Button box plans?

[acmarston]

I'm wanting to build a button box that has buttons/knobs/switches, etc for everything. Are there any good designs to go by?

 

Thanks.

[Vortice]

Well, I made this one to fit around my SFS throttle unit:

 

 

It has 6 slider axes and 18 two-position momentary switches, which act the same as buttons. Dunno if it counts as a good design though, I just made it to fit the space available.

 

However, as I have now started to fly in VR I feel that I need, well, something that feels better as I can't see spit (ahem) when I have my VR headset on, so only today I started to rough out something which may work better in that scenario (and this really is just starting with a blank piece of paper):

 

 

I'm planning to use mainly push-button rotary encoders with knobs on them that I can differentiate by feel, rather than sight, as well as a mix of switches, push buttons and possibly a slider or two.

 

I've recently bought a 3D printer (which I have yet to assemble) so I will be printing the enclosure out with that device, if all goes well, and intend to also use it to make a number of different removable top covers to mount the various permutations of controls, until I find one specific configuration that I'm really happy with.

 

The goal is to also use the 3D printer to print out a selection of tactile control knobs to help guide me through the self induced VR blindness problem.

 

I'm honestly not sure if there are any standard off-the-peg designs that will work for everyone in every situation. I guess you have to first consider what you want your controllers to do for you in your particular situation and then work backwards from that position to create your own best design .