734 replies to this topic

[ronaldvg]

Hi, thanks for the quick reply. I just spend some time trying to get the ZB Launch to work. I had the problem that DOF looks at 8 and the unit was configured on 1. Maybe something to put in the manual I will go and test if it works better now.

 

Edit: Yes it works now as expected and I must say I am very happy with the result !

Edited by ronaldvg, 25 June 2016 - 09:59 PM.

[Onevox]

Mouser out of taos ccd?  I've been keeping an eye on inventory hoping it would last until I was ready to place the big order, but inventory went from 350 to 0 in past week. Someone buy them all up?

Edited by Onevox, 05 February 2017 - 12:23 PM.

[Onevox]

Just talked to Mouser. They have an order pending for the TSL1410R, so another shipment is on the way. I just placed my (back)order to secure one.

[kiwiBri]

Just talked to Mouser. They have an order pending for the TSL1410R, so another shipment is on the way. I just placed my (back)order to secure one.

 

I "spoke" to them online yesterday via online chat. They have 378 on backorder, Expected them to arrive in May 2017.

[tgx]

Hello all, I stumbled across this post about a week ago and am just now beginning to take a look at the FreeScale stuff.

I am in the middle of a cabinet build. For those of you wanting the Freescale boards but can't find them:

 

http://www.newark.co..._1TP_SearchNB_1

[mjr]

Hello all, I stumbled across this post about a week ago and am just now beginning to take a look at the FreeScale stuff.

I am in the middle of a cabinet build. For those of you wanting the Freescale boards but can't find them:

 

http://www.newark.co..._1TP_SearchNB_1

 

The Freescale boards are actually still in production and are easy to find.  The part that's being discontinued is the TSL1410R optical sensor for the plunger (the similar TSL1412R is going extinct as well).  Fortunately there should be no problem getting the microcontroller itself for the foreseeable future.

[tgx]

Freescale's have been listed as sold out on many sites, just thought I'd share a place that still has them.

I am going with the slide pot. The CCD parts are going extinct like you said. There are some 200DPI versions

still readily available but I wasn't sure if the resolution would be high enough so I went with the Bourne slide pot.

[mjr]

Freescale's have been listed as sold out on many sites, just thought I'd share a place that still has them.

 

Sounds good.  As far as I've seen they're still in production and will continue to be, so if anyone's sold out it's presumably just temporary.

 

 

The CCD parts are going extinct like you said. There are some 200DPI versions

still readily available but I wasn't sure if the resolution would be high enough so I went with the Bourne slide pot.

 

200 DPI versions?  I'm pretty sure there are no 200 DPI versions of anything like the TSL1410R, although TAOS does (did) make a number of sensors with confusingly similar model numbers that are completely different, so if you saw something that looked kinda similar but wasn't the exact model number, you definitely made the right call by not buying it!

[tgx]

Do you know of a rotational pot that would work? Seems like mounting one of those would not be too

hard via an arm attached to the plunger rod. What would it's voltage range need to be?

[mjr]

Do you know of a rotational pot that would work? Seems like mounting one of those would not be too

hard via an arm attached to the plunger rod. What would it's voltage range need to be?

 

I haven't heard of anyone trying this, so I don't have a part number I can suggest.

 

Voltage isn't important for these - the important stats are a resistance of about 10K ohms, and a "linear taper" (technical term meaning the resistance varies linearly in proportion to the rotation angle).

 

If you proceed, let us know how it turns out and what kind of mechanical design you came up with.  If it does turn out to be easier than the linear pot type, I'm sure there will be other people who want to follow in your footsteps.

[tgx]

well.....I just went through the openSDA update and it bricked the freescale.

Any possibility of recovery? I get nothing now. No lights, nothing.

 

Update: Was able to recover by holding reset and plugging it back it. Phew!

No idea what happened, I followed the instructions to the letter.

Edited by tgx, 18 February 2017 - 05:52 PM.

[tgx]

Well....It was waaaay confusing due to multiple documents saying different things but the upshot is this.

If you are like me and have Win10, you have to start by setting the GroupPolicy setting (using Start+R to run gpedit.msc)

Then set to 'enabled' the following: Computer Configuration \ Administrative Templates \ Windows Components \ Search \ Do not allow locations on removable drives to be added to libraries.

 

More info here: https://answers.micr...3e-44083a3733f5

 

IF YOU DO NOT DO THIS THE BOOTLOADER WILL NOT RUN and you will end up with a dark board that seems to be bricked. I had to disconnect the Freescale board, reboot Windows and then hold reset and reconnect the USB cable to get back to a functioning device.

 

Once you have set the GroupPolicy, DO NOT Follow the instructions in the Pinscape document., there have apparently been changes in the structure of the included zip files. 

 

First, unzip the main file you get from PEMicro. Once unzipped there is another zip file inside called OpenSDA_Bootloader_Update_App...

Extract that zip. You will get two documents. A BOOTUPDATEAPP_release_notes which has detailed instructions and the BOOTUPDATEAPP_Pemicro_vXXX.SDA Copy the SDA to the BOOTLOADER device that shows up in explorer. Close explorer and use the system tray icon to eject the device.

 

Disconnect and reconnect the Freescale unit.

Go back into the BOOTLOADER device when it appears in Explorer and click on the SDA_INFO.html document. It will take you to a web page where you can check that the version is what you expect.

 

Exit the browser and continue to the next step which is using Explorer to drop the MSD-DEBUG-FRDM-KL25Z_vXXX.SDA file onto the BOOTLOADER drive. Close explorer and eject the Freescale using the system tray icon again.

 

When the device reboots it will no longer show in explorer as BOOTLOADER, but instead as FRDM-KL25Z.

 

You can again run SDA_INFO if you like to see the updated versions and pick back up in the Pinscape document.

 

Hope it helps someone get past the initial setup issues.

Another link I found handy which outlines the process:

https://mcuoneclipse...board-firmware/

[mjr]

Well....It was waaaay confusing due to multiple documents saying different things but the upshot is this. [...]

 

I'm glad you got past the Windows 10 nightmare.  

 

Did you try following the instructions in the Pinscape config tool?  I believe those have all of the details about the extra steps for the Windows 8 and 10 install.  

 

(The v1 Build Guide doesn't have the complicated Windows 8/10 instructions, although it does have a warning that you can't use Windows 8 - which should actually say Windows 8 or later, although Windows 8 was the latest when I wrote those.)

[tgx]

Let me first thank you for open sourcing all of this stuff! Very generous of you. 

I suppose everyone stumbles through the internet in different ways, my path led me

to the V1 documents and I stumbled upon the Win8 mods in a different way. It's the one

bad thing about the internet is that old outdated materials never die even after they've outlived

their useful life.

 

I have made good progress. I now have flipper buttons which was my primary goal with the Freescale unit.

I am getting ready to tackle the plunger. At present playing a table without the plunger but with the Freescale unit

plugged in results in a plunger that continually plunges which makes for interesting ball launches, unfortunately it

also causes the pinball machine to hang once the ball drains. Too many interrupts I suspect. Out of curiosity is there a way

to disable plunger until I have it wired up? Would that involve changes to config.h?

 

**UPDATE** Nevermind MJR I discovered you can disable the plunger input via the PinscapeConfigTool.

Thanks.

Edited by tgx, 19 February 2017 - 07:53 PM.

[mjr]

I suppose everyone stumbles through the internet in different ways, my path led me

to the V1 documents and I stumbled upon the Win8 mods in a different way. It's the one

bad thing about the internet is that old outdated materials never die even after they've outlived

their useful life.

 

Indeed!  Someone really should have thought of that (not to mention email spam) before they invented this stupid thing.

 

But for what it's worth, I did just update the v1 manual (the one on the mbed site, anyway) to include Windows 10 in the warning about the KL25Z update, and provide a pointer to the Config Tool.  So hopefully the next person who starts there won't have to do all the research you did.

[kiwiBri]

 

 

Hope it helps someone get past the initial setup issues.

Another link I found handy which outlines the process:

https://mcuoneclipse...board-firmware/

 

thanks.. I somehow got mine done back in December/Jan. using a a combination of the methods I think you posted.. I was trying on Windows 10 then went back to Windows 7 to get it done as I was having issues. Nice to have it documented here.  My build is on a Windows 10 machine, but I expect the Pinscape Config tool to do the updates from now on on the actual Virtual Pin PC.

btw, has anyone got a good source for the TSL1410R ? Or are we all waiting on Mouser for June shipments?? I see you can order it from China/Hong Kong if you are buying larger lots.. 20+ units I expect. 

 

btw - some updates on my build coming soon - I've been busy.. just havent had time to update the build thread. 

[tgx]

I am presently stuck. My plunger is miserable and I am not sure what is wrong. Al I get is a maximum strength shot. The virtual plunger does not move relative to the mechanical one.No amount of calibration seems to fix it. Also nudge does nothing even though enabled in VPX. Windows has no problem reading my connected buttons and I can run the XY calibration for nudge. Not sure what the analog is for the plunger, maybe Z-axis? Z-axis gives sporadic readings. I am using the recommended bourn slide pot.

[mjr]

I am presently stuck. My plunger is miserable and I am not sure what is wrong. Al I get is a maximum strength shot. The virtual plunger does not move relative to the mechanical one.No amount of calibration seems to fix it. Also nudge does nothing even though enabled in VPX. Windows has no problem reading my connected buttons and I can run the XY calibration for nudge. Not sure what the analog is for the plunger, maybe Z-axis? Z-axis gives sporadic readings. I am using the recommended bourn slide pot.

 

First off, if you calibrated using the Windows "Set up USB Game Controllers" control panel, you should delete that calibration.  The accelerometer is self-calibrating, so calibrating it through Windows causes all sorts of trouble.  To delete the Windows calibration, open "Set up USB Game Controllers", double-click the Pinscape device, click the Settings tab, and click the "Reset to default" button.

 

You're correct that the plunger is the Z axis in the joystick reports.

 

Your next step should be to open the Pinscape Config Tool.  Click on the "plunger" button for the device on the main page.  This will let you view the raw data you're getting from the potentiometer.  Verify that you're getting linear behavior there.  If you're not, there must be something wrong with either the wiring or the port setup.  

 

The port setup is easy to check, so do that first.  Go to the Settings page in the Config tool, find the Plunger section, and check that you have the Plunger Type drop-down box set to Potentiometer, and that the GPIO port assignment matches your wiring.  If that all looks right, check your wiring.  Make sure you have +3.3V going into one fixed end of the pot, GND (0V) connected to the other fixed end, and make sure that the GPIO pin is connected to the WIPER pin (the variable resistor part) of the pot.

 

If you're getting reasonable looking raw data on the plunger setup screen, the next step is to run plunger calibration.  Click the Calibrate button in the plunger setup window.  That goes into calibration mode for about 15 seconds.  Just pull the plunger all the way back, hold it for a moment, release it, and allow it to come to rest fully for a few seconds.  Do that a few times.  This lets the software sense the maximum retracted position and the resting position so that it can set the proper range during normal use.  The calibration data are saved in flash memory on the KL25Z, so you only have to do this once.

 

If it's working properly in the Config Tool and you've run the calibration, then the only remaining problem could be the VP setup.  Let me know what you find with the steps above and I'll try to give you some more pointers if you're still stuck.

Edited by mjr, 23 February 2017 - 02:36 AM.

[tgx]

I did the reset to default in windows control panel for the controller.

I do not see a 'plunger button' in the Pinscape Controller settings?? Is there a different version? All I see is "select controller" (there's only 1) "settings" (Select LED Wiz Number which matches my unit number/enable Plunger sensor is checked),

"begin plunger calibration" (if clicked shows a popup box with instructions for calibration. That window never closes but the LED's respond as expected on the Freescale."View CCD Exposure causes the config app to crash in my case presumably because it doesn't have a CCD to read.

[tgx]

Okay, so latest observations. I did a 'remove device' using "Printers and devices"  manager (Win10).

This caused status of LED on Freescale to go red.

Disconnected Freescale and plugged back in.

This caused Win10 to recognize freescale board again.

I then ran Pinscape config tool.

Using Bride of Pinbot VPX, The plunger is working as is nudge...Yay. However, the plunger animation does not work.

What it seems to do is if I pull the plunger to max and let go, it immediately draws the 'pull back' animation and then releases. So it sort of stores up what I did and then plays it back which is well...wrong. Out of curiosity I tried another table and got the same behavior.I then tried VP 9.9.2 with same results. very close I think,