Source: https://mokxi.com/teachers/plans/sim-rig-controllers Updated: 2026-11-11 Lesson plan # Sim racing and flight sim controllers lesson plan Template a button box, a shifter with a handbrake and a flight panel on a Pro Micro before you buy the parts. 2 chapters, 4 lessons, about 5 hours, on the SparkFun Pro Micro. Every lesson runs in the browser, with nothing to install. Start a class from this course The unit ## Objectives and materials ### By the end, students can - Buttons, toggles, a key switch and encoders that send exactly what a game expects. - An H shifter with a handbrake, then an autopilot and gear panel. ### Materials for the whole unit - Arcade button x 5 - Four-digit display, TM1637 - Full-size breadboard - Hall sensor, 49E linear - LED x 5 - Limit switch, lever microswitch x 2 - Resistor x 5 - Rotary encoder, KY-040 x 2 - Slide potentiometer x 2 - Slide switch x 4 - SparkFun Pro Micro Every part is already on the simulator’s bench, so there is nothing to buy or hand out. The counts are the most any one lesson uses, if you build it on real breadboards too. Chapter 1. About 2 h 35 min ## The button box Buttons, toggles, a key switch and encoders that send exactly what a game expects. Lesson | Time | What students do Buttons and toggles a game understands A Pro Micro as a USB game controller: momentary buttons, toggles that send a press per flip, an ignition key that guards START, and lights that follow the switches. | 85 min - A box the PC sees as a controller - Hold a momentary button - A toggle sends one press - One toggle, two buttons - An ignition key that guards START - Lights that follow the switches Encoders: every click reaches the game Read two rotary encoders with a state table that throws contact bounce away, send each click as a short button press, and queue fast spins so none are lost. | 70 min - Two contacts, a quarter step apart - One click of the TC knob - The other way, on the other knob - Spin it fast - Push the knob ### Materials - Arcade button x 5 - Full-size breadboard - LED x 3 - Resistor x 3 - Rotary encoder, KY-040 x 2 - Slide switch x 4 - SparkFun Pro Micro ### Check for understanding Each student finishes "Encoders: every click reaches the game" on their own, without opening the hints. The simulator checks 5 of its 5 steps as they go. Then ask each one to explain, in a sentence or two, the last thing it asked of them: "Push the knob". Chapter 2. About 2 h 20 min ## Rig and cockpit An H shifter with a handbrake, then an autopilot and gear panel. Lesson | Time | What students do An H-pattern shifter and a handbrake Turn two pots into a gear with trigger and release lines, push the knob down for reverse, add paddles, and scale a hall-sensor handbrake with dead zones. | 70 min - Two pots under the knob - Into first - Third, through the middle slot - Reverse: push the knob down - Pull the handbrake A flight panel: autopilot and gear One encoder for heading, altitude and vertical speed on a four-digit display, an AP button with its light, and a gear lever with three greens and a red in transit. | 70 min - What the panel shows, and where that comes from - Turn the heading bug - Push for altitude - Engage the autopilot - Gear down, three green ### Materials - Arcade button - Four-digit display, TM1637 - Full-size breadboard - Hall sensor, 49E linear - LED x 5 - Limit switch, lever microswitch x 2 - Resistor x 5 - Rotary encoder, KY-040 - Slide potentiometer x 2 - Slide switch - SparkFun Pro Micro ### Check for understanding Each student finishes "A flight panel: autopilot and gear" on their own, without opening the hints. The simulator checks 5 of its 5 steps as they go. Then ask each one to explain, in a sentence or two, the last thing it asked of them: "Gear down, three green". Your class ## Teach this unit as a class Start a class from this course and its 4 lessons are assigned in one go, in order. Students join with a six-character code or printed login cards, and each one’s work comes back to you. The class tools are free for 30 days for one class of up to 20 students, with no card. The lessons themselves are free either way. Start a class from this course See the demo class More units ## Other lesson plans Electronics basics 20 lessons, about 10 h. Embedded on the Arduino Uno 16 lessons, about 12 h. Embedded on the ESP32-C3 13 lessons, about 11 h. Embedded on the Raspberry Pi Pico 7 lessons, about 6 h. Build your own fight stick 5 lessons, about 4 h. Embedded on the STM32F411 6 lessons, about 6 h. C++ on a board 13 lessons, about 10 h. Digital logic and memory 4 lessons, about 4 h. Interactive devices on the Uno 9 lessons, about 8 h. From gates to a computer 23 lessons, about 16 h. Build a claw machine 8 lessons, about 6 h. Every unit All the courses as ready-made units, on the teachers page.