Control panels display diverse information and respond literally to a touch of a button. Here we collect panels we've seen and sometimes bring them back to life with simulations.
See Ward Cunningham for history and methods.
Occasional Use
Some panels are designed to be easy to understand with occasional use. These often include printed instructions and special purpose lights and switches.
Hotel Phone that you have to work just right if you want your wake-up call.
Airport Phone that punishes foreign travelers, disabled, and dial-up modem users with way too much information.
# Military and Space
Where operators are highly trained and expected to be successful under stressful circumstances.
Submarine Intercom designed for continuous use in stressful circumstances.
Titan II ICBM nuclear deterrent designed to launch in 58 seconds with zero chance of rogue launch.
Soyuz Spacecraft with a tear-down of its digital clock.
A-10 Thunderbolt "Warthog" walkaround video.
Apollo Mission Control every console explained.
Classic Computers
There were computers before there were operating systems to run them. Early computers included an operators console with switches and lights hooked directly to the signals and registers that made the machine work.
IBM 7094 Console had switches the size of piano keys where one could "chord" instructions. It also had an electric motor to flip them all off.
RPC 4000 used a rotating drum for memory and performed logic serially as bits flowed through its circuits. Rather than discrete lights, its control panel included an oscilloscope with bit positions marked off with a screen overlay.
Oscilloscopes
A scope offers exquisite control over signal acquisition and display such that calibrated measurements can be made under diverse circumstances.
Tek 465b combined solid-state circuitry with a traditional cathode-ray tube. Its panel layout followed the block diagram of the instrument.
Tek TDS 220 employed real-time acquisition into digital storage with computer controls organized into measurement oriented functional groups.
# Industrial
Soviet Control Panels from control rooms, power stations, control towers, and a few similar images.
Ballard Lockmaster Controls to raise and lower ships as they enter the Puget Sound.
# Radios
IC-735 Transceiver solid-state portable high-frequency ham radio popular with dx expeditions operating with limited space and power.
# Design Aids
Lego Control Panels illustrate a variety of designs all in the same form factor.