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Hempstick 2.0 Delay... sort of

I recently bumped into a problem with Hempstick 2.0 development, and have to put in a "sort of" delay. Shouldn't affect the final result timeline too much... For those who did not read the previous post about the next gen Hempstick, it's a Linux-based panel controller instead of using RPi Pico kind of embedded processor (I might still write that one, if I find the latency of Linux-based Hempstick too slow, and let it handle the low latency "hungry" stick/throttle/rudder, and the 2.0 handles higher latency panels. So, whether there will be Hempstick Pico depends on the results I get from Hempstick 2.0.). This would be a fleet of RPi Zero 2Ws, each has 4 cores, 1GHz, and as much as disk space you want on the SD Cards. It could also be RPi 5 with an NVME drive (but I am not building a Linux distro for RPi5, as there is no point, just use a Ubuntu distro., instead I will build a bunch of Debian .deb files that you can just download and run "apt install *.de...
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Clever Little 3D-printed Clamps for 8020 Aluminum Extrusion

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Nothing much. Just showing off some fringe benefits of building a "pit" with 8020 (or clones) extrusion are. What everybody thought first of using these 8020 extrusion is the benefit of quick construction. It's easy to cut, and can be quickly framed using store bought connectors, and screws. But the other well-known benefit is easy to hang stuff to the frame, all kinds of stuff. The first picture below shows a basic hollowed 1x1" block. This could be used to "screw" in rails. I wouldn't put it to lock in two major structural load bearing frame, but for minor frames like left, right console rails for an F-16. It's plenty strong. Just don't put you ass on it. You basically slid in the "T-plug" from the end of the 10x10 rail, and then screw in the other one. The next picture shows a split basic block (filled in), and with bigger holes for holding cables. You press in 1/2" T-plug anywhere you want. put the cable on it. And you put in ...
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The Next Generation Hempstick Prototype

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  That is a screenshot of USB Probe on my iMac, showing the Hemptsick USB descriptor... 3 axes, 64 buttons. But it can contain whatever combo you want. It is a live USB device, a Raspberry Pi Zero 2W Linux device, costing USD $15 + a microSD card. It's a 4 core ARM64, 1GHz device. It's a full computer.  The deal, eventually, is... you download a .img file, that is a full Linux OS. Then, you burn it to a microSD card of your choice, with a program like Raspberry Pi Imager. Plug in the microSD card into a Raspberry Pi Zero 2W stick... boot up, and plug in the USB cable to the Zero 2W, and the other end to your gaming rig (iMac, in this test)... and it boots up and shows up on my iMac as a USB joystick. Inside the .img, there are the following, at the moment. a Custom compiled Linux Kernel, v.6.16.3 to be exact, with the RealTime feature turned on, a program, tentatively called hempstick-hid-import, a config file, tentatively called hempstick-hid.conf, a systemd unit file to auto...
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Ha, they fit!

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They fit. A real Left Aux Console was measured with a caliper and a few other hand tools and 3D modeled, years ago. This year, I acquired the real landing gear module. I didn't even know what those 3 holes were for... but I modeled them anyway. And today, I finally 3D printed it (with some extra excessive stiffening I am regretting now). Now, I know what those 3 holes are for. And they fit perfectly. I think I will just use the real landing gear module, and the real landing gear panel. Simply because I can. ;-)  
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Ubuntu Touch Screen on Aux Console

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7" Raspberry Pi Touch Display 2 on the right Aux Console, fits..... almost perfectly. I had to cut about 2mm into the rim of the aux console on the upper right hand corner. Other than that, it fits right in. 7" is still a tad small for fat fingers, like mine. But, it's workable. Plus, I got a wireless BT/4GHz keyboard touchpad combo thing hooked up to it. Hey, it even comes with a red dot laser pointer. I think a magnetic holder at about where it sits now will do just fine. Of course, in anticipation of my own control stick to be slotted in where the stick is supposed to go, I did added bottom panel, and some ribs inside to reinforce the "slot", and increase the rigidity of that plastic thing. After all, this thing is 3D printed plastic, not cast aluminum. Whether it's strong enough when missile are chasing up my six remains to be seen. I am thinking about putting up a long 12.5" wide screen on top of the glare shield as the 2nd screen. You know, one of...
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Hempstick Breakthrough

Haven't posted in over 2 months... I was pulling my hair out in the last two months... and finally achieved two breakthroughs. I will not talk about the first breakthrough, suffice to say it's a software breakthrough. The other breakthrough I will talk about now is I now have a Linux Hempstick distro. for RPi Zero 2W. Yes, you read it right, it's a whole Linux distro. I build myself. It contains the followings. The newest Linux Kernel 6.16.0 (only about 3 weeks old). It has the newly mainlined Real Time module turned on. It has a minimal Linux distribution (as much as I care to install), built into a .img file just like the Raspberry Pi OS. Why in the hell do I bother with this difficult route???!!! Well... originally, it started with an idea of using a Linux on RPi Zero 2W or Pi5, etc... for controlling all the panels in the "pit." One Linux per panel... or whatever. Then... there are a bunch of stuff I want to write and install on each of the instance of OS, pos...
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Where to Shove My Keyboard.... And Mouse?

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Where indeed to put the keyboard when you build a pit??? I decided to put it right above the F-16 hood. I have a keyboard arm for it installed on the left hand side of the pit on a 19" rack, but ended up not using it because it's too flimsy, and it's quite difficult to type anything longer than 2 characters when the keyboard and the screen are 90 degree from each other. So, it's now used to store the Quest Pro and charger. There are two problems with putting it on top of the hood. It's a bit far, if I am not careful, I would bump my chin on the ICP, and It's 2 1/2" below the top edge of the "hood" making it a bit difficult to type. So, to solve the problem, I need a keyboard riser to boost it up to at least even with the hood. This solves the long term storage problem of the full sized keyboard and it's at least not too difficult to use. But it still doesn't solve the problem of being too far from an inclined seat during a flight. The bes...
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