USB Kidsball! (Sort of...)

[1UP]

I finally hacked my Kidsball to work with my Optipac!  Well, actually there's not much left that's the Kidsball...  I basically removed all the components from the entire Kidsball PCB, then soldered in the optics of a cheap ($4) mouse I found in the closet, and hooked it all up to the Optipac.  It actually ended up being pretty easy.  And with Andy's new USB upgrade cable and chip, I now have all the controls in my cab hooked up to a USB hub inside my CP, with only a single USB cable interfacing all 19 buttons, 5 joysticks, spinner and trackball to my PC!    

Ahh, my master plan is almost complete!  MUUAHAHAHA!  

[Brax]

Just trying to follow here.......

You have a usb coming out of the I-Pac right? and that goes into the hub in the control panel.... Then a second usb that comes out of the opti-pac to control the spinner and trackball and that goes into the hub and then the single usb cable going to the computer?

Sorry if it sounds like I'm just repeating what you just said.   I haven't seen an opti-pac yet and I'm just being sure.

So the computer can figure out all those signals through a single usb cable huh? Thats awfully cool.

What elso do you have to fish through the end of the control panel? Anything? Power for your lighting?

[1UP]

Yeah, just 2 thin wires for lighting, one 12v source for the glowire, one 5v source for all the pushbutton and trackball LEDs!  Three small cables to rule them all!  

Oh yeah, I did have to also modify the encoder wheels so the cheap mouse optics could read them.  I basically knocked out every 3rd tooth with an X-acto knife (careful, you can easily knock out 2 or 3 at a time!) and filled the gaps in the remaining pairs of teeth using some plastic Formica seam filler.