midway wheels II

[gamer83]

Hey guys,just picked up a midway wheels II cab,its pretty much hollowed out,except for the control panel and pedals.I want to put a pc inside it and interface the original arcade parts to the pc.the machine is from 1975,I dont know much about driving cab control hardware.the dial device used for the steering wheel only rotates I believe 270? degrees,but the steering wheel will keep rotating once the dial is stuck.I will get pictures up when i get a chance.will i have a hard time using the original hardware for a mame pc and runnning games like championship sprint?what will i need to interface the arcade steering controls with the pc?

[PL1]

Hey guys,just picked up a midway wheels II cab,its pretty much hollowed out,except for the control panel and pedals.I want to put a pc inside it and interface the original arcade parts to the pc.the machine is from 1975,I dont know much about driving cab control hardware.the dial device used for the steering wheel only rotates I believe 270? degrees,but the steering wheel will keep rotating once the dial is stuck.I will get pictures up when i get a chance.will i have a hard time using the original hardware for a mame pc and runnning games like championship sprint?what will i need to interface the arcade steering controls with the pc?

Didn't find the manual to confirm, but the wheels probably use either potentiometers (requiring an analog encoder) or slotted optical wheel. (requiring an optical encoder)

The pedals probably use either microswitches (may need either a keyboard encoder or a gamepad encoder) or potentiometers.


Scott

[BadMouth]

Look at the driving cab info thread stickied in the "Driving & Racing" subforum.
Information is kind of dense, but if you take the time to read it all you'll have a much better understanding of what you're in for.

Championship Sprint used a wheel that spun all the way around endlessly.  It uses an optical encoder to tell which direction the wheel is moving and how fast.  These are commonly referred to as "360 degree wheels"
Usually games that used 360 degree wheels don't play that well on limited 270 degree wheels and vice versa.

When you say dial device, do you mean a potentiometer?


Or optical encoder:

[gamer83]

Thanks for the input fellas,ill definately check out the driving cab forum aswell.i said dial because i just dont know the part names,but after pulling off the control panel,im almost certain they are potentiometers.I attached some photos for the pros to confirm,the main game i want to play is champ sprint,would i be able to use an analog encoder and get decent results?what encoder would you guys recommend? Again thx for any info,I just added a photo of the pedal assembly they also use potentiometers?

[PL1]

You have potentiometers for both the wheel and pedal so you will definitely need an analog encoder.

The gears increase the range of motion -- turning the large gear (pedal?) 5 degrees causes the small gear (potentiometer?) to turn about 35-40 degrees.


The three tabs are operating voltage, wiper (variable voltage output), and ground -- wiper is the center tab.

If the output is backward, swap operating voltage and ground. (tabs 1 and 3)


This potentiometer is currently wired as a variable resistor (two tabs) but you can attach a wire to the third tab and you're good to go.   



Scott

[gamer83]

Scotty you are the man,thx for the feedback.I assume in the second photo of your reply,the black wire is ground?do you know of an encoder is could use? is the ultimarc Apac my best bet?

[PL1]

I assume in the second photo of your reply,the black wire is ground?

Probably, but your best bet is to test the setup with your analog encoder to be sure before you solder the 5v and ground wires to tabs 1 and 3.   
- Make sure the analog input wire for the encoder is on the center tab. (wiper)
- If the axis is reading backward, swap the wires on tabs 1 and 3.

do you know of an encoder is could use? is the ultimarc Apac my best bet?

There's a list of analog encoders here in the wiki.

Your best choice is either an A-Pac or KADESTICK.  (A-Pac is a bit easier, KADESTICK is less expensive)

The U-HID is definitely overkill for this setup.

The U-HID Nano (8 inputs + ground) would only have 3 inputs open after you connected the wheels and pedals.

  4 - analog inputs (2 wheels, 2 pedals)
  1 - 5v
  -------
  5 inputs + ground

You'd be able to do P1 Start, P1 Coin, and P2 Start, but you'd be short inputs for P2 Coin, Pause, Exit, etc. 


Scott

[gamer83]

Awesome,I was checking out the kade website and could only find the DIY KADE mini Arcade kit- complete,is that what I need?I couldnt find anything on the site called kadestick.do they come flashed with firmware? Or do i have to flash it myself?

[PL1]

Awesome,I was checking out the kade website and could only find the DIY KADE mini Arcade kit- complete,is that what I need?

Not for this project.  The miniArcade handles digital (joysticks/buttons/switches) and optical(trackball/spinner) inputs, but the 32u2 AVR in it doesn't have an ADC (Analog to Digital Converter) which is needed for analog inputs.

I couldnt find anything on the site called kadestick.do they come flashed with firmware? Or do i have to flash it myself?

KADESTICK is a spinoff of what eventually became the current KADE Kickstarter project, the miniConsole+.

See the links in my sig for the correct AVR and options to order and build thread that has the pinout (reply #25), firmwares (you'll need the 4-axis version from reply #10), and firmware loading directions. (reply #24)


Scott