153 replies to this topic

[zebulon]

Looks fine to me.

[court461]

I think I have all the wiring done for my buttons to the IPAC.  Should be able to test soon.  I am using an IPAC for keyboard commands for all the buttons, then the virtuapin plunger for the plunger.  The virtuapin controller has the ability to control the buttons too, but I decided to stick with the IPAC for everything but plunger.  That is why you will see the wire harnesses rolled up and not used on the VP controller.  I only connected the grounds to my ground terminal block, all others are not connected..  

 

I have not started to wire force feedback yet.  I am going to do a test board with the equipment before I get into the cab.  I don't want to have to trouble shoot everything at once.  So my plan is to get the buttons working and make sure all is good.  Then wire up the LEDWIZ and Zebs boards and all the toys once I know they work outside the cab.  

 

 

IPAC

 

 

Virtuapin Controller

 

 

Buttons

 

 

[Sneetch]

Looking good and tidy too!


Sent from my iPad.

[robertms]

Nice work court461!

[Ben Logan]

Fantastic thread. Following with interest.

[court461]

So some more progress.  Put the backbox on, this is the first time I have had assembled with the artwork on.

 

 

I put my speaker screen, put the strobes on, this is everything but the H channel and the glass in front of the monitor.  I am not really happy with my DMD board.  I cut with a jigsaw and it is not straight.  I may break down and get one CNC cut or try with some guides to redo it later.  But that can wait.  It is good enough for now.

 

 

So I put everything together to do some function testing with my buttons.  IPAC seems to be working.  All buttons work as expected.  Pinballx seems to work as expected.  I have a ton of cleanup work to do (moving DMD's, removing grills on my pinballx media, etc.).  I did have a strange problem where my 1 key started sticking causing me problems.  The computer was getting a 1 key command repeatedly as if I was holding the button down.  Did not have time to trouble shoot this, so I just shut down.  Don't know if it was an IPAC issue or my keyboard issue.  Overall, I am happy.  The other problem I had was the virtuapin plunger was not working correctly.  It was very jumpy not smooth.  I think I saw a fix to this somewhere I will have to track down and find.

 

 

 

[court461]

So now that I know it works, I get to start on the fun stuff.  

 

So 8 solenoids for bumpers and slingshots and 2 ebay contactors for flippers.  Wow, wiring is a chore.  I probably spent two hours last night just getting these wired up.  Following Zeb's wiring diagrams for ledwiz output kit.  Hopefully I will get this right.  I will probably have a post so someone can look over everything before I crank this up to make sure I get everything done correctly.

 

 

This is the output board which is the brains behind all the toys, you can also see the Zeb shaker.

 

 

I still have to wire up the buttons on the front.  I also have to build my lightbar for behind the monitor.  This will hold the 5 RGB LED's.  Then the fun of connecting it all to the output kit.  That should be fun trying to get everything to the right pin.  Oh well, more to come.  This is as far as I made it yesterday.

[rasm]

Really nice build. And the idea of a gray-scale artwork is cool.

[scubajoe]

Man, Looking great!!!!

[court461]

Thanks guys.  Appreciate the kind words.

 

Didn't do much last night.  I did figure out my sticking button issue.  Was not the IPAC, one of my connections on my start button had come lose and was touching the ground, therefore completing the connection and repeatedly sending key presses.  I tightened up the connector and it works like a charm now.

 

I did some work to clean up my wiring.  Got my solenoids all wired up with the diodes.

 

 

Got my contactors wired up for my flippers.

 

 

Then I tidied up my wiring with clamps and wire loom on my 3 feedback struts.  I think I may connect them with rare earth magnets rather than screws bolts so I can easily  move them if I need to work inside the cab.  Still debating this.  

 

 

I nicely labled my wires before putting in the looms to save myself a lot of trouble.  I found in one of the threads on here a template to print on address labels all the connections.  Nice and easy way to quickly label the wires.  

 

 

Other than that I just played a lot of pinball.  I almost hate that I have it to a point where I can play, because it is harder to work on.  I just keep wanting to play.  At least before I was motivated to keep working.  

 

As far as force feedback goes I just need to wire my gear motor and my knocker up, wire up my button lights that will be ledwiz controlled (start, credit and Launch), and get all the connections crimped into the wire connectors.  Then get DOF up and running.  

[whynotpizza]

Great work court! Thanks for taking the time to showcase what you have done.

 

I have lots of questions, but for now will do some homework on Zeb's website to try and understand the hardware side of things.

 

I have been working for ~3 months on the software/PC side of things, and have VP9, PM5 and VP10 with pinballX all working like a champ. That is no small feat, but am getting excited about the next chapter of this project.

 

Maybe I should start my own project thread for others to comment along the way.

 

Your setup looks great so far!

 

  David

[scubajoe]

Really cool and some things I did not think of. I am using the excuse of TS ERIKA as to why I can not even start my mock up this weekend. It's actually true since I have to clear out my office to house my father-in-law for the duration. Otherwise you have me pumped up.

[court461]

Great work court! Thanks for taking the time to showcase what you have done.

 

I have lots of questions, but for now will do some homework on Zeb's website to try and understand the hardware side of things.

 

I have been working for ~3 months on the software/PC side of things, and have VP9, PM5 and VP10 with pinballX all working like a champ. That is no small feat, but am getting excited about the next chapter of this project.

 

Maybe I should start my own project thread for others to comment along the way.

 

Your setup looks great so far!

 

  David

Zeb's site is a great place.  He has a forum with some wiring diagrams that really helped me in understanding all the connections.  Even if you don't use his boards, there is a lot of useful information there.  I am using the ledwiz output kit he has, just because my electrical knowledge is not great, and it seems much less complicated than various relays and such.  

 

 

If you decide to go the relay route, this is a good thread. http://www.vpforums....showtopic=28559

 

And this is a good thread about DOF on the software side. There is some good info in here, and some troubleshooting. I bookmark all these when I find them for reference later. I am hoping to start my DOF install some time next week. http://www.vpforums....showtopic=29327

[court461]

So I got some more wiring done.  Got my gear motor, shaker and knocker wired up.  Got all the buttons that will be ledwiz controlled wired up.  And got all of my solenoids and contactors wired up the Zeb's output kit.  I have not installed DOF yet, or powered up my devices (toys) yet, because I have read DOF can potentially interfere with the virtuapin plunger.  I am having serious issues with the plunger and want to get it working first without DOF so I know that is not my issue.  When I look at the plunger in gamepad settings, it looks like it is getting movement when nothing is happening.  If I play a table, the ball is all over the table, and sometimes even causes the table to tilt.  I am using a powered USB hub, and am not using the anything on the controller but the plunger.  If I unplug the virtuapin board, the tables play fine.

 

The second issue I have is DMD related.  When I was testing, I could get my DMD's to size perfectly on my monitor.  Now that I have it in the cab, the DMD is like half the size of my window.  If I choose to show borders, the DMD boarder is the right size (perfectly fits my window) but the visible DMD is small.  Adjusting the window size using the window border does not change the size of the visible DMD.  I know this is a setting somewhere, because like I said it worked great before. I used setdmd from bigboss to adjust all my dmd's and it worked perfectly.  I have played with ddraw setting, double size and compact size settings and none seem to address the issue.  Any ideas would be welcome.  

 

On a good note, I did get my flasher board built.  That is really the last feedback component I had to finish.  Just need to grab some thermal adhesive to affix my rgb stars to a piece of aluminum bar, then I can attach and test.

[zebulon]

Lower the gain settings and enable the nudge filter on the vp/preferences/keys page 

[court461]

Lower the gain settings and enable the nudge filter on the vp/preferences/keys page 

Thanks, those changes did help the nudge and tilt problem. I am still having problems with the plunger. I can see the same jitters in the game controller screen though so doesn't seem to be a vp problem. I have sent this video to Paul at virtuapin, I am hoping he can tell me some things to try.




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Edited by court461, 01 September 2015 - 02:12 PM.

[court461]

Got a few small things done.  Received in some rare earth magnets.  These are made to hold tools, each one holds up to 50 pounds.  I put one on each side of my feedback struts, and they attach to my support brackets.  They seem to work awesome.  The hold is phenomenal, the board will flex before they break loose, so I think it should work just fine.

 

 

Got my knocker installed with strike plate.  For the strike plate I used a $.32 cent nail plate from home depot.  

 

 

Shaker is in.

 

 

Cheapie gear motor is in.  Not sure if I will have to add something to this to put some load to get some sound, will know once I test.

 

 

Zeb's board fully loaded.  I was trying to keep my wiring as clean as possible, but this is the one place it is a little out of hand.  I will try to do some clean up still and get everything looking a little better, but this will do for now until all is tested.  Main board is mounted on the bottom of the cab.  Small board on the wall is the resistor board for the RGB LED's and strobes.  All I have to do is connect my power supply.

 

 

So next on my list is getting the 2nd power supply wired up, plugged into output boards, run a 12v lead to my 12v bar for solenoids, a 5v lead to my 5v bar for button lights, then install DOF and see how I did with all this wiring.  Actually, might be some fingers crossed and a prayer before I power it up.

Edited by court461, 01 September 2015 - 02:25 PM.

[ScottyVH]

I checked this post with the false hope that I would indeed laugh at someone else's cab build, since mine is so sloppy.  However, this is awesome, so now I feel even worse about my own skills.  

 

I came to laugh, but I cried.     (sounds like a movie review)

[viktory2k1]

That thing looks great, You can pemanantly change the DMD in the table scripts or the TXT file in your table folder. I have been taking a break on mine, neat wiring is key. I would think those magnets would interfier with the solenoids but I guess not, That knocker is huge, will definatly feel and hear it, The last thing I did was cut 3 2X2's to mount the feedback solenoids too and painted them, then I started working on my car so thats why the break. Do you have the glass on? I couldnt tell. I will post some pics of my terminal strips and stuff so far, needs a lot of cleanup.....

 

 

 

My backglass..

 

 

I think I made 6 speaker panels before I got it right.

Edited by viktory2k1, 02 September 2015 - 06:26 AM.

[court461]

I am getting so close to getting this thing running I can taste it.  Got my leds affixed to my mounting bar/heat sink.  The rubber bands are temporary while the thermal adhesive sets up.  This bar will mount to the back of my light bar.

 

 

That pretty much completes the wiring of the toys.  I did have time to wire up my second power supply this morning.  I have power to Zeb's boards, power to my 5v and 12v rails, and I downloaded the ledblinky test software.  I didn't have time to test my toys yet, hopefully tonight.  

 

I also talked to Paul at virtuapin about my plunger issue.  Apparently there is a tip on the plunger I am missing.  Since I bought a bunch of this stuff months ago, I must have lost it somehow.  He is sending me out a new one that should correct my plunger problem.