|
Page 8 - go to Page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 ,11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 |
||||||||
|
I've been working on the circuits required to generate sound effects. The sound effects are needed for the exploding targets and numerous other effects that will occur through the course of a game. I have been experimenting with the ISD2560 analog storage device. It can hold 1 minute of 8kHz sampled audio. The sound quality is pretty good. This IC has address lines so that you can record and play thousands of sound files. These ICs can be a bit flaky in that they will appear to do some strange things like only playing part of a track, play the wrong track, generate audible hum and pops, etc.. This may prove to be more trouble than it's worth. As such, I may change my approach so that I am using an entirely different technology. We'll see. My first attempt was somewhat successful. I bread boarded a 16 track, serial controlled, player/recorder. The circuit can be put in programming mode with a jumper or switch. In this mode, you can record up to 16 sound effects to 16 individual addresses via the dip switch. There is a record button and a play button which are only active in programming mode. To record a track, audio is fed from your sound card on your PC into the audio input jack. Pressing the record button once initializes the record sequence. (the led flashes now) To record, press the record button and the hold it while playing the track on your PC. Recording ends when you release the record key. To play the track in programming mode, press the play key momentarily. Once in run mode, the circuit is a multi-track player where the tracks are controlled via simple serial commands.
It works pretty well however it is not reliable at this point. Serial data control can be tricky. When you prototype something that uses serial communications, all of those wires start to look like antennas, capturing and generating noise. Some of the problems are that the tracks sometimes don't play or a track kicks off before it is complete. And then there is the inherent click and pops. The clicks and pops can be minimized with a good PC board design but with these devices, they are always there. I have gotten around that problems in the past by building an audio muting circuit which suppresses the output audio, just before the track ends. The problem is that you have to know the track length. If you record a new track, you have to reprogram the microcontroller (PIC) to mute the track. It is quite possible that the serial communication glitches would go away once the sound modules were on PC boards, but there is no guarantee. Given that, I have decided to use a tried and tested hardware approach where the tracks are triggered by highs and lows, hardwired from the targets for example. I recorded 4 tracks for testing; Here are two poor videos (sorry) of the targets with sounds effects. The problems I was having is that the first ground hit only plays the second track, not the first and with the building video, the target lights would sometimes extinguish early. |
||||||||
|
August
27, 2003
Ackerman
Computer Sciences I purchased a 32 MB flash card, a 24 input contact sense board and a USB plug in card reader for storing the sound files. With this purchase, most of my sound effect needs will be met with the exception of the gun firing sounds from the hostile targets and chopper and the chopper rotor sounds. All of these sound effects require very instantaneous sound effects that cannot be accommodated under most audio systems. Fortunately, those circuits are simple to build in that they play a very short sound file in rapid succession. The chopper sounds will be a bit tricky because the rotor speed noises have to correspond in frequency and volume to each throttle control. Regardless, this audio system will take care of everything else and I will be ensure very high quality sound. Here's a list of sound effects it will manage;
|
||||||||
|
September 9, 2003
I can work around the 36 second delay by keeping the CFsound powered up at all times. As long as the machine is plugged in, power can be applied to the CFsound permanently. A master switch will turn on the machine. This is when the start-up sound will occur. The delay in the explosion sound does not seem awkward or out of sink when hitting a target with the gun because it shoots in rapid succession. With the bomb function however, the delay is slightly noticeable. I think I can adjust the bomb effect to compensate for the delay. The way is works right now is when you drop a bomb, the red Luxeon Star LED blast the ground, then fades back over a 1.5 second period. The fade effect is managed in software within the helicopters controller. To compensate for the delay, I'm going to tweak the software so that when the bomb is dropped (Luxeon Star LED activates), It will be activated at about 60% intensity initially, then 160ms later, at 100% intensity before fading back. This could be a really neat effect in fact. I'll likely put the same 160ms delay in the hostile target's explosion effect. That's an easy change. The only other sound effect managed by the CFsound that needs to be adjusted for would be the hook lower and hook retract sound. I'll just delay the start of the hook movement by 160ms to compensate. Besides recording all of the sound effects such as attract mode, narration, hook, score update, bonus and explosion sounds, I only need to build a chopper rotor sound module and a gun firing sound module for the ground targets. The helicopter's gun sounds can be generated using DTMF tones directly from the speed controller/gun/hook/bomb controller. My goal is to have the sound system wrapped up in a week or 2. After that, I'll begin to work on the displays. I believe I have the answer(s) for the displays. |
||||||||
|
October
3, 2003
|
||||||||
|
October
6, 2003
|
||||||||
|
October
20, 2003
|
||||||||
|
November
12, 2003
I have had some of the checker plate aluminum cut already however the rear side plates will be done in a week or two. I was initially quoted $700 to do all the metal work however I was able to reduce this to just $250.00 by going to a water jet cutting company for the difficult parts. The metal plates are the last things (besides the lights) to go on the cabinet. I am thinking that I may attach them with rivets. It will look very clean that way. Screws may make the removal easier however there is not much wood to screw into. I am a little stumped on the lights. I can find red, orange and white marker lights but I cannot find blue. If anyone has some advice, please contact me. Lastly, the legs have their first coat of paint in a dark hammertone grey. I am hoping to have the cabinet painted by this weekend but I may have to complete that part when I return from vacation. It could be a while before I find the lights I want.
|
||||||||
|
November
14, 2003
The next step is to spray the orange. The parts that will be orange are the base (about 3/4 of the outside vertical surfaces) and the inside of the top piece. I decided to do the inside of the top piece orange because I feel it will enhance the lighting that will reside in that area. I will likely use low voltage halogen lighting. The glossy orange lacquer should help create a nice warm downward glow. Once the orange painting is complete and fully cured, I will finish 2 areas with metallic clear coat to hopefully give those surfaces a retro-automotive look. I will experiment beforehand however. Those surfaces will include the vertical, outside surfaces of the corner pieces and the outside vertical surfaces of the base. I may wait till I return from my upcoming vacation to apply that last step because the best finish for lacquer is achieved after letting the previous coats cure for several days. That's my opinion anyway. So really, I am not far off from being able to assemble the painted cabinet. Once re-assembled, I'll mount the checker plate aluminum and install the yet to be found lights. Ideally, I wish I could have built virtually everything before I even began painting the cabinet. That way, all of the holes for routing wires and all of the other mounting parts would have been painted. However, I decided to paint now as a means to commit to a cabinet colour and cosmetic design but most importantly, to inspire me to get this project done. I have worked on this for about 11 months and I believe I'll be another 6 months before it is complete. Originally, I simply wanted to build a helicopter arcade machine that was retro in design but performed much better than anything ever built. It was going to be simple but powerful. As things evolved (as they often do), I began to add lots of advanced functions like a laser, retractable hook, bomb function, hit detection, targets, collapsing bridge, fuel, ammunition and repair functions, etc, etc. Even developing a system that would allow the helicopter to pick up a vehicle and drop it off so that it could be picked up again and again; although it seems simple now, it took a long time to develop the scheme to make that happen and to make it work reliably. Along with the huge increase in functionality came higher quality materials and construction techniques. Of course this added lots of time and much more costs. I am guessing that my costs will land me at about $4,000 to $5,000 plus hundreds of hours of labor. I do lots of work for a company that manufactures interactive displays and exhibits for museums and companies profiling a product. They would sell this machine for $30,000 to $50,000. I am not kidding. I have built several control systems for them for working models where the model was contracted for over $50,000. Yet, my machine will be more sophisticated than anything they have every built. At this point, money is no object. I'll sink whatever I have to, to make this machine the best one ever built. Given all that I said, this next while will be an exciting phase for the project. Really, I am in the finishing stages. Although not all of the electronics have been built and some things like the building and collapsing bridge scheme need to be developed, I feel I am entering the finishing stage where all of this experimenting and pondering is coming together. |
||||||||
|
November
15, 2003
|
||||||||
|
December
3, 2003
I now have all of the checker plate aluminum cut and all for $90.00. Another company quoted me $700.00. I'm not kidding! Although I have not test fitted everything, all of the pieces look really good. Thank you "Go H20", the waterjet company that did this for me. I'll take some pictures when I feel better. I have thought about fastening methods for all of the metal. I'll likely use wood screws in some areas and small bolts in others where I can. The heads will all match. I plan to start assembling the base this weekend. I may not be able to attach the wrap around metal to the top until I get some lights. I want to pre-drill as much of the metal as possible including all of the holes for the lights, lenses and wiring holes. I still have not found suitable lights for this project. I am looking for blue round marker lights, about 2" to 2.5" in diameter. They may not exist. One option is to make my own from colored pinball bumper caps. I have sent emails to two suppliers to get exact dimensions for certain bumper caps but have not heard back from them yet. I often go through hardware stores and toy stores looking for something I could hack for parts. These lights have me stumped. I am even going to look at tinted plastic drinking cups. By Friday, a full size positive film will be generated for the corner pieces, that is, the film for the silk screen of the buildings. I decided to use a hybrid approach where the buildings are silk screened and the white graphic helicopters are going to be precision white vinyl decals that will overlay the silk screened buildings. This was not the most cost effective solution because of the silk screening but it should be reasonable and give professional results. I am hoping this stuff is done in less than 2 weeks. If I can resolve the lights in a few days and get some stuff ordered, I may meet my target of having the basic working machine in my basement by Christmas. |
||||||||
|
December
7, 2003
I was going to begin assembling the cabinet this weekend but instead I had to do some work on a rental property we bought. Priorities! In any case, I want to wait till I get the stuff back from the graphics company next week anyway. It should start to look pretty neat. I'll have the cabinet assembled with all of the graphics and metal pieces. Only the lights will be missing. For the first time, it will look like an arcade machine. |
||||||||
