Happy New Year !
The project is in good progress, the FMC is on its way, and it’s a huge work, I must admit that I had underestimated it. Well, I want to obtain something very close to the real thing, and it requires a lot of efforts. I think I will need a few months more to obtain a first satisfying version.
Hardware : simpler, plug & play connection to the opencockpit master cards with a professionnal design !
I have designed dedicated electronic boards, all SMD component design, which just require to plug cables to obtain a working system :
The DSTACK card is the hardware processor, based on an Arduino DUE and handles easily 576 inputs and 360 outputs. This card has a wire connection to the network, to communicate with the X-plane dedicated plugin. I have also increased the number of servomotors to 15 and analog inputs to 14. On the bottom of the picture, notice the two connectors to connect two expansion cards, depicted below
The NetAvionics (NTAV) expansion card is fully compatible with the opencockpit USB expansion card, and it allow similarly to connect 4 mastercards using the same connectors and cables (25 pins SUB-D). Two such cards can be connected to the DSTACK card, using the 26 pin connector at the center. A Servomotor card allow to connect 15 servomotors, using a serial connection which allows to use up to 20m (60 feet) long cables. This design is also necessary because Arduino DUE has 3.3V outputs while usual servomotors expect 5V control signals. The board both handles the voltage leveling and allow noise free control over long cable lengths.
