167 replies to this topic

[sisse]

Thanks Nailbuster

It works for me now in Pinball fx 3 a well

Its a Awesome program you have made thanks

Alot for you help/file

Chears Johnny

[JFR1]

Worked for me too!  

 

I'm about 8 months into my cab build.  I built in a real plunger at the beginning figuring I'd eventually purchase one of the sleeve kits.  But after months of building I got used to the plunger button so was less and less motivated to spend the money on one of those.  I had spotted this software months ago and saved it with my other gazillion files and came across it again the other day and finally decided to goof around with it as a cheap way of utilizing my real plunger.  Glad I did.  Using stuff I had laying around I now have a working real plunger.  I'm still dialing it in....as usual with anything in this hobby it took days...but I've got it to where like someone earlier in this thread mentioned - - having much more fun with the skill shot on TOTAN!

 

I used the paint stick approach.  Zip ties, hot glue gun, Targus mini travel mouse.  

 

Thanks Nailbuster for this very creative software!!

[mtpinning]

Thanks Nailbuster!  You da man!  Seriously!  This, and Pinup Popper............it's made my VP dreams a reality.  I used an old gaming mouse, and i have someone 3d printing the housing for $10.  and BOOM.....the thing works better than my Virtua Pin plunger ever did.  It's a smoother transition on the plunger pull and ALWAYS works.  

 

I've been able to get it setup successfully in VPX, FX2, and Pinball Arcade.....I'm missing something with FX3, but I'll get it figured out.

 

Just wanted to say a BIG THANKS for this cheap fix.  YOU ROCK!

[dgrace]

This looks awesome. Can't wait to try it. Curious if anyone has ever done a video tutorial on this? I just do so much better with videos. Thanks

[JayP]

This looks awesome. Can't wait to try it. Curious if anyone has ever done a video tutorial on this? I just do so much better with videos. Thanks

 

I would also like to see the 3D printed version setup as I cannot picture in my head how it works.

 

Where does the mouse go, how is it held in place?

[whynotpizza]

This looks great if I can make it work in VP.

 

Windows 7, all setup OK. vJoy Ry shows movement when I slide mouse L and R.

 

Yet when I open VP to a test table or real one, making sure PLUNGER is set to "rY Axis", the crazy thing doesn't do anything when I move the mouse.

 

I have tried every combination/setting in VP and nothing seems to make it work.

 

Help! ... I am close ...

Edited by whynotpizza, 26 September 2019 - 03:59 AM.

[whynotpizza]

Ok, got it to finally work.

 

The KL25Z board which comes with the VirtuaPin Plunger Kit conflicts with the vJoy program and prevents the joystick from being seen within Visual Pinball. Doesn't matter what vJoyID specified, it conflicts no matter what ID is running vJoy.

 

The only reason I want to use this KL25Z board is to keep the nudge/tilt and joystick-buttons.

 

I tried to flash the Pinscape software (in an attempt to reset the device) onto the KL25Z board from VirtuaPin, but the loader program did not properly recognize the device on the PC in any USB port to re-program. The light was solid green as if it was ready to program, but the loader software could not see the device.

 

Anybody got ideas?

 

Looking to ...

1. Use vJoy to drive Mouse rY axis control for shooter (by the way this is very smooth!)

2. Use some additional component to handle joystick/nudge/tilt/buttons

[whynotpizza]

Got it working with the KL25Z board now. 

 

Both KL25Z and the vJoy coexist ok!

 

Turns out I flashed the pinscape software onto the board to start clean. Much better!

 

Great write-up from MJR on this topic helped a lot - thank you! 

 

Since I couldn't get the compiler in the browser to work, I used the PinscapeConfigTool to download the BIN loader and simply draged it to the explorer window of the board. Reloaded the BIN onto the board and all set!

 

https://os.mbed.com/media/uploads/mjr/the_pinscape_controller_20150831.pdf 

 

I plan to setup a physical mouse which will leverage vJoy on the rY axis along side the Pinscape KL25Z which will deliver nudge/tilt/button controls.

[dondi]

Been following this thread with interest in preparation for an upcoming build. Has anyone "decased" their optical mouse and tried to scale-down the electronics? I was looking at Travel Mouse units and then wondered if the Sensor + Lens + PCB were available to re-fashion, mount & hook-up to USB cable. Is anyone else thinking along those lines and successfully-tinkered with a "packageable" solution? (I'm of the feeling that after decasing the mouse, there would be issues with re-positioning and aligning the lens, etc.)

I searched for mouse sensors, et. al., (The offerings at SparkFun and Mouser were too technical & overwhelming for me to sift-through) and came up with a few DIY projects and/or electronic components that I think (I'm a bit lost in this electronics world) may be fashioned into something we can implement. They seem to all include components from pixart in some variation or another.

In descriptions of various application and projects, there are mentions of interfacing with Arduinos and Teensys as well as the practical use case of acting as an optical mouse. Here are a few links, not sure if I am onto something, maybe @mjr, @MikePinball or @NailBuster may have some insights:

Tindie Project 1 (Jack Enterprises)
https://www.tindie.c...-motion-sensor/

 

Tindie Project 2 (Jack Enterprises)

https://www.tindie.c...-motion-sensor/

 

Tindie Project 3 (tom10122)

https://www.tindie.c...l-sensor-board/

 

Hackaday Project

https://hackaday.io/...tracking-sensor

 

Pixart Sensors

https://www.pixart.c...al_Mouse_Sensor

 

I have no idea how to implement, but I think the brains within the community would be able to come up with a snap, cheap solution (provided that busting-open a mouse doesn't work). Would be nice to have an elegant, cheap solution for PinCabbers.

 

Thoughts?

Edited by dondi, 16 October 2019 - 08:33 AM.

[NailBuster]

i think the idea with mouse plunger is that its super-simple, and if you don't have a pinscape/POT setup then its an easy/cheap alternative.

 

if i had a pinscape i would just use a linear-pot for plunger and call it a day... but options are always good.  AND i believe that the mouse plunger(which i still use today) is 'smoother' so I've been told than the other options.

[Koenzie]

Hi Guys,

 

I've 3D printed the parts for the mouseplunger, but would love some help on how to connect the plunger part to the plunger while the tube is in place.

Could someone guide me?

 

Thanks again for the great software Nailbuster, works like a charm!!

[Koenzie]

Hi Guys,

 

I've 3D printed the parts for the mouseplunger, but would love some help on how to connect the plunger part to the plunger while the tube is in place.

Could someone guide me?

 

Thanks again for the great software Nailbuster, works like a charm!!

 

 

Any Help? Would love to get this installed

[bluemanuk]

Hi, if you need any help fitting this plunger just let me know Feel free to message me direct. 

[Koenzie]

Hi, if you need any help fitting this plunger just let me know Feel free to message me direct. 

Thanks! That would be great! How do i connect the plunger part to the plunger? I have all the parts 3D printed and ready, but I cant figure out a way to do it If I know how to do it I'll make a how-to video so everyone can enjoy

[qcol]

Thanks for that stuff. It works beautifully!

Just one question. When I run the table directly, everything is OK. But when I run a table through a Pinup player, the plunger doesn't work. Then I have to run MousePlunger as administrator. Is that normal behaviour?

[qcol]

Hi, if you need any help fitting this plunger just let me know Feel free to message me direct. 

 

I installed the mouse version. It's OK. But I'm interested in the 3d element here. In the whole thread a lot of people would like to know how it works with the mouse. Unfortunately there is no answer to that. Is this top secret?

[Koenzie]

 

Hi, if you need any help fitting this plunger just let me know Feel free to message me direct. 

 

I installed the mouse version. It's OK. But I'm interested in the 3d element here. In the whole thread a lot of people would like to know how it works with the mouse. Unfortunately there is no answer to that. Is this top secret?

 

 

I printed everything but it seems to long for the plunger... So I dont know how to fix it

[Psuds]

Is there a possibility of configuring this so that the mouse faces 6 o'clock? I've already modified the mouse, as you can see.....

 

 

Attached Files

•  IMG_20200410_160221.jpg   66.88KB   25 downloads

Edited by Psuds, 21 April 2020 - 08:28 PM.

[DCGozer]

Would first like to thank Nailbuster for this great idea and the setup.  Have Vpin controller v3 and have had it with the plunger, so tried this out.  Everything worked great until I rebooted, oddly enough, it seems if I go back into VPX and reset all of the keys and set the plunger to rY it works again.  Wondering if anyone else has seen this behavior?  Should vjoy be handling the mapping of the vpin controller or is everyone using something else to combine the two?  thanks

 

 

*Update on my issue- in case anyone else is experiencing the same problem...  I decided to use UCR to combine the VirtuaPin controller and the vjoy controller into one.  First step was to use the vjoy config that is installed as part of the setup with nailbuster's mouseplunger files and add a second vjoy controller to map everything to, then set this 2nd vjoy as the preferred game controller in Windows and all works. 

 

Rebooted and tested without UCR running and it is still working, so it looks like just having the 2nd vjoy controller in there as the preferred device (even with nothing mapped to it) was enough.  Not sure what the deal is with VPX, but it definitely seems to prefer the virtuapin controller no matter what I was setting as preferred in Windows with just the 2 controllers. 

 

I also needed to switch to PinballY from X.  X was messing up the keys everytime (yes, autoconfigure is off) and all of my previous testing and issues were experienced without PinballX running.

Edited by DCGozer, 24 April 2020 - 11:20 AM.

[Koenzie]

Is there a possibility of configuring this so that the mouse faces 6 o'clock? I've already modified the mouse, as you can see.....

 

 

I think you can invert the signal in VPX...?

Would first like to thank Nailbuster for this great idea and the setup.  Have Vpin controller v3 and have had it with the plunger, so tried this out.  Everything worked great until I rebooted, oddly enough, it seems if I go back into VPX and reset all of the keys and set the plunger to rY it works again.  Wondering if anyone else has seen this behavior?  Should vjoy be handling the mapping of the vpin controller or is everyone using something else to combine the two?  thanks

Mine works fine, but today I had to restart the software one time to make it work again. But no problems after reboot...