Hi,
I am trying to replicate the board shown in the video below, but I am new to electronics, I was wondering if you could help me identify what components I need to get to make this board. Thank you
The board you are trying to replicate is used in lieu of
a much more expensive ($595) simulated avionics hardware module used with the X-Plane flight simulation software to provide user-control inputs to a simulated cockpit-mounted Garmin 430 GPS, visible in the background screen above and behind the circuit board. The Garmin 430 simulation is built-in to the X-Plane simulation software, but the user interface to setup and control the Garmin is external, using either a keyboard, a mouse, or a piece of hardware similar to what you have shown.
While the X-Plane program (and the Garmin 430 manual inputs) could conceivably be controlled with just a mouse cursor and keyboard input to your personal computer, this would detract from the realism of the simulator program. So, most people interface external hardware such as a control yoke, a joy-stick, and perhaps rudder brake/steering pedals to improve the simulation experience. In this instance, they would interface a Garmin 430 GPS control module into the simulated cockpit instrumentation panel to interface with the simulated Garmin 430 GPS, typically with a USB connection to your PC.
X-Plane Flight Simulation isn't just software displayed on your PC screen. It requires external hardware for a realistic experience. A full-blown simulator includes a mock-up of the airplane cockpit mounted on a two or three axis motion platform, with multiple screens showing an outside view and instrumentation panel(s). The controls and instruments are interfaced to the simulator program with USB connections. Your version of a simulator is probably limited by your budget to perhaps a semi-realistic cockpit seat, a joy-stick for flight control, perhaps a throttle panel, and a single "glass instrumentation panel" as shown in your image, and perhaps another monitor or two for an outside view of the surrounding air-space. So the Garmin 430 would be displayed as shown in your image, while the Garmin user-control board would be tucked out of sight somewhere else in your "cockpit" and used infrequently in lieu of mouse and keyboard while "flying" the simulation.
I can appreciate the desire to replace a very realistic but very expensive control module with a home-brew project costing perhaps $50 in parts. But you have a long road ahead of you to discover how the USB interface (as implemented by the Arduino module) works and communicates Garmin switch commands and potentiometer settings to the X-Plane software. Given your absolutely zero experience in electronics, I don't see that it is likely you will succeed anytime soon. But go ahead and purchase an Arduino Uno or Nano and a big bag of assorted parts to play with. Let us know when you get an LED to blink at a rate controlled by an external potentiometer, and post the Arduino "sketch" you used to make that happen.
Um, to answer your question about parts... I see an Arduino module, thirteen push-button switches, two potentiometers (possibly with push-button switches), two integrated circuits (probably multiplexers for the switches), a handful of resistors (probably pull-ups for the switches), a few by-pass capacitors, and a whole lot of jumper wires because the circuit board only has traces on one side. Not shown of course is the Arduino "sketch" (program) that makes all this behave like a Garmin 430 to the X-Plane software.
So good luck with all that. See
this link for more information.
