With the continuous advancement of analog technology, various simulators have been widely applied in both military and civilian fields, playing a crucial role in personnel training and prototype development. These systems have brought significant economic and social benefits. However, in practice, many simulators are developed separately for different models within the same equipment series, leading to high costs and inefficient use of storage space. To address these challenges, developing a universal simulator tailored for a specific field has become a promising solution. This paper analyzes the necessity of such a simulator from the perspectives of equipment development, simulation training, and personnel training, while also conducting a feasibility study. As a result, a universal search radar simulator and a satellite measurement and control simulator were designed.
During the design and development of a general-purpose simulator for a certain type of ship electronic equipment, it was observed that the overall structure and layout of different models in the same series are largely similar, with only minor differences in local operating components. To achieve a more generalized design, this paper presents a multi-functional rotary operation panel based on automatic stepping motor control.
**1. Rotary Operation Panel Hardware Design**
**1.1 Composition**
The rotary operation panel consists of a component trihedron, a control board, a stepping motor assembly, a rotating body spindle, and a host computer. The control board sends commands to the stepping motor assembly, which then rotates the component trihedron through the main shaft. The workflow is as follows:
1. The host computer software issues a rotation command to the control board, sending step pulse and direction signals to the stepping motor.
2. The stepping motor assembly rotates the component trihedron to the desired position and stops.
3. The user interacts with the components on the trihedron, and the results are sent back to the host computer for processing.
**1.2 Component Trihedron Design**
In a general simulator for ship electronics, the component trihedron can support three different interface layouts (as shown in Figure 1). The three faces—A, B, and C—each contain different components: A face has five buttons, B face includes two indicator lights, one buzzer, one button, and three knobs, while C face has four knobs. Signals from the trihedron are transmitted via data lines to the control board, enabling communication with the host computer. To prevent cable entanglement during rotation, one surface is designated as the reference, while the other two operate in a bidirectional reset mode.
**1.3 Control Panel Design**
The control board includes a main controller, power supply circuit, CAN communication circuit, motor drive circuit, and component communication circuit (see Figure 2). The main controller processes commands from the host computer and rotates the trihedron accordingly. The power supply converts 12V to 5V, and then to 3.3V for the controller. The CAN communication circuit connects to the host computer, receiving commands via a CAN bus. The motor drive circuit sends step pulses and direction signals to the motor, while the component communication circuit handles data exchange between the components and the host computer.
**2. Communication Protocol Design**
To ensure seamless communication between the host computer and the control board, a protocol was designed. It includes two types of commands:
1. The host computer sends a trihedron switching command to the control board.
2. The control board sends the status of the operation panel back to the host computer.
The communication protocol format is outlined in Table 1.
**3. Software Design**
**3.1 Lower-Level Software Design**
The lower-level software manages the reception of commands from the host computer, driving the motor to rotate the trihedron, and monitoring the status of the scanning components.
- **3.1.1 Receive Command to Switch Panel**
The software checks for incoming commands. If received, it sets the step pulse and direction signal, and rotates the panel to the correct position.
- **3.1.2 Scan Component Status**
A timer periodically scans the component status. When changes occur, the updated status is sent to the host computer; otherwise, it continues scanning.
**3.2 PC Software Design**
The PC software uses object-oriented programming, focusing on the communication class with the host computer. It utilizes a USB-CAN converter from Chime Electronics, which provides a dynamic library for secondary development. Using VC++, the communication class was implemented, featuring methods for device initialization, data transmission, and data reception.
- **InitCan Method**: Initializes the CAN device by loading the dynamic library and calling the `Init_can` function.
- **SendData Method**: Sends commands by setting the instruction and using the `Can_send` function.
- **RecvData Method**: Receives and parses instructions using the `Can_receive` function, processing only those that match the protocol.
**4. Conclusion**
This paper presents a multi-function rotary operation panel controlled by a stepping motor, applied in the development of a general-purpose simulator for a specific type of ship electronic equipment. It effectively addresses the challenge of simulating different equipment panels within the same series. The design is also applicable to other multifunctional electromechanical devices, offering a practical reference for optimizing component layout when space is limited.
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