Ship Sim Control Unit?

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[PI48895]

Sadly, this is what it costs to bring a niche product like this to market.  And we can't compete with a $10 Microsoft keyboard.  Nobody can.

[PI48895]

Can I ask you something Dan, does the ShipDriver controller require a mains socket? Cos in that picture I could see there's two wires coming out of the unit, I presume one is for the USB connection to the computer and another for a mains socket to power the subwoofer, perhaps?

The two cords are USB and audio for the subwoofer pass through.  There is a separate "wall wart" mains supply which plugs into the back.  You are right, Kevin.  That is purely to power the sub woofer, and is not required for the controller.

[Matthew Brown]

But what I was wondering was how does the subwoofer work exactly  

You cant turn the engines on and off on SSE so it will always be a rumbling.
But also how can it channel just the engine sounds (if that is the intention)?
Surely it would be channeling other game sounds like animals!
Next thing I will be hearing a subwoofed seagull trapped inside the box!!

[The Ferry Man]

May I ask a silly question...

Whats a Subwoofer?

Sounds like a ill dog...

[Kevinmcg_ships]

The two cords are USB and audio for the subwoofer pass through.  There is a separate "wall wart" mains supply which plugs into the back.  You are right, Kevin.  That is purely to power the sub woofer, and is not required for the controller.

Cheers Dan, that clears up a few things. 

[PI48895]

The subwoofer filters out the high frequency sounds (E.G. seagulls) and only sends low frequency sounds.  ShipDriver has an amplitude control on the back so you can adjust the level.  The high frequencies are passed on to your normal speakers. 

For us this concept started during the design of the RailDriver.  The designer was testing a RailDriver with MS Train Simulator.  Out of desk space in his messy project area, he balanced the prototype on the only available flat surface, a subwoofer.  He moved the throttle and brake levers and felt the vibrations coming through the prototype  .  It doesn't seem like it could make that much difference, but it does make you feel like the controls are part of the craft you are operating. 

[The Ferry Man]

Sound good 

[PI48895]

May I ask a silly question...

Whats a Subwoofer?

Sounds like a ill dog...

It's a speaker which only plays bass notes and low frequency sounds. 

[The Ferry Man]

Ah OK thanks 

[Captain Spencer]

Seriously.  How can you not like this color?     

Dan,

I'm sorry to say, but that colour isn't the same colour of the ShipDriver casing

[PI48895]

Wait.  I've seen that colour before...  it's in your logo.  

You do have a point, but the color of the Mustang in my memory is closer to the ShipDriver blue.  

BTW, American cars have colors, not colours. 

[Captain Spencer]

Well the blue is my company colours (which I won't mention), and it also happens to be my favourite colour, but only the right shades

[Captain Canuck]

Sadly, this is what it costs to bring a niche product like this to market.  And we can't compete with a $10 Microsoft keyboard.  Nobody can.

I used to think that it was criminal to charge a few $100 for a box full of switches. 

Some time ago I was thinking of building a simple flight sim cockpit and was appalled at the prices. So I headed over to Mouser (http://www.mouser.com) and bought most of the components I needed, I grabbed a few PIC Microcontrollers (http://www.microchip.com) and found everything else at the local Radio Shack. I think I spent around $50 for everything I needed for a complete radio stack and few panels of buttons, switches, and other gee-gaws.

I had a great time bread-boarding everything and writting the microcontroller firmware (it had been a long times since I had to write assembly code).  However, by the time I had my prototype ready and it came to writing the USB drivers (a few months later) I realized that a few hundred dollars for a "box full of switches" wasn't such a bad deal after all   

And your ShipDriver looks waaaaay better than my shoe box full of wires

Now for a couple of my own questions?

1. Is it possible to change the labels for the buttons on the front of the unit?  If so, how difficult is it to change them?

2. Is it safe to assume that the unit shows up as a standard USB/HID controller in Windows? That is, will I be able to use it in other applications that let me configure the inputs?  I have several games that could make use of a box full of buttons, levers, and dials.

And a suggestion... in the Mark II version include a couple of rotary encoders (ideally dual encoders).  They are not really needed in SSE (unless we get radios), but could certainly be useful in other applications.

[PI48895]

Capt. Canuck (Great Handle BTW),
Sorry for the late reply.  I've been away for a week. 

1) It is very easy to change the legends for the front panel.  The bezel snaps off, you place two printed strips in their channel, and snap the bezel back on.  We have a template for MS Word on the website for printing new legends.

2) ShipDriver shows up as a compound HID device (Game Controller and Keyboard).  The majority of the controls are game controls and game controller buttons.  The top row of blue buttons is keyboard messages.  We also make available a free SDK for programmers. 

Thanks for the questions.  Feel free to ask more.

[Captain Canuck]

Thanks for the reply. My handle is in homage to Canada's superhero (http://www.captaincanuck.com/).  I found a link to the SDK on your web site and I'm reading the docs now.  Looks good. 

[erik]

Hi, i got the ship control unit, and in work just perfect and give a very realistic feeling.
The control unit make your SEE just like a real ship, and you dont have to look at your monitor, to find out
where yor rudder og engine controls are, you can see and feel it.

Yes it is expensive but worth all the monny

so sory for my bad english

[Sunseekeringo]

Hi,

I also regret the price for the control unit but I also wonder how you control vessels with 2 engines and 2 rudders because I think on the control unit there can be only 1 rudder being steered (I think of Azipod drives). Is it possible with the control unit? Can you probably switch between the engines?

Thanks
Ingo

[PI48895]

I also wonder how you control vessels with 2 engines and 2 rudders because I think on the control unit there can be only 1 rudder being steered (I think of Azipod drives). Is it possible with the control unit? Can you probably switch between the engines?

This does present a challenge as ShipDriver has only one steering control and two throttle levers.  In my testing of dual Azipod controlled vessels, I set the steering control to steer both rudders together.  Just for fun, I connected two ShipDrivers to the PC and configured one to control each Azipod.  I proved it's possible, but I don't expect a lot of users to buy two ShipDrivers just for that purpose.

For the most part, I found using a wheel or tiller to steer both Azipods and using the throttle levers to control thrust independently worked very well.   

[Matthew Brown]

Hi, i got the ship control unit, and in work just perfect and give a very realistic feeling.
The control unit make your SEE just like a real ship, and you dont have to look at your monitor, to find out
where yor rudder og engine controls are, you can see and feel it.

Yes it is expensive but worth all the monny

so sory for my bad english

I definately agree with you there! It's got a very nice metal feeling to it as you push the throttles forward etc!

Hi,

I also regret the price for the control unit but I also wonder how you control vessels with 2 engines and 2 rudders because I think on the control unit there can be only 1 rudder being steered (I think of Azipod drives). Is it possible with the control unit? Can you probably switch between the engines?

Thanks
Ingo

This is possible with the Ship Console Unit 
Sort of the same as the Ship Driver, you can set the throttles and rudder to both Azipods or just one.
How you wish 

[Mad_Fred]

It's a solution I reckon, but that's not a fully analog two rudder setup and you'll never be able to get the fullest out of say, the Bugsier 2, with both rudders/pod steering linked like that..

That is my main problem with these products and why I haven't invested in either one..   

[PI48895]

I was asked to post a picture of my setup with ShipDriver.  Those are dual 19" monitors behind it.  My keyboard and mouse are on a pull out tray under the desk.  I never use the keyboard and only use the mouse for selecting  mooring and towing points.  Two buttons in the lower left corner of the ShipDriver zoom the chart in and out.

I also posted a really short video on Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAdpIvZHNsE  (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAdpIvZHNsE)  

[larsdehaan]

€160 is cheap... i think ill get one!

[jfail]

My ShipDriver arrived yesterday and I spent most of the night playing with it.  Very easy to set it up and get it going.  Throttles, helm etc. all work great.  You have to go into SSE or SS2008 and define most of the keys, controls etc.  Some are already defined.  I will play with it more today and report.

So far I like it a lot.

[larsdehaan]

in the german shop its sold-out or unavailble... now i need to let it brought from the uk

[Denis]

Aerosoft (the officiel european reseller) announces the release in 2011 :

http://en.shop.aerosoft.com/eshop.php?action=catalog_list&s_group_id=042

Don't know if it's in february or in april (don't know which date format it is).

PI engineering can send the unit to Europe ... with 100$ shipping cost (I asked them by email) ...

There's no fast and affordable solution for european customers :/