How to Make A Flight Simulator Trim Wheel with MobiFlight| Captain Bob
VloĆŸit
- Äas pĆidĂĄn 2. 08. 2024
- Hello! Today we are going to make a trim wheel for the Cessna 172 Simulator!
đ Trim Wheel Print: www.thingiverse.com/thing:280...
đŠRotary Encoders: ebay.us/gOto3E or ebay.us/UIcAs6
đŠ1kg 1.75mm PLA Filament: ebay.us/T23dFJ or ebay.us/rJhN21
đŠEnder 3/Pro: ebay.us/wFoKhs or ebay.us/sT0Vg5 or ebay.us/ZDF5V2
đŠArduino Mega: ebay.us/6OCrco
đŠ12V Power Supply for Arduino: ebay.us/Htl86R or ebay.us/S1NXTS
đŠServos: ebay.us/EQ4w0g
ⶠBecome a Patreon! / captainbobsim
ⶠJoin our Discord! / discord
ⶠConsider making a donation to improve video quality and fund my Flight Training: www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr...
ⶠI have Instagram! Follow @CaptainBobSim for a little bit of behind the scenes.
* * * * *
Disclaimer: I'm a human that makes mistakes. Fortunately, we can learn from them. You are responsible for your safety. As an eBay Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Sale price is not affected. I use time lapses to shorten the video. To avoid injury and/or death please do not try to match the speed shown in the video. - VÄda a technologie
That's fantastic!
I'm very tempted to try this.
Might I peer pressure you into doing it? đ
wow Very Nice Jobđ I'm so glad that your 3D printer works, AMAZINGâšđ
Thanks, I'm glad it works too đ
Congratulations, continue to make these beautiful and useful jobs
Thank you!
Great stuff. Thanks for the video Captain Bob.
Glad you found it helpful!
Great, you can adjust the yoke strength of the trim. Install a servo motor to move the middle point of the yoke. When performing trimming, the servo motor adjusts the position of the private server motor according to the offset parameter in p3d. The yoke rod force gradually becomes 0 No need for complex and unreliable force feedback
Hi Captain Bob, thanks for all your How To videos. I'm starting from scratch and have already learnt a lot thanks to them. I've decided my first project would be the trim wheel. I got all the same components you did. I got the servo to work fine but I have an issue with the rotary encoder. Even though I've changed the parameter in mobiflight from 1 to 4, a full turn of the rotary encoder only turns the trim wheel in FS2020 by a very small amount (about 5% of a turn). Nothing like what you achieved. I tried 3 different encoders but got the same results. And if I spin the encoder fast (which could be done through reduction gears) the wheel in the sim barely moves. Have you experienced that? If so, how did you fix it?
I haven't experienced this. You said you changed the parameter in MobiFlight from 1 to 4, (on right and on left) have you tried doing something crazy like $+50 or $+100?
Captain. Perfect! Thanks
Wonderful!
Excellent Job.
Thank you!
Hello Captain, first I have to thank you for this channel, you do amazing things and I learn a lot. I'm going to buy a arduino mega and play with mobiflight inspired by you, and I have two questions: when the trim wheel is controlled by an axis and the auto pilot is disengaged, there is a dissynchrony between the virtual and the real axis, which causes problems when the compensator is handled again . Can I get rid of this problem with this encoder trim wheel and mobiflight?
And the other question is, I'm going to play other games, mainly racing, can I use the mobiflight buttons in other games? I'm pretty sure not but I would like to clarify the doubt.
Keep the good work, you'are a incredible guy
Thank you Eder!
You won't really be able to use the mobiflight buttons in other games unless you set them to a key instead of an FSUIPC input.
I haven't had problems with my trim (I haven't hooked up AP yet).
Great video. Can i use the Servo and Encoder on the same board?
Absolutely!
Great idea and greetings from a viewer from Berlin
Thank you! Greetings from the USA!
Nice
Thanks!
Do you have a data sheet for the rotary encoder you're using? I've just built one of these and turning the wheel around a full 360 produces only a tiny 1-2% change in the trim position. Yours seems to move at a _much_ better rate.
Hello! I'd probably recommend using an FSUIPC offset:
I think either of these would work:
0BC0 Size: 2 Elevator trim control input: -16383 to +16383
2EA0 Size: 8 Elevator trim deflection, in radians, as a double (FLOAT64). Up positive, down negative.
You can adjust the on left and on right values to change how much the encoder changes (The $+1) Here is my most recent Encoder Video: czcams.com/video/7wgfTW9VO_I/video.html
Captain Bob you are my best friend đđ»
You are my best friend Christian!
to get the module green sign we just input our arduino mega directly to pc or there is something else before we plug it?, besides already downloaded the software that required
You will also want to set your path to Arduino IDE, I show hot to do this in this video:
czcams.com/video/4XUoG1BAWPs/video.html (It starts at 1:35)
what about aileron & rudder trim wheels, will this work for them? are there datarefs output variables for those in MOBI-FLIGHT?
Try the FSUIPC offsets: 2EB0 8 Aileron trim deflection, in radians, as a double (FLOAT64). Right turn positive, left turn negative and 0BC0 2 Elevator trim control input: -16383 to +16383
@@CaptainBobSim you said "Elevator" trim control input, did you mean rudder? In the last field in Mobiflight, it asks for "Set Value" and it can't be blank, what would go there ?
Hello captainbob if I am using a potentiometer to make a trimwheel which offset should i use for my output? 0BC0 or 0BC2?
No clue off the top of my head, why not try both!
What was the potentiometer ohms rating. Do you have a P/N?
Can it rotate more than 360 deg?
I have no 3D printer. Can I order one?
It is an EC12 rotary encoder, it can rotate more than 360 degrees.
You can not order the part as the .STL file is not marked for commercial reuse.
O potenciometro b10k serve para rudder pedals? Onde colocar o gnd?
Opa! Eu sou brasileiro e recomendo a vocĂȘ procurar uma placa chamada Stargate NX. Ela vai fazer um excelente trabalho para vocĂȘ!
hello there, i want to ask can i add arduino lcd to read my degrees? or there are some way to do that?
Hey,
You can use an LCD display to display the simulator degrees if you need.
Here is a video about how to do it: czcams.com/video/ja0tvTbaEnI/video.html
I don't think I would be much help, as I have never done this before.
@@CaptainBobSim let us know if you have done this yet?
Most of the of the links are dead. Can you provide product model numbers and suggested place to purchase from?
is there a way to make this universal? fe, instead of using raw values you use calculations in mobiflight? Would that work?
I believe it actually is universal despite what I said:
0BC0 2 Elevator trim control input: -16383 to +16383
Found in the FSUIPC OFFSET STATUS document.
Iâm curious... how do you do live streams? CZcams says my channel is not eligible to do so...
It looks like there is a limitation on Streaming with a mobile device (1,000 subs) You can still stream through desktop or webcam.
Come on CZcams. Does CZcams hate small Creators?
Apparently it is because people live stream doing bad things, and want to restrict mobile live streaming to only real CZcamsrs...
czcams.com/video/ChAA45rjjKo/video.html
hey, i want to ask that while we running the mobiflight did we need change the setting in fsx first or not?because i follow every step u do but my trim in simulator wont working as you like, also can you give clear scheme for wire between arduino and encoder
Here is the how to install MobiFlight video, it should help you with your problem. czcams.com/video/4XUoG1BAWPs/video.html
This video here shows the wiring:
czcams.com/video/xuAtfp-lxZs/video.html
I do not have a clear schematic.
@@CaptainBobSim i have downloaded everything and everything its oka, the problem while i try to roll my trim wheel like ur video in my fsx the trim wheel not working
@@rendyraj1110 First try something simple like a rotary beacon switch, to make sure everything is working properly, then move to the trim wheel. Also try using Event IDs instead of FSUIPC events, or vice versa.
@@CaptainBobSim may you give explain about try using event id's . thank you
As you a video to make system to Turn lef right on taxi ? (For use on fs2020 with FBW A320).
What do you mean?
I don't do individual requests, but you can follow any of my MobiFlight videos and use MSFS2020 Events to search for what you need
does this work with msfs2020 and do you have to run that software all the time
This works with FS2020. I did a video on using MobiFlight with FS2020 here: czcams.com/video/9Ot8EALj99o/video.html
Just keep in mind offsets may be slightly different, so check the FS2020 offsets list.
You can turn on autorun (next to stop) on the software and it should run in the background whenever your flight sim is open.
Have a great day Lee!
Is there a link for the servo or can you tell me what servo it is?
Sorry, It's a standard 9g RC servo: rover.ebay.com/rover/1/711-53200-19255-0/1?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fitm%2F1-10Lot-9G-iSG90-Micro-Servo-Motor-RC-Robot-Helicopter-Airplane-Aircraf-Car-Boat%2F223547582400%3F_trkparms%3Dispr%253D1%26hash%3Ditem340c7967c0%3Ag%3AFT0AAOSwytpc~rUU%26enc%3DAQAFAAACYBaobrjLl8XobRIiIML1V4Imu%252Fn%252BzU5L90Z278x5ickkgCVySCgrNFPU8Iu85TabMBVJE1eFzdxhEK6w%252F3DTTS63IwXA71j0eIHM%252FqFC%252FIjhx4fy2njhESve0ewDiAYJDfawjOAKgGewgWa2wTh4c47M5s2fH0kJyADWgFjaw6N17VFoPte6mHNuufAE7JuDPIT2UIx0UbETIbWiDR2Xq5vP7iUXafb5CounkN5MRnmiRcvKi5FgB50AmAhPE6FJKq8rF24bsQU2CNqJwz%252BHGUPrh%252BG5s4Iny1kFEjbgz0D6ttXRtNhwRdghkKWyV4N8cCXE8jjZDIpZ4hVxcyIdeRVZv%252FHmebuMkJwnrfGLnxULWzHU7wHYajAfHyZSjEGhruVK14VsvOzOtEDkUYVX9a5%252FoGsaECSjOnAef5qDokkDGT5Txmsoacos%252BAmnreuPSsu98v%252BOmVk67Y%252F3AcqFHhFCeZeS%252F8nCaIJy3w0%252FzSBKCIhqF9Qr%252Fret6Tg%252BbW0dtzCTlRn0X4wBcZScbkOlkocUhHC6mWpLp0ZZinefWjnUGU93Z0N7bzfmJZD1q0Mmp7Nm6LlkEa4%252FvT%252B7dok%252B9ZTvzyzvbHbqXHBYOo9WdKI%252FLAIKbwx01Zq0Cn79vYeWoD%252FelK5aqJwccsTgRXusYn3Cox3hAuUDlcVVMJFCM5lRUSOCt0AfD2dkViGiWes%252BeF3L9UHeZhD4VTrtpO9fLc5ToI7S8jrECyi2drat%252BTJ36O%252Bv27IT2XuY9qMJIjx70jthm6YZOEZgk74QGFq6cOzNyjH9kKMkmDyqSqW8VGnT%26checksum%3D2235475824000e970f1ddc0848329e801951749b8d51&campid=5338464143&toolid=20008
Are you able to share the file used to print the trim wheel? I'm not seeing a link but I may be blind.
Sorry :) I completely forgot it đ€Ł
Just Search "trim wheel" on Thingiverse,
The link is here:
www.thingiverse.com/thing:2806090
What 3d printer do you use?
Ender 3
Hi, I'm following all the steps in the video, to connect an encoder like elevatortrim, but it doesn't work, and I tried to put the 'offsets of the trim control with the values ââ$ + $ -, but it still doesn't work! How could I currently connect it to msfs20 ??
Are you using $+1? (you can increase one some more to have larger steps) additionally- do you have the three green check marks on the bottom right corner?
newbie to arduino, got all the hardware together (encoder plus arduino board which is recognized by the mobiflight software) and installed the software (Arduino IDE 2; msfs2020, wasm and fsuipc recognized by mobiflight). Mobiflight is now version 9.5 and the configuration screens are totally different (so I got stuck while trying to configure) -- any chance of doing a new video with the new 9.5 version software for the trim wheel? Thanks much
I'll politely decline for now :) MobiFlight is constantly evolving, and I am constantly studying for exams, and don't have time to update every video for every updateđ„”
You might consider watching this video as a little bit of help: czcams.com/video/7wgfTW9VO_I/video.html
I do config videos as I redo things, so there will more than likely be a new trim wheel video for the V3 trim wheel.
@@CaptainBobSim Totally understand. Keeping track of and attending to the rapid evolution and changes is certainly a challenge. Your suggestion is welcomed, always willing to learn. Thanks much. Best wishes for great performance on exams.
Totally! And let me know if there are any specific questions I can answer.
@@CaptainBobSim Had missed a step from your tutorials, got the trim wheel done using the FSUIPC instructions you have given. Now that you have taught me how to get more comfortable with this, I will try and work out how to do the same using Simconnect. I suspect you are studying engineering in college. I am an engineer who finished my engineering education over four decades ago, so I am well aware of the tough road of studying for exams .. very best wishes.
@@baluprabhakar9838 Yes, I'm going into Mechanical Engineering :) Best Wishes Balu!
You are the next Mark Rober.
Thank you Jeremey! I hope to be :)
@@CaptainBobSim Do you have a 3D printer? I would love to make this - would you be willing to print out and sell one to me?
@@jeremey2072 Hello Jeremey! I do have a 3D Printer, and would be willing to print one and sell it. This would start at $5, plus shipping. Email me at CaptainBobSim@gmail.com.
Do the servo and the rotary encoder have their own Arduino Mega? We need to have 2 in total to get both running? Thank you
Nope! Each Arduino Mega can have many electronics, up to 68 buttons in fact, I believe 20 rotary encoders, and 10 Servos. Knock yourself out!
And the power supply should be included for turning them on or the power can be supported by the USB cable? Thank you
@@winglaamliu1170 I'd definitely recommend using an external power supply, but if it is just one servo you can use the power supply through the USB.
@@CaptainBobSim thanks .... just ordered the materials and cannot wait to try building my own trim wheelđ
@@winglaamliu1170 Hooray!!
Hi Captain. For the life of me I cant figure out why my indicator is moving in the opposite direction to the simulator ! Trim wheel is operating fine but the indicator is moving down as sim moves up, and vice versa......no doubt this is a quick adjustment in mobiflight but any assistance would be appreciated.
Managed to fix it Captain by adjusting the interpolation figures per your other video on servo hookup. Thanks again !
That's wonderful to see you got it working correctly, sorry for the hassle, I'll be sure to explain this for people in the future in a comment!
I connected resistors pair for roll and pitch to PC using MobiFlight and Flight Connector. But when I move this "Yoke")) the yoke in cockpit doesn' t move. Is it issue with my "yoke" or flight simulator doesn't support that animation. When I move real factory yoke from saitek yoke in cockpit repeats my moves.
Did you try following this tutorial? czcams.com/video/qd9VGcZ2Rcc/video.html
@@CaptainBobSim Thank you for your answer! I will try to reconfigure my setup again. No I haven't try that tutorial and I'm going to try it nowđ
@@Avrora707 To clarify - that's for smooth potentiometers, if you have a rotary encoder (clicky) you'll have to use my rotary encoder video.
Hello Everyone!
I found a MobiFlight Forum here talking about some of the pitfalls of using event IDs. www.mobiflight.com/forum/message/22741.html
I would definitely recommend using the FSUIPC offset for trim instead, as it has a lot more flexibiltiy.
Servo swapped? Encoder moving too slow? See below!
If the servo is reversed for you you can easily use an interpolation to reverse the chart. I explain this here: czcams.com/video/exEFExtaQQk/video.html
To swap the values use the interpolation of:
0 32767
32767 0
I used value 32767 because it is 16384+16383
I believe you can also rotate/flip the servo around to reverse the sides.
If the encoder doesn't move fast enough you can use an FSUIPC offset:
I think either of these would work:
0BC0 Size: 2 Elevator trim control input: -16383 to +16383
2EA0 Size: 8 Elevator trim deflection, in radians, as a double (FLOAT64). Up positive, down negative.
You can adjust the on left and on right values to change how much the encoder changes (The $+1) Here is my most recent Encoder Video: czcams.com/video/7wgfTW9VO_I/video.html
Would an Arduino Uno work as well? Or does it have to be a Mega?
Uno is not supported yet, only Mega and pro micro
@@CaptainBobSim i;m using a Mega, and using pins 7 and 8 on the ANALOG pins of the Arduino and the middle wire from the potentiometer is to ground. I cannot get the Beechcraft King Air's aileron trim to respond. i have it set to AILERON TRIM LEFT and AILERON TRIM RIGHT in the INPUT tab as "Event ID" AILERON_TRIM_LEFT which is equal to 66276 and the right one is 66277. I should be using the "ANALOG" pins on the Arduino, correct? and middle wire to ground? Thanks, it's driving me nuts.
@@harpoon_bakery162 That should work. Try with a few other digital pins to make sure it's not a pin problem, then try with other offsets to make sure it's not a hardware problem.
Captain how can connect it to auto pilot???
I haven't done this yet. You can't connect them directly, so I'll have to find some sort of gear mechanism, or make one.
Is it possible to make it motorised like your compass ?
That gets a little tricky- I haven't done it yet but Heli Mech is currently tinkering with it with different stepper motors on his channel. Still unsure.
@@CaptainBobSim thank you captain
Have you noticed any physical wobble with the rotary encoder? I got some of these: www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08728K3YB/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
They work great for hdg/vor/nav/rudder trim but for my elevator trim wheel they have quite a bit of back and forth wobble which is pretty irritating.
I have not noticed any with the encoder I used, but have experienced some with other encoders.
@@CaptainBobSim Ah cool thanks good to know, I might have to try those.
hello i have made a steper motor to use airspeed indicator but on mobyflight i press play and stop to test but the steper motor make onli rotate in clock wise ..press play or stop need help ...suludos from portugal
Usually this is a wiring error. Have you tripple checked your wiring and confirmed you flashed them to the correct pins?
@@CaptainBobSim thanks.s
tank you now its working i have thange the polariti in the steper a long time ago ....now its working saludos from portugal
woo hoo!
Please if you learned how to connect to auto pilot teach me captain. I m building the trim but I do jot know what to do with auto pilit
Don't worry, I'll show a video on it when it works
Why using Rotary Encoder & not potentiometer for the Trim Wheel ????
At the time that was all that was available with MobiFlight (analog didn't exist yet).
I also used this so that you wouldn't have to deal with the 270 degree travel restriction instead of the 9 turns a real Cessna gets.
I agree - the video is outdated, and I'm planning on making a better version as the C172 project builds it
What about Hall Effect Sensor instead of potentiometer ,( I replaced my Saitek Yoke with Hall Effect) ?
@@yair1956 Yeah! That would be even better!
I personally haven't ventured too much into them, but it would be a great fit assuming you figure out how to make a multi-turn functionality.
for arduino is there coding? if yes can i get it
You will likely have to configure this yourself in MobiFlight, as I accidentally deleted the file :(
@@CaptainBobSim so this needs coding right? or anything and can you make it clear i dont understand, i laso have question in you forum thank you.
@@rendyraj1110 Sorry, I don't think I was very clear :) MobiFlight is a software that uses signals from FSUIPC and Arduino. You configure Mobiflight to do what you would like to do. There is no coding involved. You can use other softwares that require coding if you want (Link2FS, etc) I was talking about a configuration file, which is possible to export.
@@CaptainBobSim i see, i just get it and started to know about this all. thank very much
10:23 max value is 2x that. you added that earlier,but then fix it later.dumb :P
Oh I might have done that đ I filmed on multiple days
Wait. Are you talking about the transformation? I found the high number by trimming all of the way up, then found the low number by trimming all the way down. I then added the low number to the transformation, to make sure that the trim wheel never went below zero.
($+lownumber)
I then added the High+Low numbers, to get my max value, to cancel out adding the low number to the transformation.
This is all done to make sure the servo doesn't have negative inputs. Intentional :P
this is ridiculous, can't follow or understand a thing you are trying to do.; just zipping through all the settings
Thank you for your feedback! I will slow down in the future :)
I made this video assuming you watched these two videos, I'll make sure to clarify that in the future:
czcams.com/video/xuAtfp-lxZs/video.html
czcams.com/video/2FWbq2exC9U/video.html
5:15 or just mount it otherway like you later will,now it goes correct way.dumb :P
It's prolly dumb :P because I am a teenager that is still learning. average :P
Do you really expect your viewers to follow your instructions when all you do is to ZIP through the settings?
That's a really good point, Do you have any specific suggestions to make it better? (Any areas you saw that were extra zippy)