Pico Throttle
By Rob Zwetsloot. Posted
Leo emailed us early in April to show off his throttle lever that he’d made out of Easter egg boxes (and a lot of hot glue). It’s an ingeniously simple construction – a Raspberry Pi Pico measures a potentiometer, which is attached to a cardboard handle on a little rod so it can turn. Using HID code with CircuitPython, he can then send an analogue signal to his PC as a control axis – perfect for flight sims or Elite Dangerous. It also features a digital button on the back of the throttle to set maximum reverse thrust for when you move the lever beyond the idle position.
A quick intro to Python – short scripts, rapid results.
“I’ve often had the occasional flight on my grandad’s copy of Flight Simulator X when I visit him, but I purchased X-Plane 12 after Christmas, so I’ve been using it regularly for about three months.” Leo tells us about what inspired him. “[The throttle is] reasonably rigid. There’s some flex in the lever side-to-side, so the plate that pushes the reverser button has to be a bit wider, but the box and paper-tube pivot is solid enough. It is, however, very light and likes to move around the desk.”
Rob is amazing. He’s also the Features Editor of Raspberry Pi Official Magazine, a hobbyist maker, cosplayer, comic book writer, and extremely modest.
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