shifters67

I exchanged emails a month or so ago so he is still around!

Hi Taz, one of the reasons that Pixel and myself arrived independently at the arduino as a device to use is 1) its very well supported and not likely to disappear after a 6 month production run 2) porting from mega 128 to 256 to due is easy when updated devices are released 3) there is more than one source as the arduino is an open platform, the cheap chinese made copies (all legal!) seem to work as well as the official boards (i have both) 4) its cheap. Wowter is correct however, the arduino only outputs 50ma (i think) and requires extra driver boards too - but then for a lot of stuff 500mA does not cut it any way - motors, led strips etc. The arduino approach has proved the concept and is intended for 1) me to have fun coding!!! 2) support 200+ devices (200 per board - multiple boards already supported in cascade mode) which is easy with leds, e.g. under cab, flipper buttons, leds around the screen/playfield/topper etc 3) intelligent control e.g. set min and max pwm for individual devices, max on times to prevent heat/device burn out, silent mode with a click to disable sound e.g. motors/contacts at night etc etc i.e. its an intelligent build not just a dumb on/off (no offence to ledwiz!!) 4) open platform with a future so parts available for a long period of time. The project is not not dead - indeed 95% of it is fitted to my cab now - but we need pixel back for the hardware and to motivate me to finish the software and look at direct output from VP to arduino without vbs in the way. However at the end of the day, you pay your money and take your choices. The cost side of things doesn't really matter than much, having spent 100's to 1000's on the cab build, screens, PC etc then an extra few £/$ is not really relevant (IMO)! The project is not dead just resting - pixel only works on it during the autumn/winter! regards Shifters

Hi Gyom, agreed, hence why the code is not just open source but totally free - do what you want with it (improve it, install it, sell it - don't care!) Sounds like you got a bit of a climb ahead of you - let us know how you get on. If you want to share the VS2010 express project and install dependencies here, i am sure a few people would appreciate it - i looked at it, even though me and VS are old friends (rather than enemies!) it looked a right state to get it to the point where they would compile(!) so a step by step guide would be useful - and i am an old c and c++ developer used to hacking around com. cheers Shifters

HI all, see http://vpuniverse.com/forums/topic/577-arduino-code-for-developers-only/ for the src and a small test tool The only bit missing is the vbs that pixel developed to link into tables - but we were looking to replace that any ways. regards Shifters

PM sent!

Hi Maxx, no its all gone quiet from Pixel! Shifters

Hi all, if there is interest i can post my arduino code (but no where to host it - can this site take zips?) It has lots of functionality and lots of fancy led effects (see elsewhere in this thread for what is supported). regards Shifters

Hi Gyom, seems like your going great with this - sort out a dll for me to interface directly with VP events to my C# client at the same time If i could sort that out we could merge code bases and could have all the functionality in one device - or two! My code will use the uarts to cascade events to multiple boards from the PC but not really set up the opposite way yet - worth thinking about. Shifters

Hi Gyom, we still use the vb event and a vbx control to get the data from VP to the arduino. It still has stutter some times under heavy load - this is not the arduino or its comms but we believe the slowness of getting events using the vbscript within each table. I have discussed briefly with russDX how to interface to VP with a DLL directly for speed but haven't made any progress as of yet (too many projects!). We then would have shim layer (done by pixel magic) to translate the events into something specific for your arduino config (ala ledwiz just lots more of it). The trick i think is getting that dll written. I have a C# program for arduino control and config. If you want to share any source let me know - ditto with any progress! My arduino program uses multiplexors etc etc and is optimise for output - control of 100's of individual leds is easy (ala the strips you saw videos of earlier in the thread) regards Shifters

HI All, The software is mostly (98%) done - waiting on Pixel to reappear so i can crack on with testing and finish the software. regards Shifters

Funny you should say that ... check out Pixels vids. I have full RGB individually addressable led strips around the playfield, backbox, on top of the back box, and back of backbox and bottom of cab :-) RGB flippers, PWM front buttons etc. Oh yeah and it handles motors, contactors etc etc already - pixel been a busy boy with the hardware (well at least last year :-) ) and the software has lots of features like turning contactors off at night with a single click, minimum and maximum PWM for motors etc to allow control to start the motor up and not make the legs fall off. I have two arduinos in my cab connected via serial and basically they talk to each other so thats 500 devices :-) You can connect anything up to 10 if you want to go nuts! Its an event driven system, so a single event can trigger all kinds of built in fancy led patterns (in any colour you wish with full RGB) - see pixels video, that is happing with just a few bytes in a single event. Would love to use the duo - but Pixel needs to look if the existing hardware can support that! Shifters

Hey thats hardware speak - i do the software! Pixel is the guy you need to speak too! BTW this is not about fixing micro stutter its also about more than 32 devices - the current design supports 200 - 250 devices per board and the boards can cascade - the whole design supports that. Shifters

Hi Gil, problem is that all the IO is 3.3v and everything we have at the moment is 5v lol - software is easily portable though regards Shifters

Almost all the wiring done now. Pixel has gone rather quiet recently - don't think the project is dead just not in a massive hurry. Pixel - wake up! Shifters

Aurich, Well my cab has its own gigabit network inside and did have 3 PC's - now only has 2, a pi and 2x arduino mega's Its a pinball cab, hyerspin and a jukebox too!! (in effect a custom PC case that plays games Pixel, God my fingers are killing me from twisting copper wire in my cab all day but i am getting there!! 5V PSU came today, recon a few more days to finish wiring. Working on a new tool for config loading and control. My rack is starting to feel lonely! Now i wonder if next year i can afford a real DMD and Russ's board <-- that probably the wife regards shifters