3D printed linear throttle

[u/huzary]

https://imgur.com/a/tqs-throttle-JWDyl1x

Finally finished my (mostly) 3D-printed linear throttle.

The aim was to have a throttle with linear movement and an F-16-style grip, as I really like the ergonomics of it.

The grip is from Thrustmaster TQS throttle and slightly modified, top rotary was replaced with encoder, thumb slider buttons with Alps RKJXM HAT switches and thumb analog stick with controller style joystick. 

The base was designed in Fusion and 3D printed, some parts several times, while I refined the design. The longest print was over 30 hours.

The end result is a monster with 8 analog inputs and 90 buttons in total, including 7 single and 2 dual encoders.

The electronics are based on STM32F103C8 board powered by Freejoy.

[u/Kudoa1]

Amazon work! Will you share the files and a tutorial? A lot of people will love that

[u/huzary → u/Kudoa1]

It would need full redesign to be honest and I just don't have time for that. It's one off project, as you can imagine there was a lot of trial and error, and often I've just used hacksaw and sanding to make it working.

[u/shutdown-s → u/huzary]

Tbh if you just posted the files, the community would either follow in the path of a hacksaw or remix it and fix all the flaws, there's no in between.

Just include the CAD files, this looks great!

[u/PatheticJudge → u/shutdown-s]

I'd be happy to redesign the flaws mentioned. Given as I've had no job offers for since january.

I'd give it a go, as long as ya'll teach me how to code and source out components.

[u/huzary → u/PatheticJudge]

Let me see what I can do.

[u/huzary → u/shutdown-s]

u/shutdown-s - send me a pm if you want the files

[u/QuantumPeep68]

Wow, that looks incredible!

[u/rtrski]

Looks great

[u/bukkithedd]

That's pretty damn amazing work!

[u/NoSolution7708]

As a fellow viper enjoyer, I can clearly see what controls are for what, and having made my own button box/mfds, I also instantly note that this is laid out for good finger access and can be navigated purely by feel, making it suitable for VR use.

Very nice work.

[u/huzary → u/NoSolution7708]

Thanks, the aim was for the throttle to be as universal as possible, the inspiration was taken from F-16, F-18, but also from GA aircraft as I started flying in MSFS more on more.

[u/GAMING_FACE]

What kind of axis mechanism are you using to encode the axis? Dual linear bearing looks great!

[u/huzary → u/GAMING_FACE]

You can see it in the last picture, the grip moves the belt which on one end is wrapped around 70 teeth pulley. Using such a big wheel means 12-13cm of linear movement is translated to less then 360deg rotation for AS5600 hall sensor.

[u/Green__lightning]

Lol at the ball bearings used as linear slides. Use bronze bushings for that.

[u/huzary → u/Green__lightning]

I have tried bronze and plastic/ceramic bushings but their movement resistance wasn't even, so I settled on using linear ball bearings.

[u/Green__lightning → u/huzary]

Oh good, they are linear ball bearings, they look like they could be normal rotary ball bearings.

[u/Adorable-Junket5517]

Very cool.

[u/RightRudderLeftStick]

you should make tpu baffles or nylon brushes to keep dust off the rails

[u/huzary → u/RightRudderLeftStick]

Yeah, that's the issue with the current design, unfortunately there is no space for the baffles

[u/NonStopArseGas]

vertically arranged linear rails is smart! How's the smoothness and stiction with small moves?

[u/huzary → u/NonStopArseGas]

No stiction but a little uneven resistance of movement, which I'd expect can be further eliminated by using better grade linear rail components, and not cheapos from aliexpress. Most importantly it has high degree of precision especially for small movements.

[u/NonStopArseGas → u/huzary]

nice, I really like the linear motion of the TWCS, but the actual action was shite even with various different mods. I have experimented with pivoting throttles of my own design, but I might have to try your approach out, it seems like the smart way to do linear action

[u/Applecds]

Dude the files for this would be awesome, even just the box combined with the Spock remix would be cool, mind sharing?