Announcing U-HID, a new generation of control interface.

[AndyWarne]

Our new interface has its own website and branding. Check out www.u-hid.com.

The board is aimed at high-end controllers, flight and driving sims etc.
Has 50 connections which can be configured as any of the following:

Keyboard key
Gamepad Button
Analog axis
Mouse button (including double-click)
Quadrature Mouse Pair. X or Y axis. Normal or reverse direction. (trackball/spinner).
PC-controlled LED output using special software
PC Num/Scroll/Caps lock LEDs
U-HID locally-controlled LED output based on the state of any switch.
5 Volt output (30ma max)
Ground

Advanced Features include:
Key and Button functions can have one primary and one secondary code assignment.
Secondary assignments are invoked by first activating a “U-HID Shift” connection.
Any connection can be assigned as a shift.
Unique separately-programmable “button down” and “button up” events allow use of all types of normally-closed, normally-open, or active high/low controls.
“Button down” and “button up” can be separately assigned as primary or secondary codes.
Controls can be assigned as “normal” or “pulse”.
Toggle (push on-push off) and flip-flop modes available.
Programmable analog offset and scale factor for all analog axes.
Extended macro capability.
Config utility which reads and writes the board configuration in real-time.
User-upgradeable firmware for future enhancements and customizations.

Note this board does not supersede the I-PAC or Mini-PAC boards which will continue to offer the best interfaces geared towards Mame.
There will be "de-featured" versions of the U-HID available at economical prices. I am open to suggestions on this. One option is a 4-player switch-only board.

[Minwah]

Looks/sounds awesome as ever 

[patrickl]

Indeed, that sounds pretty cool. Maybe a bit over the top for a regular arcade cab, but still.

Would be great for a cab with modular panels. I guess you can set the configuration on the fly, so with one standard plug you could hook up your panel and connect whatever you want on the CP side.

BTW would this work with any trackball regardless of polarity (or whatever it's called)? I mean some are "high" and some "low" and depending on the type you need to solder resistors on them to get it to work with a mouse hack. The U-HID would work with both type without and modifications?

The nano already looks like a good economical version add an Ultrastik and you'd have enough buttons.

[arzoo]

 

[2600]

Sweet.  I've been looking for something like this and the config utility makes it that much more useful.


I assume this is running at full-speed?

[massive88]

U-HID locally-controlled LED output based on the state of any switch.

Does that mean doing something like would be made fairly easy?

[Franco B]

Very nice Andy 

massive88, while not being particularly 'easy' so to speak, kaytrim did a nice guide to create the effect you are looking for .:Here:.

[massive88]

Very nice Andy 

massive88, while not being particularly 'easy' so to speak, kaytrim did a nice guide to create the effect you are looking for .:Here:.

I understand its possible to do it without the U-HID, my question was, would that listed feature of the U-HID accomplish the same?

[headkaze]

Great work as always Andy!

I remember a thread by Howard Casto about making a Universal Console Adaptor which I thought was a great idea. I think this thing could do it along with some specially written software.

[JoyMonkey]

One more awesome gadget to sneak past the wife!
 

[AndyWarne]

I understand its possible to do it without the U-HID, my question was, would that listed feature of the U-HID accomplish the same?

Yes indeed you could easily do this.
Andy

[AndyWarne]

Sweet.  I've been looking for something like this and the config utility makes it that much more useful.


I assume this is running at full-speed?

Yes this is full speed USB 2.0

[Bender]

Andy,

I am planning rotating panel with 3 track balls, 2 mechanical rotary joysticks, 2 optical rotary joysticks, 2 spinners, an optical steering wheel, and anolog footpedals
Will the U-HID handle all that?

[AndyWarne]

Andy,

I am planning rotating panel with 3 track balls, 2 mechanical rotary joysticks, 2 optical rotary joysticks, 2 spinners, an optical steering wheel, and anolog footpedals
Will the U-HID handle all that?

Thats a total of 11 optical axes. Owing to the way in which an optical axis uses a pair of pins, each possible pair has its own piece of coding (dont worry the code is not invoked unless the pair is configured so no wasted CPU cycles). I have only coded 8 pairs. There is no reason why I could not add 4 more pairs. Thats the limit because optical devices can only use the pins which dont have ESD protection.
As the board has user-downloadable firmware, this type of mod is possible. Ditto mechanical rotary joysticks which I would probaly not implement in the config utility but could be custom firmware.
Andy

[Bender]

Damn That's HOT!!!!!!!

I thought I would have to have like 6 interfaces to run my panel
never even dreamed I could do it with one

[vitalsfading]

looks good andy good enough for my next cab

[Kaytrim]

I see on the website you have a 'nano' version of this.  Only 8 inputs.  Would it be possible to have a 'micro' version so there could be a standard joystick, 9 buttons and LEDs for at least 6 of the buttons?  This would be ideal for a portable, one person control panel.

[u_rebelscum]

Sweet.

Glad to see you pushing into the sim market too, Andy.  Good luck! 


Is it hot swappable on the devices end?  Specifically the analog inputs (if not connected "autocentered")?  I'd guess the rest are not a problem, correct?  (besides "pressed" when switch not closed, I guess.)

[Blanka]

Can you program it on Windows and does it retain settings when plugged into a Mac? I guess an OSX utility will be unavailable for a while.

[Turnarcades]

I'd like to see harnesses available to make it an all-in-one solution covering a generic panel, in much the same way as the mini-pac. For example, a board supplied with both a 'lower' harness for 4 players (eg. with spade connectors on the other end for 4 joysticks, 6 buttons each) and another harness for the 'upper' section with connectors the other end to plug straight into some other Ultimarc parts (namely a trackball, a spinner and maybe a U360 or another spinner).

As a commercial arcade builder a pre-cut/plug-in/non-crimping/solderless solution like this would save me loads of time, particularly if example config files were available on the website. The mini-pac has saved me lots of construction time as with the harness and my current config files I can have a control panel done in an hour, whereas optical/analog devices take much more messing and more interfaces.

Please say this is already being considered! 

[Paul Olson]

I think I might need one of these to upgrade the wiring on my modular CP. It works now, but I am currently using 4 encoders so this might be ideal. Most of us that have built modular CPs are using cat 5 for the connections, I guess my only gripe so far would be having 9 pins per section instead of the 8 I can use. I guess I could just  use 1 wire from each to make an almost complete 8th port. What other harness options are you planning? I would like to see a harness that has two wires for each pin coming out of the connector; the other end could just be loose wires. That would make it much easier to mirror the inputs at the panel. My CP is pretty wide so I like to have all inputs available on both sides. Would that cause any problems with the analog controls?

The nano looks like a great solution for my pedal panel.

Like u_rebelscum, I am very interested in finding out if these are hot swappable at the device. With my current encoders, I sometimes need to restart the computer to get the new control to work after the swap. It would be really nice if that wasn't a problem.

Please let me know what you are planning for the harnesses as soon as you get a chance. I will (try to) wait to order to try to save from having a separate order shipped.

Thanks,
Paul

[Xiaou2]

AWESOME! 

[mamemaniac]

Andy,
Will this device be available for a ps2 connection and a serial out for us dos users?

[JoyMonkey]

Can you program it on Windows and does it retain settings when plugged into a Mac? I guess an OSX utility will be unavailable for a while.

The Config Utility Page mentions that...

The utility interacts with the board in real time, every time a change is made. The configuration is stored in flash ROM on the board so it remains after power off/on.

Since everything stays in the flash ROM you should be able to configure it in Windows and use it with OSX no problem.

[AndyWarne]

Some answers:
There will be a Mini-PAC-type harness for the longer connector, with all spade terminals. I am considering switching over to the 4mm spade terminals rather than 1/4 inch but this is not a simple changeover as it means changing our other products such as pushbuttons at the same time. Open to feedback on this.
Also a Mini-PAC opto harness for the top row. I think you can see where I am going here: The Mini-PAC will eventually be rolled into this product and will be one common board.

Its quite easy to re-jig the harnesses of course as the wires/contacts can be pulled out of the black housings very easily and we might sell a variety of housings and pre-crimped wires.

About hot-swappable, not sure what you mean here. There is not really any problem hot-swapping controls on any interface. But if you disconnect an analog device from an analog input it will float around and give unpredictable analog output. You would need another config to disable the analog input thats not being used.

A "micro" version is not planned at the moment.

Everything held in flash so you could move across from PC to Mac.

PS/2 and Serial would not come close to being capable of handling what the U-HID is capable of so no plans for these.

Andy

[Xiaou2]

 Andy,  how about this:

 A person could assign a button as a  "config swap"  which when pressed,
cycles through the various configuration files that you put into the config
folder (in sequence).

 I think the main problem is that people really do not want to stop a game
and then have to re-open the config utility every time there is a difference
in hardware needed.

 There seems to be plenty of inputs.. however, its possible that one may still
need more, or may desire the swap feature anyway.

[AndyWarne]

Normally you would download the required configuration using a command-line to run the U-Config utility automatically, specifying the required config file. Many front-ends have the ability to run command lines before a game.

Not sure the reason for wanting to change the config during a game... would there be any situation to need this?

Andy

[u_rebelscum]

About hot-swappable, not sure what you mean here. There is not really any problem hot-swapping controls on any interface. But if you disconnect an analog device from an analog input it will float around and give unpredictable analog output. You would need another config to disable the analog input thats not being used.

That's what I was worried about.  With the 50 pins, I have enough inputs to use one setting for all the inputs I might want on all my swappable CPs without changing, except for the analog (planned 4 axes).  I could have two settings, one with analog, one without, everything else the same, but how am I to change it easily to better automatically? 

Xiaou2's idea:

A person could assign a button as a  "config swap"  which when pressed,
cycles through the various configuration files that you put into the config
folder (in sequence).

Might be an answer. 

Hmm, or I could just wire plain cheap resistors for any unused analog axes to stop the floating. Or...

Ahh, how about being able to use 2, 3 or 4 pins for swapping settings depending what's closed and what's not.  With 3 pins, there could be 3 setting, or 4 if all open is a different one, or 8 if binary numbering is used.  Three pin binary, IMO, would be the ultimate hot swap panels feature.  (not sure if there's enough space for all that or if it's even possible, but I can dream. )

OTOH,

I think the main problem is that people really do not want to stop a game
and then have to re-open the config utility every time there is a difference
in hardware needed.

It can be changed from the commandline, so scripts run from hot key combos could do the trick, too.  Which wouldn't require any changes to the u-hid's firmware. 

I still would like the binary closed pins determine settings, although I'm more thinking along the line of swappable panels, rather than modular units.  I don't know the best way to automate swapped modules. 

Feature request:  perfect automatic settings changing for the few people with modular or swappable CP?


That said, I'm happy with the u-hid as is (plus me doing fixed resistors to stop analog floating).

edit: spelling, plus Andy anwsered while I was writing.  Leaving it the same except for spelling though.

[u_rebelscum]

Normally you would download the required configuration using a command-line to run the U-Config utility automatically, specifying the required config file. Many front-ends have the ability to run command lines before a game.

Not sure the reason for wanting to change the config during a game... would there be any situation to need this?

Running a commandline before a game is not when a modular/swappable CP needs.  It needs to change when the CP is changed, which could be between games, or after a game starts.  An example of swapping while a game is going is game is started with 2 player CP, but people show up who want to jump into the running game.  Game is paused, 4 player CP is popped in, game unpaused, and the 2 new people jump in the running game.  Other example: smash tv is started with normal 2 player CP, which is fine for one player.  Should the FE always run the script to set the u-hid to the two dual-stick CP?  I don't think so, as the standard CP works just fine sometimes plus you don't need swap the CP, perfect if you're going to play the game a little by yourself then play anouther normal CP game.

 

As I said in my last post, automatic u-hid setting changes would be a great feature for modular & swappable CP users, but not needed for anybody else.

[Paul Olson]

I have been thinking about this since I posted before, and I think this encoder might really be able to simplify my panel. If I can choose a different config for each control layout in the software, there would never be a need to mirror plugs on each side of the panel. I would also never need to keep any unused ports available. I am currently using 18 ports for all of the possible combinations I need to plug in. I think I could get away with 7 with the U-HID; 3 on each side plus 1 for start, coin, and admin buttons.

So, it all depends on the reprogramming ability of the software. I could make it work by launching the config utility whenever I swap panels, but is there any way to make it detect when a control has been changed? That would be ideal if I could also find a way of telling the software what type of control it is. Is it possible for the device to sense which type of control it is?

I am still reading the documentation, so this may be answered in there, but I have not seen it yet. When you save a configuration file, is it possible to save the calibration for analog controls? It would be great to not need to recalibrate every time.



Thanks,

Paul

[AndyWarne]

The config does save the calibration settings.

Actually it doesnt really matter if you leave analog inputs disconnected, they tend to float high, and then also if they are not configured as any control in the game it would not matter if they did change or would it?

The board can only store one configuration, the rest of the flash is allocated for a large macro capability. But downloading a different config is instant and could be done with a command line and probably tied to a hotkey using a third-party keymap utility.

Andy

[Paul Olson]

I ordered the U-HID last night, so hopefully I will be testing it out in the next few days. How many people are planning to use this for modular or swappable panels? I think I will be able to cut down on the rat's nest of wiring by a huge margin. I hate to tear into a working system and start over, but this may well be worth the effort.

I'll post back after I get it up and running.

Andy - I plan to use ide cables to wire this to the patch panel on my cp. Is there room for this on the smaller section? It looks like the cap may get in the way on that side, but it should be OK to let it overhang on the other side. Am I right on this?

I haven't found an ide cable laying around yet, so I will ask here. Will this cable work with a 110 type patch panel?

Thanks,
Paul

[Kremmit]

Hey, that's a neat toy you've got there, Andy! 

Would it be possible to have the board appear to Windows as two separate gamepad devices with at least 4 axes each?  I'm thinking of two-player dual-analog stick control here.

Also, is there or will there be any way to hook some U-360's to one of these?  I've been wanting a way to make two U-360's appear to Windows as one single dual-analog gamepad.

[Xiaou2]

 Flash for the Config store?       As much as Ive heard that Flash only
can take so many re-writes before it gets corrupted and no longer functions
correctly.

 Why not  Ram instead?

[AndyWarne]

Andy - I plan to use ide cables to wire this to the patch panel on my cp. Is there room for this on the smaller section? It looks like the cap may get in the way on that side, but it should be OK to let it overhang on the other side. Am I right on this?

/quote]
It would hit the cap, but you can offset it to the left. Looks a bit naff but should work. Beware of the missing pin in IDE cables though.
Andy

[AndyWarne]

 Flash for the Config store?       As much as Ive heard that Flash only
can take so many re-writes before it gets corrupted and no longer functions
correctly.

 

RAM would not retain the settings. At the minimum spec for the flash you could write once a day for 136 years! The actual life is usually far greater than the stated minimum.

[AndyWarne]

Hey, that's a neat toy you've got there, Andy! 

Would it be possible to have the board appear to Windows as two separate gamepad devices with at least 4 axes each?  I'm thinking of two-player dual-analog stick control here.

Also, is there or will there be any way to hook some U-360's to one of these?  I've been wanting a way to make two U-360's appear to Windows as one single dual-analog gamepad.

For two separate gamepad devices you would need two boards. But is there any specific need for two devices? Mame would be happy with 2 players and one device.

Yes you can hook up the U360 X-Y analog output to the analog inputs of the U-HID.
Andy

[Ummon]

RAM would not retain the settings. At the minimum spec for the flash you could write once a day for 136 years! The actual life is usually far greater than the stated minimum.

Well, assuming one re-writes it 20 times a day, every day, that's almost seven years.

[Kremmit]

Hey, that's a neat toy you've got there, Andy! 

Would it be possible to have the board appear to Windows as two separate gamepad devices with at least 4 axes each?  I'm thinking of two-player dual-analog stick control here.

Also, is there or will there be any way to hook some U-360's to one of these?  I've been wanting a way to make two U-360's appear to Windows as one single dual-analog gamepad.

For two separate gamepad devices you would need two boards. But is there any specific need for two devices? Mame would be happy with 2 players and one device.

Yes you can hook up the U360 X-Y analog output to the analog inputs of the U-HID.
Andy

MAME is happy with a single device; not all software is so flexible.  I've got a few shareware games I like that insist that player 1 and player 2 must be on separate controllers.  If a custom firmware's possible that'll emulate two gamepads on one board, that'd be awesome, but if not, two boards will work.

Good news on being able to hook the U-360's through it, though.  That'll let us get two 360's to appear to Windows as a single dual-analog gamepad.   That opens up 360's as an option for any dual-analog game, not just MAME ones.

[u_rebelscum]

MAME is happy with a single device; not all software is so flexible.  I've got a few shareware games I like that insist that player 1 and player 2 must be on separate controllers.  If a custom firmware's possible that'll emulate two gamepads on one board, that'd be awesome, but if not, two boards will work.

EA games are pretty picky about one controller per player, and one player per controller, too.  Much easier to code this way, and makes an easier (as in dumber) user interface.