Technical Information
The Idea
The problem in simulating the cockpit are the tons of switches and rotary pulse encoders. In the past, they were connected through long cable harnesses. Basically, each system in the cockpit consists of separate circuit boards and respective microcontrollers. The circuit boards provide all controls and are interconnected with a four-wire harness. Besides two wires for the CAN-BUS, there is also the 5 Volt power supply. Every circuit board and the control on it (switch, knob, button, etc) has an I.D. assigned. Operating the various controls creates an event on the BUS.
The CAN-USB controller are the guts located behind the display. That's where the push of a button or the turn of a knob is translated into what the computer recognizes as a keystroke, and no particular driver is required! The control events (button pushes, rotary knob turns, etc.) can also be sent through the USB to Flight Simulator.
Using the industry standard CAN, additional functions with the simulator are almost endless. Example, the radio controls between the two screens.
CAN-Bus
Circuits boards
Systems Software