3D Printed Case for Peter's WiTcontroller Throttle...

Sumner Apr 30, 2023

  1. Sumner

    Sumner TrainBoard Member

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    WiTcontroller is a WiFi wireless throttle designed by Peter of EngineDriver fame. It is a standalone wireless WiFi throttle that can connect to a wThrottle Server (JMRI, DCC-EX and many others). Here is a link to the GitHub info ( HERE ) and to a video showing the throttle in action ( HERE ) using the 'other' Peter's 3D printed case ( peteGSX on here ) shown in the next image.

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    A link to Peter's case shown above ( HERE ) and the print files. This is a nice case and a throttle that you can work with one hand which can be handy so I bet a lot of these will be printed and used.

    I wanted to try a case with the throttle knob on the side vs. the end or the top and wanted some room for additional function switches so set about designing a case with those features. After a couple days I'm close to printing the case. I probably should of held off posting this until I had a successful print and a working throttle but posting will probably keep me moving on.

    I was drawn to this throttle since it will have a number of features that EngineDriver also has (is not a clone of ED thought). It can also be put together for well under $50. I'll still use EngineDriver with my Android phone and the additional physical throttle knob but see this throttle having advantages in some ways over using the phone throttle in some situations. Since the throttle is inexpensive to build I'll have both types giving me a second and maybe a third throttle if I have someone else show up at the layout.

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    The basic parts that are needed aren't many and are shown above. A Screen, an encoder, a keypad and a ESP32. The USB C charging port is an option I want to try and is not needed in the build. For a basic build the other 4 items are all you need and are quite inexpensive.

    I laid the parts on my printer/scanner and scanned them with a ruler next to them for size and so that I could calibrate them in Fusion 360. I can bring the image up in Fusion and in just a second calibrate it using the ruler and then pretty much design the part over the image in Fusion. This gives me pretty accurate parts to use in the design of the case. Once printed I might have to go back and tweek the print a bit after using the real part in the printed case.

    Here is a parts list for what I used and some links that might not stay active but from this you can do other searches:

    ESP32 – $6.00 ( HERE )
    Keypad – $5.00 ( HERE )
    OLED Display ( I went with a slightly larger display at 1.3” vs the .96” used in other builds. The Smaller is cheaper) – $9.00 ( HERE )
    Encoder – $2.50 ( HERE )
    USB-C Port (not required) – $2.00 ( HERE )

    NOTE: I bought multiple of some of those items as if I like the throttle I'll probably build at least one more.

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    Above are the parts designed with Fusion 360. I could print these out but only need them to design the case as they help me in making sure things will fit as planned.

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    I have the case designed above and next as I write this but haven't printed it out yet. Still want to fine tune a few things before that. Then most likely I'll print it and then have a few more adjustments that will be needed. Sometimes things are right the first time around but that is rare.

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    I'm still debating on how I'll mount the battery but it is only about 1/4” thick so even though the case is only 1 1/4” in depth there is a fair amount of room inside for the wiring as all the components minus the battery are shown above.

    To be continued............

    I'm also documenting this on my site ( HERE ).

    Sumner
     
  2. sidney

    sidney TrainBoard Member

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    i was just researching this today hahah Thanks for sharing .. i had ordered a couple parts and will have to order the rest later on...
    was reading how he did it with fusion360 so i redownloaded it and was trying to use it again. but i only had more frustration:mad: again.
    i keep hoping one day ill figger it out(n):( . Ill keep an eye one yours for sure.. (y)
    I like the idea of a smaller handheld throttle.....ah heck lets face it i just like building stuff to see if i can... hahah(y)
     
    Last edited: Apr 30, 2023
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  3. Sumner

    Sumner TrainBoard Member

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    Pete used a couple commands I've never use but found out they aren't that hard to use but still complex. You start with a basic shape. Say a solid body that is 5" X 2.5" x 1.5". You car create in less than a minute with the 'rectangle' and 'extrude' command. Then go to the 'Create Form' menu ( the purple box at the top). There you find tools to push/pull your solid shape.

    When it is done you can use the 'Shell' command. It will hollow the solid out to the wall thickness you want. The solid can be a complex solid and it will figure it out.

    I found a video on using both the other day so look for one of those as my instructions above aren't the whole story :(.

    But you did see where I posted a link to his files on thingiverse.com that one can use without knowing about Fusion.

    Sumner
     
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  4. sidney

    sidney TrainBoard Member

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    i did not see the files until i read your post. im still going to try to use fusion as i want to lear5n it but find it very difficult for me... im so used to point an click kinda stuff. . ill be watching as you build yours throttle. i find this stuff very fascinating an enjoy building things even if i dont use them....
    Thanks again for these post. this is good stuff especially for any newbies out there watching an reading these post.
     
  5. Sumner

    Sumner TrainBoard Member

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    Once you are on to it just a bit it is amazing how fast you can design things. Still have to have a good picture in your mind of what you are designing and the steps you will go through to get there. A few simple tools, like the ones I mentioned will get most things we would use designed.

    I once worked with a carpenter that was old school. He had a hammer, a tape, a square, a level, a good sharp handsaw, a hammer, string and plumb bob.
    The only thing electric he had was a saber saw. We build an addition on a house with his tools basically. I had a good contractors circular saw so used that myself verses his hand powered one. I think we are in the age where we think we have to have all the latest and greatest in order to build something. I have of course gone down that road myself since I'm a little better off than when I was 30.

    Start off with a rectangle on the bottom plane. Extrude it into a rectangular shape. Now draw shapes on the different surfaces with the line, circle and rectangular draw commands. Take those shapes (sketches) and extrude them out if you want to pull that feature out (like a window frame) or in if you want to cut into the object (cut the window panes out).

    Use the 'x' key before the draw commands so that the construction lines are dashed until you get them all in. Then hit the 'x' key and go back and redraw the ones that actually define the shape you will extrude. I didn't do that at first and then you end up with solid blue lines everywhere that are always causing trouble. The dashed construction lines will go away and not be in the way.

    Start with a window, a good starting point. Later you can plug the window over and over again into the buildings you will make.

    Sumner
     
  6. Sumner

    Sumner TrainBoard Member

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    Continuing on I decide to make some changes ....

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    In the previous images I was going with a 1.25 inch thick throttle and things were getting tight putting in what I wanted. I had cut a 2 x 4 down to the size I was shooting for to begin with minus the side extension to move the throttle know out some. Going back to it I liked the 1.5 inch thickness of the 2 x 4 and felt I'd like it better grip wise than if I went with 1.25 inches. So I changed the center section to 1 inches and left the top and bottom parts at 1/4” (sorry about no metric but I have to convert all the time the other way and don't want to take the time to look up all the right values changing inches to mm).

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    In the picture above and in the following ones you will see a number of momentary pushbutton switches that can control different functions. Any of these functions can still be controlled by the keyboard so you don't need to build the throttle with them in place. I'll end up with two print files. One with all the holes like how I'm going to build the throttle and another set of files where there will be .060” holes in the same location. You can drill them out or fill them in or leave them.

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    The ESP32 has a port on the end for connecting it to a battery and if you plug 5v into the USB port the battery will take a charge. I plan on wiring to the back side of the battery socket and wiring to the battery (2 in my case) that is on board. I'm also adding a USB-C charging socket on the side out of view above. It will be used to charge the battery/batteries. I did this so I could move the ESP32 to the back edge of the case. This will allow easy connection to a computer via a USB cable for software changes over time. Also I'll be able to toggle the 'reset' switch if needed and a battery could be connect to the original battery socket if for some reason one wanted to do that.

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    I plan on wiring up 5 of the 7 function keys to start with as shown above. I'll hard wire the keys to the keys on the keyboard contacts for the functions shown. If I understand Peter's documentation correctly you can reassign the keys, thus the pushbutton switches to other functions by editing the config_buttons.h file. I'll probably wire the 2 'To Be Determined' buttons to keyboard keys 4 and 5. Peter has them set to 'Function 4 & 5'. They can be assigned with the config_buttons.h file at any time to one of the 15 assignments that Peter has available at this time shown ( HERE ) at the bottom of the page.

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    I have two batters so figured use them, why not? I'm hoping to secure them with zip-ties across the ends and tops using the holes in the brackets on either side of the battery. I'll have some short leads on the batteries with JST connectors on them and then leads going to the DPDT toggle switch with other JST connectors on them That way I can connect the bottom of the case with the batteries when I finish the wiring in the other two case parts and want to put the bottom on and it won't be in the way prior to that.

    I have no idea at this point how long the throttle will run on say the 500mAh battery he is using but I imagine quite a while. To run two batteries I only need to add the 'battery select' DPDT Center Off switch at the front of the case. I'll have two LEDs on the top of the case so I can see which battery is being used or charged. This is not a requirement by any means in building the throttle. I imagine most people will only use a single battery. If that is the case you don't need the DPDT toggle switch and in fact Peter doesn't use a on/off switch as far as I can tell.

    Clicking the decoder turns the throttle on from I guess a sleep mode. I have no idea how lone it will run on the sleep mode. I'm using an on/off pushbutton switch to turn off all power since there might be times I don't use the throttle for days at a time. I'll know more about all of this if I can finish the build and see what happens in real life so if you are building a throttle before then do your research, don't count on mine.

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    There is quite a big going on in the throttle but if you looks at Peter's wiring schematic ( HERE ) you will see there isn't a lot of wiring involved. I'll have more since I want the pushbutton function switches. There is about 3/4's of an inch of room down the whole case for wiring so I think it will all work out. Should know a few days after writing this.

    This is also being documented on my website ( HERE ).

    To be continued...........

    Sumner
     
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  7. sidney

    sidney TrainBoard Member

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    interesting. you could use double sided sticky tape for batteries . i use that stuff for every thing..
     
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  8. Sumner

    Sumner TrainBoard Member

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    Good idea. They will be sitting on the bottom so won't be hanging. I'll try the tape along with a zip tie or two. I'm printing the top and center section right now. I think I'll add a set of holes right in the middle for both batteries that way with one zip tie and your tape idea I'll probably be set.

    Only problem is this is going to cost me as I don't have any tape so will have to buy some, but as you said I'll probably find other uses for it. Thinking about that I do have some Velcro so might try that. It would hold and keep it from sliding sideways and the one zip tie would hold it tight.

    Thanks for the input,

    Sumner
     
  9. BigJake

    BigJake TrainBoard Member

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    Do you have enough internal capacitance to ride through switching from one battery to the other without rebooting?

    You might add "guard wings" to the housing, above/below the power switch, to avoid inadvertently turning the controller on or off.
     
  10. Sumner

    Sumner TrainBoard Member

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    I don't really see that I'd be going from one to the other while operating. I'll keep the 'guard wings' in mind if I have operator error problems.

    I got the case all printed and hope to wire some tomorrow but been trying to get the sketch onto the ESP32 and have not made it all the way through that process yet, hope I can. Doing the 'turntable' build quite a ways back I had to learn about getting everything in order to getting the sketch on the Arduino and forgot most of it so relearning :(.

    Sumner
     
  11. Sumner

    Sumner TrainBoard Member

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    3D Printed Case for Peter's WiTcontroller Throttle:

    Printed the case with the Ender 3 Pro filament printer on 'standard quality'. Came out good but had to modify the part shown in the first picture that holds the OLED display in place. I modified it so that it doesn't push against the SMD components on the back side of the display only the flat part. I'll make a couple other small changes in the middle case to move the switches on the end a bit to make it more convenient to wire inside.

    Other than that I'm really happy with the case and how it fits my hand. I'm glad I moved from a 1.25” thickness to the 1.5” that it is now. More room for wiring and I think the 1.25” wouldn't of felt as good in ones hand. I'll do another page later on the actual assembly and wiring but for now here are some pictures of where the project is at this point.

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    I'm also documenting this on my site ( HERE ).

    To be continued........

    Sumner
     
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  12. sidney

    sidney TrainBoard Member

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    thats looking real nice Thank you for sharing your build. i love how its coming together. i think im gunna have to build me one of them doodads.(y):D
    HEY any body out there got a money tree they can make a sprouting for me (n)(y);)
     
  13. Sumner

    Sumner TrainBoard Member

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    Got the WiTcontroller throttle finished and the software loaded onto it. I like my Android phone throttle with the physical throttle knob but this is going to be my go to throttle now. Love it. Peter did a great job with the software and the case is easier to hold and more comfortable than using the phone throttle. Also the throttle on the side vs. the top is in a more natural position to use. Other than the throttle you can easily use the other function red buttons for the bell, horn, lights and direction with your left hand. I made a short video yesterday using it but would of been better if I didn't also have to hold the camera to shoot it.

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    If the video doesn't play clicking on the video above click ( HERE ).

    One can build this throttle for less than $50. Few parts (encoder, OLED display, keypad and ESP32) but lots of wiring if you want to wire a bunch of function buttons like I did. The buttons duplicate functions that you can use via the keypad so aren't a requirement. I find them easier to use vs. the keypad though and they look cool ;).

    I'll post the build with a parts list, and wiring diagrams and such. At the moment getting the software on is not easy if you aren't familiar with Arduino's and GitHub. I think I see ways to make that easier for a non-computer person.

    Sumner
     
    Last edited: May 12, 2023
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  14. sidney

    sidney TrainBoard Member

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    ohhh thats nice. Question about locos on it.,... Must you use JMRI with this and what if we dont have a roster to access locos ?? Can we add locos with out the use of JMRI ??
    I do not use JMRI except for programming.
    I may have to build me one of them rascals . Thats a nice build .
     
  15. Sumner

    Sumner TrainBoard Member

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    You can call the loco up by its road number (if that is its DCC address) without using the roster function.

    Check out his details on the throttle ( HERE ):

    If you are running DCC++EX with wifi I'd think it would work fine.

    ======================================================
    Prerequisites
    1. Some basic soldering skills.

      The components will work if just plugged together using jumpers, but they take a lot of space that way, so soldering them together is advised to make it hand held.

    2. Loading the code (sketch) requires downloading of one of the IDEs, this sketch, the libraries, etc. so some experience with Arduinos is helpful, but not critical.

    3. A wiThrottle Server to connect to. WiTcontroller will work with any wiThrottle Server. e.g.
      • JMRI
      • DCC++EX
      • MRC WiFi
      • Dijitrax LnWi
    ======================================================

    I'm running it with DCC++EX connected to a Pi with JMRI so it sees the roster there but I had a loco today that I never entered into the roster and called it up by the road number (DCC address) just fine.

    At this point loading the software is not easy or intuitive if one hasn't worked with GitHub (where Peter's software is -- link above) I probably spent 6 hours going around in circles before I got it working but it ended that there were some bugs in the software that was fixed by haba on Discord. Peter is on vacation and when he gets home the files on GitHub will be corrected but it still can be daunting at this point. I could do it now in probably 15 minutes from scratch. If you do this soon I could send you an ESP32 with the software on it to start with. Eventually you would want to be able to update it to stay current. I'm going to try and help to document and help make loading the software a lot easier. Similar to putting DCC-EX on now.

    Let me know and I"d help,

    Sumner
     
  16. BigJake

    BigJake TrainBoard Member

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    NCE and TCS (CS-105) command stations also support the Wi-Throttle WiFi protocol via WifiTrax WFD-30/31 WiThrottle Protocol Bridge
     
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  17. sidney

    sidney TrainBoard Member

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    sumner im waiting on parts to arrive so i can try my hand at this build. so ive got time to wait for everything to get up dated .
    Thank you for testing out the loco inputs. Im glad that works. here lately me and JMRI aren't playing well. I may have to delete the whole thing and reinstall it. I do love the phone throttle ,but this one seems a bit smaller and easy to handle. Thank You for your valuable time in sharing these builds.
    I do enjoy them and probably many others as well....I need to gather up all this info into one place so i can have it when all the parts arrive.....
     
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  18. CSX Robert

    CSX Robert TrainBoard Member

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    As well as Digitrax through the LNWI LocoNet WiFi Interface.
     

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