Standalone Pinball Controller w. Mouse Shooter -- First Build

[PL1]

An after-the-fact thread for my first build – a Visual Pinball (VP) / Future Pinball (FP) pinball controller.



Details on the mouse shooter were requested in another thread by Kiatuthlanna, so I figured I’d just do a full write-up w. pics.  Hope this is worth the wait.





Sections grouped by topic rather than build order.

1. Overview
2. Encoder
3. Shooter
4. Shooter Mouse
5. Assembling the Parts
6. Troubleshooting and Workaround
7. Parts and Tools List
8. Lessons Learned


1. Overview:

Last year, I got really tired of hitting the wrong buttons on the keyboard when trying to use upper flippers, Magnasave, or L/R nudge. 

The Nanotech Pinball Wizard looks great, but I didn’t feel like spending $300 for one.



Ultimarc’s UHID-G looked like a great choice for an encoder since it would allow 5 buttons and L/R/Up nudge via the 3-axis accelerometer.

Some people on VPForums were working on interfacing a pinball shooter type mechanism with VP/FP, but the designs that I saw had flaws that made them impractical or susceptible to electrical and/or mechanical problems.   I also noticed that FP has built-in support for using a mouse as a shooter.

I included a keyboard for admin functions, a regular mouse for navigating and a feed-thru USB connector on the back.


Scott

[PL1]

2. Encoder:

The U-HID G is installed on the inside, front, bottom, center of the controller on a 1”x2” crosspiece.  It is level and parallel to the floor with the USB connector pointing toward the left side of the controller and the connector pins pointing toward the right side.



Program the UHID-G using the U_HID Configuration Utility from Ultimarc and wire it to the related buttons as indicated:

1.  Select the “General” tab.

2.  Keypresses use these settings: Function = Switch, “Key” selected, Primary = listed below, Down Action = Normal Primary, Up Action = Clear

J5
Pin 01 – Not used
Pin 02 – Ground – Daisy chain to all 5 buttons
Pin 03 – Analog Axis Number 1 – No wire connected
Pin 04 – Analog Axis Number 2 – No wire connected
Pin 05 – Analog Axis Number 3 – No wire connected
Pin 06 – A – Left Upper Flipper
Pin 07 – L. Shift – Left Flipper
Pin 08 – Enter – Ball Launch Button
Pin 09 – R. Shift – Right Flipper
Pin 10 – ‘ (Apostrophe) –  Right Upper Flipper

J6 (Virtual, not physical connector)
Pin 03 – /
Pin 04 – z
Pin 05 – Space
Pin 06 – Space

h/t Toolmaker on VPForums for UHID-G mounting and nudge settings.

3. On the “Calibration” tab, Initial settings for Axis 1, Axis 2, and Axis 3 are: Offset = 128, Scale Factor = 8, Pulse length = 4.


Scott

[PL1]

3. Shooter:

I wanted it to look like a normal shooter and use normal shooter springs, but a normal shooter would never work with a mouse since if it was close enough to read, the springs would strike and grind across the mouse -- there wasn’t enough shaft at the end for the mouse sensor to read the desired range of motion.

The answer was to make a longer shaft out of straight and smooth 3/8” round aluminum.  A mouse can read this surface as long as it is in range of the sensor. (More on this in section 5.)

First, cut a 16-18” length, then use a die from a tap and die set to cut 3/8 – 16 threads on the end for a shooter knob.  Some thin cardboard folded around the shaft can prevent vise grips from marring the surface.  Be sure to lubricate as you cut threads.



The parts for the shooter go together in this order:
1. Shooter knob  Check DimcoGray website for other style knobs, if desired. Anything with a 3/8-16 thread will work, metal insert preferred.

2. Flat washer - 25/64 x 5/8 x 16 gauge – Size on these is CRITICAL.  Make sure all four flat washers in the shooter are this size.

3. Barrel spring

4. Flat washer
5. Shooter housing

*6. Front of controller with Shooter housing mounting plate attached to the inside.
(*=Not needed until the shooter assembly is ready for final installation.  See section 5.)

7. Flat washer
8. Inner plunger spring

9. Flat washer

Position the assembly vertically with the knob on the table.  Compress the inner plunger spring about 1/2 inch and mark the shaft.

Drill a small hole at the mark and put a piece of 20 gauge (.035”) Mechanic’s wire through and bend the ends so the wire wraps around the shaft in an “S” shape to stop the spring and washer as shown here.




The final assembly should have around 4 3/4” to 5” of travel. (Full back to full forward)

Ensure that the shaft from the bent wire to the end is smooth with no burrs since it will be sliding against the mouse housing.


Scott

[PL1]

4. Shooter Mouse:

My first attempt at making a mouse shooter used an old 400 Dots per Inch (DPI) Microsoft optical mouse.  It had plenty of resolution and worked fine IF I didn’t release the shooter.  Looking closer at the specs, I quickly figured out the problem.  The mouse was only rated for 20 Inches per Second (IPS), but the shooter assembly was travelling closer to 120 IPS. (Before anyone asks, yes, I shot the shooter rod across the room to get a more accurate reading on the speed. )

Second plan – use a gaming mouse.  I found a used Logitech G500. (200-5700 DPI, 165 IPS)

In order to solidly mount it, I removed the top shell and cut off the excess frame leaving a screw hole to anchor the mouse.

I made a cardboard template that the mouse base fit into snugly.



To get the correct orientation, picture doing a wheelie with the mouse until it flips over with the “tail” pointing at you.

Trace the template outline on a 1x6 about 1.25” from the front edge.  It’s easier if you leave the 1x6 a little longer than needed and trim it to exact length after you cut a snug mounting hole for the mouse.  Ensure the sensor is positioned the same distance from the side of the case as the center of the shooter.




Scott

[PL1]

5. Assembling the Parts:

-- Flipper button placement
The first time my father used this controller, he asked why I didn’t put the ball launch button to the right of the shooter so you can keep your fingers on the flippers while launching the ball with your right thumb. 

I’ll be adding a button in this location soon and wiring it in parallel with the current one.




-- Keyboard
In order to hold the back of the keyboard in place without modifying it, I used some leftover curtain rod holders.


A small cutout was required to prevent the left holder from rubbing on the escape key.


The holders are fastened to a piece of 1 x 2 which is later fastened to an L-bracket attached to the case.


In order to seat the keyboard with no gaps, make small cutouts for the holders . . .

. . .and cable (small notch on inside back edge) . . .

. . . so it seats like this.
 

The front part of the keyboard is supported by L-brackets and the leading edge is held down by angle aluminum with rounded corners. Weather-stripping ensures a snug, gap-free fit and acts as a grommet for the mouse cable.



-- Shooter
Place the shooter housing high enough that the bottom of the housing is at or above the bottom edge of the front side and low enough that the shooter shaft won’t hit the keyboard.  Remember that there is quite a bit of wiggle both horizontally and vertically . . . for now . . . so make sure you are measuring from the center of the range of motion.

Once you know where you want to mount the shooter, drill a hole large enough for the part of the shooter housing that the plunger passes through. (Center top of the “T”)



Next, insert the shooter housing and rotate/align it so it is square with the front face.  Carefully trace around the 3 mounting screw posts and drill/route/file/saw as needed to make the T-shaped hole.



Once you have that hole, mount the shooter to the plate using the 3 machine screws.  Ensure the shooter is positioned and aligned correctly before you mark and drill the holes for the wood screws (next to the purple wire below) that will hold the plate in place if the shooter is removed. This will allow you to reattach the shooter in the exact same position and orientation as it was before.




-- Shooter mouse
- X-axis positioning
Once the Shooter is mounted to the front, determine where to trim the 1x6 so the shooter mouse sensor is aligned to the shooter shaft’s natural center position.  The further you are from that natural center, the more likely you will experience friction and wear problems at the shooter housing.


- Y-axis positioning
The mouse sensor should be at the end of the shaft when the plunger is pulled full back . . .


and the plunger must be able to move full forward without hitting the back wall.


The board the shooter mouse is mounted on must be clear of the bent wire, washer and spring when the shooter is pushed to the full forward position. That’s why the edge of the board under the shaft looks chipped – I was 1/8” off on the clearance and had to trim the board. 


- Z-axis positioning
Set the height so the shooter shaft rests flat on the face of the mouse and is as close as possible to the natural center of vertical deflection to avoid friction and binding between the shaft and the housing.

Mount the front L-brackets first then pivot on those brackets to ensure that the shooter shaft lies as flat as possible along the face of the mouse.  Once the angle is perfect, mark, drill and attach the back brackets.

- “Mini-Stonehenge” guide
To keep the shooter shaft always over the sensor, use side guides made from 1/4" PEX pipe (plastic water pipe) and button head wood screws positioned to keep the shaft from moving side-to-side.

A metal crosspiece keeps the shaft from rising up and away from the shooter mouse sensor.  A piece of plastic cut from the side panel of a milk jug and placed underneath the metal prevents metal on metal grinding. 

Carefully trim slivers off the ends of the PEX until there is minimal vertical and horizontal wiggle room, but the shaft can move forward and back smoothly and freely.




When you get it properly positioned and aligned, it works like this.
Download either the Zipped MPG or Zipped WMV

-- Hub
The hub is held in place using either flat-head wood or drywall screws and sections of 1/4” PEX pipe.  As the screws tighten, the angled bottom of the screw provides outward force on the PEX to hold the hub in place.  Start with the two screws on either side of the hub cable (bottom), then the top, followed by the left and right.



-- Wire management
Loop clamps and zip-ties every 4-6” keep everything neat and organized.
Curves in the wire allow enough slack to remove and reinstall connectors as needed.
Ensure that wires will not make contact with the shooter.

-- USB connection
I originally fed the hub wire out the back using the slot on the bottom edge and a rubber strain relief boot, but was worried that the hub wire would be damaged during transport.  It looked ugly, too.


The answer is the Neutrik USB A-B feedthru.



-- Bottom cover and feet
 

1/4” cover held on by rubber feet, 10-32 machine screws, and clip-on 10-32 nutplates attached to L-brackets.

Here is a side cross sectional view. 


To minimize the amount they can turn, attach the nutplates to the hole closer to the bend.  If you use the other hole, they can turn almost 3/4 of the way around before the bend of the nutplate hits the side of the L-bracket and stops it from turning.



Scott

[PL1]

6. Troubleshooting and Workaround:

To enable mouse shooter in FP:
1. Launch FP.
2. Menu Preferences – Game Keys and Controls
3. Mouse/Joypad Controllers “Enable” checked
4. “Mouse” selected in pulldown
5. Deadzone = +.1
6. Analog Plunger, Nudge, and Test Roller – Plunger = “Up-Down” and gain = +1
7. Click on “OK”


In order to see if the nudge is working properly, open Notepad or Wordpad.  Test sensitivity by nudging the front (space), left (z), and right (/).


Adjust nudge in the UHID Configuration Utility.


If you can’t adjust the nudge to work consistently, you can connect the three pins that were used for the accelerometer to nudge buttons and reprogram the pins the same way you did in part 2.
J5
Pin 03 – Space – Front Nudge
Pin 04 – z – Left Nudge
Pin 05 – / – Right Nudge


Scott

[PL1]

7. Parts and Tools List:

Ultimarc:
UHID-G - http://www.u-hid.com/home/uhidg.php
Happ “classic pushbuttons” - http://www.ultimarc.com/controls.html
PCB Mounting Feet - http://www.ultimarc.com/JShopServer/section.php?xSec=2&xPage=1

Pinball Life:
Shooter housing - http://www.pinballlife.com/index.php?p=product&id=128&parent=5
Shooter housing mounting plate - http://www.pinballlife.com/index.php?p=product&id=127&parent=5
Barrel spring - http://www.pinballlife.com/index.php?p=product&id=1834&parent=78
Inner plunger spring - http://www.pinballlife.com/index.php?p=product&id=125&parent=78
Shooter assembly flatwasher - http://www.pinballlife.com/index.php?p=product&id=516&parent=5

Allied Electronics:
Neutrik USB A-to-B feed-thru - http://www.alliedelec.com/search/productdetail.aspx?SKU=70088377

Amazon:
Belkin 4 port hub - http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000Q8UAWY/
Logitech G500 gaming mouse (used) - http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002J9GDXI/
Black phenolic ball knob, 3/8-16 thread - http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0015HMYQU/

Lowes:
3/8” round aluminum - http://www.lowes.com/pd_216093-37672-11273_0__?Ntt=3%2F8%22+round+aluminum&productId=3053651&rpp=16
1/4" PEX Pipe - http://www.lowes.com/pd_308057-61002-APPW514_0__?productId=3648382&Ntt=1%2F4+pex&pl=1&currentURL=&facetInfo=
Angle aluminum, 1/2” x 3/4”   
Curtain rod holders
L-Brackets
Clip-on 10-32 nutplates
10-32 machine screws
Rubber feet
Foam weather-stripping, black, 1/4” x 3/4”

Harbor Freight:
Mechanic’s wire - http://www.harborfreight.com/25-ft-mechanics-wire-97773.html
Tap and die set - http://www.harborfreight.com/21-piece-carbon-steel-tap-and-die-set-96570.html

Misc. Tools:
Miter box
Circular saw
Jigsaw or Scroll saw
Hacksaw
Bench grinder or file
Drill and drill bits
1 1/8” hole saw/spade bit/forstner bit
Crimp pliers for Quick Disconnects

Wood:
Leftover 4” oak kick trim.
Oak-print shelf
1x2
1x6
1/4" White laminated panel for bottom.


Scott

[PL1]

8. Lessons Learned

* Start with a small, easy project for your first build.  The experience will help to determine what the “unknown unknowns” are in your build-related knowledge and skills.

* Take your time in the design stage to ensure you have all necessary functions covered.  When I first built this, the admin mouse wasn’t part of the design making it a real pain to launch and navigate the FE.

* Cardboard mockups and test panels are your friend.

* Get the right tool(s) for the job.  Buy good quality ones if you can find any excu . . . uhh . . . justification for the expense.

* If you aren’t very good at crimping QDs, buy the pre-made daisy chains, and 4 wire or 2 wire .100” header/wires/QDs from Paradise Arcade. (If you use an encoder with screw terminals, get the pre-crimped wires/QDs.)  They will be in my next several builds.

* You can play the early levels of Tempest and even Arkanoid surprisingly well by turning the shooter.  If someone wants to build a vertically-oriented spinner version of the shooter with a flywheel instead of springs, it should work great as a next-gen mouse hack.

* U-HID-G can be rather difficult for noobs to tweak and has a limited number of inputs.

* If you want more inputs and can live without the accelerometer-nudging, Degenatron’s AVR encoder is a much better encoder choice.

I currently have parts on order to build a second low-cost pinball controller using the AVR encoder and a nudge mechanism indirectly inspired by a PM from a party who shall remain nameless and un-credited to protect him from any possible ridicule and blame until I verify that the concept and design works.  If it pans out, he will receive all the credit and recognition that he is due.


Scott

[Kiatuthlanna]

This is very cool. Thanks so much for posting.  I'm just about done with my cabinet and ready to move on to the control panel. I still really want to do this. I think that with a shaft as long as the one you used could potentially mount these materials through the control panel and inside the cabinet with shaft going out the back. I'm not sure I've got the clearances within my panel to have the whole thing contained within and still have a satisfying amount of play in the shooter.  Then again, it may be more fun to build something stand alone like you did to use with a vertically oriented monitor rather than the horizontal monitor I'm putting in my cabinet.

I didn't consider being able to use it as a spinner as well.  I suck enough at Arkanoid that I would probably do just as well with that as with a real spinner.

Thanks again for posting this. I really appreciate all of the photos and the amount of detail.

[PL1]

I'm not sure I've got the clearances within my panel to have the whole thing contained within and still have a satisfying amount of play in the shooter. 

After building the shooter, I mounted it to a scrap piece of wood to test things out and determine how deep the enclosure had to be.

It's 15" from the front edge of the front to the front edge of the back if that helps your calculations.

You might shorten the shooter a bit, but not too much.  Softer spring compressed a bit more?

As long as it aligns properly and there's nothing in the way, a hole in the back of the CP is no problem.  It might get you another ~3" if the mouse is at the back of the enclosure.

Then again, it may be more fun to build something stand alone like you did to use with a vertically oriented monitor rather than the horizontal monitor I'm putting in my cabinet.

There are lots of great 4:3 tables.  I'm sure you'll find some you like.

Of course a pincab is a nice long term goal, but for the time being . . . stay tuned -- almost all the parts have arrived for an updated budget version of this build.

I didn't consider being able to use it as a spinner as well.  I suck enough at Arkanoid that I would probably do just as well with that as with a real spinner.

The spinner idea came out of this thread involving a mouse hack spinner.

Using the shooter like this reminds me of the scene from Tin Cup when Kevin Costner plays golf with a baseball bat, shovel, rake, and hoe to get his clubs out of hock.


Scott

[macattack]

so with this method do you still see bounce the plunger bounce on screen when you release it and it returns?

[PL1]

so with this method do you still see bounce the plunger bounce on screen when you release it and it returns?

On tables with mouse plunger support, the plunger tracks mouse motion forward and backward.

If you want to see what it looks like, enable mouse plunger support and just move your mouse. 

The Caliber Beta FP table is the easiest to see the plunger as it moves.


Scott

[Gray_Area]

Great construction. Make it 'arcade-like', and you'll get a lot of OHHs and AHHHs.

[Seith]

A lot of interesting and unique builds popping up on the forums lately.  This will make the year-end BYOAC awards a real treat.

Love the thoroughness and attention to detail in your documentation here.  With this thread, I really feel like I could just build this exactly as you have done.  Kudos 

[gbeef]

nice build. i like the ideas on the mouse. You do know this is a slippery slop before you take the real plunge to a full size cab

[PL1]

Love the thoroughness and attention to detail in your documentation here.  With this thread, I really feel like I could just build this exactly as you have done.  Kudos 

Thanks, Seith.

That's what I was aiming for so people could make an informed decision on whether or not to include something like this in their build.

nice build. i like the ideas on the mouse. You do know this is a slippery slop before you take the real plunge to a full size cab

Thanks, gbeef.

"slippery slop" =    My build is slick pig food.       

I know what you mean about the slippery slope.  The last year and a half seems like a slow and steady case of feature and project creep.

My portable modular system and three other standalone projects are awaiting a couple parts, some art customization, and a few experiments to ensure that the designs and materials work properly.

As far a full size cab, the LONG term plan is to build a stealthy transforming pincab.  I already have the basic design and partial parts list for a coffee table with a flush-mount popup backbox, hidden sliders so you can have backbox sideart and sliding trim that covers the flipper and launch buttons when not in use.

In closing, a few final words of warning about the end of that slippery slope from an e-mail to my brother who has been dreaming about building a modular system:

. . . and It ends with you sitting in a group of people saying, ”My name is Bryant and I’m a BYOACer.”

**group in unison**  “Hi, Bryant”

Scott

[Ond]

Nice tutorial with some very useful information, so useful in fact I may steal parts of it for my own pinball shooter mechanism.  There should be more of this sort of thing!   

 

Ond

[PL1]

Nice tutorial with some very useful information, so useful in fact I may steal parts of it for my own pinball shooter mechanism.  There should be more of this sort of thing!   

 

Ond

Thank you, sir.

This is truly a pleasure and an honor.   


Scott

[macattack]

understood, do you have a solution in place for VP tables with this or are you just running FP?

so with this method do you still see bounce the plunger bounce on screen when you release it and it returns?

On tables with mouse plunger support, the plunger tracks mouse motion forward and backward.

If you want to see what it looks like, enable mouse plunger support and just move your mouse. 

The Caliber Beta FP table is the easiest to see the plunger as it moves.


Scott

[PL1]

do you have a solution in place for VP tables with this or are you just running FP?

FP is easy to setup for the mouse shooter since the basic plunger script is standardized IIRC, but VP tables use any one of a variety of different plunger scripts.

Almost all my favorite tables are in VP, but I haven't dug deep enough into script editing to even try getting mouse plungers running on them.

If there is a table that you want to try it out on, check the script to see if there is a variable for plunger type.  If so, you might be able to set it based on the comments in the script.

That's why I included the ball launch (Enter) button on the front.  Some tables like T2 had a trigger instead of a plunger and the skill shot was based on timing your trigger pull.

If you prefer not to have a ball launch button on the front of your cab, you can use your "Enter" admin button instead.


Scott

[Kiatuthlanna]

I've been looking into getting this plunger solution to work with VP as well.  I found this link on the VPForums for a build of VP with analog mouse support. I haven't got it working yet, but this might be on the right track. It seems that several people on the VPForums have built similar setups, except that the plunger rolls over the mouse wheel. That seems like it would totally destroy the mouse wheel pretty quickly.

http://www.vpforums.org/index.php?showtopic=11404&hl=analog+plunger

http://www.vpforums.org/lofiversion/index.php/t18255.html

[PL1]

It seems that several people on the VPForums have built similar setups, except that the plunger rolls over the mouse wheel. That seems like it would totally destroy the mouse wheel pretty quickly.

Some mice like the G500 used it this build have a way to mechanically disengage the click on the scroll wheel.  Once disengaged, it spins freely.

The disengage button is the white dot above the scroll wheel in this photo.




Scott

[degenatrons]

This looks awesome man!

It's great to see a unique take on a control panel.  I was thinking about including a keyboard and bought me some knackered ZX81.  I'm sure that i'll be referring back to this build.  Nice job.

 

[PL1]

This looks awesome man!

It's great to see a unique take on a control panel.  I was thinking about including a keyboard and bought me some knackered ZX81.  I'm sure that i'll be referring back to this build.  Nice job.

Thanks, Jon.

My next 3 builds all use your AVR encoder. (Budget Pinball Controller, Defender Standalone, SW Yoke Standalone)


Scott

[bristol888]

The shooter is cool.

[PL1]

The shooter is cool.

Thanks.   

It's definitely showing its age, though.

It sometimes binds a bit and there are several scratches on the aluminum shaft where it passes through the steel shooter housing.


Scott