Good USB IO Modules

[Menticol]

Hello guys!

I hope all of you are doing great.

I'm exploring the posibility of starting a small project related with arcade machines. In order of getting my game working I need some way to read data from the outside world (levers and buttons to command the game character) and also to drive external elements (e.j. Cabinet lights) accordingly.

I found that the so called "usb IO modules" do exactly that. Some of them include c# and visual studio code examples, which is great news.

https://www.phidgets.com/products.php?category=0&product_id=1018_2

**broken link removed**

But I would like to consult you before buying / importing anything, as I don't have experience with this modules and funds are not particularly abundant

1. Why are they so expensive? $80 usd for a 8x8x8 (eight analog inputs, eight digital inputs, eight digital outputs) is a lot of money. I understand that lab applications do require higher specs, but for an arcade machine it seems over engineered.

2. I know that i could expand the digital outputs using a 3 to 8 decoder chip. But how can I expand the digital inputs? 4 is insufficient for my application.

3 . Do you have some experience with any of this devices, maybe you could point to a certain manufacturer?

As always thanks a lot by your advice.

 

[Reloadron]

If all you want is DIO (No Analog Channels) then MC (Measurement Computing) offers a wide range of USB interfaced DIO boards like this one. Granted the board cost $99 USD but does offer 24 channels. They also offer assorted software and drivers so you can write your own program including software program examples. Most quality boards like this typically run around $99 USD when you want more channels than 4 or 8. There is also NI (National Instruments) but their cost will be about the same.

Yes, you can MUX inputs and outputs and use a lower channel count costing less but I can tell you, having been there and done that it isn't a good way to go. You end up with a pile of components and a programming nightmare. The beauty of a good 24 channel USB interfaces board is they are pretty much a simple turn key solution.

Then there was this company called DATAQ. They did offer at one time Starter Kit modules that had four digital I/O and four analog channels that were around $29 USD but I see they have pretty much moved to analog input channels.

A Google of USB DIO Modules or Boards might find you something less costly but the less you pay, the less you get creating more work and problems for you.

Ron

 

[ChrisP58]

This one has 24 digital lines.
https://www.mccdaq.com/usb-data-acquisition/USB-1024-Series.aspx

You can also use a few of your digital output lines to drive an input multiplexer, to expand your inputs.

 

[Menticol]

Thank you very much Ron and Chris!

After checking the sites you suggested I think I can solve my problem using two of these products. The DI145 to handle the analog inputs, and the USB-1024 to handle digital I/O.

https://www.dataq.com/products/startkit/di145.html
https://www.mccdaq.com/usb-data-acquisition/USB-1024LS.aspx

I already checked MCDAQ products before creating this thread and I ran away after seeing the price tag. But Ron raised the alarm about reliability: sometimes looking for cheaper things end up becoming the most expensive decision.

I'm not sure if there's any problem running both boards at the same time on the same arcade machine computer, but I guess as they come from different manufacturers it shouldn't be a problem.

 

[Reloadron]

I have run multiple of both without a problem. In some cases it was a simple matter of modifying my code as I recall. When I was actively using these things I wrote in VB-6 and some in later VB versions. Keep in mind, if you use any analog stuff to note the bit count and the sample rates. For the DIO stuff I just ran them using VB under a timer. When it comes to anything analog input the higher the bit count the more costly the boards so it becomes a matter of what you want to resolve and how accurate things need to be.

Also, for what it's worth, any PC with a RS232 serial port offers you 3 digital inputs and two digital outputs in addition to the serial data lines. The RS232 serial port is easily worked with using VB. Well using VB6 anyway as I recall.

Ron

 

[prprog]

Menticol:

This might be a lower end alternative but still it work for the input game part - USB Game Port Adapter. I have used one using VB5 with success . The one I got is from a company call Manhattan. You can also explore using a USB Joystick and adapting it for your needs.

Saludos,
PRPROG

 

[dougy83]

You can get an Arduino Leonardo for <$10 delivered, **broken link removed**
This has 20 I/O, the number of inputs and/or outputs can be expanded ad infinitum by adding shift registers.

Another option is to just hack an old keyboard, which will give you many inputs and three outputs.

 

[prprog]

You can get an Arduino Leonardo for <$10 delivered, **broken link removed**
This has 20 I/O, the number of inputs and/or outputs can be expanded ad infinitum by adding shift registers.

Another option is to just hack an old keyboard, which will give you many inputs and three outputs.

dougy83 / Menticol - I have used the Old USB keyboard hack twice already for my kids project. I interface the keyboard with VB5 and it works great. I even interface the key contact to a 4066 switch array and some simple LDR circuit.