Yes, another one
Some of you maybe remember that one month ago I shared some information about the Arduino shield I have developed for my racing cab. It's
>>HERE<<, just in case you are curious...
Recently, a friend of mine asked me how to interface his buggy boy junior cabinet. Being that there was not the need for something that complex (no outputs, a wheel and only few inputs) and giving the nature of the wheel (optical), I decided to develop a simple, multi-pourpouse Arduino shield based on pro-micro board.
Main features of the shield are:
- on board video amplifier circuit
- on board separate-to-composite sync circuit
- sync frequency check and disable of the video amp in case of out-of-spec "dangerous" frequencies (keeping the CRT up and running is a must)
- 14 inputs (max), 4 of which can be analog
- open firmware
Being open, you can adapt the firmware to your specific needs. Some example of cabinet configuration this interface can support with the right firmware:
1 - "classic" upright cabinet, one joystick and up to 10 further digital inputs
2 - "classic" upright cabinet, one joystick, one spinner and up to 8 further digital inputs
3 - "classic" upright cabinet, one joystick, one trackball and up to 6 further digital inputs
4 - "classic" upright cabinet, two joysticks and up to 6 further digital inputs
5 - racing cabinet with optical wheel (360°) and up to 12 furhter digital inputs
6 - racing cabinet with analog wheel (270°) and up to 13 digital inputs
7 - racing cabinet with analog wheel (270°), analog accelerator and/or brake and up to 11 digital inputs
8 - racing cabinet with two optical wheels and up to 10 digital inputs (who said "Championship Sprint"?!)
9 - racing cabinet with three optical wheels and up to 8 digital inputs ("Super Sprint" anyone?)
... and many others.
I have written a full instructable on this, in case someone want to dig it more. A firmware for a "classic" cabinet (1 joystick, start button, coin switch and up to 8 buttons) is already there, but I will upload more sketches as I write them (the next one will for sure be the one I am writing for buggy boy junior, which will be ok for any racing cabinet with optical wheel and less than 12 switches).
Here is the instructable
https://www.instructables.com/Earthshaker-Cheap-and-Customizable-Jamma-to-PC-Int/