Kid-friendly way to re-create a submarine control panel

July 15, 2024 11:24 AM

My 6 year old kid is currently fascinated with deep sea exploration. He has a dream of having a control panel like the ones found in submersible vehicles. Think lots of buttons, screens, radar etc. Visually similar to a pilot's cockpit. This summer we want to try and build a "sub control panel" together. But we don't have a plan yet and so I'm asking for ideas as to how to make this dream a reality.

Submarines have been a special interest for my kid for a while now, so I want to make this special and exciting!

I'd like the control panel to be hardware (not software) so just mocking up a something to be displayed on a monitor is a less preferred option here.

I was wondering about using e.g. old word processors or keyboards or some such to make something tactile. But maybe a raspberry pi which actually lights stuff up / does something would be more cool.

The household has some electronics knowledge, but the project needs to be something not too complex so the kiddo can enjoy the build too.process too.

posted by Tapioca to Technology (15 answers total)

There are a number of online projects that seem similar to what you're after, and may give you some inspiration (random example, different example). Most are space-themed, but frankly that's largely a matter of what graphics you plan to use, rather than actual functionality.
posted by aramaic at 11:33 AM on July 15

The KerbalControllers subreddit has some good hardware and software resources pinned, and lots of good DIY bulid photos.

This kind of thing is better suited to Arduino than Raspberry Pi. Arduino programming gets you straight into reading voltage from a component and plotting it onscreen. When the kid understands that, you can load the data into a USB Joystick library like UnoJoy.
posted by Phssthpok at 11:39 AM on July 15

Searching for make your own steampunk control panel might bring up some ideas. Here is an inexpensive gauge to add. This sounds like a very fun project.
posted by coevals at 11:40 AM on July 15

What tools do you have to build with? Woodworking tools? What resources might you pursue? Budget of tens of dollars? Hundreds?

Obviously you've gotta build a periscope, either stand-alone for peeking around corners and from behind the couch, or for integration into this environment. When I was a kid that involved two pieces of mirror and diagonal slots cut into a piece of PVC pipe, mostly because my Dad had a radial arm saw and that's an easy cut to make. You can do this out of cardboard or whatever, too. If it's in this environment (old refrigerator box?), maybe print out a panorama and wrap it around the periscope, so that raising the periscope exposes the tropical island, and you can turn it to see the ocean horizon, and as you lower it there's a fish saying "hi"?

I would think that a dive klaxon of some sort, whether played as a sound effect from a computer, or stand-alone triggered by some switch, would be an absolute necessity (and probably super annoying after a short time, but sometimes you've gotta sacrifice for the bit).

I like the idea of some sort of depth gauge, and especially like the idea of having it lag the depth control, so that there's the challenge of "dive" (with hissing as the ballast tanks are filled and purged), but there's some challenge and delay with trying to maintain a particular depth. Kinda wondering if you could do this mechanically with a weight in a bucket (column of pipe?) and an air tank of some sort (surface before the air tank runs out of pressure or oh noes!)... Use a gauge like coevals linked to to have input pressure, and a mechanical linkage for depth? Some surgical tubing and quarter-turn IV valves could make the back end for this, and you can always put handles with aesthetic vibes on valves and switches.
posted by straw at 11:50 AM on July 15

For the ridiculously excessive option that misses the point and would likely be way too much for a six year old, a functional controller connected to an ArduSub simulator.
posted by zamboni at 11:57 AM on July 15

most gamers are going to have a box of old controllers that no longer work kicking around, those could be taken apart and the buttons/joysticks/bumpers mounted on a wood panel for lots of satisfying clicky fun.
posted by 5_13_23_42_69_666 at 12:48 PM on July 15

Great answers so far folks - thank you all.

To address some questions: budget is probably a hundred or so. If we get really into it can stretch tha.

We have basic woodworking tools.

Periscope is a fantastic idea - can get going on that while we figure out the blinkenlights and buttons part of the project.
posted by Tapioca at 1:00 PM on July 15

Many years ago when I was in kindergarten, a bunch of parent got together and built our classroom the deck of the USS Enterprise (TOS), using heavy cardboard and lots of knobs and dials. If I were doing that today I'd probably use 1/4" foamcore, lots of light up buttons, some satisfying toggles, a screen or image with bathymetric map of the ocean, some type of microphone to talk into, maybe headphones that plug into something that makes convincing deep-sea sounds on loop.
posted by oneirodynia at 1:26 PM on July 15

Honestly I would let your kid drive this. He will totally surprise you with what he thinks is cool - at that age the process of discovering and choosing is much more important than the finished product. Also at this age quantity of doo-dads may matter more than quality. I'd take him to the fastener and plumbing aisles of a hardware store and search for treasures together, then hot glue a bazillion little thingies to a wooden board, labeled with sharpie. His participation in imagining it into being will make the magic.
posted by Ausamor at 3:59 PM on July 15

American Science and Surplus may be useful
They even have a periscope.
There may be a pop up with coupon for signing up for emails or something. If it pops up grab it, it's not always there.
posted by BoscosMom at 6:25 PM on July 15

Totally agree with Ausamor. You can't give him a real submarine, so he has to make the control panel come alive with his imagination. And he will, if you ask him what he wants and let him choose the path.

One thing that might be cool: Glue some of those recording buttons on the panel, the ones people use with dogs. He can then add any sounds or words he considers important.
posted by toucan at 8:25 PM on July 15

If you aren't able to find gauges you want, don't overlook the fun possibilities of stickers, and a painted playground steering wheel could probably be a lot of fun, too.
posted by Inkslinger at 8:29 PM on July 15

You are winning at cool parent right now, for what it's worth.

What kind of subs is he interested in? Research subs like Alvin? Contemporary military subs? Historical military subs? Asking because the aesthetic is going to be significantly different. If you want to do some hands-on research, Wikipedia suggests there are several museum subs in the UK, though that list trends towards the world wars (with a couple of early Cold War examples too).

If you want some analog-looking gauges, take a look at a tutorial on controlling gauge cluster stepper motors (like on a car dash) with an Arduino. Don't underestimate kid's potential to help build things -- My dad and I built a Star Trek phaser prop out of cardboard when I was about your kid's age (by disassembling some old circuit boards and wiring up some LEDs through a current limiting resistor and a switch, and stuffing the whole bit into a cardboard enclosure wrapped in aluminum foil, and I thought it was the coolest). He did the actual soldering, but explained it all to me, and it's one of my fondest memories, even though I don't know if it's anything he remembers anymore.
posted by Alterscape at 10:18 PM on July 15

And on failure to fully think through my ideas, if you're going for a more historical sub (more big handles to turn on valves, less switches/blinkenlights), the search term you're after is "spoked hand wheel" (Amazon link, but I bet there are other alternatives that are also relatively cheap). I started looking at home plumbing valves, but those have wheels that are an inch or two across -- harder to turn, and not very satisfying. You'd have to bodge up an axle for that wheel to turn on, but it feels like something like that would feel better than a little home-scale valve.
posted by Alterscape at 10:37 PM on July 15

Brace yourself. Back when I was about your son's age (1955), I played rocket ship with a friend, a cardboard box, and some blocks. I asked my father how my blast-off snycronizer worked. He pled ignorance.

Searching "Arduino switch light dial projects" brings up a host of projects, but frankly a bit too complicated for your son to help much, and it's even more complicated to expand to running two or more devices with one processor.

A cheap multimeter, a battery, a rheostat and some wire could yield a controllable dial. A simple sliding pointer and a scale pointing to "depths" or "speeds" could work even with no backup.
posted by SemiSalt at 5:56 AM on July 16