Available Homecockpit Interface Solutions:
Note: Note that this list is non-authoritative. These are the solutions I've come across.
| Interface | EPIC | FSBUS | ACCIS | PHCC | "TekWorx/FDS InterfaceIT" | "MCP 747" | "737 MCP" | SIM-board | FreeMIOS | simkits | IOCards | BetaInnovations | "Velleman K8000 Kit" | Phidgets | "Integrated Flight Systems - Photon" | "TCP USB Active" | "Joy Warrior" | "Hagstrom Keyboard Encoder" | "GoFlight Remote Mount Kit" | "Digital Hardware Controller II" | Teleo |
| Vendor/Project Lead | R+R electronics | Dirk Anderseck | Simulation Hardware New Zealand | Manuel Bessler | Flightdeck Solutions Inc. | Aerosoft Australia | CPFlight | Flightdeck Technology Ltd, UK | Silvio Dragone, David Reist | Velleman Electronics | Itra GmbH Berlin | Code Mercenaries | Hagstrom Electronics | GoFlight Inc. | Precision Flight Controls Inc. | Making Things, LLC | |||||
| URL | http://www.mindspring.com/~rrelect/ http://www.flightlink.com/epic/ | Plans: http://www.fsbus.de Licensed: http://www.cockpitsonic.de | http://www.simhardware.co.nz/products/hardware.html#accis | http://cockpit.varxec.net | http://www.flightdecksolutions.com | http://www.mcp747.com | http://www.cpflight.com | http://flightdecktechnology.com/ | http://www.freemios.reist.be/ | www.simkits.com | opencockpits.com | betainnovations.com | www.velleman.be | www.phidgets.com | http://www.iflightsystems.com | http://sim.itra.de or http://www.itra.de | http://www.codemercs.com, http://www.fienec.de | http://hagstromelectronics.com/ | http://www.goflightinc.com/hangar.html | http://www.flypfc.com/new%20products/digital%20controllerii.html | http://makingthings.com/teleo.htm |
| Free/Commerical | commercial | free, Kits and prebuilt Boards commercially available | commercial | free | commercial | commercial | commercial | free | commerical | (free, but only for non-commerical use) | commercial | commercial | commercial | commercial | commercial | commercial | commercial | commerical | commercial | commercial | |
| Philosophy | "professional solution",modular, extensible,programmable/scriptable | freeware, closed source, build-it-yourself (or buy from licensed Seller) | "plug-and-play" | open design, open source(GPL), build-it-yourself | commercial | open design, open source, build-it-yourself | open design, modular | based on USB PICs | kit, seems to be based around I2C | simple building blocks, each with USB interface, software looks like the devices | modular, comes with its own "user-friendly" config software | USB Controller/Plug and Play/ Itra Software/ | USB Microcontroller, some come with I2C interface | PS/2 and USB Keyboard port, RS232 | "No programming required, just drag and drop" | this is basically a standalone version of the "guts" they use for their other products | "plug & play", modular, each module does a specific task, ie only analog input | ||||
| Availability | via distributers | DIY / cockpitsonic.de | ? | DIY / (ask for industrially made bare boards ) | not released yet | ==OUT OF BUSINESS== | ? | not released yet | DIY (some non-working links) ?not updated? | from website | DIY | ==OUT OF BUSINESS== | from website | from website | from website | from website | from website: chip and board, prebuilt: from fienec.de | from website | from website, distributors? | from website | from website |
| ->Price Range | 99USD for main module, 69USD per 128 input module, 35USD per output module | 12-700EUR | 20-150USD | 65-150USD | starting at 150USD per module | ||||||||||||||||
| Technology | Microcontroller based, bus or bus-like | PIC Microcontroller (some modules use Atmel microcontrollers), bus | bus, daisy-chained independent devices, max. 200 units per chain | PIC Microcontroller, mixed | ? (Expansion port, part of their MCP) | bus | modular, daisy-chainable modules | FPGA | just standard logic ICs used, no microcontrollers | I2C Bus based | Cypress AN2131 USB-Microcontroller | "Warrior Chip" which is a Cypress USB-Microcontroller | Microcontroller | USB Microcontroller | Microcontroller | Microcontroller "Network" | |||||
| A/D | + | + | + | "enhanceable" | + | + | - | planned | + | - | + | + | + | ||||||||
| ->channels | 16, more with expansion modules | 32 | 5 per device | 35 | 26 per Potentiometer Module | 4, on the USB card, takes 8 DO | 4 (8-bit) | - | 3 | - | 8 | up to 64, selectable as analog or digital | 12 per module | ||||||||
| ->Resolution | 8bit | 10bit | 8bit | 8bit | - | up to 10bit | |||||||||||||||
| ->special features | user configurable coefficients/ | analog-in device can handle 40 digital inputs additionally | anti-jitter filter | - | - | - | - | selectable resolution, selectable update rate | |||||||||||||
| D/A | - | + | - | - | - | - | - | - | |||||||||||||
| ->PWM | - | unlimited (16 channels per D/A daughterboard) | - | - | - | - | - | 2 per Multi IO module | |||||||||||||
| ->DAC | - | unlimited | 8x6-bit, 1x8-bit | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||||||||||||
| Digital-In | + | 45 per DI device | + | + | + | 288(72 per card) | - | + | + | + | + | + | + | ||||||||
| ->Direct | - | - (possible via I2C) | configurable, max total no of I/O: 11520 | 16 opto-isolated I/O | 512 (4 modules with 128 each) | (some variants use up to 8 direct inputs) | - | 8 | 9 (not sure if these are direct or matrix inputs) | 4 per Multi IO module | |||||||||||
| ->Matrix | 300, more with exansion modules (I assume they are matrix inputs) | + | 1024 (via 16 daughterboards, each8x8 inputs) | 64 per General Input Module | - | - | 16x16 matrix | (other variants use matrix inputs up to 8x8 | 12x12 or 9x9 | - | up to 64, selectable as analog or digital | - | |||||||||
| Rotaries | + | + | + | + | + | + | - | + | - | - | + | + | - | ||||||||
| ->incremental/quadrature | + | via external "Redec" circuit | 3 per 7-segment device, 15 per digital input device(each uses 3 inputs of the digital-in) | via small PIC based circuit, connected to keymatrix, takes 2 DI | 26 per Rotary Encoder Module | + | each takes 2 DI | -/(via external decoder connected to inputs) | - | - | 4 | 15 | - | ||||||||
| Servo(PWM) | + | + | + | unlimited | each takes 8 DO | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8 per module | |||||||||
| ->resolution | 8bit | 8bit | 8bit | 10bit | |||||||||||||||||
| Digital-Out | + | + | + | + | + | + | 256 (64 per card) | 256 (high drive: sink 75mA, source 50mA) on ElectronFlux | 16 opto-isolated I/O | + (only for 7seg/LED at the moment) | + | - | - | + | + | + | |||||
| ->Stepper | + | unlimited | each takes 4 DO | + | 16 via stepper driver card | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1 per module, 2.5A per phase max | |||||||||
| -->unipolar | + | + | + | - | - | - | - | - | - | + | |||||||||||
| -->bipolar | + | + | + | - | - | - | - | - | - | + | |||||||||||
| ->DC Motors | + | unlimited, H-bridge | each takes 2 DO | - | - | - | - | - | - | up to 2 per module, 2A max per motor | |||||||||||
| ->LED/7-segments | + | 15 per device | + | + | 256 | up to 128 7-segment displays (ElectronFlux) | 14 modules with each 8 7-segment plus 64 LEDs | + | with add-on hardware | - | 12-30 displays, other boards: 8LEDs | 6LEDs | - | ||||||||
| -->dimmable | - | + | ? | + (ElectronFlux) | + | - | - | - | ? | - | - | ||||||||||
| -->decimal point on 7-segment displays controllable | + | + | ? | + | + | - | - | ? | - | - | |||||||||||
| -->common anode/cathode | +/+ | +/+ | +/+ (ElectronFlux) | ? | ? | - | ? | - | - | ||||||||||||
| -->multiplexed | + | unlimited | 32 7seg digits per 7seg module, 256 LEDs per LED module | ? | + | ? | - | ? | - | - | |||||||||||
| -->non-multiplexed | - | limited by speed only | - | - | ? | - | ? | - | 12 channels per module, 2A/channel, but 6A max per module | ||||||||||||
| ->LC Displays | - | + | - | - | + | - | - | ? | - | - | - | AM LCD | |||||||||
| -->character LCDs | + | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||||||||||||||
| -->graphical LCDs | + | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||||||||||||||
| -->segmented LCDS | - | - | - | - | - | - | |||||||||||||||
| ->Relais | + | + | unlimited | 64 channel per General Output Module, 400mA per channel, dimming speed control possible | each takes 1 DO | + | - | planned | - | - | - | 7 | see above (12 channel output module) | ||||||||
| D'Arsonval Instruments | - | via PWM (D/A daughterboard) | - | - | - | - | should be possible via D/A output | - | - | - | - | - | - | via D/A or PWM outputs | |||||||
| air core | + via gauge module (need to add IC to board) | - | planned | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | |||||||
| Resolver/Syncro | - (planned) | - | - (planned) | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||||||
| Platform | Win | Win | Win | Linux/Unix/(Win) | Win | Win (Linux planned | Win | Win/Linux/Mac | Win/Linux/Mac | Win | Win | Win/Mac/Linux | Win | Win (maybe linux) | Win | Win/Mac/Linux/Zaurus(Linux ARM) | |||||
| ->Simulators supported | MSFS | MSFS | MSFS, F4? | Flightgear, S3(soon), F4 (soon), MSFS (soon) | MSFS | MSFS | MSFS, X-Plane | (not directly) | not directly | MSFS | (appears to OS as Joystick) | acts like a keyboard | MSFS/PS1 | MSFS | not directly | ||||||
| ->integration with simulator | can emulate Joysticks for analog axis and switch inputs | FSUIPC/FDConnect | FSUIPC? | custom | FSUIPC, IOCP | FSUIPC? | ? | standard USB HID joystick driver | computers keyboard buffer | custom program | nothing yet | ||||||||||
| Connection to computer | ISA Card or USB | RS-232/USB with serial-USB converter | RS-232 | RS-232, USB (full speed) | ? | RS-232 | Parallel Port, USB (low speed) | USB (low speed) | Parallel Port (seems to talk I2C) | USB | Parallel Port | USB (full speed) | USB | PS/2, USB, RS232 | USB | USB, RS232 | USB | ||||
| Scriptable/Programmable | + via C-like EPL | GUI, via easy "click together circuits" | - | + via integrated LUA | VB-style planned | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | + (with Macromedia Flash) | ||||||||
| API/SDK available | + | + | + | + | - | ? | + | ||||||||||||||
| Notes | one of the most widely used interfaces | seems dead | Is it ever gonna happen ? | Discontinued | Project seems dead | Discontinued | many variants, for details see website | Some models also feature mouse / trackball support | |||||||||||||
| This page is Copyright (c) 2004 by Manuel Bessler, http://cockpit.varxec.de/ If there you have more info that should go here, please email me (see contacts page) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Abbreviations used | DO=Digital Out, DI=Digital In, A/D=Analog to digital converter, D/A=Digital to Analog converter, PWM=Pulse width modulation, API=Application Programming Interface, SDK=Software Development Kit, VB=Visual Basic, RS-232=serial port on PCs, |
Please help to make this table more complete. If you have additions, corrections, want more categories, ... please email me (Manuel). See contact page for details.
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