My Sega (type 2) Arcade IR gun to Mame project using Uhid nano

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Zebra:
Here's a slightly better video of me playing Time Crisis with the type 2 guns. You can actually see the image this time... I know, I know, I spoil you guys!

And, not a bad first round considering I was trying to aim through the screen on my phone camera.

This is just with my temporary test set-up. It will gain some extra precision when I install a permanent set-up in my new house in Feb. It's not worth me going through a super detailed calibration until then. It all works best when the LEDs are mounted perfectly square and parallel with even spacing between each one etc.

It's interesting (ish) that when I turn off the screen out function and try to make the gun lose alignment with the crosshairs, you can see it self-correct. This is noticeably different to IR guns that only track motion with no defined screen edge. The screen-out function obviously does more here than allowing off-screen reloading.

Zebra:
Here's a video of Time Crisis in Mame with real light guns using a USB2GUN board for comparison:

The way the type 2 and real light guns perform in Time Crisis feels fairly similar. I.e. It's playable but not perfect. Some of this is because Time Crisis is not particularly well emulated in Mame. It's missing key features like the arcade's calibration screen and it suffers slowdown (that wasn't there in the coin-op). This sometimes results in shots not registering as hits, even when you can see the shot land on target. It's not enough to spoil my enjoyment though. It only effects accuracy during slow-down so maybe I just need a faster PC.

Both type 2 and real light guns perform noticeably better on games that are well emulated like the Operation Wolf prototype.

Zebra:

Check out this new mod I added to my Sega Type 2 guns. I installed a switch to change the output from an analog controller in Windows to an (absolute) mouse.

Now I can use these guns with games that only work with a mouse without any intermediate software which avoids compatibility issues (and a bunch of hassle). I just flip a switch when I need mouse output.

The switch directs the output from the gun sense board to either the UHID (for analog) or an Arduino with absolute mouse code. Simple.

Surprisingly, it works really well in mouse mode (considering Windows has no absolute mouse calibration option). It has zero perceivable lag which makes it feel a lot more responsive than guns using cameras. Cursor movement is essentially 1:1 with my hand movement. It's so precise I can actually use it almost as well as an actual mouse for navigating through folders in Windows. I certainly couldn't do that with my Act Labs gun or my Aimtrak.

JayBee:

--- Quote from: Zebra on December 21, 2019, 08:25:52 pm ---I recommend reading TwistedSymphony's awesome 4 part write up on Sega type 2 gun set ups. It will answer most your questions:

http://solid-orange.com/1611

It's an excellent piece of work and even I was able to follow it.

--- End quote ---
Interesting read, I wish we could have easy access to this kind of components too, we could build our own DIY techs on it :P

Zebra:

--- Quote from: JayBee on January 22, 2020, 01:47:56 am ---
--- Quote from: Zebra on December 21, 2019, 08:25:52 pm ---I recommend reading TwistedSymphony's awesome 4 part write up on Sega type 2 gun set ups. It will answer most your questions:

http://solid-orange.com/1611

It's an excellent piece of work and even I was able to follow it.

--- End quote ---
Interesting read, I wish we could have easy access to this kind of components too, we could build our own DIY techs on it :P

--- End quote ---

We do, there is nothing in the Sega arcade IR gun set-up that is expensive or hard to source. The biggest barrier to a diy version is people getting in their own way.

These arcade IR guns are basically just an IR gesture sensor like this, except with the photodiode or photo-resistor in the gun reacting to the IR LED light directly instead of it's reflection off your hand (watch the video on their site):

https://www.sparkfun.com/products/13162

Each of the ten LEDs should be thought of as ten separate zones. The LEDs are lit individually in a circular continuous sequence so the timing of the sensors reaction can be used to identify which zone you are aiming at. It's very similar to the old CRT light gun tech (which makes sense as that was what they were based on). They just use IR timing instead of scanline timing.

A photodiode or photo-resistor is basically just a device that reacts to light with an electrical response. The brighter the light, the more of a response you get. This provides analog data (I.e. variable voltage) on how close to LED you are aiming. Instead of trying to see all the LEDs at once, the arcade gun system actively limits the gun's "view" to one LED board at a time to avoid "ambiguous zones". This is why it works close to the screen (and why it has a maximum distance).

Quality Photodiodes and Photo-resistors are considerably cheaper than quality high speed IR cameras. It's also considerably easier to create an accurate and responsive IR gun that can be used at arcade-like distances from the screen with sensors than it is with cameras. Namco, Nintendo, Sony, Ultimarc and the EMS Topgun people all failed with cameras.

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