October 2024 - After stopping
card production back in 2021 nothing much has happened with
the site and its projects - just some smallish software
updates etc. However I've recently spent some time
re-visiting the Control Loader system -
more details here....
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Aug '19 - There's now a
"Feeder" app available for the CL_Controller which provides
simple loading for Steering Tiller and Toe Brakes as
additional CL system axes. The Feeder app uses the new UDP
user input loading mode described below.
More details here....
July '19 -
I've released a new
CL Controller application
which combines the loading test features of the Driver Test
App and a new UDP user input loading mode. This will allow
users/software developers to write their own CL software or
software for specialised control axes and drive the CL
system cards.
Dec '18 - Bass
shaker and motorised trim wheel card availability - good
news! My component supplier has come through and I now have
some stock of the main drive chip used on these cards - they
are available again to order on the order page.
Nov '18 - I've now released a
new generation of the flight control loader drive cards.
These now replace the CL_SPU & BLDRV2 cards (although these
are still available for users looking for spares or
replacements).
The new CL_SPU_USB and
BLDRV3 cards have a number of improvements including
direct USB comms and support for a wider range of 3 phase
servo motors. The new suggested motors should be easier to
obtain than the current MB082 motors. For more details
follow the link...
Oct '18 - A quick note on the
bass shaker and motorised trim wheel availability. There is
a global shortage of the main Texas Instruments drive chip
used on both these cards and I've had to suspend sales of
the cards until I can secure stock. I hope to have some
chips early December, but this depends on stockists
receiving them from the manufacturer. Sorry for the
unavailability...
June '18 - A NEW version of
the BSH-DRV bass shaker driver card is now available. The
new BSH-DRV-2 card uses an improved micro-controller and
direct USB comms. The new release of the BFF Shaker software
adds several new vibration features - see the
BSH-DRV-2 card page for
more details....
Sept '17 -
The CL
system driver cards now have a new automatic power-up
calibration feature. I've added new options which allow the
cards to drive the controls automatically on power-up to
establish the position and range calibration needed for full
brushless motor commutation. Previously this was done by the
user with manual control movements. For more details see the
APUC option document and
this
quick video clip.
V1.322 or later is
required to support the new APUC features.
July '17 -
The BFF Motorised Trim Wheel driver
card and 3D printed parts are now available. More details
are on the MTW page
here...
June '17 -
News of some more development work.
This time on a new motorised trim wheel for GA type sims.
More details
on the
BFF Motorised Trim
Wheel page....
Dec '16 -
At last I've found some time
to do some development work... I've been looking at an
easier to build DIY FFB flight yoke made using OpenBeam
aluminium extrusions and 3D printed parts. It's been going
well - more details on the
OpenBeam Flight Yoke here....
Nov '16 - A new version of
the 6DOF motion software is now available. This one for
Digital Combat Simulator (DCS). See
Section 20 of the online
user guide for details.
Sept '16 - The BSH-DRV-1 Bass
Shaker Driver is now available. Follow the order page links
on the
BSH-DRV-1
web page for pricing and
availability.....
June '16 - Here's a link to
some details of the forthcoming BFF Bass Shaker Driver. this
is a direct driver card for bass shakers and electric motor
based vibration units. Not yet available but here are
some details in the
meantime....
May '16 - I've added an
interface to the 6 DOF Motion Software Generic version for
the X-IMU inertial measurement unit. This allows real-time
vehicle motion to be sensed and sent to the motion software.
More details in the online
user guide here...
April '16 - Updated versions
of the 6DOF Motion Software available. Downloads
here as usual....
February '16 -
Updated version of the CL software is available. V1.310 adds
support for Sim-Avionics and ProSim for heavy jets. It also
adds Failure Mode loading, also of interest to heavy jet sim
builders. Various updates to the Configuration Manager
also... See the CL
Software user guide for more details.
January '16 -
I've release an updated
version if the control loader (FFB) system motor driver. The
new driver is a modular system with a separate PC
communications and control cards (the CL_SPU) and plugin
brushless motor drivers (the BLDRV2-24). The new driver
removes the old serial data daisy chain connections,
simplifies the system wiring and provides sharper PC comms
through the single PC connection. It also improves card
programmability by reducing the need for firmware reflashing.
Details are available here.
December '15 - Updated the 6
DOF Motion Software versions to V3.406 with various small
updates and fixes. See the
updates section of the online user guide.
August '15 - Updated version
of the CL software is available. V1.3 add a new
Configuration Manager which brings all the CL system
settings into the same set up application. It also provides
better descriptions of settings and links. V1.3 also add
support for the future generation of CL system motor driver
cards (as used in the BFF FFB Cube). Download and details in
the On-Line User Guide
as usual...
August '15 - I've added a new
version of the 6 DOF Motion Software - this one for the
heavy jet flight simulator Aerowinx PSX. More details in the
On-Line User Guide.
There are also small updates to the other 6 DOF versions -
to add a new Auto_Start function. See the
updates section of the
guide.
June '15 -
I've posted a couple of new
projects in the Gallery page. One
is some work currently on the go on the new pre-built
control loader (FFB) drive. The BFF FFB Cube is described in
a bit more detail here... The
second is a case study on a
recent commercial installation of the Control Loader
system in Canada.
May '15 - NEW 6DOF motion
software version is now available - this one for the car racing sim
Project_CARS. Check the online user guide for more details -
Section 16.
March '15 - NEW 6DOF motion
software version - this one for the motorcycle racing sim
GPBikes. Check the online user guide for more details -
Section 15.
March '15 -
NEW 3 DOF platform drive 64SPU-2 card released. This combines
the function of the earlier 64SPU-1, 12ADC-1 12bit feedback and
I2C Isolator cards in a single board. Supplied complete with
FTDI chipset USB/TTL cable and external logic power switch it reduces
cost and simplifies system wiring and operation.
March '15 -
6DOF Motion
Software raised to V3.3 to add new slider based cue tuning
interface. This provides a more intuitive way of tuning the
motion cues, although the advanced settings parameters are also
still available. See the
online guide for
more information....
Jan '15 - CL software upgraded to V1.210. See
online guide for more
details.
Oct '14 - I've made available a beta versions of the 3DOF
& 6DOF
motion drivers for racing sim rFactor - see the 3DOF
Online User Guide
and
6DOF User Guide
for downloads and details. 6DOF drivers for Assetto
Corsa, F1 2013, LFS and iRacing racing sims are also now available.
Jan '14 - I've added a helicopter cyclic control loading
mode to the flight control FFB system -
see here.
Jan '14 - I've also now added an experimental
Kangaroo interface to the 6 DOF motion platform software -
see
Section 8 of the user
guide.....
Jan '14 - V2.80 of the 3 DOF Motion Driver
software for motion platforms adds an interface for
Dimension Engineering's Kangaroo motion control modules. See
Section 18 of the on-line
user guide for more detail....
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