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Pinball wizard, Plunger reused (how it works)


Westworld

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In case you started with a pinball wizard (game controller + digital plunger from Nanotech) and want to replace the controller  (I'm unhappy with nudge) but continue to use the plunger...

The plunger, connected via SATA, is a I2C device, using a TSL2561 sensor.

As such, it is a kind of plug&play to reuse with any other controller, Teensy, Arduino, etc, no need to replace it.

A SATA cable has 4 isolated wires plus ground. Two of the isolated cables carry 3.3V, the two others are SDA/SCL for I2C. (as long you don't mix ground, don't worry, you can jus try them, no damage). Default Addr = 0x39

Use a library as https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_TSL2561 to talk to the plunger. You might want to use the example delivered with the library

In normal position it returns 123 lux, pushed in 162 lux, moved out 23 lux. This values are with standard settings, did not tried higher resolution yet.

I'll use it with a Teensy LC ($12), plus BMI160 (gyro/accelerator, 5$), to get nudge, plunger and buttons. The BMI160 is self calibrating...

 

 

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Oh man!   Hopefully I didn't throw it out.   My pinball wizard controller died a couple years ago, but I really wanted to use the optical sensor which, unlike the nudging, actually worked well. 

Would be interesting to modify the pinscape sources to support it.  

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