{"id":26053,"date":"2022-10-16T22:27:06","date_gmt":"2022-10-16T21:27:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pinballnews.com\/site\/?p=26053"},"modified":"2022-10-16T22:28:23","modified_gmt":"2022-10-16T21:28:23","slug":"new-ir-pinball-testers-part-two","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pinballnews.com\/site\/2022\/10\/16\/new-ir-pinball-testers-part-two\/","title":{"rendered":"NEW IR PINBALL TESTERS: PART TWO"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Welcome to the second part of Todd Andersen’s article detailing how to build and program an infra-red (IR) tester transmitter and receiver.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first part<\/a> showed the components used, why they were selected, and how to connect them to build the two devices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now it’s time to program the microcontrollers to pulse the IR transmitter’s LED and indicate with the in-built LED when the receiver detects IR radiation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Back to Todd…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Don\u2019t worry if you haven\u2019t programmed before. I took advantage of the easy-to-use Arduino IDE (Integrated Development Environment)<\/a>, and you can too. If needed, a troubleshooting section is included at the end of this second part.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Getting Started<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Use of a good quality programming cable and a USB hub is highly recommended. These did, indeed, fix the major issue of my Windows 10 computer not automatically detecting any ATtiny85-based board I was using as a P<\/strong>lug and P<\/strong>lay (PnP)<\/strong> device. See the Digistump wiki<\/a> for even more help getting started.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Programming<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When first trying to programming these ATtiny85-based boards I went through multiple drivers and board configuration files to get Windows 7 and 10 to play nice. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was only partly successful until I either updated the Arduino Integrated Development Environment (IDE) to the latest version or, in the case of Windows 10, it just ‘felt’ like these non-native boards should be detected as PnP devices. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In both of these cases, my uploading to the boards stopped-at-start. I also found myself fighting Windows 10 every time it decided it had to be upgraded; against my requesting it not to. And, with Windows 11 already here, I had to find a permanent solution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As brought up at the start of this article, <\/strong>that solution was to simply employ an inexpensive USB hub between whichever computer and whichever ATtiny85 board variety I tried to connect. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Any cheap USB hub, powered or unpowered, should do the trick. My first attempt’s success rate was anecdotally only about ten percent. In fact, it usually took three attempts to be successful, so a little patience and doggedness was required.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instructions at this point assume you have the Arduino <\/a>I<\/a>D<\/a>E<\/a> <\/a>software<\/a> on your computer and Digstump boards selected in Arduino. If not, Digstump has an incredibly detailed but easy-to-follow tutorial<\/a> for both requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instructions from this point also assume you have rudimentary experience using the Arduino software.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If not, Pinball News has already covered the use of Arduino software in a previous article<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instructions from this point also assume you are programming a Digistump Digispark clone board. However, the code found later on in this article can be easily modified to work with genuine Arduino boards and alternative clone boards if you wish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Open whichever version of the Arduino IDE you are using. It should automatically open and fill your entire computer screen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n