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Optical Buttons?
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tetsujin:
Hey,

After playing a bit with leaf switch buttons and microswitch buttons I'm curious about the possibility of building an optical "switch" to mount on an off-the-shelf button.  The goal being better reliability than a leaf switch with less audible noise and better feel than a microswitch.  I'm planning to use translucent leaf-type buttons so I can light them, but I don't really want to use leaf switches because of the maintenance involved or the space required.  I was thinking of building a microswitch housing for the leaf buttons, but it seems like it'd only be a little harder to go optical...

Has anybody tried building optical pushbuttons?  Or are there any manufactured?
brandon:
sounds like a good idea.. Im not sure why this has never been done before. (we've had optical joysticks for a while). It could even open up possibilities for buttons with multiple optic sensors sort of how 49 way joysticks work.. of course there is really no need for them I guess since no Mame game would make use of "analog" buttons but it would be cool for consoles hacks with pressure sensitive buttons like PS2..  at any rate, sounds very cool
ericball:
It would mean you would have active components rather than simple passive devices.  Each button would need an some kind of opto sensor, then probably an analog switch to isolate the normal switch circuit.  So instead of two wires to each button (common + button), you need four (+Vcc & GND).  It also won't be cheap, better to buy leaf switches.
Trimoor:
This would be easy and cheap to do.  Optointerruptors can be bought for less than $.50 each if you know where to look.
They would only need 3 wires each: +5v, ground, and output.  The round is common for both emitter and detector.  Remember to use resistors on the emitter.

They would also be silent.
Jakobud:
Don't forget that Microswitches and Leaf Switches both serve as springs as well, so an absence of those in a button will make the button so it doesn't spring back up.
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