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The importance of testing your panel design

humptybump

Well Known Member
rv8_panel_ifr_v3-mockup-575x233.jpg
I recently completed a panel upgrade. I came up with the basic design and I did the wiring, assembly, and paint; and I worked with a shop to get a CAD layout and a professionally cut panel. At every step of the process I was confident I had the best panel I could achieve.

When it came time for the initial test flights and training with the new panel, a fundamental flaw appeared. Prior to flight, it never appeared - even with initial sketches, a high fidelity mockup, multiple iterations in CAD, panel cut and review, two weeks on the bench during the wiring and tests & configuration, final paint, labeling, assembly, and installation.

The issue is not catastrophic. It is correctable if I want to pull the panel for a couple of days. However, my "day job" is user experience research and interface design. I realized, I had ignored one of the fundamental steps in design and user testing - build a prototype.

If you are curious, go ahead and read my blog post. See if you discover the mistake before you get to the 'reveal'.
 
Angle

Good advice Glenn. I had a similar problem when I put in my new Trio Pro pilot auto pilot. It has a skid ball on it and that would be the only one in the plane. After I installed it and sat in the plane, I realized that the heading knob was blocking the ball because of the angle I was viewing it from.
 
Yup - had the same problem years ago when I built my RV-8....had to chaneg the switch labels because they were hidden by the radio stack on the laft.
 
I had a cardboard mockup of our panel sitting over our couch in the little-used living room for a couple of months. Every time I'd go by it, I'd admire it. I was totally in love.

Then, mere hours before I was about to start cutting metal, a friend popped in for an unannounced visit. He very casually asked "why not move the engine instruments and place them between the EFIS and moving map GPS?" I quickly realized the point he was trying to make, every so subtly. The bezel of the GPS would have partially obscured the view of the left side of the steam gauge engine instruments.

In a matter of minutes I had repositioned all the paper instrument mock-ups and found this new layout was MUCH better than the design I had come up with. The next morning I started cutting metal using this new layout. Eight years later I'm still happy happy happy with the layout.

While a prototype is a good idea, it's sometimes not fully practical, although 3-d models made from cereal box cardboard work well. As my experience taught me, having another set of eyes, or a few sets of eyes, look over your design will often find a flaw that we overlooked.

As sexist as it may sound, if you are a male (as so many on this forum are), get a female to give her feedback on the panel design. I've had some really good alternatives suggested by females, alternatives that no male had come up with. It's that 'left brain right brain' thing, I guess. My wife and daughter have both sat in front of the panel for our new airplane. Neither are pilots. Both have come up with ways to improve the design, and in doing so, they've made that little part of the airplane theirs. Win-win!
 
Yup - had the same problem years ago when I built my RV-8....had to chaneg the switch labels because they were hidden by the radio stack on the laft.

That is nothing as the labels are still there. In mine, part of the label is covered by the bezel of the switch as I had not accounted for that.
 
I mocked mine up in the plane, and realized that when I went from looking out to looking at the EFIS and back, I had to move my head up and down (I wear bifocals). Moving the EFIS down a few inches fixed it - a really customized panel!
 
Your post prompted an immediate trip to the garage for another test-sit! It's very timely, as I expect to get some water-slide decals from SteinAir on Monday or Tuesday.

All sight lines check out! :)
 
Another thing?

Another physical thing: Aren't you concerned that when you turn the PFD knob on the lower left, that you will bump your switches to the off position?

That seems much more significant than the labels. Although your point is well taken.
 
I did figure out the problem before the reveal, but I do see another...

Most of the content on the panel is right-justified on an airplane that's flown with the right hand... To adjust anything, you'll need either the autopilot engaged, or you'll have to switch hands, or you'll be constantly reaching across with your left. That would drive me nuts, personally.
 
Hi Rob,

The mockup was a little deceiving. The stuff on the far right is rarely changed. The MGL V10 radio is a backup and the MGL Xtreme EFIS is in engine-monitor mode unless there is a system failure of the G3X.
 
clear plexi

Were I to do a panel ( a definite possibility depending upon what the a/c I get has) I think I'd opt for a plexiglass mock up.
 
Were I to do a panel ( a definite possibility depending upon what the a/c I get has) I think I'd opt for a plexiglass mock up.

Haha I was just coming to the thread to suggest this. They use a lot of plexiglass for prototyping on the big jets.
 
3D check

Were I to do a panel ( a definite possibility depending upon what the a/c I get has) I think I'd opt for a plexiglass mock up.

Yes, and mount it in the plane to find any other obstructions in depth behind the panel. It would also help to align cuts in the sub panel for wires and deep equipment
 
I did figure out the problem before the reveal, but I do see another...

Most of the content on the panel is right-justified on an airplane that's flown with the right hand... To adjust anything, you'll need either the autopilot engaged, or you'll have to switch hands, or you'll be constantly reaching across with your left. That would drive me nuts, personally.

I guess that depends on the mission. Rob and I fly formation, so we are always thinking about switchgear and buttons that need to be pushed in flight without removing our hand from the stick.

I fly HOTAS as much as possible and I still am making mods to make this easier, such as adding a secondary trim switch to the throttle handle so I don't have to move my hand on the control stick to adjust trim. Not an issue in normal flight, just formation. In X-C operations, both hands are busy because my 'stick' hand is working the moving map.

For me, setting the radio in formation is the biggest challenge, so that was the critical positioning for me when I designed my panel. So the HOTAS controls and the radio were it, everything else was secondary.

As for labels, I used backlit label strips custom made for my panel. These sit about 1/8" proud of the panel and I also tilted the panel by 8 degrees. This makes the labels and instruments even more visible.
 
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