The NEW Build Your Own Arcade Controls

Main => Driving & Racing Cabinets => Topic started by: BadMouth on October 24, 2013, 11:08:26 pm

Title: Immersion USB arcade PCB wiring pinout and drivers
Post by: BadMouth on October 24, 2013, 11:08:26 pm
Credit for nearly all this info goes to JollyWest. 
Most of it is from this thread: http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,121723.0.html (http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,121723.0.html)
and his blog: http://arcadecabblog.wordpress.com/ (http://arcadecabblog.wordpress.com/)
I'm reposting the info here along with some of my own, so everything will be in one place.
(In the driving cab forum  ;)  )


The immersion PCB is a USB interface for use with Happ driving controls and force feedback systems.
ECCI was also using them in their high end pc racing wheels.
They are fairly hard to find.  Global VR is low on stock and from what I understand they will not sell you one unless you have a damaged one to return to them.
Description and part number on Global VR's service site is:
Steering PCB, Immersion, Single-Board Style (990-0040-01)
(no way to direct link, you'll have to search http://parts.globalvr.com/ (http://parts.globalvr.com/) )

(http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=103207.0;attach=298901;image)

I got mine used from ebay.  I paid $150 for the boards + wiring harness, but the wiring they sent turned out only to include the jumper cable for between the boards and the power input...and a bunch of junk audio stuff.  I thought I was getting all the connectors.

These cards were used in the following Global VR games:

Need for Speed GT
Need for Speed Underground
Need for Speed Carbon
NASCAR Racing (not to be confused with NASCAR Racing by SEGA)
Twisted - Nitro Stunt Racing

There seems to be many versions out there.  The new ones are a single PCB, while the ones Jolly West and I have found were two separate PCBs.  His has many more inputs than mine, but here is the pinout for mine:

(http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=103207.0;attach=298917;image)

(http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=103207.0;attach=298915;image)

I didn't bother trying to figure out what the connectors between the boards were.  If you happen to be missing the cable that connects them, I'd recommend ordering one from Global VR if they still have them.  If not, I'll try to explain how it's wired.
(I'm sure there is a better way to explain this and I'll probably revise it later, but it's late and I want to post the info while it's fresh in my memory)

The connector on the left side has the tabs facing up, the one on the right has them facing down:
(http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=103207.0;attach=298911;image)
When the connectors are held like this, the leftmost pins on each are connected:
(http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=103207.0;attach=298909;image)

The pins for the button and potentiometer connections are standard .1"
I did not have the original connectors, so I used some pre-crimped jumper cables from pololu for testing.

The main board is powered through the 24v input on the second board.  I assume the power input jack on the main board is used for testing or when the application doesn't have ffb.  I do not know the proper voltage for that input.

The buttons are matrixed and require diodes after them if you want all of them to work. (see manual)
If you go to the trouble, you'll have 12 buttons and the four directions on the hat switch.
If you only need 4 buttons, think of SCAN 1 as the ground and SENSE 1-4 as the buttons.
That will show up as buttons 1-4 on the game controller.

SCAN1 + SENSE1 = BUTTON 1
SCAN1 + SENSE2 = BUTTON 2
SCAN1 + SENSE3 = BUTTON 3
SCAN1 + SENSE4 = BUTTON 4

SCAN2 + SENSE1 = BUTTON 5
SCAN2 + SENSE2 = BUTTON 6
SCAN2 + SENSE3 = BUTTON 7
SCAN2 + SENSE4 = BUTTON 8

SCAN3 + SENSE1 = BUTTON 9
SCAN3 + SENSE2 = BUTTON 10
SCAN3 + SENSE3 = BUTTON 11
SCAN3 + SENSE4 = BUTTON 12

SCAN4 + SENSE1 = POV HAT UP
SCAN4 + SENSE2 = POV HAT RIGHT
SCAN4 + SENSE3 = POV HAT DOWN
SCAN4 + SENSE4 = POV HAT LEFT

Connecting SCAN ALL to any of the SENSE pins will activate all four buttons associated with that SENSE pin.

I did not do any testing with the "Force Disable" header.
The Force feedback tests in windows controller settings worked fine without having anything on that header connected.




Title: Re: Immersion USB arcade PCB wiring and drivers
Post by: BadMouth on October 24, 2013, 11:08:56 pm
Here is how it shows up in Windows.  I don't think the option of having pedals separate works on the board I have.
The Z axis on screen behaves erratically if I try to use it.

There is a way to wire both brake and gas potentiometers to a single axis, but I want to test it out before posting a diagram.
I'm also curious if my board would support the z-axis if the connector was added where the board is drilled for it.

Pedals separate:
(http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=103207.0;attach=298891;image)

Pedals combined:
(http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=103207.0;attach=298893;image)

(http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=103207.0;attach=298895;image)

(http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=103207.0;attach=298897;image)

(http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=103207.0;attach=298899;image)
Title: Re: Immersion USB arcade PCB wiring pinout and drivers
Post by: twistedsymphony on January 29, 2014, 08:46:36 pm
This is some awesome info... I recently managed to pick up a a pair of these boards, the only question this thread hasn't answered is what to use for a power supply.  24V seems pretty uncommon, and I'd be concerned about getting a supply with enough Ampers to power the giant happ feedback motor.
Title: Re: Immersion USB arcade PCB wiring pinout and drivers
Post by: BadMouth on January 30, 2014, 09:05:34 am
24V seems pretty uncommon, and I'd be concerned about getting a supply with enough Ampers to power the giant happ feedback motor.

Actually they're much easier to find now that people use them to build homemade cnc machines.
6 AMP is probably the bare minimum.  I'm using a 15A one.
Just search for 24v power supply on ebay or amazon.
Title: Re: Immersion USB arcade PCB wiring and drivers
Post by: mustang on September 08, 2014, 03:06:15 am


There is a way to wire both brake and gas potentiometers to a single axis, but I want to test it out before posting a diagram.
I'm also curious if my board would support the z-axis if the connector was added where the board is drilled for it.

Hello Badmouth

Did you test with the two pots on the same channel?
Did you find out if the board would work wired to the unfinished J2  Z axix?

Martin
Title: Re: Immersion USB arcade PCB wiring and drivers
Post by: BadMouth on September 08, 2014, 09:41:31 am
Hello Badmouth

Did you test with the two pots on the same channel?
Did you find out if the board would work wired to the unfinished J2  Z axix?

Martin

No, and I've sold the board.
The two pots on the same channel should work.

I'm unsure what parts would need installed to gain another axis.

Title: Re: Immersion USB arcade PCB wiring pinout and drivers
Post by: mustang on September 08, 2014, 10:41:02 am
Thanks for the quick reply.

Martin
Title: Re: Immersion USB arcade PCB wiring pinout and drivers
Post by: BadMouth on December 15, 2014, 10:35:06 pm
I was browsing Force Dynamics website after they posted that awesome full motion Outrun (cannonball) video.
They have a different Immersion driver available specifically for Windows 7 if anyone is interested in checking them out.
Please do post pics for comparison if it has any options not available in the xp drivers.

http://force-dynamics.com/support (http://force-dynamics.com/support)

Title: Re: Immersion USB arcade PCB wiring pinout and drivers
Post by: isamu on December 17, 2014, 09:32:43 am
I was browsing Force Dynamics website after they posted that awesome full motion Outrun (cannonball) video.
They have a different Immersion driver available specifically for Windows 7 if anyone is interested in checking them out.
Please do post pics for comparison if it has any options not available in the xp drivers.

http://force-dynamics.com/support (http://force-dynamics.com/support)

If that is the same Immersion Board used on the Happ wheel and in the ECCI 7000 wheel, then they need to get rid of it altogether. It's slow and unresponsive. There are a few guys making much better FFB/motion boards out there, SimExperience being one of them. The Immersion board is a dinosaur now.
Title: Re: Immersion USB arcade PCB wiring pinout and drivers
Post by: BadMouth on December 17, 2014, 09:43:14 am
If that is the same Immersion Board used on the Happ wheel and in the ECCI 7000 wheel, then they need to get rid of it altogether. It's slow and unresponsive. There are a few guys making much better FFB/motion boards out there, SimExperience being one of them. The Immersion board is a dinosaur now.

I don't see any wheel interface boards or wheels listed on the SimExperience website.

The motion is usually a separate interface altogether which uses physics data from the game.
Title: Re: Immersion USB arcade PCB wiring pinout and drivers
Post by: isamu on December 17, 2014, 05:38:45 pm
Data on the board SE will be using hasn't been fully released yet, but they will be using their own proprietary custom built interface board for the AF wheel. Sadly I don't think it will be sold separately.

However, some guys are working on a new DIY project that everyone can get started on for direct drive wheels.

Quote
Quote from: Phillip Jansen van Rensburg
Hello Everyone,

Whilst waiting for a few big players to release their latest versions of Force Feedback Wheels (FFB), I decided to have a go at doing my own to tide me over.
 
Whilst hardware is important in such endeavours, especially when it comes to reliability and indestructability, even more important is the software and/or firmware to make it all work.

Before I continue, I would be amiss to say that if you want to invest in a direct-drive wheel, but are not the most hands-on diy type, please wait for the Accuforce or what will come soon after. This project is intended as a write up of my efforts, successes and failures, and to assist/guide any of you who had already decided to diy just because you can, and want to experience DD FFB now, even though it might not be as refined as an Accuforce, for example, might be.

Now onto this worklog.
 
My wheel will be based on work done in this field by Bernhard Berger (API) (http://forum.virtualracing.org/showthread.php/90823-DIY-OpenSimwheel-NET-Selbermacher-Servo-Lenkrad)  and MMos (HID USB) (http://forum.virtualracing.org/showthread.php/92420-DIY-USB-Force-Feedback-Controller) both from Virtual Racing eV Forums (http://forum.virtualracing.org/forum.php)

All credits to them for both the API and HID USB implementation of the soft- and Firmwares.

With that done, let us get to the hardware list for this exercise.

1 -> AC Servomotor

Motors generally used in the DIY versions are mostly sourced from AliExpress, Hangzhou Mige electric Co. is the manufacturer -> talk to Lisa Zhan (Chunjin Zhan) ->  http://www.aliexpress.com/store/100742 (http://www.aliexpress.com/store/100742)
Get in touch with Lisa Zhan directly via email (hzmgdjzhan@gmail.com)

I have selected the MiGe 2.3kW version  -> 130ST-M15015 with 30NM peak torque->  http://www.aliexpress.com/snapshot/6179659453.html (http://www.aliexpress.com/snapshot/6179659453.html)

Using this will require a few minor changes to the controller settings, as the file provided by Bernhard is for the smaller 1kW motor. The 1kW version is more often used by most DIY’ers, and with its 10nM nominal and 20nM peak torque rating, should be sufficient for everyone! Unless you have a very sturdy racing frame, a nice 5-point harness and go to the gym for pretty extensive workouts, I would recommend the 1.0kW version, link below.

MiGe 1.0kW servo motor -> 130ST-M10010 with 20NM peak torque ->  http://www.aliexpress.com/item/PM-Servo-Motor/267482883.html (http://www.aliexpress.com/item/PM-Servo-Motor/267482883.html)

Below a photo of the massive motor I got, metric ruler for scale - I wasn't kidding about the 5-point harness, Boyz.....

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v329/MrBean_PM/IMG_0515Large-1.jpg)


2 -> Drive-lock

After all the cabling is done, and before your first drive, you will need to mount a wheel-rim to the Servo, trying to turn this thing by hand won't work during extensive gaming sessions - oops, sorry iRacers, racing sessions.....for that part, I have sourced a split-bush at 22mm id to marry the two -> http://www.beltingonline.com/drivelock-13-22x47-dl13-9694 (http://www.beltingonline.com/drivelock-13-22x47-dl13-9694)

You will still need to make an adapter plate to mate your wheel's mounting holes to the split-bush, I will post CAD files shortly of two options, a simple adapter plate, and a nice eye-pleasing hub - designed by moa....below a pic of the bush next to a small electronic board, this for use with the drive controller....

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v329/MrBean_PM/IMG_0522Large-1.jpg)



3 -> Argon Drive Controller

Onto the part that will act as a driver controller for the motor, again most commonly used and open source with custom firmware for this application, done by Granity in Tampere, Finland - the venerable Argon Drive Controller -> http://granitedevices.com/digital-servo-drive-argon (http://granitedevices.com/digital-servo-drive-argon)

Edit: For the Argon drive, you will also need the little interface in the photo above this text, the one next to the split bush...this will allow you to flash the new drive core and IO firmware.....I important for this project.....

There are a smaller version sold by them too, the VSD-E, which will work fine for the smaller motor listed above - take note the 'smaller' motor will be on par with Leo's and Berney's consumer Servo Wheels, give or take a few ounces here and there...

A photo of the Servo Controller next to the HID USB interface controller, more on that below:

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v329/MrBean_PM/IMG_0518Large-1.jpg)

and the back side, where you can mount an optional heatsink with a fan to provide even better current capacity, but this will not be needed in almost all applications - I will fit a custom heatsink though.

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v329/MrBean_PM/IMG_0520Large-1.jpg)


4 -> HID USB Controller

If you only ever play iRacing then you can use the API version (by Bernhard) and you would not need this USB device – if however you also play other racing sims, it is advised to use this controller, the FW was developed by user MMos as mentioned before. This controller will be the interface between your pc racing sim of choice and the Argon or VSD-E drive controller.

STM32F4DISCOVERY -> http://www.digikey.com/product-search/en?KeyWords=497-11455-ND%20&WT.z_header=search_go (http://www.digikey.com/product-search/en?KeyWords=497-11455-ND%20&WT.z_header=search_go)

Anyway, I will be providing a layout schematic, as well as wiring diagram, and CAD files for the parts I design, feel free to use them for non-commercial purposes. Hopefully this exercise and many others like it, will bring an affordable solution to hardcore racers.

5 -> Enclosure

As I travel to Tokyo a lot, by mere chance I discovered someone at Akihabara Electrical Town selling some pretty decent enclosures, made by Takachi, I am using the MB-25 model for mine, also, the top and front plates I have designed is for this model.  I will post the CAD files for that soon.

Takachi Enclosures -> http://www.takachi-enclosure.com/data/p_02aluminum.html (http://www.takachi-enclosure.com/data/p_02aluminum.html)

6 -> Hub CAD Files:

To follow soon!

7 -> Schematic:

Please find here the link for a schematic I have made for the Argon drive, Discovery controllers and motor.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/ug0y9gg80ctx7d3/Beano_Schematic_Argon_to_MiGe_ACAD%202010.pdf?dl=0 (https://www.dropbox.com/s/ug0y9gg80ctx7d3/Beano_Schematic_Argon_to_MiGe_ACAD%202010.pdf?dl=0)

8 -> Tutorial

Please find below the download link for a comprehensive instruction manual, a big thanx to Martin Ascher for doing this, it saved me heaps of time!!

Please always link to the file or Martin's website to ensure everybody gets the latest version:
http://www.ascher-racing.com/OpenSimwheel (http://www.ascher-racing.com/OpenSimwheel)

 direct link to file (9MB):
OpenSimwheel_Tutorial (http://ascher-racing.com/wp-content/uploads/OpenSimwheel-Tutorial.pdf)

Update:

Please find attached my SETTINGS files for both the 1KW (note overclocked to 25NM!!) and 2.3KW (30NM) MiGe motors, as well as Bernhard Bergers's settings file for the M10010 - I believe this one is for the standard current (to provide 20NM)

DISCLAIMER: I accept no responisibility for anyone doing a project based on this information, I provide the following as a worklog of my endeavours only, and as information only. Should you decide to use this information for any purpose, the RISK IS ENTIRELY YOURS. In any such an event you want to use this information, please make use of certified and qualified electrical and mechanical engineers to support you.

Also please note the legal implications wrt  patents should you set out to gain commercially from this exercise! I provide this information with the full intention that this is for personal use only, no more, no less.


Quote
Geek talk
Last night (17Nov2014) I met with Tero and Timo, the two main guys behind Granite Devices, who is of course responsible for bringing drives, like the VSD-160E, Argon and soon, ION, to us....

Two main points were up for discussion, i.e Argon and ION.

Argon: Tero and Timo was keen to explore the option of creating a smaller footprint firmware dedicated to ffb- based direct drive wheel applications. They will simplify the UI, as well as remove unneccesary parameters, for example, if we only use torque control, they could take away velocity and position modes. Also, parameters that can simply be calculated, will be done and hiddent from the UI view.

The new firmware will also have some other soft interlocks that will be selectable, something like preventing the wheel from exerting max force in an oscillatory fashion, like when you hit that damn wall after Eau du Rouge at Spa in the DW12 and the front wheels are caught at a bad angle, then the wheel will very violently do a few left-right movements, hanging off the wall there...so that can get quite scary...

The main idea is that if the drive encounters that behavior, it will be able to terminate the signal to the motor....of course, the degrees of rotation and interlock will be user selectable for those that will this added safety feature.

Tero will also look at the maximum the Argon current sensing circuit can accurately measure, his feeling is this limit is around 22A, and he will make a firmware available for is to drive the large MiGe and Lenze motors, for example, a bit harder. The drive stage can handle more current, no issues, but this circuit is the limitation on what maximum current we can drive on the output stage.

Another point, there is actually space inside the Argon drive to accept an add-on daughter board, should we wish to add the 'Discovery' inside the housing. Again, he will forward some schematics to me so we can explore this option, should we wish to....there are pins connection directly to the IO from that pad inside the Argon....

The last point on Argon was to create  an OEM version, by removing the external cover, this will reduce price by ~€15, Further do a custom reduced set firmware, superficially focussing in the DD wheel market, which could see a significantly reduced Argon price for our use. Tero and Timo will come back with more on this.

ION: I suspect most new wheel manufacturers, including larger commercial players that will want to dabble in direct-drive wheels, will want to use this little gem that's near release.

Tero confirmed the first prototypes are being delivered next week ( end of November) and he doesn't foresee any delays, the first commercial boards will be ready around the middle of December.

This is where things got really interesting. We discussed power stage and capabilities, and some here know the ION will be coming with a 10A driver stage. Well, after some brainstorming, Tero will be looking at making different versions of this, maybe something like basic, intermediate and advanced, not only in hardware capabilities, but also FW.

He agreed it will be relatively easy to use the full 8x PCI express-slot length (note, not electrically the same pin config!!) instead of the current 4x length, and could very easily have the output stage provide.....wait for it.....20A! Far out, that is better than the VSD-160E, and in par with Argon.

But, more to come :) I asked Tero if he would consider designing Argon to be used in let's say, cascade mode on the output, so you can chain a few devices together should you need more current...

Well, let's just say I was bowled over when Tero indicated, there will be selector on the pcb that will allow you to drive an external high-current driver...wow.....almost spill my beer all over the floor...

So in essence, Tero will produce a hig-current driver, probably in the 25-35A range, that we could buy off their webshop.....and that will be driven directly by ION, something I was dreaming about someone would do for us.....at the flu jpg of a do jumper, you can revert to onboard MOSFET driver, or add-on..

It gets better - Tero will also provide the information to any drive manufacturer (as well as us geeks) that will allow them to design their own external MOSFET driver stage, to suit whatever you want to do.

This to me was fantastic news.

To summarize, exciting things coming on both drives' front, but I cannot help to think the ION will redefine drive controllers for FFB wheels, and come at a much, much lower price-point than Argon.

The footprint of this controller is insanely small, it will more than adequately fill a pretty large gap in the current commercial drive portfolio.

I am madly excited, there are also small tidbit of other news I cannot share at this moment, but watch this space for more


Pretty fascinating discussion.

http://members.iracing.com/jforum/posts/list/3282974.page (http://members.iracing.com/jforum/posts/list/3282974.page)

Alternative German thread:

http://forum.virtualracing.org/showthread.php/90823-DIY-OpenSimwheel-NET-Selbermacher-Servo-Lenkrad (http://forum.virtualracing.org/showthread.php/90823-DIY-OpenSimwheel-NET-Selbermacher-Servo-Lenkrad)

ECCI will will also be making their own controller since Immersion has discontinued their board.

http://members.iracing.com/jforum/posts/list/3289240.page (http://members.iracing.com/jforum/posts/list/3289240.page)
Title: Re: Immersion USB arcade PCB wiring pinout and drivers
Post by: Cobra64 on October 15, 2015, 03:24:18 am
Thanks for the detailed info BadMouth.  Most useful in understanding how the switch matrix works.

I have a Need For Speed Underground cabinet with the twin PCB setup like you had.  I tried soldering on connectors to the Z-axis on the PCB and hooked it up to the Throttle but no input was sent through this channel so probably not supported.  I found a guy in the US selling brand new single PCB replacement boards (part no. COEM-GCE-H2P5A-HF) on ebay.  I got one delivered for A$50.  I swapped it for the twin PCBs and it worked perfectly straight away.  No connector changes and has the same footprint as the old board.  It now sends through the X, Y & Z-axes and probably W-axis too (if I ever want to configure a clutch).

I've just got to figure out how to make the 6-speed shifter work now but it seems it will be hard to make it work for all games.

I'm running an I-PAC2 board for the front console buttons.
Title: Re: Immersion USB arcade PCB wiring pinout and drivers
Post by: twistedsymphony on October 15, 2015, 09:54:52 am
Thanks for the comment Cobra64!

It prompted me to do s a search on eBay for these and there's a guy selling NEW boards for about $30 a piece: http://www.ebay.com/itm/BRAND-NEW-Immersion-Touchsense-Force-Feedback-Electronic-Circuit-Boards-/221903305140?hash=item33aa77b9b4 (http://www.ebay.com/itm/BRAND-NEW-Immersion-Touchsense-Force-Feedback-Electronic-Circuit-Boards-/221903305140?hash=item33aa77b9b4)

I snagged 2 myself but there are quite a few remaining if anyone else is interested.
Title: Re: Immersion USB arcade PCB wiring pinout and drivers
Post by: BadMouth on October 15, 2015, 10:01:50 am
Thanks for the comment Cobra64!

It prompted me to do s a search on eBay for these and there's a guy selling NEW boards for about $30 a piece: http://www.ebay.com/itm/BRAND-NEW-Immersion-Touchsense-Force-Feedback-Electronic-Circuit-Boards-/221903305140?hash=item33aa77b9b4 (http://www.ebay.com/itm/BRAND-NEW-Immersion-Touchsense-Force-Feedback-Electronic-Circuit-Boards-/221903305140?hash=item33aa77b9b4)

I snagged 2 myself but there are quite a few remaining if anyone else is interested.

That is a crazy good deal.  Old used ones were going for $150 each not long ago.
I don't need them right now, but buying 2 anyway!

EDIT: Attached pics from ebay auction in case those part #'s come in handy for anyone later.
5 amp sounds a couple amps low to me, but I don't think Happ has changed their ffb motors.
I always wonder about those empty spots where more components could be soldered in.
My 2 piece board above has 4 transistors for the force feedback.  These have 2 and 2 empty spots.
I have to wonder if the older boards handled more current than these.
Again though, I don't think happ is using smaller motors nowadays.
Title: Re: Immersion USB arcade PCB wiring pinout and drivers
Post by: Howard_Casto on October 15, 2015, 02:54:31 pm
Ok now that these boards are in a reasonable price range.... what would the scratch builder need to get these running?

Obviously some pots, but what else.... a gearbox, a motor and a 24v power supply?
Title: Re: Immersion USB arcade PCB wiring pinout and drivers
Post by: BadMouth on October 15, 2015, 03:00:20 pm
Ok now that these boards are in a reasonable price range.... what would the scratch builder need to get these running?

Obviously some pots, but what else.... a gearbox, a motor and a 24v power supply?

Original Happ active steering setup, 24v power supply, & pedals.
I guess 6A would be enough if the board only requires 5.
That's all you'd really need, but you could also blow money on the proper connectors if you wanted.
You'd also need a box of diodes for the button matrix if you wanted to have more than 4 inputs, but those are dirt cheap.

(http://na.suzohapp.com/images/50/50859350_lrg.jpg)

The original stuff used 5k pots.  I don't remember if these work of resistance or voltage.
If they work off voltage, the value of the pots wouldn't matter.



Title: Re: Immersion USB arcade PCB wiring pinout and drivers
Post by: BadMouth on October 15, 2015, 03:07:12 pm
If you wanted to build your own, you'd probably need to get similar gearing for the effects to be correct.
I can measure the pulleys on mine if need be. 
Various motors have turned up over the years.
The current ones are labeled 90v, but I've seen some that said 36v.
(all of them received 24v from the arcade machine regardless of what they were rated for)

Title: Re: Immersion USB arcade PCB wiring pinout and drivers
Post by: Howard_Casto on October 15, 2015, 03:17:19 pm
Well yeah the gears and gear ratio are what have me worried.  The newer happ assemblies just have the motor directly connected to the shaft via a belt and two gears correct?

Here is my thought on it......  Last year I built that optical wheel from tractor supply and they have all the bearings and shafts one would need.... I think I got enough parts to do three wheels for under 30 dollars and these are bearings meant to go on a tractor, so they are sturdy. 

So if a person could find a source for the gears and belt I don't think it would be much of a problem to do a wheel for around 100-150 bucks.  Shoot if shipping wasn't so much of an issue there are some gear boxes with motor on ebay right now in the 30-60 dollar range. 

Now that the quality of Logitech's stuff is starting to drop a bit, this might be a better entry level wheel.  I'm confident with some scrounging it could be done for under 200 at the most. 
Title: Re: Immersion USB arcade PCB wiring pinout and drivers
Post by: BadMouth on October 15, 2015, 03:41:42 pm
The newer happ assemblies just have the motor directly connected to the shaft via a belt and two gears correct?

The steering shaft runs through the center of a big "gear" (around 3" IIRC) and then the motor has a small "gear" that's probably less than an inch.
They are connected via a belt with teeth on it.  The pot is mounted on the very end of the steering shaft, so that's 1:1.

I'm not sure you could get away with using a standard belt and pulleys.  Since the pot is connected directly to the steering shaft though, I can't see what could get messed up.
If it slips the only thing affected would be the feel of the ffb.  I'm not sure if a bike chain would introduce any weird feel to the steering.
Title: Re: Immersion USB arcade PCB wiring pinout and drivers
Post by: DudeRegular on October 15, 2015, 08:39:17 pm
I have a couple of SF Rush cabs. One Rush converted to RTR and a dedicated RTR. Steering a pedal guts should be the same.

I have read quite a bit in this subforum, but would like to confirm before I buy stuff. I have picked up a G27 and a Driving Force GT in preparation to maybe convert one or both of my cabs to pc based. I saw the threads about hacking the logitech kit in with the happ feedback, but saw that some were't big fans. I guess I am just trying to figure out which way to go, straight logitech, logitech hacked with happ, or happ with this board. Thoughts?
Title: Re: Immersion USB arcade PCB wiring pinout and drivers
Post by: Howard_Casto on October 15, 2015, 10:45:53 pm
The newer happ assemblies just have the motor directly connected to the shaft via a belt and two gears correct?

The steering shaft runs through the center of a big "gear" (around 3" IIRC) and then the motor has a small "gear" that's probably less than an inch.
They are connected via a belt with teeth on it.  The pot is mounted on the very end of the steering shaft, so that's 1:1.

I'm not sure you could get away with using a standard belt and pulleys.  Since the pot is connected directly to the steering shaft though, I can't see what could get messed up.
If it slips the only thing affected would be the feel of the ffb.  I'm not sure if a bike chain would introduce any weird feel to the steering.


*edit*  (Stupid quotes)


Hmmmm.....

So it's a timing belt then.  You know what else uses giant motors and timing belts?  Washing machines.  What do you want to bet that the components of the happ wheels are largely washing machine parts? 

We need some part numbers to see if this stuff exists outside of the arcade industry. 
Title: Re: Immersion USB arcade PCB wiring pinout and drivers
Post by: BadMouth on October 16, 2015, 01:16:45 pm
Still "more than 10" available for $29 + shipping if anyone missed the link in all the discussion.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/BRAND-NEW-Immersion-Touchsense-Force-Feedback-Electronic-Circuit-Boards-/221903305140?hash=item33aa77b9b4 (http://www.ebay.com/itm/BRAND-NEW-Immersion-Touchsense-Force-Feedback-Electronic-Circuit-Boards-/221903305140?hash=item33aa77b9b4)
Title: Re: Immersion USB arcade PCB wiring pinout and drivers
Post by: Howard_Casto on October 16, 2015, 01:31:48 pm
Like I was saying last night, we need some specs.... size and tooth count may be enough. 

Anything that runs on a notched belt is considered a timing gear.  They are used in washing machines (although not as much these days) and motor vehicles. 

Just a quick google search got me a close approximate:

http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Cam-Gear-Timing-Gear-For-EVO-1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-4G63-2PCS/32350477511.html (http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Cam-Gear-Timing-Gear-For-EVO-1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-4G63-2PCS/32350477511.html)

That's 30 for two, so it would probably be 15 bucks for the big gear .... the smaller one might be a bit harder to find.  I don't think the motor type is as crucial, so long as it meets or exceeds the specs of the one happ uses. 
Title: Re: Immersion USB arcade PCB wiring pinout and drivers
Post by: BadMouth on October 16, 2015, 02:34:45 pm
The belt is $9 and the small pulley is $18 from Happ.  I don't see the big pulley in stock, but it's keyed for the original steering shaft anyway.

Personally I think you'll end up with more money (and a lot more time) in a homemade solution vs just buying a used Happ setup which this was designed for anyway.
Title: Re: Immersion USB arcade PCB wiring pinout and drivers
Post by: Howard_Casto on October 16, 2015, 03:17:04 pm
Well the problem is the shipping.  I think there is a used assembly on ebay right now for 50 bucks, which is more than reasonable.  The shipping is 75 though, making it so expensive that it starts making more sense to just buy it from happ new. 

I think they are fairly reasonable on the assembly itself, but they are over-charging for that motor. 
Title: Re: Immersion USB arcade PCB wiring pinout and drivers
Post by: Cobra64 on October 18, 2015, 05:41:03 am
Thanks for the comment Cobra64!

It prompted me to do s a search on eBay for these and there's a guy selling NEW boards for about $30 a piece: http://www.ebay.com/itm/BRAND-NEW-Immersion-Touchsense-Force-Feedback-Electronic-Circuit-Boards-/221903305140?hash=item33aa77b9b4 (http://www.ebay.com/itm/BRAND-NEW-Immersion-Touchsense-Force-Feedback-Electronic-Circuit-Boards-/221903305140?hash=item33aa77b9b4)

I snagged 2 myself but there are quite a few remaining if anyone else is interested.

Yeah, that's they guy I bought mine off.  He charges US$16 for postage with tracking - only took a week or so to arrive to Brisbane.
Just wanted to say that the red&black wires coming directly off the PCB (you can see it in the photos) is for disabling the force feedback.  Just leave it disconnected if you want FFB all the time.

As for the power it seems to drive my HAPP motor well.  I haven't run it continuously for very long but at 100% it gave me sore arms and certainly wouldn't want to drive one-handed.
Title: Re: Immersion USB arcade PCB wiring pinout and drivers
Post by: yotsuya on October 18, 2015, 02:12:02 pm
I should pick one of these up. I have an Atomiswave cab. Uses Happ controls. Would I be able to hook this directly to the wheel and pedals and into a PC?
Title: Re: Immersion USB arcade PCB wiring pinout and drivers
Post by: DudeRegular on October 18, 2015, 05:32:00 pm
I ordered 2 hoping to do the same thing.
Title: Re: Immersion USB arcade PCB wiring pinout and drivers
Post by: Howard_Casto on October 18, 2015, 07:28:20 pm
I'm thinking of getting a couple just to play around with.  I doubt we'll ever see them at that price again. 
Title: Re: Immersion USB arcade PCB wiring pinout and drivers
Post by: Cobra64 on October 19, 2015, 03:20:46 am
I should pick one of these up. I have an Atomiswave cab. Uses Happ controls. Would I be able to hook this directly to the wheel and pedals and into a PC?

As long as the wheel and pedals provide a potentiometer output you should be OK.  There are three wires going to each potentiometer (+3.3V, GND, and the output of the pot).  I don't think it would make much difference as to the pot size (mine are 5k) as the Immersion driver seems to be self calibrating once you operate the wheel and pedals between min & max positions.  The larger the ohm rating of the pot, the more sensitivity it would provide.

I just hooked the Immersion board up to a new PC I had, installed the Immersion drivers, plugged in the USB, and of course made the connections to the wheel and pedals.  It worked nicely without any trouble or messing around at all.  I've tried it with Mame games, Model 2 & Model 3 as well as latest Steam games and so far all games recognise the Immersion FFB.  They all provide force feedback and various effects during the game play.  Some Model3 games I had to invert the pedal outputs (in the game settings).  Just having a bit of trouble with button controls in Steam as I think it is only wanting to see buttons from the Immersion board.  Gamepad buttons sent from the iPac don't seem to work in game play even though they are recognised in the Options settings - quite odd!
Title: Re: Immersion USB arcade PCB wiring pinout and drivers
Post by: BadMouth on October 19, 2015, 06:55:02 am
I should pick one of these up. I have an Atomiswave cab. Uses Happ controls. Would I be able to hook this directly to the wheel and pedals and into a PC?
Yup.  The Happ stuff is what it's designed for.  On cabs that didn't originally use this board, the connectors are probably different though.  So you'll be cutting wires or making your own adapter cable.
Title: Re: Immersion USB arcade PCB wiring pinout and drivers
Post by: yotsuya on October 19, 2015, 09:30:49 am
I should pick one of these up. I have an Atomiswave cab. Uses Happ controls. Would I be able to hook this directly to the wheel and pedals and into a PC?
Yup.  The Happ stuff is what it's designed for.  On cabs that didn't originally use this board, the connectors are probably different though.  So you'll be cutting wires or making your own adapter cable.
I'm not afraid of rolling my own! Thanks for the info, gonna get one today!
Title: Re: Immersion USB arcade PCB wiring pinout and drivers
Post by: BadMouth on October 19, 2015, 10:17:52 am
I haven't found a pinout.  I assume it's pretty close to the old version.
Also assuming it uses the same driver attached to the first post in this thread.

The ENC inputs made me curious though as to whether it also supports an optical encoder input.
Found this brochure (attached).  It looks like it only supports that if ordered in a different configuration.
The configuration of this part # is the first one listed; One analog wheel & two analog pedals.

Title: Re: Immersion USB arcade PCB wiring pinout and drivers
Post by: Howard_Casto on October 19, 2015, 12:41:42 pm
I should pick one of these up. I have an Atomiswave cab. Uses Happ controls. Would I be able to hook this directly to the wheel and pedals and into a PC?

As long as the wheel and pedals provide a potentiometer output you should be OK.  There are three wires going to each potentiometer (+3.3V, GND, and the output of the pot).  I don't think it would make much difference as to the pot size (mine are 5k) as the Immersion driver seems to be self calibrating once you operate the wheel and pedals between min & max positions.  The larger the ohm rating of the pot, the more sensitivity it would provide.

I just hooked the Immersion board up to a new PC I had, installed the Immersion drivers, plugged in the USB, and of course made the connections to the wheel and pedals.  It worked nicely without any trouble or messing around at all.  I've tried it with Mame games, Model 2 & Model 3 as well as latest Steam games and so far all games recognise the Immersion FFB.  They all provide force feedback and various effects during the game play.  Some Model3 games I had to invert the pedal outputs (in the game settings).  Just having a bit of trouble with button controls in Steam as I think it is only wanting to see buttons from the Immersion board.  Gamepad buttons sent from the iPac don't seem to work in game play even though they are recognised in the Options settings - quite odd!

If that's the case, I wonder if it'd work with the older, "right angle" assemblies found on some of the cabinets?  The Instead of timing gears and a belt these have a transmission style junction with the motor parallel to the dash (to save space).  There are a lot of those on eBay right now. 
Title: Re: Immersion USB arcade PCB wiring pinout and drivers
Post by: BadMouth on October 19, 2015, 01:05:42 pm
If that's the case, I wonder if it'd work with the older, "right angle" assemblies found on some of the cabinets?  The Instead of timing gears and a belt these have a transmission style junction with the motor parallel to the dash (to save space).  There are a lot of those on eBay right now.

Link?  I only remember Sega Model 1 ffb setups being that way.
Title: Re: Immersion USB arcade PCB wiring pinout and drivers
Post by: yotsuya on October 19, 2015, 01:11:29 pm
Just bought one. I also have a spare motor. Should throw that up FS.
Title: Re: Immersion USB arcade PCB wiring pinout and drivers
Post by: Howard_Casto on October 19, 2015, 01:41:16 pm
Yeah I think most of these are from virtua racing machines..... it looks like many of them are over though.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/MOTORIZED-STEERING-wheel-ASSEMBLY-UNTESTED-arcade-video-game-part-C304-/151846780930?hash=item235ac60002:g:~coAAOSw9mFWHAuX (http://www.ebay.com/itm/MOTORIZED-STEERING-wheel-ASSEMBLY-UNTESTED-arcade-video-game-part-C304-/151846780930?hash=item235ac60002:g:~coAAOSw9mFWHAuX)

Then there are these (I think they might just be a rumble motor though)

http://www.ebay.com/itm/MOTORIZED-STEERING-wheel-ASSEMBLY-UNTESTED-arcade-video-game-part-C304-/151846780930?hash=item235ac60002:g:~coAAOSw9mFWHAuX (http://www.ebay.com/itm/MOTORIZED-STEERING-wheel-ASSEMBLY-UNTESTED-arcade-video-game-part-C304-/151846780930?hash=item235ac60002:g:~coAAOSw9mFWHAuX)
Title: Re: Immersion USB arcade PCB wiring pinout and drivers
Post by: BadMouth on October 19, 2015, 02:30:24 pm
Yeah I think most of these are from virtua racing machines..... it looks like many of them are over though.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/MOTORIZED-STEERING-wheel-ASSEMBLY-UNTESTED-arcade-video-game-part-C304-/151846780930?hash=item235ac60002:g:~coAAOSw9mFWHAuX (http://www.ebay.com/itm/MOTORIZED-STEERING-wheel-ASSEMBLY-UNTESTED-arcade-video-game-part-C304-/151846780930?hash=item235ac60002:g:~coAAOSw9mFWHAuX)

Then there are these (I think they might just be a rumble motor though)

http://www.ebay.com/itm/MOTORIZED-STEERING-wheel-ASSEMBLY-UNTESTED-arcade-video-game-part-C304-/151846780930?hash=item235ac60002:g:~coAAOSw9mFWHAuX (http://www.ebay.com/itm/MOTORIZED-STEERING-wheel-ASSEMBLY-UNTESTED-arcade-video-game-part-C304-/151846780930?hash=item235ac60002:g:~coAAOSw9mFWHAuX)

Virtua Racing used a 120v AC motor like the model 2 stuff.  It won't work with the Immersion PCB.
Yeah, the link it to a shaker motor.
The happ setups are all nearly identical.  I think the overall bracket for SF Rush might be a little shorter, but it's still the same parts and gearing.
Title: Re: Immersion USB arcade PCB wiring pinout and drivers
Post by: BadMouth on October 19, 2015, 05:45:54 pm
Received mine in the mail today, but I won't be able to mess with it for a few weeks.  For anyone else that gets one, you might want to put a 5A fuse on the 24v input just to play it safe. 
Title: Re: Immersion USB arcade PCB wiring pinout and drivers
Post by: yotsuya on October 19, 2015, 05:59:28 pm
Received mine in the mail today, but I won't be able to mess with it for a few weeks.  For anyone else that gets one, you might want to put a 5A fuse on the 24v input just to play it safe.

Did it come with anything other than the board?
Title: Re: Immersion USB arcade PCB wiring pinout and drivers
Post by: BadMouth on October 19, 2015, 06:28:36 pm
Received mine in the mail today, but I won't be able to mess with it for a few weeks.  For anyone else that gets one, you might want to put a 5A fuse on the 24v input just to play it safe.

Did it come with anything other than the board?
Nope.  New in OEM box shown in the auction.  Just board wrapped in bubble wrap inside.  Each board was in its own box.
Title: Re: Immersion USB arcade PCB wiring pinout and drivers
Post by: ABACABB on October 21, 2015, 04:37:18 pm
Has anyone gotten these new boards hooked up and working?  I ordered one but won't have it for a few days and I'll be out of town next week.  I'm excited to see one of these in action.  Can it really be this easy after all??  Am I correct in saying this board also has inputs for digital buttons to be mapped to ie.. gears, view buttons, Start?
Title: Re: Immersion USB arcade PCB wiring pinout and drivers
Post by: DudeRegular on October 21, 2015, 06:10:52 pm
I have two coming as well. It will probably not make it to the top of my project list for a little bit though. Hopefully folks here figure it all out for us! 😀
Title: Re: Immersion USB arcade PCB wiring pinout and drivers
Post by: BadMouth on October 21, 2015, 10:08:32 pm
Has anyone gotten these new boards hooked up and working?  I ordered one but won't have it for a few days and I'll be out of town next week.  I'm excited to see one of these in action.  Can it really be this easy after all??  Am I correct in saying this board also has inputs for digital buttons to be mapped to ie.. gears, view buttons, Start?
See the first couple posts in this thread.
This board has a header labeled sw matrix.
It should work the same way as the switch matrix on the old board.
Title: Re: Immersion USB arcade PCB wiring pinout and drivers
Post by: ABACABB on October 21, 2015, 10:27:06 pm
Yeah, I saw those posts.  Just was curious to see the newer single board configuration in action.  Can't wait to play with it a little.
Title: Re: Immersion USB arcade PCB wiring pinout and drivers
Post by: yotsuya on October 22, 2015, 02:09:25 am
Mine showed up today. Thanks for the heads up.
Title: Re: Immersion USB arcade PCB wiring pinout and drivers
Post by: Sky25es on October 24, 2015, 05:07:27 pm
I want to buy a board but I can't contact the seller via ebay cause I live in spain and there's some kind of restrictions. Could someone please do me a big favor and ask him if he would be willing to sell me one ?  :notworthy:
He would need to change the shipping options... Thanks  :)
Title: Re: Immersion USB arcade PCB wiring pinout and drivers
Post by: yotsuya on October 25, 2015, 06:56:50 pm
Damn - I didn't realize the PCB was so tiny....
Title: Re: Immersion USB arcade PCB wiring pinout and drivers
Post by: Sky25es on October 26, 2015, 12:21:42 pm
 ??? Really? no one is willing to send a simple email to the seller ?  ???
Oh, well... Thanks anyway
Title: Re: Immersion USB arcade PCB wiring pinout and drivers
Post by: twistedsymphony on October 27, 2015, 09:19:26 am
??? Really? no one is willing to send a simple email to the seller ?  ???
Oh, well... Thanks anyway

Considering you have to jump through hoops and go out of your way to NOT sell internationally on eBay I'd venture a guess that the seller explicitly does not want to sell over seas.

I know I don't ship internationally anymore because eBays international shipping program has a track record of re-boxing items with poor packaging and then blaming the seller for damages and shipping internationally normally requires you fill out a bunch of customs paperwork which is a pain in the ass.

You'd be better off finding someone willing to buy and reship them to you. I believe there are even services that do this for a small fee ( I know I use them when buying items from Japan).
Title: Re: Immersion USB arcade PCB wiring pinout and drivers
Post by: Sky25es on October 27, 2015, 10:46:26 am
Considering you have to jump through hoops and go out of your way to NOT sell internationally on eBay I'd venture a guess that the seller explicitly does not want to sell over seas.

I know I don't ship internationally anymore because eBays international shipping program has a track record of re-boxing items with poor packaging and then blaming the seller for damages and shipping internationally normally requires you fill out a bunch of customs paperwork which is a pain in the ass.

 ??? Errrm..  :banghead: :dizzy: :timebomb: :dunno  ... Look. If we don't ask ... we won't know and...  :blah:
No. Lesson learned...  It's not longer worth discussing this. Case closed.

You'd be better off finding someone willing to buy and reship them to you. I believe there are even services that do this for a small fee ( I know I use them when buying items from Japan).


I already thought about this option.  Thanks however for the advice.  :cheers:
Title: Re: Immersion USB arcade PCB wiring pinout and drivers
Post by: BadMouth on October 29, 2015, 04:26:11 pm
They're still available, but they've raised the price a bit.  Perhaps I should have kept my mouth shut about the price being a steal.
Still "more than 10" left.  I wonder how many they have.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/221903305140?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT (http://www.ebay.com/itm/221903305140?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT)
Title: Re: Immersion USB arcade PCB wiring pinout and drivers
Post by: yotsuya on October 29, 2015, 05:17:05 pm
That's still a great price.
Title: Re: Immersion USB arcade PCB wiring pinout and drivers
Post by: BadMouth on October 29, 2015, 06:11:35 pm
That's still a great price.
Shhh.....no it's not.  The market is flooded.  The 8 people who would buy one or two already have.
Title: Re: Immersion USB arcade PCB wiring pinout and drivers
Post by: FrizzleFried on October 29, 2015, 07:11:38 pm
In all reality whoever was the first to find this should have bought them ALL and re-sold them for $99.95...

:D

Title: Re: Immersion USB arcade PCB wiring pinout and drivers
Post by: DudeRegular on October 29, 2015, 08:23:34 pm
Glad I grabbed two when I did. I was thinking they were going to sell out though.
Title: Re: Immersion USB arcade PCB wiring pinout and drivers
Post by: Howard_Casto on October 29, 2015, 10:02:36 pm
My guess is they have a small warehouse full of them somewhere.  The thing is eBay and Amazon are so sensitive to changes in the average number of sales per week that a few of you guys buying a board or two can actually raise the price.  There was a Pat the Nes Punk segment about a guy that did this as an experiment.... he picked a nes cart that was in very low demand and bought 10 or 15 of them on ebay over the course of 5 months and managed to triple the asking price on the carts.... after a year the price had barely went back down. 
Title: Re: Immersion USB arcade PCB wiring pinout and drivers
Post by: twistedsymphony on October 30, 2015, 09:06:48 am
In all reality whoever was the first to find this should have bought them ALL and re-sold them for $99.95...
I was the one who posted the link after I bought 2 for myself. theres plenty to go around for others to get a good deal, I friggin hate people who snatch up good deals just to flip them so you wont find me doing that to people.
My guess is they have a small warehouse full of them somewhere.  The thing is eBay and Amazon are so sensitive to changes in the average number of sales per week that a few of you guys buying a board or two can actually raise the price.  There was a Pat the Nes Punk segment about a guy that did this as an experiment.... he picked a nes cart that was in very low demand and bought 10 or 15 of them on ebay over the course of 5 months and managed to triple the asking price on the carts.... after a year the price had barely went back down. 

It's impressive how that works. I was shopping for an air-powered belt-sander earlier this week and found a $470 model marked way down to $50 on Amazon. I bought it and then the very next day when I was telling my friend about it he wanted the link and the price had gone up to $120.  http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003A31GSO?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=aurobius_20 (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003A31GSO?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=aurobius_20)

looking at the price chart is pretty interesting: http://camelcamelcamel.com/Universal-Tool-UT8718-Sander-12-Inch/product/B003A31GSO (http://camelcamelcamel.com/Universal-Tool-UT8718-Sander-12-Inch/product/B003A31GSO) I made my purchase on the 27th at the $49.32 price point.
Title: Re: Immersion USB arcade PCB wiring pinout and drivers
Post by: DudeRegular on October 31, 2015, 08:22:16 am
Up to $48.99 now.
Title: Re: Immersion USB arcade PCB wiring pinout and drivers
Post by: ABACABB on November 03, 2015, 10:15:55 am
Question for BadMouth: you had said before that the Logitech hack was beneficial because you could use the Logitech profiler software. What problems would you see arising by using this board and not using the Logitech software?
Title: Re: Immersion USB arcade PCB wiring pinout and drivers
Post by: BadMouth on November 03, 2015, 10:38:09 am
Question for BadMouth: you had said before that the Logitech hack was beneficial because you could use the Logitech profiler software. What problems would you see arising by using this board and not using the Logitech software?

This is much better than the Logitech hack for Happ setups.  Too many people were unhappy with the servo amp route.

The benefit of the logitech profiler software though is that it automatically changes wheel settings on the fly based on what exe it detects running.
Model 2 emulator requires the pedals to be set to separate.  Some older PC games require them to be set to combined.
You can configure profiler to make that change automatically when the game is launched. 
The combined pedals is the big one, but it can also change ffb strength, amount of rotation, axis mappings, button mappings, etc.

I don't really see any major problems arising except for maybe having to go into the windows controller settings to combine the pedals to play an old PC game.
If the game doesn't have FFB, then you could set up a virtual controller and combine the axis on that.

There is probably a way to change it in the registry on the fly with a script of some sort:
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,133423.msg1373808.html#msg1373808 (http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,133423.msg1373808.html#msg1373808)

I was also thinking the immersion PCB didn't have "always on" centering feedback which helps the feel of games in MAME.
It does though.  Right there in the 4th pic of post #2 of this thread.

Title: Re: Immersion USB arcade PCB wiring pinout and drivers
Post by: FrizzleFried on November 03, 2015, 04:30:18 pm
Anyone had a chance to test their Immersion PCB from this seller?

Title: Re: Immersion USB arcade PCB wiring pinout and drivers
Post by: Cobra64 on November 04, 2015, 05:30:58 am
Anyone had a chance to test their Immersion PCB from this seller?

Yes, I removed my dual Immersion PCB setup and plugged in the new Immersion PCB.  No problems at all, worked straight away and the drivers I had for the old setup worked fine with it.  Best of all, I now have Z & W axes.
Title: Re: Immersion USB arcade PCB wiring pinout and drivers
Post by: purplec on December 20, 2015, 06:40:04 pm
Anyone had a chance to test their Immersion PCB from this seller?

Yes, I removed my dual Immersion PCB setup and plugged in the new Immersion PCB.  No problems at all, worked straight away and the drivers I had for the old setup worked fine with it.  Best of all, I now have Z & W axes.

any chance of a few pics of the new board attached please?

Cheers
Title: Re: Immersion USB arcade PCB wiring pinout and drivers
Post by: Cobra64 on December 21, 2015, 06:05:10 am
Here's my setup with the new board plugged in...
Title: Re: Immersion USB arcade PCB wiring pinout and drivers
Post by: DudeRegular on January 02, 2016, 05:27:44 pm
http://www.betsonparts.com/amusement-redemption/manufacturers/global-vr/immersion-steering-wheel-card.html (http://www.betsonparts.com/amusement-redemption/manufacturers/global-vr/immersion-steering-wheel-card.html)

These guys charge 1154 bucks for this board... Probably flying off the shelves.
Title: Re: Immersion USB arcade PCB wiring pinout and drivers
Post by: Howard_Casto on January 02, 2016, 07:59:37 pm
Thanks, I needed a good chuckle.  That's not for cool guys like us that know what's up... it's for the "normals".  They probably sell a Ms.  Pac-man cabinet for 6000 bucks as well. 
Title: Re: Immersion USB arcade PCB wiring pinout and drivers
Post by: DudeRegular on January 02, 2016, 08:24:19 pm
I have been searching for one of those global vr usb gun boards to try my hand at a multi shooter and ran across this. I figured someone would like it.
Title: Re: Immersion USB arcade PCB wiring pinout and drivers
Post by: hawkeyez88 on June 02, 2016, 06:36:24 pm
Thanks for the detailed info BadMouth.  Most useful in understanding how the switch matrix works.

I have a Need For Speed Underground cabinet with the twin PCB setup like you had.  I tried soldering on connectors to the Z-axis on the PCB and hooked it up to the Throttle but no input was sent through this channel so probably not supported.  I found a guy in the US selling brand new single PCB replacement boards (part no. COEM-GCE-H2P5A-HF) on ebay.  I got one delivered for A$50.  I swapped it for the twin PCBs and it worked perfectly straight away.  No connector changes and has the same footprint as the old board.  It now sends through the X, Y & Z-axes and probably W-axis too (if I ever want to configure a clutch).

I've just got to figure out how to make the 6-speed shifter work now but it seems it will be hard to make it work for all games.

I'm running an I-PAC2 board for the front console buttons.
I've been pouring through this thread and I too have the same cabinet as you with the dual board. I'm not following a fix if there is one to get the immersion software to recognize the pedals and the wheel correctly? I had the odd z axis behavior as well, and can't find the mentioned replacement boards anywhere. Hopefully your brains are still around to help me. Thanks
Title: Re: Immersion USB arcade PCB wiring pinout and drivers
Post by: MTPPC on July 08, 2016, 11:38:09 am
Does anyone have one of these for sale? I have an empty crazy taxi cabinet just waiting to be multi'ed.
Title: Re: Immersion USB arcade PCB wiring pinout and drivers
Post by: BadMouth on July 08, 2016, 04:21:00 pm
Does anyone have one of these for sale? I have an empty crazy taxi cabinet just waiting to be multi'ed.

Not willing to part with mine despite the fact that I've done nothing with them (or the two logitech driving force boards I also bought because they were cheap).

I'm sure you already know but for the benefit of anyone following, Crazy Taxi is a Sega Naomi game that uses a 110v ffb motor.
These boards only work with the 24V Happ ffb setup.

I wish they worked on Naomi stuff.  I have an initial D control panel sitting around collecting dust.
Title: Re: Immersion USB arcade PCB wiring pinout and drivers
Post by: twistedsymphony on July 09, 2016, 06:36:51 pm
I don't think Crazy Taxi even supports FFB. I could be wrong but there aren't any options for it in the test menu on my NAOMI.
Title: Re: Immersion USB arcade PCB wiring pinout and drivers
Post by: Cobra64 on July 10, 2016, 12:08:00 am
Looks like the guy on Ebay sold all his stock but might be worth a message to him to check (or find out where he got his stock from).

Global VR sell these boards (referencing the 990-0040-01 number).  Their parts store lists these at $390 each which seems to be the best price around.  Their picture of it looks different to the one I bought so might be worth sending a picture of the B2P5A board to their tech guys to make sure it is the same thing.  Their email is techsupport@globalvr.com
Title: Re: Immersion USB arcade PCB wiring pinout and drivers
Post by: Justin-Credible on July 31, 2017, 01:56:22 pm
Hey guys, sorry to bump an old thread, but I've been trying hard to find an Immersion board without paying the crazy price at global VR.

I have a hacked logitech board setup in my Rush 2049, but it doesn't work well.

Would anyone here be willing to part with one of their Immersion boards? I would be willing to pay a fair price for one. I would really appreciate it! My Rush cab is just collecting dust at this point.
Title: Re: Immersion USB arcade PCB wiring pinout and drivers
Post by: yotsuya on July 31, 2017, 04:01:39 pm
Hey guys, sorry to bump an old thread, but I've been trying hard to find an Immersion board without paying the crazy price at global VR.

I have a hacked logitech board setup in my Rush 2049, but it doesn't work well.

Would anyone here be willing to part with one of their Immersion boards? I would be willing to pay a fair price for one. I would really appreciate it! My Rush cab is just collecting dust at this point.

I have one I might part with. PM me your fair price, shipping included.
Title: Re: Immersion USB arcade PCB wiring pinout and drivers
Post by: Malenko on October 21, 2017, 03:22:34 pm
I was browsing Force Dynamics website after they posted that awesome full motion Outrun (cannonball) video.
They have a different Immersion driver available specifically for Windows 7 if anyone is interested in checking them out.
Please do post pics for comparison if it has any options not available in the xp drivers.

http://force-dynamics.com/support (http://force-dynamics.com/support)

Since Im *finally* getting my feet wet with a sit down build, Im going through all this antiquated info :(
New link is :

http://force-dynamics.com/dl (http://force-dynamics.com/dl)

they have both the 7 and XP drivers
Title: Re: Immersion USB arcade PCB wiring pinout and drivers
Post by: UncleToyBox on November 14, 2017, 06:29:56 am
I just picked up a Cruis'n USA cabinet that came with what appears to be all the workings for the controls. I just need a wheel and an Immersion board to get it to interface with my computer.
Looking around, the only boards I can find are the ones from Global for $390.
Does anyone  have a spare they'd let go for less than that?
I'm willing to pay up to $200 to get it shipped to either my mom's in Michigan (going to be there next week for Thanksgiving) or to my place here in Ontario? I'll add more if you've got a spare wheel to add to it.

Thanks

I should add that I have a pair of AimTrack light guns (both are blue with some black marking added to one to tell them apart) along with an extra sensor for bigger monitors if you're interested in a trade...
Title: Re: Immersion USB arcade PCB wiring pinout and drivers
Post by: BadMouth on November 14, 2017, 10:48:53 am
PM sent.
Title: Re: Immersion USB arcade PCB wiring pinout and drivers
Post by: shaolindrunkard on November 14, 2017, 11:24:08 am
I just picked up a Cruis'n USA cabinet that came with what appears to be all the workings for the controls. I just need a wheel and an Immersion board to get it to interface with my computer.
Looking around, the only boards I can find are the ones from Global for $390.
Does anyone  have a spare they'd let go for less than that?
I'm willing to pay up to $200 to get it shipped to either my mom's in Michigan (going to be there next week for Thanksgiving) or to my place here in Ontario? I'll add more if you've got a spare wheel to add to it.

Thanks

I should add that I have a pair of AimTrack light guns (both are blue with some black marking added to one to tell them apart) along with an extra sensor for bigger monitors if you're interested in a trade...

The cabinet didn't come with a wheel?
Title: Re: Immersion USB arcade PCB wiring pinout and drivers
Post by: BadMouth on November 14, 2017, 11:47:17 am
It's odd.  People seem to sell the wheel and main PCB on ebay, then decide to sell the rest of the cabinet whole.
Easy parts to remove for quick money I guess.
Title: Re: Immersion USB arcade PCB wiring pinout and drivers
Post by: UncleToyBox on November 14, 2017, 01:08:01 pm
I paid $100 for the cabinet as is.
Having recently spent $200 on lumber to build a pinball cabinet, I figured it was a bargain just for the wood.
Adding in the adjustable seat, power supply, and electronics left in the dashboard, I feel like I got a pretty good deal.

Now the fun starts getting the wheel working with my game computer and then picking out which games to use with it.
I'm hoping I can get it to work with Windows based games like Spintires or Grid.

Will find out when I get the board from BadMouth next week.
Should probably post about this in a separate build thread if folks are interested to see how it works out.
Title: Re: Immersion USB arcade PCB wiring pinout and drivers
Post by: shaolindrunkard on November 14, 2017, 03:09:29 pm
I paid $100 for the cabinet as is.
Having recently spent $200 on lumber to build a pinball cabinet, I figured it was a bargain just for the wood.
Adding in the adjustable seat, power supply, and electronics left in the dashboard, I feel like I got a pretty good deal.

Now the fun starts getting the wheel working with my game computer and then picking out which games to use with it.
I'm hoping I can get it to work with Windows based games like Spintires or Grid.

Will find out when I get the board from BadMouth next week.
Should probably post about this in a separate build thread if folks are interested to see how it works out.

Why don't you post a pic of it. I may have some parts that will fit it.
Title: Re: Immersion USB arcade PCB wiring pinout and drivers
Post by: UncleToyBox on November 14, 2017, 03:23:09 pm
I've got a monitor ordered already (I love this happening so close to Black Friday).
Really, I'm just missing the wheel and the bottom view button. Other than that, I need the board from BadMouth to interface with the computer I'm installing the software on.

If you look closely at the side of the cabinet, you can see where I cut the top off to get it in the house.
Title: Re: Immersion USB arcade PCB wiring pinout and drivers
Post by: shaolindrunkard on November 14, 2017, 05:18:19 pm
I can't help with the view button, but I did find one on ebay...

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Cruisin-Arcade-view-3-button/253243272402?hash=item3af679acd2:g:5mwAAOSwcnpTmnLk (https://www.ebay.com/itm/Cruisin-Arcade-view-3-button/253243272402?hash=item3af679acd2:g:5mwAAOSwcnpTmnLk)

Looks like it doesn't have the button mechanism, but let me know if you decide to get it and I should have one I can send you.

I have several of those wheels, you can have one or all of them for free if you wanna pay shipping. Hopefully I have the front plate that covers the screws and the spacers that go underneath. I'm not sure I'll have to look when I get home.

I'll PM you what I have.
Title: Re: Immersion USB arcade PCB wiring pinout and drivers
Post by: 68hc11 on November 14, 2017, 10:40:14 pm
Could someone send me some close up photos of the Immersion board?  I'm looking to populate an old one but it would be easier to copy the resistor layout rather than reverse engineer it.

Thanks!
Title: Re: Immersion USB arcade PCB wiring pinout and drivers
Post by: Malenko on November 17, 2017, 08:47:51 am
Could someone send me some close up photos of the Immersion board?  I'm looking to populate an old one but it would be easier to copy the resistor layout rather than reverse engineer it.

Thanks!

I  have the "version 2" board
(http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=149895.0;attach=363661;image)
(http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=149895.0;attach=363663;image)

Hope that helps!
Title: Re: Immersion USB arcade PCB wiring pinout and drivers
Post by: Malenko on November 20, 2017, 09:33:42 pm
so I started wiring mine up, wired up the 3 pots (steering , gas, brake) but Im having a myriad of issues without even wiring up the FFB part or additional buttons yet.

The gas is showing pressed like 3% but theres no calibration in the control panel to set it at zero so anytime Im in a menu to configure something, like the wheel, it automatically sets it to the gas because the gas is seen as pressed. I could just disconnect the gas pedal as I go through configs and do the gas last but I'd rather fix than band aid. Am I going to have to pull the pedals out and manually adjust the pot to zero?
Title: Re: Immersion USB arcade PCB wiring pinout and drivers
Post by: 68hc11 on November 26, 2018, 10:25:30 pm
Okay so I've returned to my project.  Had a Need For Speed with Immersion & Nytric board, since I can't figure out how to make the Nytric board work(read/write), I went the hardware avenue and said, "hmm, the second half of the analog signal is unpopulated, I wonder if I populate it if I can get the Immersion board to read Steering, gas & brake and then maybe the switch inputs too?".

Well I added a second LM324 and two resistors (R22 & R24) and found that I can read both analog inputs with the steering wheel via the Immersion driver.  Next up will be to explore the switch matrix which should be straight forward.  This should give hope to anyone that has a 2 part Immersion board (ver IPCB-6052 11/02 REV 6) hope that they can add more analog inputs.

I'm also curious why Global VR developed the Nytric board rather than using the full potential of the Immersion board?

A photo found here showed a fully poplulated Immersion board.  https://arcadecabblog.wordpress.com/author/jollywest/
Title: Re: Immersion USB arcade PCB wiring pinout and drivers
Post by: tkeahi on January 30, 2021, 02:11:55 pm
Does anybody know if the immersion board works on windows 10 64 bit?

 I've been looking for one of these PCBs for months, they are pretty hard to find in 2021.
Title: Re: Immersion USB arcade PCB wiring pinout and drivers
Post by: reflexia on April 20, 2021, 02:40:12 am
Does anybody know if the immersion board works on windows 10 64 bit?

 I've been looking for one of these PCBs for months, they are pretty hard to find in 2021.

It does work with the latest 2009 driver for Windows 7 (linked in the top of this tread). However its pretty hit and miss with modern PC the games (Force Feedback either works or causes the game to crash if the usb plugged into the computer at all). We only got rFactor to work, but rFactor 2 crashes to desktop, Asseto just doesnt start the racing etc.

Unless you're locked to this particular board for what ever reason, its best to look at something else.
Title: Re: Immersion USB arcade PCB wiring pinout and drivers
Post by: bimm25e on June 09, 2021, 04:18:43 pm
Does anybody know if the immersion board works on windows 10 64 bit?

 I've been looking for one of these PCBs for months, they are pretty hard to find in 2021.

It does and it works GREAT in i-racing, and with boomslangz plugin, but the board is getting a little dated to work with new releases like GRID 2019.  I upgraded to a fanatec dd1 which now works great with new stuff but i lost my ability to do MAME or Model 2 emu.
Title: Re: Immersion USB arcade PCB wiring pinout and drivers
Post by: bimm25e on December 20, 2022, 11:26:28 pm
So I reread the manual... Is the manual insinuating these things can also run lightguns over USB on j4 and j5?
Title: Re: Immersion USB arcade PCB wiring pinout and drivers
Post by: 2huwman on December 21, 2022, 03:32:03 am
So I reread the manual... Is the manual insinuating these things can also run lightguns over USB on j4 and j5?

Yes it sounds like it to me (from the manual):

2.4.2. Digital Encoders
Alternatively, or additionally, up to two optical encoders can be used for position input. The encoder
connectors are J4 (X, or primary) and J5 (Y or secondary). The five pin headers provide pins for power
and ground, so the encoders can be wired up individually. The pinouts are shown in the following table:
Pin Signal
1 Ground
2 Not used
3 Channel A
4 Power
5 Channel B


I've got one of these somewhere and some spare arcade light guns so can give it a try.
Title: Re: Immersion USB arcade PCB wiring pinout and drivers
Post by: BadMouth on December 22, 2022, 06:43:35 am
So I reread the manual... Is the manual insinuating these things can also run lightguns over USB on j4 and j5?

It's for optical encoders, not light guns.

Optical encoders like the ones used on trackballs were often used on racing cabs because they are off the shelf parts and don't wear out like potentiometers.  Games like Pole Position where the wheel can spin endlessly use an optical encoder.  A few games used them for the pedals as well.
Title: Re: Immersion USB arcade PCB wiring pinout and drivers
Post by: bimm25e on December 22, 2022, 01:57:22 pm
Awesome to know!  Thank you!
Title: Re: Immersion USB arcade PCB wiring pinout and drivers
Post by: Blackknight2000 on April 23, 2023, 02:16:38 am
Hello Everyone,

Reviving this thread from the dead. A few years ago I purchased a Glodal VR NASCAR arcade cabinet - really like the way the shifter is in a more natural position. When I purchased it the game wasn't working but that wasn't an issue as I wanted to convert this to a multicade Racer. Originally I was planning on taking out the controls and dropping in either a Thrustmaster or Fanatec setup but since the original game uses a Windows based PC I started thinking that there must be a way to get the existing controls to work - so I stumbled onto this thread and I am hoping you guys can help me.

So the NASCAR game appears to use two separate boards to interface the controls to the PC. Here is the image of the first board.

(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52838970235_9aa9b3724b_c.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2ovcwYc)

Here is the image of the second board.

(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52838970225_325e86480f_c.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2ovcwY2)

I installed the Immersion drivers and got the wheel to work however the second board is being recognized as a seperate game controller and the pedals, shifter and buttons don't function properly - somehow they seem to all be tied so the pedal axis (if that makes sense). The board is called GVRIOMini and I haven't found the actual drivers (this might be the issue).

Here is an image of how my PC is reading the second board.

(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52838562456_aaec671e05_c.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2ovarKw)
 
While reading this thread it seemed that the fist board should be able to handle all the functions (wheel, pedals, shifter and buttons) on it's own so I am not sure why this cabinet uses the two boards. If the first PCB can handle all the controls then I would need to know what pin controls what function.

Hopefully I understand this enough to be making sense above.

Here is a picture of the cabinet.

(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52838749304_b9b91a9338_c.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2ovbpi3)

(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52838749319_bc5ec6727f_c.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2ovbpii)


Title: Re: Immersion USB arcade PCB wiring pinout and drivers
Post by: Blackknight2000 on April 23, 2023, 01:10:11 pm
Here's my setup with the new board plugged in...

Conbra64 - it looks like you were able to use the version 2 board to control all the functions of your cabinet - do you have something that explains the pinouts for the board. The cabinet I have has the 4 gear gated shifter - each of the spots is considered a button.

Thanks!