The idea

There are a handful of paragliding games and simulators online but invariably the game controls use they keyboard, mouse or a joystick at best.

This makes it difficult to control the glider in a realistic manner and not having the fine control that you have in the real world makes it very hard to judge how good the simulation physics are (which is usually the point of these simulators).

So with this in mind I set out to create a dedicated paraglider controller.

Components

The key components for this controller were the analog sliders, as this would provide the progressive feel of pulling the brakes or pushing the speedbar that was missing from other control methods.

I chose a mixed of large and small sliders, potentiometers (pots) and toggles, mostly from the audio production industry.

Integration

From there it was a case of reading the positions of those components and making them talk to the computer.

For this I used an Arduino, as they are readily available and reasonably priced.

After writing the code and doing multiple tests I was confident that it would work, so it was time to build an enclosure.

Wrapping it up

Using 3D CAD software I modelled each component, arranged them in an ergonomic fashion and designed a case around it all.

This is one of my favourite parts of the process as I love 3D modelling and building a custom enclosure really makes the project look and feel like a real product rather than a mess of wires and components.

Putting it to the test

The controller is fully functional and works over USB on Windows and Mac (check out our Store if you want to get first dibs on the next batch).

All axis are assignable to different functions but I use it as: two big sliders for brakes, small sliders for speedbar and throttle, circular pots for cameras or trimming, side toggles for big-ears and red button for reserve deployment.

At the moment I would recommend Paragliding Sim as one of the most realistic simulators available.

It’s now available on the shop!

If you’re into paraglider simulators, or need an analogue controller for anything else have a look, might be what you need! More details in the shop page, just give it a click!