| name | panel-mapping |
| description | Research a new OpenSkyhawk panel from DCS — identify its controls and control types, confirm DCS-BIOS IDs, build the I/O summary, and measure the panel size from the DCS Model Viewer. Use when starting or researching a new panel, identifying switch/control types, recording Model Viewer corner coordinates, computing panel dimensions/scale, or mapping controls to DCS-BIOS. This is the front of the per-panel pipeline; it feeds firmware, pcb-design, and cad. |
Panel Mapping (DCS → control inventory + dimensions)
The first step for any new panel. Produces two outputs — a control inventory and the
panel dimensions — that feed the rest of the pipeline (firmware classes, pcb-design
I/O, cad outline).
The authoritative worked record lives in the panel's GitHub Project item (Project #1 Panel
Research & Assignment, or its Controller Build issue once graduated — the panel-pipeline skill
owns the structure); the best example is the Misc Switch Panel record — Controls Inventory + I/O
Summary + Dimensions tables. A condensed copy lives in docs/_source/controllers/<Panel>.md.
Record findings in the item/issue body, then mirror the condensed version into the repo.
Process
- Identify controls. In the DCS Model Viewer plus the mod Lua sources —
clickabledata.lua
(clickable points), command_defs.lua, A-4E-C.lua (DCS-BIOS), and system files (e.g.
nav.lua, shrike.lua). Record each control's DCS point number and panel label.
- Classify the control type — momentary pushbutton / 2-pos toggle / 3-pos toggle /
multi-pos rotary / continuous pot / not-in-sim (spare GPIO). The type drives both:
- firmware class (
firmware): Switch2Pos, Switch3Pos, RotarySwitch/SwitchMultiPos,
AnalogInput, ActionButton, RotaryEncoder, …
- PCB I/O (
pcb-design): GPIO count (3-pos = 2 GPIO, n-pos rotary = n GPIO), or an ADC
channel for a pot.
- Confirm the DCS-BIOS ID and positions/range and device from
A-4E-C.lua / the system
Lua. Flag DCS stubs / unimplemented handlers and check the community-a4e-c GitHub repo
for related issues. Note the two ID schemes — Model-Viewer/Lua native IDs vs DCS-BIOS
addresses — and don't conflate them (docs/_source/controllers/a4e-c-dcsbios-addresses.md).
- Build the I/O Summary: type → count → implementation → total GPIO/ADC budget → does it
fit one MCP23017 (14 inputs) or need more / an ADS1115.
- Dimensions: record the panel corner coordinates (X, Y, Z) from the Model Viewer.
1 model unit = 1000 mm, then × 1.10 scale:
real-world mm = √(ΔX² + ΔY² + ΔZ²) × 1.10 × 1000
(width = bottom-left → bottom-right, height = bottom-left → top-left). Switch
centre-to-centre spacings are measured later in the CAD model.
- Record to the panel's GitHub Project item/issue (Controls Inventory / I/O Summary /
Dimensions) and the condensed
docs/_source/controllers/<Panel>.md. Claim a NODE_ID in Firmware/NODE_IDS.md
when the panel becomes a PanelGroup node.
Hand-off
- control inventory + types →
firmware (which classes) and pcb-design (GPIO/ADC allocation)
- panel dimensions →
cad (model) and pcb-design (board outline)
