I'll miss my #HOTAS / #HOSAS / #SIMPIT / #DIY #Discord channels starting next month.
Anyone knows some alternative Spaces on #Matrix by chance?
I'm aware of the tiny https://matrix.to/#/#hotasdiy:matrix.org channel with 21 members. That's something I guess.
Edit: Now we're getting somewhere: https://matrix.to/#/#aerospace-space:hacklab.fi
Acronyms:
HOTAS = Hands on Throttle and Stick
HOSAS = Hands on Stick and Stick
SIMPIT = Simulation/Simulated Cockpit
#HomeCockpit #FlightSim #Joystick #Gamepad #Controller
♻️ 🙏
![<div><img alt="" class="attachment-large size-large wp-post-image" height="450" src="https://hackaday.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/handbrake-main.png?w=800" style="margin: 0 auto; margin-bottom: 15px;" width="800" /></div><p>Simulator-style video games are designed to scale in complexity, allowing players to engage at anything from a casual level to highly detailed, realistic simulation. Microsoft Flight Simulator, for example, can be played with a keyboard and mouse, a controller, or a huge, expensive simulator designed to replicate a specific airplane in every detail. Driving simulators are similar, and [CNCDan] has been hard at work on his DIY immersive driving sim rig, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzpE0UGo8F0" target="_blank">with this hand brake as his latest addition</a>.</p>
<p>For this build, [CNCDan] is going with a lever-style handbrake which is common in motorsports like drifting and rallying. <a href="https://hackaday.com/2025/05/08/diy-driving-simulator-pedals/">He has already built a set of custom pedals</a>, so this design borrows heavily from them. That means that the sensor is a load cell, which takes input force from a lever connected to it with a spring mechanism. The signal is sent to an Arduino for processing, which is set up to send data over USB like any joystick or controller. In this case, he’s using an Arduino that was already handling inputs from his custom shifter, so he only needed to use another input and add some code to get](https://files.mastodon.social/cache/media_attachments/files/116/028/479/478/876/307/original/d993f21e6c371489.png)
![<div><img alt="" class="attachment-large size-large wp-post-image" height="450" src="https://hackaday.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/ffb-driving-main.png?w=800" style="margin: 0 auto; margin-bottom: 15px;" width="800" /></div><p>For a full-fledged, bells-and-whistles driving simulator a number of unique human interface devices are needed, from pedals and shifters to the steering wheel. These steering wheels often have force feedback, with a small motor inside that can provide resistance to a user’s input that feels the same way that a steering wheel on a real car would. Inexpensive or small joysticks often omit this feature, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MwuTVCoU8YM" target="_blank">but [Jason] has figured out a way to bring this to even the smallest game controllers</a>.</p>
<p>The mechanism at the center of his controller is a DC motor out of an inkjet printer. Inkjet printers have a lot of these motors paired with rotary encoders for precision control, which is exactly what is needed here. A rotary encoder can determine the precise position of the controller’s wheel, and the motor can provide an appropriate resistive force depending on what is going on in the game. The motors out of a printer aren’t plug-and-play, though. They also need an H-bridge so they can get driven in either direction, and the entire mechanism is connected to an Arduino in the base of the controller to easily communicate with a computer over USB.</p>
<p>In testing the con](https://files.mastodon.social/cache/media_attachments/files/115/983/926/044/563/609/original/9d108ddfbde73523.png)