for both a 3" ADF/RMI head, and a 2" oil temperature and
pressure gauge. The motors used are smaller, lower resolution (24 or 48 steps
per revolution) units. A few gears boost the effective positioning resolution so
the indicators move smoothly. The electronics portion is micro controller based.
The red glow here and below is from the LED faceplate
illumination. You can use whatever color appeals (green LEDs for
NVIS, for example). Looks REALLY cool with the room lights off. |
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Stepping Motor Sensitive Altimeter is another example of what can be
done with a high resolution stepping motor and a handful of off-the-shelf
plastic gears. The altimeter's three pointers are coupled through these gears to
give them a 1:10:100 speed ratio. The electronics is micro controller based. |
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Stepping Motor Turbine Tachometer shows that a stepping motor based
gauge doesn't have to have micro controller electronics. This project is
actually an analog servo type gauge that uses a ten turn potentiometer for
position sensing and feedback, and a smaller stepping motor to swing the
pointer. But this isn't just a single pointer gauge; it has a second pointer in
the lower right portion of the faceplate. The second pointer displays the units
digit. This project is modeled after a gas producer N1 tachometer. |
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Interfacing is an introduction to interfacing between the book's
projects and flight simulation software running on a Windows OS computer. An in
depth coverage of the topic is outside the scope of the book, but this is an
important topic. The projects don't function if not driven by the simulation
software. This chapter provides an overview of the interfacing process, listing
a number of recreational flight simulation possibilities (Microsoft Flight
Simulation isn't the only one), provides some thoughts on needed programming
skills, and offers a simple design for a port expander that supports multiple
projects on a single com port.
The picture is of the perf-board version of the port expander with a
built in dimmer for the the instrument faceplate lighting. |
Included in the appendices is a tutorial on doing very accurate layout
of the flat parts for the projects. There are lists of sources of parts, and
sources of additional information. There are dimensioned drawings of standard
panel cutouts for one, two and three inch instruments.
since 24 Aug 2004
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