Remote Control Idea

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cordura21

cordura21

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This could be a good idea for a remote control for computer recording.

A year ago I bought a device called Ipac, that basically allows you to connect your computer to real arcade controls, like buttons and joysticks. It's a little card where you connect the buttons and when you push them, it sends a keyboard press to the computer.
So it's basically a computer keyboard controller, thought for arcade use (I use it with Mame program, great app).

SInce it sends key presses, you can use it to control any progam you like, cause the computer sees it as a keyboard. It also has a software where you can program what key is represented by any button.
The best thing (for me as a mac user) is that is both PS/2 and USB compatible, and that's a big plus.

I made myself an arcade controller with it, and I can use it as a remote control for Protools also.
You can connect it to an arcade button, a joystick, a footswith, whatever, and it has like 30 inputs.

The site is http://www.ultimarc.com/. It's in England and the guy is very nice. It's about $50.

Cheers, Andrés
 
That looks incredibly cool. Forgive me, but I'm a bit electronically challenged. Would it be possible to, say, wire up a simple Radio Shmack momentary switch to 1 of the terminals and use that? (or obviously, more of them).

Also, how does one assign a key function to a switch? Is this done via provided software?

Potentially, this could be the coolest thing since sliced bread (IMO).
 
That looks incredibly cool. Forgive me, but I'm a bit electronically challenged. Would it be possible to, say, wire up a simple Radio Shmack momentary switch to 1 of the terminals and use that? (or obviously, more of them).
Click to expand...

Yeah, you can attach anything to it that makes or breaks a circuit. The arcade buttons have a switch under them, so when you press the button it can make or break the switch, depending on how you wire it (if you wire it to the third let of the switch, then it breaks the circuit when you press)

In the same fashion you can attach a momentary switch to it and it will give you the same functionality. You can use a standard footswitch, just play around with it a little to see how it makes and breaks the circuit.

Also, how does one assign a key function to a switch? Is this done via provided software?
Click to expand...

The thing has a lot of inputs, that are assigned to the standard keys that Mame (an arcade emulation software) uses. But it also has a "free setup", where you can say what key does each switch trigger. You do it with a free software the guy has on his site, and it's easy to use.
Hope it helps, Andrés
 
I'm sold. I'm getting all kinds of ideas for a makeshift controller board.

Thanks for the info!
 
That is interesting, thanks. Do you guys know of any good internet sources for exotic buttons and switches besides Radio Shack? I would also be interested in prototyping chassis kits for holding the buttons in an ergonomic design.
 
TexRoadkill said:
That is interesting, thanks. Do you guys know of any good internet sources for exotic buttons and switches besides Radio Shack? I would also be interested in prototyping chassis kits for holding the buttons in an ergonomic design.
Click to expand...

There's a place to buy arcade parts called http://www.happcontrols.com/

Try there.
 
How would this control work in to a direct interface? In other words, how could you "hit the record button" with this?
 
well, for example in Protools you can record pressing the "enter" key on the numeric keyboard. Then, you can program one of the buttons to be equivalent to that key, and presto. You can do that with like 30 different keys, including combinations like Alt, Control, Shift or any other.
Just think that whatever you can do with a keyboard, you can do with this thing too.
 
You all have to check this site out http://www.ucapps.de/index.html
A site all about building MIDI controllers and consoles (For cheap money). They are also currently looking into producing the basic board layouts like those folks did with the IPAC. Combine the 2, and you could have a controller as powerful as anything you could buy anywhere else. Site has excellent documentation (Downloadable PDF's etc.), and a builders forum, and Galleries of completed projects. Really Nice!!!
 
I'm still planning out my remote foot-controller. So far, I'm going to end up with buttons for:

Left, Right, Marker 1, Marker 2, stop, record, play, ff, rew, solo, and 4 assignable buttons. ...and a really long cord :)

There is an awesome electronics builders store by my house. I stopped in last nite and I was like a kid in a candy store. They've got all kinds of long metal footswitch sized cases that'd be perfect, plus every toggle & momentary I could possibly want.

I'm figuring I'll spend about $100-$120 total for the whole smash ...not too bad :)
 
you're so lucky, I couldn't find one momentary switch of any kind in all Buenos Aires. All this devaluation crap froze all imports.
You should get one of those db9 or db25 computer cables, so you can plug and unplug the thing and have plenty of conductors.
In fact, what I'm gonna do is I'll put the ipac in one standalone box with a db25 connector, so I can hookup either a remote control for Protools or the arcade controller I've already made.
 
That's a good idea. I'm not sure how long they make db25 cables, but if I can find one long enough that'd be perfect. I'll post some pictures when I get it put together. Man... if this works out well, somebody could make some cash with these things.
 
I don't think you'll have a problem, cause you can hook up multiple cables together. The thing is not to make the cable that goes from the card to the computer too long, cause that has a maximum length given by the usb or ps/2 standard. But I don't think you'll have problems from the switches to the box, cause it's mainly an on/off signal, so I guess you can make it pretty long. Anyways, if you buy it ask Andy (the guy who makes it) about that, he knows a lot.

This is a very good keyboard controller, cause it's thought for arcade use, thus it avoids stucked keys that make games slower. Many people just hack an old keyboard and get the same results.

How about a joystick?: up = play, left= rewind, right= ff and down= record. I always wanted to have a Roland synth, mainly because of the joystick thing on the left :-)

Yeah, I guess it could be an interesting product.
 
Could one use a USB video game controler for the same purpose? For instance, set the A button as enter? I don't know if this is possible at all. Probably one would just need the software.
 
I'm sure there would have to be a way to do it through software. However, you wouldn't have the convenience of having it on the floor as a footswitch. That's my big thing - it's nice to have a guitar in your hand and re-do a track without having to move around. Plus, I'm not sure how long USB cables can be.
 
you'll need a software that converts from controller data to keyboard data.
The guys who make this arcade emulators use keyboard controller cause it's more standard, since everybody has the same keyboards with the same protocols, be it ps/2 or usb.
The video game joysticks have drivers that feed the data directly to the game. For example Apple has these "input sprocket" software that does it. I personally think the keyboard alternative is better, but I never used a very demanding game. In that case, maybe you'll need something more direct and faster.
 
This shouldn't be all that difficult - mapping controller events to keyboard events, with something like Visual Basic. That part isn't all that difficult. The tricky part would be switching focus to make sure you've got the right app getting the right input, but this can be done as well. Using RS-232 would probably be the simplest, though somewhat limited.
 
http://vellocet.com/software/VMIDIJoY.html
Here you will find the most excellent Joystick to MIDI converter software (Free Too!!!). Really good program. This site also has some excellent technical reference and links to pages about creating custom MIDI joystick/controllers, and how various Game ports except MIDI and so forth. Really good stuff. Enjoy!!!
 
here's an interesting device: the Digital Media Remote from Keyspan.
It's a usb remote that works with infrared light, so it's wireless. You can program it, it's USB compatible (so works for both Mac an PC), has 17 keys that you can route to any key on the keyboard, and it's $49.

http://www.keyspan.com/products/usb/remote/

Check it out. Cheers, Andrés
 
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