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

Hi Aurich, you are probably correct - but we all like playing with hardware dont we! The limiting factor for the current Arduino mega is the CPU and really the memory - only 8K. I have done a lot in that 8K and spent alot of time optimising the hell out of it for the 16Mhz processor. It works pretty well and time will tell under full load if it can cope - i think it will but what i would really like is more memory - i spent 2 days rewritting code to save a few 100 bytes I suspect the scripting is not a fixable problem - short of a rewrite of every table vbs or the vbs script engine! Instead i intend to try and move the arduino interface code from the vbs completely and run as a seperate c# task and have it intercept events at a lower level with a custom dll as required - that may take a while to work out but has been done by others e.g. Russ with his DMD board. regards Shifters

HI all, the new arudino duo looks interesting - if i can get hold of one!! With considerably more memory i recon i can at least triple the number of devices supported and more, as for events, i could probably put enough in to keep even Chris happy!!! With a 84Mhz processor its a lot more powerfull. Have a look http://arduino.cc/en/Main/ArduinoBoardDue. Pixel - will this work with existing boards and shields given the voltage differences or is this for version 2 :-) ? Oh and answer your email regards Shifters

Hey Pixel! Good to see you back - going to rebuild my cab as a test bed with full hardware in the next few weeks so start doing a test table script for testing - hmmmm how about doing one for MM cheers Shifters

Hi, Pixel has flashers with his current driver board - not crees but similar Shifters

Hi Arngrim, i have all the hardware from PixelMagic to rebuild my pin including leds/multiplexors/power boards etc. The majority of the software for the arduino is done and has been fully working since march/april. What we are doing is taking a break over the summer to enjoy (the poor!!) weather and will return in the autumn to the project. I know Pixel is busy with work at the moment but his boards (read back through the thread) can do it all but there is nothing stopping some one adding there own board design either - it will be an open software platform on standard hardware. The arduino software probably needs a revisit for a month of so to finish off the software once my cab is rebuilt with the new extras. By default the arudino will drive contacters, led strips, flashers, motors, etc i.e. support for all kinds of devices are built in already and working/tested. You can add additional toys to it when ever you want and it supports 100's of devices at once on a single board with multi-board support already done/tested and working. Areas for improvement over the autumn/winter: 1) Pixel to finish config web site (ala ledwiz device mapping to outputs) 2) Produce some more example table configs to go with the mapping (rather than Pixels infamous MM obsesstion ) 3) Try and work with Russ to drive the arudino via FTDI directly rather than serial protocol (which works incredibly well btw) and do a custom dll to link in directly with pinmame rather than via events in the VB. However even if this does not work in version one, the arudino software runs on events not directly driving outputs ports so the software is an event processing engine not a simple slave drive to the digital outputs. This means one event which is only a few bytes long can drive dozens or even hundreds of outputs e.g. fancy led strobes or patterns, contactors and motors all with one command. The advantage of the arudino approach is its a protocol, which could for example be ported easily to the Rasberry Pi or Arudino 2560 replacment with out chnageing all the PC side of the software and hence could be supported longer term as the speed and capacity of these little mini machines improves. regards Shifters

Hi Arngrim, i totally failed to rewire my cab last week (which was the plan) so i had a fully fledged cab to test on - may be a few weeks before i do. PixelMagic is on holiday for a few weeks so no progress there. The project is gently sleeping for the summer :-) We are probably close (read months!) to a beta test - the hardware is made - most of the software written. Shifters

Lol what some people get up to! He had problems switching fast outputs - i optimised my switching code for the led strips so i can write 100's of outputs in a few milliseconds :-) The slow point is a bit on the comms - but with some help from Russ with FTDI code driven from a DLL instead of vbs and directly from vpinmame even that will be disapear (and its not easy to see at the moment using serial comms - its fast!). If you are wondering why the delay on this - I have all my hardware now and need a week to take apart my cab and rewire with contactors and 8806 led strips and arduinos ( I am using two, one for back box and one for main cab - one acts as master, one slave, for 400 (maybe 500) outputs! ). That is currently scheduled for first week in June. Then i have a proper system on which to test, so a few weeks doing some more coding (its 95% done on arudino). Pixel is on hols for June, so by July we should be starting to produce some example tables and documentation for people to test - well i hope! So in summary, Pixel's hardware rocks and is done - i have samples, need to cab build to do proper testing - though you have seen Pixels videos earlier in thread which show it works fine already. Pixel is working in his website to do config and table mapping ala ledwiz (which given 200+ outputs not just 32) as you can imagine is complex). The final piece is driving via FTDI USB rather than serial which is the icing in on the cake! 8806 leds in full RGB rock :-) regards Shifters

Hi Arkay, the 1280 and 2560 have the same ram - 8k! Its only the program code memory thats different. I have both. We may want to use the 1280 depending on the FTDI driver compatibility - still working out the details cheers Shifters

Hi Pixel, just a quick correct - currently the Arduino is 'limited' to 200 devices (each led, contactor or solenoid counts as a device) due to memory. Once we have beta testing underway this 'may' be extended to 250 memory permitting. You can daisy chain arduino's via serial. I intend to have 2 arduinos in my cab, one in the main cab and one in the backbox, main cab drives playfield leds and other devices, backbox drives leds mounted aroudn the screen edge on the backbox. So 1 arduino = 200 deivces, 2 arduino = 400 devices etc. I think, pixel and myself discussed scaling up 8 arduinos to keep Chris happy! I have tested three and that seemed fine. cheers Shifters

HI Arkay, I am concerned with just getting it working with windows and VP first. However it is a serial protocol - anything can talk to it in any language on any platform with a suitable driver. ( I have been using linux for nearly 20 years so i am not excluding anything!). The software will be open source and people can play to their hearts content. BTW i just bought 6m of individually controllable RGB leds (same as pixel video demo) - there are already 964 events that can be run and i haven't yet set the table up to begin playing with complex ones (been using a 12 led prototype board!) :-) regards shifters