Feast on a constant stream of lamp and switch states from your SAM based machine.

Every controlled lamp. Every switch. All the time.

Switch info is sent every time the state switches beween on/off. Lamps are sent at two levels of resolution. Constant on, constant off and flashing/not flashing are sent each time those states change, and a higher resolution immediate on/off (regardless of constant/flashing state) is also sent for super fast response times.

The data is delivered in a constant serial stream that can be read by almost anything. The Arduino Serial.Read comes to mind.

In this short, one minute video I show a quick demo of the stream. The output nomenclature you'll see in the video is simply "L" for lamp, then the lamp number from 01-80, then 0/1 for on off. You can see at points where the playfield inserts are flashing in sync that the screen gets filled with either 1 or 0 as all lamps go that way. You won't see an "S" code for switch as I don't activate any switches during the video.

The Matrix Interceptor may be familiar to you as the heart of Total Lightshow. It sits in the lamp and switch matrices of SAM machines and monitors all lamp and switch behaviour. I have used that information in the development of Total Lightshow and its accessories, but until now have not been able to get that info out in a usable form for anyone who might want to use the lamp and switch states for their own mods. With the plug in serial board (that has been used up until now as the Sound Caller accessory for generating spinner sounds on Metallica), all those states can now be sent continuously out.

My first use of this will be to create a four-channel RGB GI replacement kit that I will be demo-ing over the next few weeks in the TLS thread. Uses are limited only by your imagination. In a slightly different form, this data is already being used to drive video screens. Whatever you can drive with an Arduino (or any other platform) you can trigger with this data stream.

I will be offering the board in minimalist form as Matrix Interceptor StateStream, consisting of MI, plug in comms board and cables, and then with various levels of extras depending on use. The GI kit I have mentioned will come with an Arduino Mega 2560, a purpose built shield, and all cables, for example.

Why this thread?

I am going to separate this out from the Total Lightshow thread because it is now usable in raw form and anyone with any mod idea that needs game signals can use it. Everything I do on it will be open source and hopefully we can share ideas and more people can make really high quality mods with a high degree of interactivity.

Pricing/Availablity?
I will have it in stock after a bit more testing, next week sometime, targeting around US$160.

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Here's a quick switch test. The video starts with the lamp data stream, which stops when I put the machine into op menus. You can see that the few lamps that were on or flashing go to constant off or flashing off status and then it's waiting for an event. I then plunge a few balls to fire a few switches. You can see most activity on the trough switches of course.