Installation and Operation Manual for the Force Sensor Stick Base

ELECTRONICA MECANICA Y CONTROL, S.A.
WWW.REALSIMULATOR.COM.
Installation and Operation Manual
for the Force Sensor Stick Base
upgrades "FSSB" R1 and R2
SIMULATION DEPARTMENT
Installation and Operation Manual for
the Force Sensor Stick Base upgrades
"FSSB" R1 and R2
Revision 1.0 Madrid, March 3, 2004
Traducido al Ingles por Manuel « JUDY » Durant
Gracias por tu ayuda
 EMYCSA REALSIMULATOR ™
Avda. Manoteras, 22, Nave 42
28050 Madrid - SPAIN
Tel.: (+34) 91-383-83-25 •Fax (+34) 91-383-83-31
WEB – www.emycsa.es www.realsimulator.com
Contents
WHAT IS THE FSSB?
3
JOYSTICK
5
REALSIMULATOR FSSB SYSTEM
7
INSTALLATION
8
SELECTING THE RESISTANCE LEVEL
15
FINE TUNING OR INSTALLATION COMPENSATION.
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* COMMON SPECIFICATIONS R1 R2:
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* R1.
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* R2.
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WHAT IS REALSIMULATOR?
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1
Chapter
Foreword
In this chapter, we are going to describe both
versions R1 and R2 of the FSSB upgrade. You’ll find a
detailed description in the next chapters.
Welcome and thank you for purchasing the “FSSB”. This is the best force
sensor joystick system on the public simulation market. Please take a few
minutes to read these instructions and discover how you can fully enjoy your
FSSB.
What is the FSSB?
The “FSSB” is a force
sensors system developed with
the
same
state-of-the-art
technology presently used in
the aeronautical industry. It has
been designed to be used as a
“drop-in” modification for the
Thrustmaster HOTAS Cougar.
This modification will offer the
following benefits:
•
As it doesn’t use potentiometers, it will extend the life of your Cougar.
•
It will make simulation control more accurate and more efficient. It
suppresses all play as it doesn’t have any moving parts.
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•
It will adapt itself to your flying style. The FSSB offers 4 levels of
sensitivity which can be separately adjusted for each axis. Furthermore,
you can also choose the correct resistance according to your flight style.
Your new FSSB includes three components:
•
Mounting system to install the FSSB in the stick
•
Force sensors
•
Force measurement electronic components for calibration and fine tuning.
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Chapter
Why would you need the FSSB?
In this chapter, we’ll explain why the Fighting
Falcon F-16 is using that type of joystick. We’ll describe
its benefits and the way RS has developed the FSSB so
that it is perfect for you.
Joystick
As we all know, in real life or in a simulator, aircraft move in three planes. The
Pitch, Bank or Roll and Yaw movements are shown in the following diagram.
Yaw is achieved by the rudders and the vertical and horizontal movement
(pitch and bank) are achieved with the stick.
In the first days of aviation, the joystick was a lever handle between the pilot’s
legs. By moving this handle, the pilot would transmit movements to the
aircraft’s control surfaces via cables or complex systems of levers. Later,
hydraulic and servo-electrical systems were used to reduce the force necessary
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to move the control surfaces. The control surfaces resistance must have been
very high as our grandparents invented very ingenious systems of assistance so
that part of the air moving around the plane would help move the control
surfaces.
But when it came to the point where a pilot didn’t need to make an enormous
effort to move the joystick, it was no longer necessary to keep the joystick
between the legs. But pilots accustomed to fly that way used all sorts of
arguments to keep such an anti-ergonomic position. More importantly, with
present flight systems with electronic control, it was decided to change the
stick position and in our F-16, it was placed on the right-hand panel, in an
ergonomic position. The stick was equipped with a force measurement system
using the force sensors considered by the engineers of the time as the best
tools to measure the small deflections produced in the stick when the pilot
applied forces to it.
With a force sensor system, it was possible to eliminate all possible play and
mechanical errors which are responsible for a lack of accuracy and
maintenance problems. Moreover, the pressure sensitivity or the force applied
by his hand gives the pilot a new feeling.
Conventional control systems use a lever to control the aircraft. We move that
lever to move the control surfaces. These movements are quite wide, they
produce a big recoil and eventually, play appears (your can certainly experience
it with the steering wheel of your car). Some have tried to minimize the
problems caused by play, but with force sensors, they are minimized and even
completely eliminated.
In conventional systems, the pilot has to make wide movements, he needs to
have a visual and audio feedback of these movements and adjust the joystick
movement to get the desired result. With a force system, we can also use the
millions of pressure sensors we have in our hands and very accurately control
our plane’s movements. We can also modify these movements much faster
that we could ever do with a wide displacement of a lever.
To cut a long story short, if we use a joystick with force sensors, we have:
•
More durability and reliability
•
More precision and speed
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Realsimulator FSSB system
The Realsimulator development team started in 2003 to design an upgrade for
the Cougar that could benefit from force sensor technology.
To that purpose, they used the knowledge developed by the parent company
EMYCSA and its projects achieved for the European military and civilian
industry. They also took advantage of their cooperation with NASA in
developing the water limit layer sensors to study the deformation of the
aircraft profiles when they are submitted to important water pressures.
Beside the parent company’s knowledge, we also cooperated with the main
European manufacturer of sensors for the European space industry and we
were able to benefit from the same metal used for those sensors and from the
appropriate thermal treatment.
At the end, we were able to design the FSSB that you are now holding.
Whether it is an R1 or an R2, in both cases you have the best quality/price
ratio on the market. We’re also preparing an R3 version for the aeronautical
industry, but we can assure you that the R1 and R2 versions are the best on the
market. During the first 10 years, you won’t be able to tell the difference
between the R1 and the R2. The R2 version uses improved sensors that offer
the same reliability, but tenfold. The R3 version will be used by the
aeronautical industry where 16-bit accuracy is not enough.
As we’ve already indicated, the FSSB components are the following:
•
Mounting system to install the FSSB in the stick.
•
Force sensors.
•
Force measurement electronic components for calibration and fine
tuning.
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Chapter
Installation
In this chapter, we’re going to show you how to install the FSSB.
Installation
This is a step-by-step installation guide.
Unplug your Cougar from the computer and please use a large table so that
you have enough space to work. We are now going to show you in details how
to completely dismantle the joystick before installing the FSSB.
In order to install the FSSB, ideally you need the following tools:
- A flat 7 mm wrench
- A Phillips PH1 screwdriver
- A 5 mm hex wrench
- Torx screwdrivers of 10 and 20
- A 4 mm Allen keys
First, remove the handle from the base by unscrewing the big grey ring.
Then, remove the bottom cover plate. Use the Phillips screwdriver to remove
the four screws.
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With a 5 Hex screwdriver, remove the four hex head nuts that maintain the
PCB in place. Remove the four screws to take the PCB out of the base.
Now please pay attention to the USB cable, because there are two different
models, one with a grounding wire and the other without. If you have a USB
cable with a grounding wire, please take note of its position to be able to put it
back afterwards.
Now carefully remove the PCB and disconnect the 3 white connectors (one for
each pot and one for the stick).
You don’t have to disconnect the brown connector.
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Now, we are going to remove the rubber bellows which is placed around the
stick center shaft. For that, remove the four screws which maintain the metal
ring onto the base. Please don’t lose them as you’ll need them to fasten the
FSSB in the base.
Then, remove the metal ring and the rubber bellows.
Now, use the Torx 10 screwdriver to remove the 8 M5 black screws that
maintain the gimbals system in the base. In some bases, you’ll notice that the
bellows have been glued to the base. But it’s not really difficult to remove it.
If you discover that the nuts inside the base have also been glued, please use a
flat 7 wrench to hold the nuts while unscrewing the screws.
After removing the screws, remove the pot end plates, the slotted yoke end
plates and the spring assemblies until you just have the stick centre shaft with
the yoke.
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Then, remove the assembly by turning the shaft diagonally across the square
opening and wiggling through the hole. A small amount of pressure may be
required.
OK, if you followed the procedure so far, you should have a table resembling
the one shown on the picture.
You can now discard all the elements you will no longer need. Indeed, to
install the FSSB, we’ll need just the following elements:
-
Tools.
The stick, the base and the FSSB plate.
Fastening screws for the plate.
The screws to fasten the PCB onto the base.
Now that the table is devoid of unnecessary elements, we can open the new
FSSB box.
Inside, you’ll find the following.
•
•
•
The force sensor system.
An identification plate for the model you purchased.
A small plastic bag with 8 M5 screws and their nuts.
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As you can see in the picture below, you can use the FSSB box to keep the parts
you’ve just removed from the Cougar base and that you won’t need anymore.
Check on the box and on the identification plate if the model you received is the
one you ordered.
Now use the dipswitches to select the resistance. Put them in the left position to
have a resistance of 25-17 lb or in the right position to have a resistance of 6-8
lb. You can also choose intermediary ranges.
Then do the same for the X-axis.
We recommend using some adhesive fluid on the screws we are going to use
during the final installation phase so that they won’t move. We recommend
Loctite 243 or similar. You can also use fingernail varnish.
Let’s start with the identification plate. Place the plate onto the base as shown in
the picture below and insert the screws.
Apply a small drop of Loctite on each screw and tighten the nut. When all
screws are in place, use the Allen key and the flat wrench to tighten them.
These pictures show how your base should look.
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Now, we’re going to use the 4 M3 screws that we removed to install the sensor
plate in the base.
Now place the base upside down to install the sensor plate. Align the sensor
plate as shown in the picture, with the arrow towards the connectors’ openings.
Centre the sensor plate until its four holes are aligned with the holes in the
Cougar base.
Put a small drop of Loctite on each screw and start turning but don’t tighten
them yet. When the four screws are in place, you can tighten them.
In this picture, you can see how your new FSSB Cougar looks so far.
Put the base upside down and connect the stick cable and the X and Y axes
cables to the PCB.
Place the PCB on the base and insert one screw in one of the holes further away
from the connectors’ slots (easier that way). Now insert and tighten the hex
head nuts as shown.
Insert and tighten the three remaining screws to keep the PCB in position.
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Now before putting the Cougar base cover plate back, plug the Cougar in the
computer to calibrate it as explained in Chapter 4 "Fine tuning or installation
compensation."
TIP: If the stick has centre play when you mount it, then if you're happy that all
the screws in the base are tight, you need to undo your Cougar grip and tighten
the 1 screw inside it near the base. This is a weak link ... anyone not getting a
tight grip here will feel centre play.
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Selecting the resistance level
During the final development
phase of the last prototypes and because
of the big difference between the force
necessary to comfortably fly with the
stick on a desktop and the enormous
force necessary to have a realistic flight,
we decided to enable the user to select
the resistance. In fact, it would have
been a great disappointment for our
customers to find that the FSSB that
they so eagerly waited is too strong or to weak. Therefore, because of the great
stability shown by the beta equipment, we were able to improve the electronic
components and to add a resistance selector working with microswitches. The
names of those microswitches are SWY and SWX.
Next to each micro switch, the captions 25-17 and 6-8 have been
printed on the left and on the right, respectively. If the micro switch is in the
ON position (on the right), the force decreases. If it’s on the left (OFF), it
increases.
To have a better idea of the resistance adjustment, here’s a table with
the different settings.
1
ON
OFF
ON
OFF
2
ON
ON
OFF
OFF
Force (Lb)
6
8
10
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Moreover, the resistance can be adjusted separately for each axis. As a
consequence, it is possible to adjust the joystick according to your individual
preferences.
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Chapter
Fine tuning and installation
compensation
In this chapter, we are going to explain how to fine
tune the FSSB to compensate for dimensional variations
that may exist between different Cougar bases, and to
select the resistance.
Fine tuning or installation compensation.
The force measurement
system is equipped with a pivoting
system used to compensate for the
small levelness errors in the four
fastening points with the Cougar
base. Even if the negative effect of
these errors is minimized thanks to
the FSSB design, it is impossible to
completely eliminate it in all kinds
of situations. For this reason, the
electronics of the FSSB has been
completed
with
two
infinite
potentiometers used to accurately set the “zero” position.
Before explaining how to fine tune the equipment, even if it’s very
simple, we think you should know what to do before starting.
As you can see in the installation procedure, the FSSB is fastened onto
the Cougar base with four M3 screws. They create a permanent binding
between the Cougar base and the FSSB. The FSSB is manufactured according
to processes which guarantee the levelness of the force sensing components,
but the Cougar is made out of a low fusion injected alloy to minimize the cost
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and it’s impossible to guarantee that the four M3 points are in the exact same
plane. Therefore, it is almost entirely certain that the FSSB will suffer slight
deformation when it’s fastened to the base. This deformation will be felt by
the sensors. The electronic components will then be told that “someone” is
producing some force in the system. This “someone” is the four M3 screws. In
order to compensate or suppress these parasite forces, the PY1 and PX1 pots
are used.
To make the necessary adjustments, first completely install the FSSB
and before putting the Cougar cover plate back, plug it into the computer and
open the CCP (Cougar Control Panel).
Start the manual calibration.
Click on “Next” to go to step 2 “Y axis”.
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Now turn the PY1 pot screw left or right to adjust it until you get a raw value
of 325 - 330 (approximately in the centre). If you do not see a raw value on
the CCP, then please update your Thrustmaster Cougar software to the latest
version.
Now do the same for the X axis and when you’re done, click on Cancel. Do
not Apply.
After this manual adjustment, unplug the USB cable of the HOTAS and plug
it back after a few seconds. Open Foxy and in the Joystick Analyser, you can
see that your stick is perfectly centred. You can also check the sensitivity.
TIP : To get an accurate calibration when turning the pots, leave the
stick mounted. The weight of the stick makes a difference. So turn the pot a
little, then place the stick the right way up to see what effect it has, and then
back over to turn the pot again.
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Now, unplug your stick from the USB port, put the bottom cover plate back in
place and reconnect your throttle and rudders. You can perform a manual
calibration following the instructions provided by the CCP’s manual
calibration routine.
IMPORTANT : Please note that it is not necessary to reach all minimum and
maximum values when you’re calibrating the X and Y axis. In fact, you
should just push and pull your FSSB stick in a way that it remains comfortable
for you. Don’t try to reach maximum deflection, you’d probably end up with
an aching arm. The FSSB has been developed in such a way that it can give a
full range of displacement (check in the Joystick Analyser) with a reduced
physical deflection. Moreover, don’t hesitate to play with the CCP curve
settings to find the best compromise.
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Chapter
Technical specifications.
This chapter describes the FSSB technical specifications.
* Common specifications R1 R2:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
Force sensors with two independent axes
Green and tinned stick centre shaft
Stick fastening with 4 M4 screws
Sensor plate fastened to the plate with 4 M3 screws
Sensing electronic components with independent channels
Independent reset fine tuning for each channel
Adjustable resistance with four different levels for each axis
Laser engraved Aisi 304 inox identification plate
Screws and nuts necessary to install the FSBB
Electrical connections with sockets, no soldering required
Maximum recommended load : 35 Lb
Maximum tolerated load : 45 Lb
* R1.
- Minimum life expectancy: 10.000.000 operations
* R2.
- Minimum life expectancy: 100.000.000 operations
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What is Realsimulator?
Your FSSB is part of the Real Simulator project. The RS project includes all
the necessary elements to build a realistic metal cockpit of the F-16 Block
50/52 and use it with ultra realistic combat flight simulators. The different
elements composing the Real Simulator and already available are:
1. The PRS (rudder pedals)
2. The Entry Level cockpit
3. The ACESII seat
4. The RS/ CCD Cockpit Control Device
5. The ICP
6. The MFDs
7. The indexer lights
We are currently developing the lateral panels, the frontal instruments and
the HOTAS system for the cockpit that will be presented to the public,
with the complete cockpit structure, in 2004.
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