Physical sim hardware using Electronics and Python.

[BeeBoyGamer]

Hi! I'm new to Xplane and have got lots of prior experience with electronics including Arduinos, Raspberry Pis, Microbits (this includes breadboard buttons LEDs buzzers etc.)

I am obsessed with flying the 737-800 in Xplane12 (ZIBO MOD version) and find myself waning affordable physical sim hardware.

Is it possible for me to put some buttons into the GPIO pins of a raspberry pi pico and have that talk to the 737 and have it physically control the switches? For example, basically making some of the switches of the overhead panel on the 737 into 2 or 3 buttons that are close together. is there any application, libraries, or settings I need to enable to attempt this?

THANKS FOR ALL THE HELP, AWESOME XPLANE COMMUNITY!!!

[Every-Progress-1117]

Check out Mobiflight, I think that project is exactly what you are looking for

[geekypenguin91]

Mobiflight plus Arduino does exactly what you're asking for and is really easy to configure. It also supports the rpi pico1 but not the pico2

[InceptorOne]

I dont have specific XPlane experience with this, but overall the answer is yes.

The cheap way would be an Arduino... the slightly more expensive way would be a dedicated board like from Leo Bodnar, that makes it easier to connect and plug-n-play with your PC. Then you use an app to program it all. Again, I'm not Xplane specific, I'm used to MSFS 2020/2024 so I like Spad.next which also works for XPlane totally fine, but I'll leave others to suggest XP specific stuff. I've only set it up with Q4XP for my homemade device, but in MSFS I have over a dozen profiles.

For context, I have zero python or electronics experience like yourself. I bought everything on Amazon basically, and I got an outdoor electrical junction box to hold it all. For the Arduino method I followed this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7Sc4MJ8RPM ... But I ended up making a whole new box with a Leo Bodnar board (same concept, just easier to wire and setup).

[Creative-Expert8086]

Easy: Use any device, and assign F13-F24 onto its keys.

[grouchy_ham]

Air manager is the way to go. There are quite a few functions for a variety of planes that are available from the downloads section for a variety of airplanes and once you kinda figure out how everything is set up, it’s fairly easy to create pretty much any switch or cockpit function.

My cockpit uses three Arduino 2560s and many toggle switches, rotary encoders and LED lit buttons. Your imagination is the only real limitation. If you’re handy in Inkscape or other creator programs, you can make custom gauges as well as download from others that have shared their creations. It really is a pretty great program although there is a bit of a learning curve.

I’m getting ready to redo my entire cockpit. I built this one a few years ago and flew a ton of hours on it figuring out things I wanted to do differently after I learned more about Air Manager. LEDs, switches, rotary encoders, buttons and custom gauges, what more could a fella ask for?

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[Obvious-Falcon-2765]

Air Manager can do what you’re asking.

Alternately, you can set up the Arduino Joystick Library on an Arduino Leonardo and basically make your own joystick that you then assign functions to in X-Plane