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Nudging options


northvibe

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If it shows up as a game pad and one of the pots is mapped as the Z-axis of that game pad, then it would work. Otherwise, no.

Hey Darkfall.

Can you confirm one of the pins is an analog Z axis input?

Does the board come with documentation, like a pdf file? The site is very sparse with info on it.

Thanks in advance.

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Hey Darkfall.

Can you confirm one of the pins is an analog Z axis input?

Does the board come with documentation, like a pdf file? The site is very sparse with info on it.

Thanks in advance.

Hey. The board is programmable, so you can tell it what pins do what.

I did play with the board a bit, but like DeeGor, I found it awkward to get set up. I also had concerns that it wasn't going to be sensitive enough. I only played with it for a few hours, but it looked like it wasn't going to be the holy grail of nudge solutions.

I may go back to the gamepad idea. I'm busy getting my shaker motor set up through the dual H-Bridge at the moment - then I'll come back to the nudging stuff again.

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Hey. The board is programmable, so you can tell it what pins do what.

I did play with the board a bit, but like DeeGor, I found it awkward to get set up. I also had concerns that it wasn't going to be sensitive enough. I only played with it for a few hours, but it looked like it wasn't going to be the holy grail of nudge solutions.

I may go back to the gamepad idea. I'm busy getting my shaker motor set up through the dual H-Bridge at the moment - then I'll come back to the nudging stuff again.

Well unfortunately I spoke to Ultimarc. The accelerometers X, Y and Z axes are fixed. You cannot use a pin for the Z axis. As such without digging into VP code and changing the axes used you cannot use this for a nudge solution AND preserve any type of analog plunger.

Spektre

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Well unfortunately I spoke to Ultimarc. The accelerometers X, Y and Z axes are fixed. You cannot use a pin for the Z axis. As such without digging into VP code and changing the axes used you cannot use this for a nudge solution AND preserve any type of analog plunger.

Spektre

Well, that kinda sucks. Sounds more and more like the gamepad will be the solution for many people.

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Just be sure to have some shims handy (or a completely different mounting solution than screwing it to PCB feet mounted directly on the cabinet), whether cardboard, wood, or whatever, if you're going to use the Sidewinder. Since it doesn't auto-center, it has to be mounted perfectly level and the cab itself of course has to be level. Also be aware that it needs to be backwards in the cab if you want left and right to be the correct direction. The "front" of the controller should face the front panel of the cab, not the back.

Unfortunately, I can't quite figure out how to calibrate the center position programatically in Windows.

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The calibrating was a bit of a problem, but after reading and exactly doing this it works like a charm !!

For some reason, when I do it that way, mine ends up drifting back out of calibration pretty quickly. I picked up a GPS mount earlier. Hopefully that will make it easier to get it centered properly.

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Well, that kinda sucks. Sounds more and more like the gamepad will be the solution for many people.

Hey, it did. But today in email came an updated version of firmware for the board which turns off the accelerometer's Z axis allowing a pin to be used for the Z axis! How is that for service from Ultimarc!

I'm ordering a board now to give it a try.

Spektre

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Nice mounting guys!

I too have my pad mounted with the cord facing down (normal) atm.

Do you check the box for "Normal Mounting" and wha't deadzone do you go for?

and possible tilt / jolt changes??

Thought of fix and save the right changes to all my tables!!! Ruff times a head! :D

Cheers!

Gustav

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Found a possible solution, but can't test in my cab until I finish rewiring it.

I found a set of usb wireless nunchuks (like the wii) for $3.99 on clearance at a local autoparts/surplus store. they may very well work for the nudging. The handset runs off 3.0vdc so hardwiring to the 3v line on the powersupply in the base cab will eliminate the use of batteries. It should clamp quite nicely into a gps/cell phone mount, or I could simply screw it to a wooden standoff and mount that in the cab.

post-19625-142870573543_thumb.jpg

post-19625-142870573546_thumb.jpg

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I put mine in yesterday after talking with gustav, but i wanted the analog withoud xpadder.

I ended up mounting it like this under my apron:

DSC_2495.png

The calibrating was a bit of a problem, but after reading and exactly doing this it works like a charm !!

What do you need to do to make it work analog?

I would like to give that a try.

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What do you need to do to make it work analog?

I would like to give that a try.

Just make sure the PBW Accelerometer checkbox is ticked in the table options (on each and every table) if you're using the Microsoft pad with the latest VP9. Also, you'll want to disable Xpadder or similar so they don't send keypress events.

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Has anyone tried the UHID yet? I have one that I bought a long time ago. Right now it's just collecting dust and I wouldn't mind putting it to use if it's been tried and true.

From what I've gathered, you need a custom compiled version of vp, and from the reports I've read it seems like a few people are saying that the UHID is not sensitive enough for them. I think you'd be better off spending $15-20 and picking up a sidewinder.

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I put mine in yesterday after talking with gustav, but i wanted the analog withoud xpadder.

I ended up mounting it like this under my apron:

DSC_2495.png

The calibrating was a bit of a problem, but after reading and exactly doing this it works like a charm !!

Erwin,

apart from activating PBW Acc. did you change any of your vp physics settings like jolt, dead zone etc.?

I keep playing around with those, following what was posted on vp forums, calibrated x times, but just can't get my sidewinder working correctly....

Thanks!

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Has anyone tried the UHID yet? I have one that I bought a long time ago. Right now it's just collecting dust and I wouldn't mind putting it to use if it's been tried and true.

I fiddled around with the UHID-G, but found that, like most accelerometers, it's not sensitive enough to detect subtle nudges that I want it to.

I was more impressed with the upside down gamepad with weight on one of the sticks. It seemed to be more sensitive, and the "feel" seemed more right to me.

Tuning the gamepad setup is probably going to be entertaining as I work out the correct amount of weight, distance from the sticks pivot point, mounting, etc.

For either solution, you do need the modified VP executable (except for the SideWinder, if you want to go that route).

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i did test setup with gamepad upside down - it really has a lot of potential

with proper setup it can detect fly that has landed on the table :)

what I did is this - i took lead pipe around 4 cm wide and 20 cm long - this is really a lot of weight - i attached it to the gamepad with hot glue, and tried to use it in vp

but weight was to much so most of the time hot glue would not hold it strong enough and lead pipe would split and fall down

when i finally got it to stick well my gamepad stopped responding for some unknown reason so testing was over, later i hacked another joystick but didn't got to lead part yet

so just a few obvious things:

- more weight you put - you will have better/bigger response but also your glue has to be stronger and your weight must be small enough so that stick spring can bring it to standing position - otherwise it would go around forever

- more length you put on pendulum - less motion you will have on your x-y axes, so don't over do it, smaller-better, one lead ball is actually just enough

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but weight was to much so most of the time hot glue would not hold it strong enough and lead pipe would split and fall down

Maybe drill a hole in the weight and use some wires to join it to the game pad's stick by wrapping it around it? That should be strong enough to hold almost anything, with thick enough wire, I'd think.

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Erwin,

apart from activating PBW Acc. did you change any of your vp physics settings like jolt, dead zone etc.?

I keep playing around with those, following what was posted on vp forums, calibrated x times, but just can't get my sidewinder working correctly....

Thanks!

I only have checked the 2 boxes in VP, nothing more. At the moment i have no real time to dig in it more, but the thing i know is that it looks like you have to recalibrate from time to time. Out of the blue it will start nudging when you launch a table.

I am at the point where i disconnected the pad at the moment and will look in it later when i am done with some other stuff.

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Shame the UHID is not working out, was going to buy one.

One question I have is if using the inverted pendulum method, why use a gamepad and not a joystick?.

Is it just how it shows up?. or cost?.

What about using a U360 with a custom map? or even with a restrictor plate as we only need a small movement right?.

One other thing I have toy`d with is making my lock bar slightly

"float" then routing some microswitches in under, as we nudge from the bar, or atleast I do.

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analog joystick or analog gamepad is same thing

only they have to be analog

digital joystick will also work - but it will give you digital nudge

btw you can get gamepad for 7$, analog arcade joystick is 50$ and another 50$ for controller

don't know is u360 really analog or it only has more digital posiitions?

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