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https://github.com/michaelfranzl/webdsky

Emulation of the DSKY user interface of the Apollo Guidance Computer for the Web platform
https://github.com/michaelfranzl/webdsky

agc apollo apollo-guidance-computer dsky historical webcomponent

Last synced: 29 days ago
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Emulation of the DSKY user interface of the Apollo Guidance Computer for the Web platform

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# webDSKY



webDSKY is an emulation of the so-called "DSKY" (an abbreviation of "DiSplay and KeYboard",

pronounced 'DIS-kee') user interface of the [Apollo Guidance Computer

(AGC)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_Guidance_Computer), for the [Web

Platform](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_platform).



The goal of this project is to provide a visually and behaviorally accurate emulation

of the DSKY. It is implemented as a re-usable [Web

Component](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/Web_Components) so that it can be integrated

into other components.



The DSKY itself is just a basic input/output terminal, not a computer. It will only really 'come

to life' when connected to an [emulation of the Apollo Guidance Computer

(AGC)](https://github.com/michaelfranzl/webAGC). However, on the demo included in this project, you

can send some inputs to the DSKY and see some lights go on or off, and expect to get output events

when buttons are pushed.



Here is a screenshot of what it looks like:



![screenshot](screenshot.jpg)



The visual basis of this web component is a photograph of a real, to-be flown DSKY of the Lunar

Module of Apollo 16. The original photo is [here](https://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/a16/LM11-co46.jpg)

which is linked from [this page](https://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/a16/a16LMCloseOutPhotos.html), which

in turn is linked with the text "Pre-Launch LM Cabin Close-Out Photos" from the page [Apollo 16

Surface Journal](https://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/a16/a16.html). I could not find a photograph of a real

DSKY which is better suited for adaptation for this project. Using the GIMP editor I have deskewed a

cutout of the photograph to be orthogonal, adapted contrast and brightness, extracted the glass

labels (such as UPLINK ACTY or COMP ACTY) onto a [transparent layer](../LM11-co46-dsky-overlay.png),

and made the 'glass' of the warning lights semi-transparent. The shape of the 7-segment digits was

thankfully found, [documented and implemented as a font by Gene

Dorr](https://github.com/ehdorrii/dsky-fonts), even though I am not directly using his font here. I

have generated SVG paths from this font so that it is possible to toggle individual segments, which

the real DSKY supported partly, as documented by [Ronald

Burkey](https://www.ibiblio.org/apollo/developer.html#Table_of_IO_Channels). I have taken the

green-ish color value of the active electroluminiscent display from a photograph of [the DSKY

onboard the Apollo 11 CSM](https://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/a11/AS11-36-5388.jpg).



This implementation would not have been possible without the excellent resources on the [Virtual AGC

website](https://www.ibiblio.org/apollo).



## Note



The included images `LM11-co46*.png` are derived from [this source

image](https://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/a16/LM11-co46.jpg), and may, according to my layperson

understanding of copyright, constitute a 'derivative work'. However, I could not find

copyright or licensing information on [the origin

page](https://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/a16/a16LMCloseOutPhotos.html) of the source image, so I cannot

name the copyright owner, nor a license which is potentially attached to the image.



## Demo



See the [demo sub-directory](./demo).