Thrustmaster Cougar with Raspberry Pi Display

This project was a lot of fun for me to source the parts and learn how to make it work. I wanted a square screen to match the square shape of the bezel, and to my dismay the only screen I could find was a 4" Waveshare display. It's capacitive touch, but the bezel is about 5" diagonal. All the other displays are rectangles.

It cost about $150+/- to make this plus some time and minus some sleep... The second one should go faster now.

Pros:

Improved immersion

Digital display showing me my button labels at a glance

My MFD is really just a single function display, but if I made and loaded more photos, I could change the display "on the fly".

I used the wallpaper desktop and hid the task panel for maximum screen real estate. Worked like a charm!

Cons:

Slow bootup time

Screen too small

No cheap USB ports, gotta have 2.5A or a 120vac to USB converter. One of my roadblocks was I underestimated what kind of power an RPi Zero W would need for such a small board.

Things I Used

Thrustmaster Couger MFD

Raspberry Pi Zero W

Header pin strips

Waveshare 4" DPI LCD (C) Capacitive Touch Screen (Why they have four screw mounts but they only give you three screws, IDK.)

Micro SD card sufficient to handle Raspberry Pi OS

Bluetooth Keyboard/Mouse

...or USB mouse with Micro-USB to USB hub.

HDMI to Mini (Not Micro) HDMI cable

1/4" PVC Sheet, Expanded PVC Plastic Sheets, ABS Plastic Sheet, 1/4" Thick (But if you're high-speed-low-drag, you can 3D print something)

Jigsaw

Sandpaper

Pencil

Tape Measure, Ruler, Straightedge

Drill gun with drill bits sufficient to make holes and countersinks for screws that come with the display

iPhone charger and USB to USB Micro cable

The Internet

Safety

Bar clamps and a workbench

USB card reader and SD to MicroSD adapter

Photoleap app on my iPhone

The General and Loose Method I Used

Do not Injure Yourself. This process had dangers in it.

Lay the Cougar bezel over the PVC sheet and trace out the inner diameter. Carefully cut PVC with jigsaw and sand down the edges. Ensure the corners are rounded. You want it to pressure fit snug, not slip through and out the other side. Trim and sand as needed.

Solder the GPIO header pin strips to the RPi Zero W. Ventilation is important.

Lay the display onto the PVC board and center it. Carefully mark the position of the screw holes.

Lay the Raspberry Pi Zero on the PVC and trace the general size of the board onto the PVC, paying particular attention to the fact that the board's position is going to be determined by the GPIO port on the display when it's put together. You'll need to test fit and mark things. The display must be centered but the RPi Zero W will not be as a result. Cut the PVC carefully with a jigsaw after you drill a pilot hole to get started.

Mark positions for the display mounts in the PVC sheet, drill tiny holes for the screws and then countersink them. It's ok if you mess this part up. You can make the countersink holes a little bigger and sink the feet of the display mounting holes into the recesses on the PVC then put the screws in from the other side. Remember which way is up.

Mount the assembly by press-fitting into the Cougar MFD. It should be snug and generally stay on its own, but you'll need to sink the assembly so that the display is flush with the front face of the Cougar.

Program the RPi Zero W. You'll need drivers and documentation from Waveshare's website.

Create the photo file at 720x720 pixels or edit the one I have here with all the button labels you want, or you can use mine. Copy those files to the MicroSD.

Google where to put the photo on the MicroSD drive and the instructions on how and where to move the file from the Terminal program on the Raspberry Pi. If you do it right, Desktop Preferences will show you the file you made or used and it will show as your desktop wallpaper.

Congratulations!! I hope you enjoyed the journey as much as I did! Happy flying, Citizens!