New free MFD/ICP app to control Falcon BMS from touch devices
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Yeah, then mount the Fire 7, drop compression quality and enjoy some smooth 30fps updates. Also: switch to 5ghz wifi if you can and are close to the access point. You can achieve higher transfer rates but will be more suceptible to blockage through walls (like reinforced concrete and stuff).
Repeated attempts with the fire and not a change in behaviour. Gave up. Binned it. Dug out my smashed up iPad Pro (it had an accident involving a strong wind, a concrete floor and a piano!) and it works perfectly. Wonderful app.
I’ve now made a switch panel and iPad mount. I can now fly (after ramp start) completely without using keyboard or mouse.
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That’s a great picture, I always get inspired to improve my setup by seeing what others are doing. Thanks for sharing
-jb
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That’s a great picture, I always get inspired to improve my setup by seeing what others are doing. Thanks for sharing
-jb
Pleasure - the stick needs to go - it is very budget, but it’ll do for now. The switch panel thing cost about 40 UK pounds - got the switches from amazon, and the control board is http://www.leobodnar.com/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=94&products_id=205 - and took about two hours to make and wire up (my wood working skills are zero, as evidence by the wonky strip holding up the ipad!). Combined with the AVCS radio VoiceAttack profiles, I can do everything after ramp start without touching keyboard or mouse.
The metal toggle switches are for laser arm, speed brake and gear. the black 3 ways are for master arm, parking brake, the 2 auto pilot switches, and a spare. the push buttons are currently Master Caution, AA, AG, then the right hand column is basically spare (the bottom one is to centre trackIR), currently mapped to views until I live with it a bit longer and work out what’s missing.
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Pleasure - the stick needs to go - it is very budget, but it’ll do for now. The switch panel thing cost about 40 UK pounds - got the switches from amazon, and the control board is http://www.leobodnar.com/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=94&products_id=205 - and took about two hours to make and wire up (my wood working skills are zero, as evidence by the wonky strip holding up the ipad!). Combined with the AVCS radio VoiceAttack profiles, I can do everything after ramp start without touching keyboard or mouse.
That is the real goal, right, to get rid of mouse+keyboard. I am working on the mouse part for now with touchscreens. And don’t sell yourself short, it looks fine and more importantly you know just how to maintain and extend it because you built it from scratch. Well done, I say. Can I ask about the buttons and switches/rotaries, would you have a link to where on Amazon to find those ?
Cheers,
jb -
That is the real goal, right, to get rid of mouse+keyboard. I am working on the mouse part for now with touchscreens. And don’t sell yourself short, it looks fine and more importantly you know just how to maintain and extend it because you built it from scratch. Well done, I say. Can I ask about the buttons and switches/rotaries, would you have a link to where on Amazon to find those ?
Cheers,
jbHaven’t added any rotaries (yet), but here’s the switches (UK Amazon) - OFNMY 5 Pcs Waterproof Toggle… https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07FKXFNL1?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share
mxuteuk 8pcs Snap-in Boat Rocker… https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07SBMZ7SF?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share
5 x Green Off-(On) Momentary Square Push Button Switch 12mm SPST https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07CZL7VFQ/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_fabc_NRAX2FP85CNHAXZGVNG4?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
These are connected to a Bodnar board with pre-attached headers, so it’s just a case of solder or spade connector wires to each switch, then push the wire into the board connector. Plug-in usb cable and it all magically works.
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That’s a really cool setup, tbh and I’m glad your smashed up iPad is getting a second life. That USB switch board looks like a pretty dope starting point for any button box type thing, thank you for that link.
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That’s a really cool setup, tbh and I’m glad your smashed up iPad is getting a second life. That USB switch board looks like a pretty dope starting point for any button box type thing, thank you for that link.
Well, it wouldn’t be any good without your excellent app!
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Callbacks under linux: probably the ones differentiating between left and right modifiers (shift, alt, ctrl). It could well be that linux treats those differently.
Finally coming back to trying to make this work on Linux. How can I change what is sent? The non-working buttons seem to send Shift-Alt-None, which is obviously not something I can map in the UI.
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Halloo
Can you resize the images to center it in the Android display? I can feel my OCD kicking in!Domestos
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many thanks:D
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Finally coming back to trying to make this work on Linux. How can I change what is sent? The non-working buttons seem to send Shift-Alt-None, which is obviously not something I can map in the UI.
The sim-side server application reads your keyfile, so if you change those in your keyfile, it will send those new keystrokes.
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Halloo
Can you resize the images to center it in the Android display? I can feel my OCD kicking in!Domestos
Which images do you mean? The MFD panels with buttons?
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Hi kungfoo, yeah, he’s probably talking about the fact that MFD panels aren’t horizontally centered on the screen, depending on device resolution.
See https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vEkLV1Tr24SIfSyFh28HZZCOpiva9efU/view?usp=sharing
It seems to be left aligned, with arbitrary fixed space in between them.
It would be more aesthetically pleasant if the left MFD was left-aligned, and the right MFD right-aligned.
Also, ideally, they would grow in size when possible, so the space in-between them would be minimized.
But that’s probably more tricky.Also, i have the issue that the app seems to stop refreshing after some time.
Are there any specific logs i should look for? -
Hi kungfoo, yeah, he’s probably talking about the fact that MFD panels aren’t horizontally centered on the screen, depending on device resolution.
See https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vEkLV1Tr24SIfSyFh28HZZCOpiva9efU/view?usp=sharing
It seems to be left aligned, with arbitrary fixed space in between them.
It would be more aesthetically pleasant if the left MFD was left-aligned, and the right MFD right-aligned.
Also, ideally, they would grow in size when possible, so the space in-between them would be minimized.
But that’s probably more tricky.Also, i have the issue that the app seems to stop refreshing after some time.
Are there any specific logs i should look for?The next version will resize them to be a big as possible, as long as in can keep the aspect ratio of the displays (square in that case).
If it stops refreshing but works again after a restart, try setting a slightly lower compression quality (and only 30fps refresh rate for the displays), it is very likely going to solve the issue and you’re likely not to see many compression artifacts.
I’ve had a lot of RL obligations over the past few months, but I’ll soon have a bit more time again to release the next version with sizing improvements (and bezels).
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Hi everyone, due to a long stint abroad and other real life obligations (like moving to a new place) I have not had that much free time to dedicate to Falcon BMS Control, as I’ve wanted. But: Good news, Apple is kind of forcing my hand since the current app is not built for iOS 15, so I’ll release a new version tonight/tomorrow.
That version has pretty ‘abstract’ bezels, but for now I’ll focus on adding more core functionality rather than more eye candy. It also has a working RWR display and quite a bunch of improvements under the hood.You will find that version on the respective app stores and the github page soon. Oh, and there will be a Windows client as well, for people who own a Surface or another touchscreen laptop/tablet of sorts and want to run it there.
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The new version 1.2.0 is out: https://kungfoo.github.io/falcon-bms-control/ and https://github.com/kungfoo/falcon-bms-control/releases/
Android devices should get the update automatically (if installed from the Play Store), otherwise feel free to download the *.apk from the releases page.
Apple being Apple is taking a bit longer to review the new release, but it won’t be long I guess.
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@kungfoo Both iOS and android releases are out and delivered to devices. Android will soon need a new release with no functional changes, due to app compat library requirements for android 12. Apparently, they will forbid people from installing it at some point…
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Could it be something changed? I have used the server and app before, but get stuck atm at “Discovering Server…”. Both the server and iOS cliënt have been updated. Not sure where to start my troubleshooting…
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@fluke to be honest, nothing in the discovery code has changed either on the server or client. Please make sure, your PC and Wifi devices are in the same subnet, as in all of them get IP addresses in the same range such as
192.168.10.x
.Also on iOS: Make sure that the app has the permission to discover on the local network. You can find it here:
Settings > Privacy > Local Network > Falcon BMS Control
> Make sure this is toggled. It reads: ‘Apps that have requested permission to find a communicate with devices on your local network…’
What iOS version are you running? I think there is a bug in iOS14.8.x
in relation to that very permission handling. Updating to15.x
(if able) should fix that. -
@kungfoo Good call, an iOS update fixed this (now running 15.1)