A new wing to allow full Astrocade functionality

[Centurion030]

Hi all!

 

The problem I see in the existing Wings is that the Astrocade, FPGA code here:   http://www.fpgaarcade.com/bally_main.htm

 

Has four inputs ports that ALSO require the knob to work for many games. Can any of the existing Wings available be tweaked or will a custom one be needed: to allow audio, 8-bit VGA, four Astrocade input ports, and a USB to allow a keyboard interface.

 

THE site for Bally/Astrocade tech info is here: http://www.ballyalley.com/ as they even have the Nutting Manual, designers of the Astrocade chipset, in a digital format. 

 

The pricing for the Papilio is ideal to run the Astrocade FPGA code. We just need some extra functionality that doesn't appear to exist in the existing Wings that are available.

 

Regards,

 

James

 

 

[Felix]

controller connector looks like a DE-9?

you may be able to fake it with the arcade megawing, a couple of 74LSxxxx (parallel in, serial out) ic's and a ps/2 keyboard, but the supporting vhdl is out of my league.

[Centurion030]

The problem is, the Arcade Megawing makes no mention of being able to use paddles with the 9-pin connectors. That is the biggest problem as the Astrocade has an all-in-one pistol-grip controller that is a joystick AND the functions of a knob.

 

James

[Felix]

http://www.stat.colostate.edu/~zube/FAQs/bally.faq

10) Joystick Port Information / Controller Adapter.    ----------------------------------------------The following is a corrected pinout list of the Bally Astrocade controller ports.  Port pinout information found in the Bally / Astrocade manuals and previous Bally FAQ version 1 does not use standard DB9 pin designation and thus is backwards.        Bally/Astrocade                         Atari Standard        Controller port                         Controller port        1. NC (No Connection)                   1. Up        2. Down                                 2. Down        3. Left                                 3. Left        4. Right                                4. Right        5. Trigger                              5. Paddle Potentiometer B        6. Up                                   6. Fire Button        7. Potentiometer end                    7. +5v (Paddle end)        8. Ground                               8. Ground        9. 50K Potentiometer (Knob)             9. Paddle Potentiometer A        DB9 Male Port:        DB9 Female Plug:          1 2 3 4 5             5 4 3 2 1           6 7 8 9               9 8 7 6

the joystick side may be doable.

not sure how hard it would be to make a vhdl ADC to read the potentiometer side.

also not 100% sure if the +5V line is hardwired or controlled by the fpga.

 

best bet is to go on github and get the plans for it and modify it as needed.

 

hardware wise it shouldnt be too hard.

[Centurion030]

A doable workaround would be to have USB and use this:

 

http://home.comcast.net/~tjhafner/Astro-daptor.htm

 

But the coding would be needed in the FPGA.

 

James

[Centurion030]

Would this also work?

 

http://www.doulos.com/knowhow/vhdl_designers_guide/models/analogtodigital_converter_model/

 

 

James

[Felix]

neat toy.  not sure what it takes to get USB host support running on an fpga. given that the device is recognized as USB HID,

it should be documented well somewhere.

 

as for the vhdl, probably hamster, vlait or jack would be able to give you guidance.

[OmniTechnoMancer]

USB host is significantly more complex than doing the device side, it would take up significant resources inside the FPGA to just have the host controller and something to drive it and interpret the HID messages.

 

As for that VHDL, it looks like it uses a real input and describes an ADC, this will definitely not work on a xilinx FPGA and is likely either only to be used for simulation or possibly for ASIC synthesis.

It is possible to build a really hacky sigma delta ADC on an FPGA using two pins, I am not sure if this would work well enough for your purpose, otherwise an SPI ADC chip could be used.