Testing RGB button...

[Slippyblade]

So, I wanted to play around and test a couple thinks so picked up a couple of different button types and a couple different switches.  One of the buttons I got was the Electric Ice 2 with an RGB-Drive so I could see how those look.  I've never seen an RGB lit button in person, only via video on this site.  I understand that for a full CP with varying button colors and such I'd need something like an LED-Wiz.  What I want to know is how would I set up a test rig on a single button so I can play with colors. 

The RGB-Drive is common anode, so that means I only need a single +5v line.  Then each color goes to ground.  Would I just run each color's cathode through like a 5k pot to vary the colors?

[DaOld Man]

I think you could set up 3 switches, one to each led lead. This will give you control of the three colors, but I think led wiz gets so many colors by flashing them in certain sequence. If that is the case, the only practical way to do it is with an led wiz or something similar.

[Slippyblade]

Ahhh.  Just spent half hour digging around to find an answer to this.  The colors are not voltage controlled, they need a pulse-width modulator.  I'm guessing that this is assumed knowledge since NONE of the datasheets have that info and I only found it mentioned in an Instructable.

So, I guess I would need an Arduino or something that can output a PWM signal to experiment with strobing.  Otherwise I'm stuck with just 9 possible colors.

[Slippyblade]

Now that I know the color channels need to be controlled via PWM I think I may have a way to play with it.  It seems the ATMEGA32U2 AVR has 3 PWM channels and I just recently (last week) bought four of em.  So now I get to setup an Arduino programming environment and play with it.  This is becoming quite the experiment!   

[Slippyblade]

Started another thread about this - totally forgot about this thread...  Man, my brain is leaking.

Anyway, got the AVR programmed so I can cycle the RGB-Drive and check out the colors.  I like it a lot.  Not as solid a color as an actual colored button, but still cool.  I may very well go with RGB buttons on my pedestal.  I like the idea of only lighting the buttons used per game and the translucent white looks nice when unlit.

Also, part of this "project" was playing with different switches so I could tell the difference.  I've only every used the most inexpensive buttons/switches available so I really had no clue what the deal was with other types.  Now that my parts are here and I've played around with em, I won't be doing that again.  I really like the ClassX button assembly, having the switch holder removable is just genius and I like the feel of the button itself.

As far as switches go, I am not seeing a lot of difference in feel between the Soft Touch and True Leaf.  They seem to make about the same amount of noise as well.  Tonight I will be mounting them into an actual panel and playing some games with em.  We'll see how my wrist feels after a few games of some rapid fire shmups.  One thing I have already noticed though is that the barrel spring seems redundant when using the leaf switch.  I removed the barrel spring and the feel seems much nicer.

[dkersten]

There are a couple things to consider with RGB buttons (in my limited but recent experience).  First, you need to pick the controller BEFORE you pick the LED..  This is important because the different brands have different connectors and resistors.  If you are using the LEDWiz, you need the LED's with resistors already in them.  If you are using a pacled or ipac ultimate, you don't want resistors in them.  Also, the ipac ultimate uses 2.54mm x 4 (DuPont style) for connecting, and others use screw terminals.  So you will either be crimping a ton of very tiny pins or getting LED's with the plugs already installed.

Next is the brightness you want.  Best thing to do is if you have samples, set up a test board with the samples installed, fire them up to max for each color in a room with similar lighting to where the CP will end up.  I fired up my LED's in my office at work first and under the bright fluorescent lighting they were extremely underwhelming.  But in a CP with darker ambient lighting they are just about perfect.  This is with the RGB Drive II LED's from GGG.  They make a version that has 3x the LED and sits up in the body of the button though, and some people think it is too bright.  In a very well lit room though I imagine it would be just right.

You will probably get a little variation in color.  I have only one out of 30 that is way off, the rest are dead on.  The one that is not right stands out like a sore thumb.  Get a couple extra, it is worth it.  Also if you go with the iPac Ultimate for a controller, and like the GGG RGB Drive 2 LED's, you have to ask specifically for the ones without resistors on the boards and with the 4 pin plug already attached.  They are NOT 24" leads though, more like about 14".  In order to not have to crimp about 40 2.54mm pins myself, I went to amazon and found some 20cm 2.54mm extension plugs (male x female) that worked out perfect..  I did buy the pin crimper (which sucks), and a ton of pins and DuPont 4p housings, and I ended up using some for other buttons, but I ended up replacing all my LED's with the ones with no resistors and with 4 pin plugs already installed.  Saved me at least 6 hours of work, probably more.

LEDBlinky is awesome once you figure out the quirks, and the color.ini file is easy to edit and add games to.  There are a lot of games that are not completely right, particularly if you are on a clone, so expect to tweak some of your games.  Also a lot of the CP art out there doesn't match what color.ini has listed, but most often the cab art that is out there will have the right colors.  Just takes some work to get it where you want it. 

It is definitely cool to have your buttons match the color of the game you are playing, and to only light up the buttons you will be using. 

[Slippyblade]

Whoah.  Lot of info there, DK!  Thanks much.

My main concern is the number of buttons.  I'm working on a standard 4 player CP, six buttons on P1/P2 with four buttons on P3/P4. So 20 buttons all together that would need to be RGB.  So 60 color channels.  Not to mention that becomes about $7 per button.  Yikes!   

Gonna sit down with the wife and decide what direction to go.  I may just RGB the admin buttons so as to have some bling.

[dkersten]

Yeah it gets expensive, but I hit a certain point and said to myself "If I am gonna do it, I might as well do it the way I want"..

Here is the ironic part for me:  I went with the ultimarc for led output, but went with ggg for led's and buttons.  The ultimarc was something like $7.50 per button with the RGB led, and the ggg ended up being around $5.50 per button.. I figured I was saving some $60.. But then I ended up swapping the RGB Drive 2 led's for the ones without the resistors and with the plugs - at a $1 per unit upcharge plus shipping.  AND I bought a crimper, a couple hundred pins, and the housings for the 2.54mm pins.  That was another $35 from amazon.  Then I needed to extend 8 of the LED's, and bought extensions for another $10 on amazon.  In the end I think I spent a little more than if I had just gone with the ultimarc buttons to begin with.  Granted I DID end up needing the crimpers and stuff for about 15 connections, but still, the extra time in shipping and trying to figure out how to make it all work together could have been avoided if I had just spent the money in the beginning..  The end result is pretty darn cool though, so either way..

BTW, I went 4 player, 7 buttons for p1 and p2, 4 buttons for p3 and p4, 2 credit buttons (unlit, use shift for c3 and c4), 4 start buttons, 4 admin buttons, 2 mouse buttons (unlit), RGB trackball, and spinner.  Total of 30 RGB led's plus 1 for the trackball.  That is 93 led outputs.  Since I used the u360 for p1 and p2, I saved 4 switch inputs on each.  I went with the iPac Ultimate and with the trackball and spinner, 5 or 6 switch inputs (plus the inputs for those devices) couldn't be used.  But I used p1 and p2 joystick inputs for p3 and p4 sticks, and ended up using every single input on the board for switches as well as all but three (one rgb) output for my LED's.  So I did it all with one controller.  Barely, lol.  Even Andy didn't think I could do it all on one controller without using the u360 inputs for joy buttons.

[Slippyblade]

Yeah, I don't mind busy work like crimping QD's and such.  I have a phone job where there are periods of downtime and we are allowed to bring projects.  ANY projects.  My coworkers were a little curious the day I brought my soldering iron and toolbox to work one day.     Honestly, I could bring my entire 46" pedestal CP box in and wire it up at work and nobody would care as long as I still did my job.

I like my job.

I really need to do cost comparisons of complete setups though.  I can access GGG from work, but our firewall is wonky and Ultimarc is blocked all the time and Paradise some of the time.  I just need to actually set aside a couple hours and spreadsheet the options.

[ChanceKJ]

I went IL buttons and RGB LEDs from Paradise, then LED control from Ultimarc.  I'm really happy with everything so far. Mind you, I'm mid assembly, but all the tests I've run tell me that things are working in my favor.