Tag: button

Arcade Button Wrenches

I use a lot of these Big Dome Pushbuttons in my line of work… and I also use the GoldLeaf Pushbuttons and sometimes you just want those things screwed in tight. So I made wrenches for both of them so you can screw them in tight.

You can get the STL and .scad files from Printables.com – Big Dome Pushbutton Wrench and also from Printables.com – GoldLeaf Pushbutton Wrench

One more word of advice, at least for the Big Dome, though it’s not a bad idea for the GoldLeafs as well… Once everything works and you’ve tightened the nut in place, add hot glue. Add a lot. Hot glue the shit out of that nut. Glue it to the panel it goes through, and glue it to the threads of the plastic housing. Why? Because I’ve seem both kids and adults in my time twist the button until it rips the wires off. It’s possible with the Big Dome if not glued down, and while I’ve never seen it on the GoldLeaf buttons, I still add glue just in case.

Oh, this is also the first time I’ve tried PolyMaker filament. I grabbed a roll of Polymaker PolyTerra “Army Light Green (HEX Code – ?A78403)” Matte PLA Filament. I like the color, but I realized this may be the first time I’ve used matte filament. It’s different than what I’m used to, but I don’t hate it. The PolyTerra PLA comes on cardboard spools, which should be more environmentally friendly than all those darn plastic spools. Supposedly for every Polymaker PolyTerra spool sold a tree is planted. I don’t know how to confirm that but if true, that’s a nice thing.

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Tags 3dprinting, button

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Three Button Tradeshow Video Player Controller

Post author By Pete Prodoehl
Post date 2022-11-28

I was contacted by a trade show company about helping with a project on a tight deadline. At first it seemed as though they had a solution but just needed some hardware or some advice, but I did a call with the software developers and it seemed like the quickest (and most solid) plan was to create a drop-in replacement for what they were working on (and were stuck on) that would do exactly what was required.

One of the requirements was for each button to be lit a specific amount of time to match the length of video playback for each button. Since we didn’t yet know the lengths of the video, and I had to ship this across the country, I suggested an easy method of setting the time for each button to be lit. This would allow them to dial in (literally) the timing once they had the videos completed.

We did know that the videos would be under 75 seconds. Just to be safe I set the timers to go up to 90 seconds (1 minute, 30 seconds, to be precise.) The controller plugs into a computer via USB and sends commands that the custom software needs to play the appropriate video.

There are a lot of details I didn’t know, but it seemed like I had enough to do my part. They sent me a rendering of a cabinet the controller would live in (which I’ve replicated in the simple sketch above). When I was building museum exhibits much of my work lived inside of cabinets and was never seen by the public, only technicians… that doesn’t mean things shouldn’t look nice.

There’s a small OLED display in the controller which shows the time that corresponds to each button, and can be adjusted by the appropriate dial. The dials are 3D printed because I forgot to pocket out the back of the lid where the potentiometers are placed. There’s a few compromises that were made due to this being a rush job. (I completed this build in under a week, using only parts I had in my shop at the time.)

For other controllers I’ve used TRS jack and cables to connect the buttons, or on occasion, Cat5 cables and connectors. Both are nice because they are easy to obtain in any length, and trade show companies usually have a bunch in their inventory.

The bottom of the enclosure has four mounting holes, and I included screws to allow it to be attached inside the cabinet. Alternately, VHB or hook & loop could be used to attach it.

As always, if you need a device you can check out raster.etsy.com for some of the more popular stock items I make, but if you need something custom just get in touch.

Tags arduino, button, controller, tradeshow, usb

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USB Footswitch

Post author By Pete Prodoehl
Post date 2022-08-21

I made a USB Footswitch. Someone got in touch with me and wanted a button that could work with QLab and that they could easily trigger with their foot. I designed and printed an enclosure and I made it pretty darn solid. I’ve stood on it and it hasn’t broken yet.

You can find this USB Footswitch on Etsy if you want or need one. It can be programmed to do pretty much anything you could do with a computer keyboard, and it can alternately work as a USB MIDI device. Which, as long as you need only one button, might be useful!

Here’s a shoe for scale. It’s a shoe that belongs to my wife. I asked her if I could borrow a shoe and she didn’t even want to know what I was using it for. Anyway, it shows how you might trigger the button with your foot.

There’s a port for a Micro USB cable, and you’ll get a 6 foot USB cable with it. You could use a 10 or 15 foot cable if you have one, or use a pair of USB over Ethernet if you want to go even further. Maybe your computer is in another room, or another part of the building. Maybe it’s in the control room and you’re in the booth. I don’t know.

Those rubber feet on the bottom should prevent it from sliding around. It’s also fairly heavy for its size, so that should help it from sliding around. Stay put, footswitch!

Here’s a computerized rendering of the device. I model everything I 3D print using OpenSCAD because I love it.

Tags arduino, button, controller, midi, usb

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JoyToKey with USB Buttons

Post author By Pete Prodoehl
Post date 2021-09-08

As you might know (or might not) I build custom USB (and MIDI) controllers. You can find them on Etsy.

Anyway, a (potential) customer got in touch with me and asked if we could make a button work with JoyToKey which is a Windows application that can map joystick input to key commands. It’s been a while since I programmed a joystick but it was fairly simple, and I had it all working in no time.

So add that to the list for future development if you ever need a button to emulate a joystick so it can send key commands. (Hey, we do what people ask!)

Here’s what JoyToKey looks like. The line highlighted in yellow is what happens when the button is pressed.When released it goes back to not being highlighted. Cheers!

Tags button, usb

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Big Button Audio Player

Post author By Pete Prodoehl
Post date 2021-08-17

I was recently contacted by an artist who really liked The Big Button and wanted to use it for an art installation. After some discussion it turned out they really didn’t need a USB controller but needed something to trigger an audio player. When I asked what they were going to use for an audio player they said they didn’t know, so I suggested building the whole thing to ensure it would all work together. And it did.

The control box (which is the “audio player” in the simplest terms) allows the button to plug into it using a 3.5mm TRS cable. This allows the customer to swap out to a longer or shorter cable if needed. 3.5mm TRS stereo cables are everywhere and pretty cheap. Since we only need three wires there’s no need for a more complex connection. (Though if you need an RJ-45 solution, we’ve got that covered.)

The control box also has a 3.5mm jack for audio out. This is to connect to external powered speakers or a PA system. (Or headphones!) And in the center of the front panel is a Mini USB jack for powering the unit via a Mini USB cable and a 5 volt wall wart.

There’s a hole on the side of the unit for access to the Micro SD card in the audio player. Just in case sounds ever need to be changed, or if the card fails, etc. Without this hole it would be very difficult to get to the card. (Just like the Game Show Buzzer System I covered the hole with tape before shipping.)

Here’s a look inside the unit. There’s an Arduino Nano with the audio player, and the 3.5mm jack and… some wires! And a few wire connectors taped together just to prevent them from rattling. This was a quick build but it came together fairly easily. I did a good amount of testing with this one, and luckily it all went well. (I should really build a permanent testing station again, as it’s becoming of a need lately.)

So hey, if you need some weird electronic device that does something… let me know!

Tags arduino, audio, button