Total Controls' Multi Function Button Box Brings Switches, Knobs, and More to Any USB-Capable System
Designed for flight simulation — but suitable for use in homebrew aircraft, too — the Multi Function Button box does as its name suggests.
If you've ever bemoaned a lack of inputs on your PC, Swedish startup Total Controls may have the solution: the Multi Function Button Box, an add-on designed to offer as many controls for the flight- and other simulation enthusiast as possible.
"The Multi Function Button Box gives you a clear advantage in the skies. Designed with VR in mind it reduces the need for mouse inputs in flight simulators such as DCS World," explains company founder Jonas Hernstig. "Featuring the most used functions from the F/A-18C Hornet UFC (Up Front Controller) and the characteristic DCS (Data Control Switch) from the F-16C Viper, the Multi Function Button Box lets you focus on flying.
"The panel replicates almost all of the UFC from the F/A-18C Hornet and also features the characteristic Data Control Switch from the F-16C Viper. All buttons can be assigned to any function in the simulator. The Multi Function Button Box works great with the A-10C Warthog and is a perfect addition to any aircraft with a keypad in the cockpit, such as the KA-50 Black Shark, the JF-17 Thunder, the F-14B Tomcat or the AV-8B Harrier. Or why not use it as an input device for the flight computer in a civilian aircraft?"
The box itself includes 40 user-programmable buttons and switches, gear-handle, hook-handle, jettison button, seven light knobs, and two rotary encoders with push-function for the radio modes. The position of the buttons, and the feedback you get from their operation, is designed for virtual reality — meaning you don't need to see the box to operate it. For those who would like to make things even easier to find, tactile silicon bumps are provided to be stuck to any button on the system.
The company's crowdfunding campaign is now running on Kickstarter, with hardware rewards starting at SEK 2,990 (around $341) — though backers on a budget can opt to receive STL files to 3D print the gear and hook handles at home for SEK 200 (around $23).
