LTagent-electronic dart board, dart board factory, Embroidery sequin device

Alrighty then….

The X-Keys Matrix Board has a 30 pin header for connecting switches, power, and 2 LEDs.  It also comes with a USB cable pre-connected for communication and 5V power from a computer.  When examining the header pins we are only concerned with the 8 X 16 switch matrix, of which, we only need 8 rows and 11 columns for the actual dartboard interface.  Having an extra 5 columns available will allow us to later connect switches for other things like a player button, game selection button, etc.

The X-Keys board has a connector that is two rows of 15 pins, and our dartboard’s mylar strip has a connector with one row of 19 pins.  For the dartboard, I simply de-soldered the original connector from the dartboards circuit board.  To work with the X-Keys 30 pin connector I used a floppy cable for a computer.  The floppy cable has 34 pins, but there is plenty of room on the board to allow the extra 4 pins to hang over on one side.

The next obstacle was to connect a female 34 pin connector with 2 rows of pins to a male connector with 1 row of 19 pins.  Since my soldering skills are very rusty, much like my soldering tools, I decided to “McGyver” a connection.  I first took an old floppy drive and desoldered the 34 pin connector for the ribbon cable.  This gives my a conversion from a female connector to a 34 pin male connector.  Next I took 5 audio cables for internal CD-ROM drives, and connected on end of each cable to the 19 pin dart board connector.  I then removed the wire inserts on the other end of the audio cables using a straight pin.  Now with a multi-meter in hand to test for continuity, I tested each wire so that I could connect them to the correct position on the 34 pin connector.  Once done, I verified my connections testing each row and column on the X-Keys Matrix Board and the dart board connector side.

With the wiring connection complete and tested, it is time to concentrate on the X-Keys Matrix Board connection to the computer.

The X-Keys Matrix Board includes the programs ”Macro Maker” and “Macro Manager”.  After installing the driver and software for the X-Keys Matrix board, I started with the “Macro Maker” program.  The program starts by displaying an 8 X 11 grid of buttons.  This program allows each button to be assigned a custom macro of keystrokes.  I assigned each button with a set of keystrokes that corresponds to its row and column in the matrix.  This way if

I press the button in the first column of the first row, it will return the text “1-1″.  I did this for each button in an 8 X 11 grid.  This will allow me to connect everything together, and press each segment of the dartboard to find its corresponding button on the matrix board.  Now I can make a chart of each segment on the dart board, and write down which button in the switch matrix is attached to the segment, by simply pressing on each segment of the dart board while it is attached to the computer.

After creating the macro, the program allows it to be saved to the hard drive for loading and editing later.  I saved the macro, and then ran the “Macro Manager” program.  This allows the macro to be programmed into the matrix board for storage on the boards PROM (programmable ROM chip).

To test my setup, I opened notepad on my computer, with the matrix board attached, and began pressing various segments on the dart board.  VIOLA!!!!!!   Notepad filled up with “1-14-58-2″ and more…   It is working like a charm!!!!!

My next step is to actually create my chart of dart board segments to switch matrix numbers.  Then I can go back and reprogram my macro to match the program I have written for the project.

I will post more as I get time……

I have also included some pictures of the different phases of the project.

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