Space Ship Cockpit

This is a project to build a Photo Op Space Ship Cockpit to take to Faires and Events.

Unit: C++ & Arduino Programming (maybe Raspberry Pi Pico Too)
- Module: Capstone Programming Projects
This is a LEARNING Activity : Lesson / Lab

Last Revised: Dec. 2, 2023 - Authored: Oct 31, 2023
Original Author: Jim Burnham - TopClown@STEAMClown.org
Content License: Distributed as Open Source. See Rights & Usage

Why Build A Space Ship Cockpit? Good Question, I would Love To Tell You...

This is a project to build a Hacker Photo Op Space Ship Cockpit to take to Faire's and Events. I want to create a space ship cockpit, that "looks" real and can be broken down and fit in my Van... and can be transported to events. It can be used to shoot a feature film, or just fun selfies.

DIY Space Ship Resources Links

Things We Need To Think About:

Modular: It needs to come apart, be easily assembled, be transportable, but also easy to connect and disconnect the electronics.
- Needs to fit through standard doors
- Rolling, but also fit in the back of a van
Powered by 12v low voltages: Have all systems powered by 12 or 5 volts. make it so that each panel can be plugged in.
Have a modular system, so the top and sides and individual panels can come off. Have overhead panel and side panels around the cockpit separates, but any conduit, tubing and piping can be separated and unplugged.
Definitely need to come up with a plug-in play connector style connector structure that will connect all the Arduino's together so you can have them all talking to each other also having some serial connection, so you can have coordinate things. Have a coordinated failure in the cabin, all the system is crashed, rebooting now...
Create a Arduino Arduino template for anybody designing a panel. This way they all have the the serial connection code.
Need some kind of some kind of audio cable and connection plan.

How To Use It At STEAM Events:

Have all the cabling plug into a carrier board or Arduino and Raspberry Pi shields and card plug in ports, to let some one take over a specific module interface, with out wiping out the last codes design.
Have module with sensors and, LEDs and Stuff... Let a Student Maker program it.

Do List:

Order some audio boards so you can play some audio audio stuff out of speakers
Check with the auto services folks and see if you get a small windshield, or right and left side windows. Have these as the front ship windows. Design these to pop out easy.

Structure Design Issues:

Have a modular system, so the top and sides and individual panels can come off. Have overhead panel and side panels around the cockpit separates, but any conduit, tubing and piping can be separated and unplugged.
Have the ship windows pop out, so you can film through them.
Set it up so you got one side where the seat is that is 2/3 or 3/4 of the space, but you still have other side that you can close the cabin in so it looks complete. Be able to pull panels on/off form all sides, so you can film from both sides.
Make all the the side panels from the seat/hip up, all unscrew so you can take out the side panel, and the supporting structure as well. This way you can disconnect the supporting structure, to not interfere with any film angles. Just have it bolt on to the lower half of the of the structure

Possible Ideas for Panel & Features Layout & Implementation:

Run some LED strips through the conduit to look like powers being like pushed through you can have some module like boost power and you click it because it looks like it's putting more power into the into the system
Figure out how to take a raspberry pie or some other system and basically select short of video that can mesh into a video of a start filed. So you can do something like jumping to light speed. Implement so that you can flip some switches or turn a dial and you tell a video controller to play a specific video , like jump to light speed, crashing into asteroids, getting shot by another ship, approach a planet... and you can click or flip a switch it plays a specific video segment.
Create a bunch of functions that are things like a system crash function, system reboot function, system things are flaky, something's wrong, systems crashing, system is having problems, and you just bang it and it'll come back on... that would be cool.
Definitely have a module that's got like a microphone or vibration sensor and it's so when you like bang on it it'll go from system is failing to working working. Maybe have this as a function, and tie it to a specific switch on the panel.
Set up some kind of app so you can actually take multiple audio sources and multiple microphones and bring all together so they're all coming out of the same the same speaker.
Some kind of audio trigger. Maybe have an audio board and each panel can it different codes, and then that audio controller will have access to a number of different audio boards, and based on the code that it gets from downstream somewhere it will it will play the appropriate file
Maybe have a code each panel reads to let it figure out what configuration program it should load and run. Maybe have a switch/case statment that picks deferent student configurations and lighting styles.

Circuit Diagrams:

Ideas for connecting panels:

path for neopixels that are not part of the panel. these would be controlled by a master spacecraft neopixel controller.
reset signal comming from master spacecraft controller.
all switches should be pulled up or down and have the "activation" be an "edge" not just high or low
inter-panel communication? iic? be best to have an addressable bus, where each panel has an address. https://learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials/i2c/all
panel connections: power, reset, non-panel neopixels,
- could reset and other inter-panel signals be a cat 9 ethernet connection? reset, inter-panel neopixels,
Panels could have Analog inputs for a photoresistor, and have a "Force Wave" option to do something...

LAB Do List:

IIC inter-panel communication:

Create a set of designs between 2 controllers and all peripherals (each panel will be a prereferral with an address)

Setup a lab and design files where you have a raspberry Pi as a controller, talking to all the peripherals, and have another Arduino as a controller also talking to all the peripherals

Fold Down "Targeting System" Panel:

Create a panel design where you have a fold down display:

This could be some type of "targeting" system or "Spatial Jump" Coordinate/Calculator or Spock's "Science Scanner" station.

<Name> Panel #1:

Document the panel design:

Google Sites

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