Unused Voyager Tricorder build... Tis FINISHED!<<< Or is it!?
- Thread starter MangyDog
- Start date
tye williams
Active Member
Something new comes... Well here is a sneak peak at a nearly completed Version 2 PCB... still need to clean the flux up. Going to program it and fully test it tomorrow but preliminary tests seem to show its working...
So this is a v2 model. Slightly tweaked case design too as clients requests...
If anyone else is interested please PM me... Tbh I could do with the work.
So this is a v2 model. Slightly tweaked case design too as clients requests...
If anyone else is interested please PM me... Tbh I could do with the work.
AnubisGuard
Master Member
Very impressive!
Have you considered branching out into electronics for the canonical tricorders? There's a real gap in the market now that Gerry Mros is basically retired.
Have you considered branching out into electronics for the canonical tricorders? There's a real gap in the market now that Gerry Mros is basically retired.
thats a tough one actually.. While making a led chaser is easy enough... i wouldnt be able to do a full capacative touch for most of the other models... At least not the mark IX types... Its only possible here because i made my own hollow hinge design so i could pass some data lines through to the door side.
if the demand is really there and people want me to make something ill look into it but im not sure how much i want to invest into it... I honestly dont see my making much in that.
if the demand is really there and people want me to make something ill look into it but im not sure how much i want to invest into it... I honestly dont see my making much in that.
USS Endeav
Sr Member
It's very possible to send the required signal for LEDs plus 7 switches from the door of the Mk X to the main shell using nothing more than the two hinges. 
AnubisGuard
Master Member
Personally, I don't even think capacitive touch in the doors is even necessary. Unless expectations have shifted since I was really paying attention to the Trek prop scene.
I realise that most people just like having a light up prop. but i wanted to add that functionality where you could tap touch a button and it make a beep. or even change a setting, so getting the touch working on the door buttons as well as the main body buttons kinda was a must for me...
Im still interested though how it might be possible to get buttons and data passing to the door through just 2 metal hinges that are also carrying power and ground?
I know data over power lines is possible, but it requires some pretty complex transceivers and I dont think it works at this lower logic level voltages.
The thing is my enameled wire approach works but i cant guarantee how long it would work for before the enamel wares away and starts to short with the other wires in the hinge. So im interested to how it could be possible to pass through normal hinges.
Also im reluctant to add another micro processor in the door because it would increase power consumption and it would also make the project more complex as I would in essence have 2 sets of firmware to run and update.
Im still interested though how it might be possible to get buttons and data passing to the door through just 2 metal hinges that are also carrying power and ground?
I know data over power lines is possible, but it requires some pretty complex transceivers and I dont think it works at this lower logic level voltages.
The thing is my enameled wire approach works but i cant guarantee how long it would work for before the enamel wares away and starts to short with the other wires in the hinge. So im interested to how it could be possible to pass through normal hinges.
Also im reluctant to add another micro processor in the door because it would increase power consumption and it would also make the project more complex as I would in essence have 2 sets of firmware to run and update.
USS Endeav
Sr Member
In the Mk IX I did with the LCD, I incorporated 7 switches and three LEDs in the door. All of the logic is in the main body. The switches control different aspects of the prop such as advancing to the next screen, pausing and playing an EMRGency animation. Like yours, I assigned sounds to these switches for added realism. There are three LEDs for the EMRG and ID with the ID switching from blue to red, depending on if the science or medical mode is selected. All of this only uses the hinges but I can also run two wires if I'm concerned the hinges will lose contact.
Because I sold my design, I can't say how I did it, just letting you know, there is a way to do it and without a wireless signal.
I guess I should explain
So way back when i finished the first build, and if you look at the videos and pictures you see that the inside was pretty much a jumble of modules and wires with a few custom pcbs....
My original plan was to clean all this up into a single pcb... making it more stable and less likely to break...
Heres the main central PCB I came up with.
At around November building another one for "reasons" I was hoping to get it out by Christmas but disaster struck! Back then i was using Nextion display modules to simulate the LCARS UI on.
Nextion is a pretty basic system but it had a IDE and I was able to build fake UIs on it rather quickly and managed to get away with what it offered the first time round.
But since the first one I made they drastically lowered the quality off there LCD panels.
I and the "other guy" were really unhappy with the quality.... So I made a deal give me more time and Ill develop a new system.... Its going to take me a lot longer and I cant work on it full time but in the end the tricorder will have a much higher fidelity screen with a far superior UI rendering.
(while limited to the same 320x240 screen res) ...
Im now developing a totally new system with a fully integrated graphics system which allows me to render UIs quickly and without any clipping or artifacts (the nextion had loads) I can also animate assets properly rather than only be able to switch bitmap assets like in the nextion.
Hence the ability for UI elements to move, and also I can use an IPS screen of my own choosing. Rather than living at the whim of the scum bag con artists at Nextion... (that rant is for another time but really they are total shitesters)
All in all this will make for a far high quality experience and deeper immersion...
The big downside is development time... It takes a lot longer to make each scanning UI page.... Where on the nextion i made those screens roughly at a pace of one a day. This system I have to go down to bare bones coding. Ive had to create all the functions and widgets from scratch using bitmap elements and primitive objects. All the while making it sync to a frame count I had to design, and at the same time making the code non blocking.
The scanning page took me a week to develop. But luckily the others will be a little quicker as Ill reuse some of the functions I made for this to make them too... But I'm also learning along the way tryign to figure out how to create the effect I want to make...
Im honoring my original price in this case, but because of all the extra work in programming, and more expensive components being used (mainly the graphics chip ans IPS screen) Any future commissions will have to be at a slightly higher price. I want to get this one out first but after that Im open...
The other thing making it take longer are my other projects. For me to keep growing my youtube I have to make progress on the other projects and so I cant put all my time into any single thing... So im juggling mainly between this and the stargate right now.
So now that i made this first scanning page and figured out a pipeline to make the others, im putting this aside for 2 to 3 weeks so I can get some much needed work on the stargate done... I need to model the base and start doing work on its electronics, then I can start fabricating it...
Though next week I will put in some time to finish off the electronics design and start making inlines with the PCB design.
I have to tweak the power system on the design I have so far....
Anyway yeah new version on the way
So way back when i finished the first build, and if you look at the videos and pictures you see that the inside was pretty much a jumble of modules and wires with a few custom pcbs....
My original plan was to clean all this up into a single pcb... making it more stable and less likely to break...
Heres the main central PCB I came up with.
At around November building another one for "reasons" I was hoping to get it out by Christmas but disaster struck! Back then i was using Nextion display modules to simulate the LCARS UI on.
Nextion is a pretty basic system but it had a IDE and I was able to build fake UIs on it rather quickly and managed to get away with what it offered the first time round.
But since the first one I made they drastically lowered the quality off there LCD panels.
I and the "other guy" were really unhappy with the quality.... So I made a deal give me more time and Ill develop a new system.... Its going to take me a lot longer and I cant work on it full time but in the end the tricorder will have a much higher fidelity screen with a far superior UI rendering.
(while limited to the same 320x240 screen res) ...
Im now developing a totally new system with a fully integrated graphics system which allows me to render UIs quickly and without any clipping or artifacts (the nextion had loads) I can also animate assets properly rather than only be able to switch bitmap assets like in the nextion.
Hence the ability for UI elements to move, and also I can use an IPS screen of my own choosing. Rather than living at the whim of the scum bag con artists at Nextion... (that rant is for another time but really they are total shitesters)
All in all this will make for a far high quality experience and deeper immersion...
The big downside is development time... It takes a lot longer to make each scanning UI page.... Where on the nextion i made those screens roughly at a pace of one a day. This system I have to go down to bare bones coding. Ive had to create all the functions and widgets from scratch using bitmap elements and primitive objects. All the while making it sync to a frame count I had to design, and at the same time making the code non blocking.
The scanning page took me a week to develop. But luckily the others will be a little quicker as Ill reuse some of the functions I made for this to make them too... But I'm also learning along the way tryign to figure out how to create the effect I want to make...
Im honoring my original price in this case, but because of all the extra work in programming, and more expensive components being used (mainly the graphics chip ans IPS screen) Any future commissions will have to be at a slightly higher price. I want to get this one out first but after that Im open...
The other thing making it take longer are my other projects. For me to keep growing my youtube I have to make progress on the other projects and so I cant put all my time into any single thing... So im juggling mainly between this and the stargate right now.
So now that i made this first scanning page and figured out a pipeline to make the others, im putting this aside for 2 to 3 weeks so I can get some much needed work on the stargate done... I need to model the base and start doing work on its electronics, then I can start fabricating it...
Though next week I will put in some time to finish off the electronics design and start making inlines with the PCB design.
I have to tweak the power system on the design I have so far....
Anyway yeah new version on the way
Thats a micro B USB port for charging
Same as the old one, a 2.8 inch, with the graphics cropped to fit the frame window......
Well tbh I am having a bit of a puzzle getting it all to fit in this version. The old version with the PCB would have fitted fine with the slightly larger battery... But the new version with where the LCD ribbon has to go makes it a little more complicated.
I can make it all fit but some magic might be involved...
Just spent 3 hours reading this entire thread and watching all of the videos. After working on tricorders for more than 25 years it was interesting to see how many issues you had that I could easily relate. I have experienced a lot of the same problems you went through. And, I think many others here can say this too: I have experienced the frustrations of building, rebuilding, painting, repainting, finalizing the project and then having to start all over again. (Plus all the crying and screaming that goes along with it.)
All-in-all, I am very impressed with the work you have done. I am only (finally) starting to work with LCD screens and interactive functions. I have learned a lot here, so thank you for sharing.
Looking forward to the progress updates of v2.
All-in-all, I am very impressed with the work you have done. I am only (finally) starting to work with LCD screens and interactive functions. I have learned a lot here, so thank you for sharing.
Looking forward to the progress updates of v2.
Hi Gerry, Again thank you for the kind words, its indeed been a journey and im currently going through the headache again with my current stargate project... as well as the v2... Ill be doing a full post soonish, i just recently got the new PCBs in and i want to put them together and test them... Then ill start putting a prop together, once I have something good to show ill be doing a post, And when its done a Youtube vid on it
