My Pinball Controller

hootowls

New member
Aug 20, 2013
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Posting here as my goal was to build a Mac-compatible arcade controller to use in lieu of a keyboard for desktop play. The end result is nothing fancy but it's a definite improvement over my tiny Mac keyboard (the HP in the pic is a PS/2 used for programming - more below).

The heart of this project is the i-PAC 2 interface board; it's probably overkill for this application but it's programmable without any software and can certainly be used for a proper MAME arcade controller at another time.

The proof-of-concept was fairly crude: just a cardboard box with flipper buttons. I actually played this setup for quite a while - to the point when the sides of the box began to cave in from a little too-aggreesve play!



The guts. The i-PAC uses PS/2 interfaces, one for a nifty PS/2-to-USB cable and the other for a keyboard pass thru for programming when needed (purple connector in this pic).



The programming mode is entered by entering CTRL-ALT-P - I used TextEdit for this purpose.



Button assignments are a simple matter of pressing the button and then the corresponding keyboard key. Pressing "e" saves the codes.

 

hootowls

New member
Aug 20, 2013
64
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A wood cabinet for the final version would've been nice but I seriously lack the ability to cut a straight line. Luckily I found a project box that pretty much meets my needs (Hammond 1595E). The size made button placement and wiring slightly challenging but it all works out. I do like the slope as it feels comfortable while sitting at the desk with the inside part of each hand resting along the sides of the box.



Buttons are fairly straightforward: Flippers are red; nudge are yellow; black are arrows and select and ball release/plunger is orange. Others are assigned as needed. Trying for a standard keyset between TPA, LittleWing, Zen and Pro-Pinball.

It was a fun little project - thanks for looking!

 

mmmagnetic

New member
May 29, 2012
601
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Wow, very cool! I love how solid and sturdy it looks, like from a scifi movie from the 60s :) I would love to have such a controller - tapping glass isn't quite the same as smashing big buttons!
 

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