We are absolutely blown away by the level of detail that went into this amazing mission control panel that [Jeff Highsmith] made for his son.
His kid just started school and needed a desk to do homework on. They had recently visited the Kennedy Space Center, and his son found a new interest in all things space — So [Jeff] took the opportunity to make the desk into this mind-boggling control panel.
We saw a similar project recently, but this one seems to take it to the next level. The desk itself is hand-made from MDF sheet and with oak boards making up the structural members. He’s cut out over a dozen individual control panels, added switches, LEDs and potentiometers, and printed the labels on transparencies which give the whole thing a very professional and finished look. An iPad sits in the middle which plays a curated collection of space videos.
As far as we can tell, all the buttons actually do something. He’s using an Arduino with four I/O expanders (MCP23017) to take care of all the inputs and outputs, and a Raspberry Pi to add sound effects to the simulation.
Now all he needs is a spaceship to monitor — which apparently is in the works as well!
[Thanks Nick!]
Looks perfect for Kerbal Space Program.
It would be great for KSP, BUT….. Judging from the pictures and the video a lot of the wiring would need to be completely redone. The micro controllers would need reprogramming. Oh and some of the panels would probably need to be replaced. After all of that a mod would have to be created to interface all the inputs from the panel to the pc for use with KSP. Normally a mod for KSP is a fun proposition. This however is completely untapped waters for KSP modding and I would not know where to begin.
All that being said I now have a kid of my own and by the time I finish figuring out how to make it all work together she will be old enough to enjoy it. I look forward to the challenge.
Will it play youtube videos? I’d put this on a http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDF8gZkrEeQ loop.
But can it play flash videos? This is pretty awesome, I need to build myself one now…
Sure it can, make a launcher using Air and you can run flash code on it :)
997 jedzie srebrna Kia kurwy wiezie na sygnale.
Polish gangsta rap? lol
I think he said it reminds him of the dashboard of his ’97 Kia…
997 is Polish equivalent of 911 phone. Kia Cee’d is a popular police car over here. And by googling this it turns out to be lyrics of some rap song
That is extremely perturbing. You ruined my morning XD
If someone wants to go really in depth with spacecraft simulation I’d love to see a spin-off as a controller for Orbiter 2010. http://orbitersimulator.com/
Best. Dad. Ever.
now upgrade it to run kerbal space program.
THIS!
I Third this!
I’m glad to see that Dad didn’t go too overboard. Wouldn’t want to overindulge, and spoil the child.
Hope he’s programmed an escape sequence for that huge red nuke button
It doesn’t matter, in the movies, the countdown always stops with a few seconds left on the clock. B^)
Looks good, but I’m not sure how much homework is gonna get done on it
The video implied that mission control isn’t activate until after the homework is finished. As always it remains up to the parents to enforce any rules they create.
Need a ‘Dad hacks’ tag, love it!
Holy crap, that looks better than the control consoles he North Korean space program uses, but then again this guy probably had a bigger budget. This is amazing but after all these years haven’t they fixed the cryo tanks YET!?
Heh. Of course they’ve fixed the stirrers, but Murphy keeps finding new ways to make them go wrong.
I’m hearing soma.fm “mission control” in my head while looking at this.
Wow this is humbling.
Mental note: DO NOT LET MY KIDS SEE THIS. very cool, but I suspect it cost way too much to build. of course, anything worth doing is worth going completely overboard doing.
Wow.
Forget the kids, I want this. Hooked up to KSP, of course.
And in a few years (months?) he can pull out one of the panels and replace it with a breadboard and STM32 Development board for his son to keep exploring.
Ho-lee-cow. This is amazing. I can only hope I can come up with something even half this cool for the mini carbon units (if my wife and I ever spawn)… amazing!
You got my vote for Dad of the Year! Loved the mission-accurate cryo stir and SCE Aux interactions!
This is ridiculous. Sell it to me. Please sell it to me right now.
I’ve been finishing up Steel Battalion Controller interaction for Kerbal Space Program. Now I need to make my own controller setup at some point…
This beyond awesome!!!! I want one!! Well done! I especially like the Apollo 13 bit. :)