All of Your Movie References Belong to This Control Panel

From the dawn of the science fiction genre until today, one constant is that the spacemen/heroes/mad scientists all seem to have a unique control panel for whatever awesome or crazy device they use. Hacker “r570sv” decided he needed one of his own, and with only a concept in his head of what he wanted and no idea how to make something like this, he got to work.

The build was accomplished using a 40W laser cutter from eBay, along with a assortment of other tools, such as a table saw, Dremel tool, and drill press. Like many hackers, he ordered a plethora of dials, switches, LEDs, off of AliExpress, procuring more than he needed to compensate for the very long shipping times.

He then laid out smaller panels that would fit into his overall control box. Decoration is mostly according to different mostly science fiction influences, though one panel is from an insurance ad, and another is actually inspired by a chart of whether or not to wash clothing going to Goodwill.

On top of it all is a 9-inch TFT display module, which shows different sci-fi clips depending on panel settings via a Raspberry Pi inside. Another highlight is the “Infinite Improbability Drive” which features a circular infinity mirror controlled by knobs surrounding it. On many of the other panels there are lights and controls that, like their sci-fi counterparts, don’t really do anything. It’s an impressive display, and as noted in his write-up, references a total of 13 movies and shows, controlled by three Arduinos and a single Raspberry Pi.