I am thinking about building a dash board for my racing rig. I see that you have done some 3D Printing. Could you print a dash board that would house some toggle switches, an indicator light and maybe a gear shift indicator?
I am thinking about building a dash board for my racing rig. I see that you have done some 3D Printing. Could you print a dash board that would house some toggle switches, an indicator light and maybe a gear shift indicator?
Hmm, now this project sounds interesting. Let's lay out some details and see what we are working with and what our end goal is.
Do you want this dash to mesh together with your steering wheel setup? If so, what make and model is your wheel so I can get an idea of what we are working with.
Also, what are you looking to display? I assume Gear, speed and RPM. Do you already have any hardware for those options? Such as a speedometer or tech?
How many switches and buttons would you like to add, what type and what is each function? Toggle switches, push button, momentary buttons?
A few details of the specifics and we can start building out some options, then fit it all onto a dash layout and see what we can come up with.
I am using a Logitech G25 wheel (old school but still works great). I would like a gear shift indicator and a speed indicator would be nice as well. I already have a StepMaster tach. I am looking at 3 to four on/off toggle or rocker switches. These will operate a cooling fan, power up the wheel and tach. I have a Derek Spears Button Box that will control game functions. Also going to use a tablet to display gauges (water temp etc.) I would like for the dash panel to fill the gaps between the tack, button box and tablet. I am wanting all these pieces to look like they are joined together as a real dash board rather than just hanging there as I have seen on most sim racing rigs.
Thanks for your interest.
Hmm,
Starting with the switches (and we can do buttons and speed etc next)
I'm finding several different styles and flavors. For best compatibility lets stick with 12v for illumination as this is what the automotive industry uses and will give us the most options.
Blue Illuminated Rocker Switches - It looks like these come with inserts that can be used as well as a mounting plate.
Standard On/Off Toggle Switches - These are just your typical un-illuminated chrome looking on off switches
As for the speed and gear indicators, I am looking at an item like this. These are 1.2inch digits, and should be a decent size. They also use I2C that can be connected via a Raspberry Pi or Arduino to use with your setup.
What color scheme are you going for?
Illuminated Toggle Switch - All plastic, colored toggle switches
LED Slim Toggle Switch - A slimmer profile plastic toggle switch with LED light
Illumiated Metal Toggle Switch - Similar to the standard on/off toggle switches, but with either Blue or Red LEDs and a protective cover for the switch
To use these switches to operate wall plug 110v devices, we can use some 12v relays in tandem with these switches to control said devices.
I think I want to use the standard on/off toggle switches to stay with the theme of the Button Box. Also maybe use some small indicator lights above the switches to add some light. As for the color scheme I am using a blue back ground on tablet for gauge display and the tach is using a blue display. Thought a bought amber indicator lights and gear and speed indicator to break up all the blue.
These are the 7 Segment displays I was thinking of for the Speed indication, you can get them in Blue, Red, Green and Yellow
Those are 1.2 inches tall, so I'm not sure if that's how large you were looking to have them?
0.56 inch Yellow 7 Segment I2C
Those are .56 inches tall, shorter and they also come in white.
I'm also looking around for larger single digit displays, but so far it looks like most are common cathode style, rather than something like an I2C interface. Connecting to a Pi or Android at that point would need abit more wiring and setup.
I was able to find something like this.
1.8 inch 7 Segment Common Cathode
But so far only in Blue or Red
It could be also possible to use something like one of these for the gear indication.
Adafruit BiColor 8x8 LED Matrix I2C
As for the LED indicator lights, some simple 3v or 5v LEDs and fancy mounts would work. (Either 3mm or 5mm sizes too)
And then some custom LED mounts could be 3D printed, or something like these
or
Do you have any pictures of your current setup to get a better idea?
I've also located these that would work, 1.8inch 7 Segment displays
or
Yes. I have made a template with the layout for the switches and indicators. Can you send me a private message with address so I can ship?
