Jaka Arcade Controls Encoder

Features

• 16 inputs which all have a dedicated microcontroller pin. No ghosting, jamming or delays.
• One additional input for autofire button. Autofire has adjustable speed and can be configured for any combination of action buttons.
• 4 outputs for LEDs. One LED is for autofire indication, three other leds act as num lock, caps lock and scroll lock leds.
  
• Full-speed USB with up to 1000 Hz update speed (*)
• Advanced debounce function with zero added delay for both press and release of a button.
  
• Works as standard HID keyboard or standard HID joystick
• 4 separate keymaps, configured as MAME players 1,2,3 and 4.
• No software needed for selection between different keymaps or for changing autofire settings
  
• Autofire and keymap settings are stored in EEPROM and are retained after power cycle
  
• Full NKRO (N-key rollover) for keyboard encoder mode. All 16 inputs work simultaneously.
• Shift function doubles the keycodes sent by each button. Allows coin acceptor, pause etc. MAME special function without dedicated button
  
• Works in Windows, Linux, Mac (standard HID device, no drivers needed)
• Works in all major emulators (MAME, RetroPie, etc.)
  
• Upgradeable FW (Microchip compatible HID bootloader)

Hardware

Firmware

Downloads

j_ace_circuit_diagram.pdf         Just what the file name says. It's a circuit diagram!
j_ace_assembly_drawing.pdf    J-ACE assembly drawing and bill of materials. Includes order codes for TME, Digi-Key and Mouser.
j_ace_hw.zip                              Eagle 5.12 schematic and board files for J-ACE
j_ace_gerber.zip                         Gerber files. You can order 10 pcs of these boards from PCBWay using this link.
j_ace_fw_v07.zip                       J-ACE Firmware v0.7. Includes source files and compiled binaries for both keyboard and joystick modes
j_ace_fw_v08.zip                       J-ACE Firmware v0.8. Heavy optimizations in many functions to minimize lag to absolute minimum. Special thanks to WydD for creating lag measurement setup!

How to build it

This chapter describes the steps required to build a J-ACE. It assumes you have basic electronics tools and know how to use them.

Order the parts

Order the parts which are listed in the BOM. Note that you probably don't need connector X10. To make it easier, I have gathered a TME shared cart, a Digikey shared cart and a Mouser shared cart which have all the required components except the PCB.

Order the PCB

You can order a batch of 10 boards for $5 + shipping (approx. $13 total) from PCBWay using this link. If you haven't yet registered to PCBWay, you can register via this link. It gives me some PCBWay credit, and also you should get some free bonus in addition to the $5 initial credit which PCBWay nowadays gives for all new users anyway. You can also use the Gerber package and order boards from your favorite manufacturer.

Get a PIC programmer

If you don't have a PIC programmer or don't have a place/friend where it could be programmed, the cheapest option is to buy a PICkit2 or PICkit3. Also the cheap Chinese clones e.g. from eBay will usually work.

Solder the components

Assembling the PCB is very straightforward job. Component locations are marked on silkscreen, but you can also use this assembly drawing to find which part goes where. Components IC1 and RN1 need to be mounted with correct orientation. Pin 1 is marked with a dot or notch, they have to match the assembly drawing. Screw terminals need to be attached to each other before soldering.

Program the PIC

Download the latest firmware. Information on how to program the PIC, see here.

Install to your arcade stick

The most common use for J-ACE is an arcade stick or arcade cabinet. I won't go into details of construction an arcade stick, there are lots of resources available on the internet. I have drawn a wiring diagram how to connect joystick, buttons and LEDs to J-ACE, see below. This example wiring diagram has joystick, three action buttons, start button, autofire button and autofire LED. The diagram shows a separate LED, but usually you would use an illuminated arcade button for autofire button. Then LED wiring would go to LED terminals of the illuminated button. Just choose an illuminated button with 5V LED. You can add illumination to iL PSL translucent arcade buttons with my button led boards.

How to use it

The J-ACE will be recognized either as three standard HID boot protocol keyboards or as one HID compatible game controller, depending on which firmware is loaded. It doesn't require any drivers.

When used with keyboard firmware, you can use it pretty much directly with MAME. On Retropie, you have to configure it like any keyboard on the first boot.

With joystick firmware, you usually need to select J-ACE from the emulator. You don't need to do any calibration as was required with old analog PC joysticks.

Testing the operation in keyboard mode

To test operation of J-ACE in keyboard mode, you could use a text editor, but it doesn't tell the complete truth. The best way is to use a keyboard test application. One example is Aqua's Key Test (here's a local copy). This kind of application can show correct operation of multiple simultaneous key presses (referred to as N-key rollover or NKRO). They can also separate left and right ctrl, alt and shift keys. If you know a good keyboard test software for Linux or Mac, let me know.

Another possibility is online keyboard test, such as key-test.ru or keyboardchecker.com. They can also show simultaneous keypresses but they can't separate left and right ctrl, alt and shift.

Testing the operation in joystick mode

To test operation of J-ACE in joystick mode, you can use the tools provided by operating system.

On modern Windows versions, the joystick calibration application can't be easily found from the control panel. But it still is there, you can run it by pressing Win+R and type joy.cpl and hit enter. Or on Windows 10 just open the start menu and type joy.cpl.

On Linux systems you can use e.g. jstest command line tool.

Updating the firmware and changing between keyboard and joystick mode

The J-ACE uses a bootloader, so the PIC programmer is not required for updates. The bootloader also allows to change between keyboard and joystick mode firmware. You can enter the bootloader mode by keeping autofire button pressed down when connecting the USB cable. You can then use the update tools suggested on the my USB HID bootloader page.

Using and configuring Autofire

Many joysticks in '80s were equipped with autofire, sometimes referred to as rapidfire. It repeatedly presses fire button at high rate, which eliminates manual button mashing in shoot-em up games. It eases stress on your fingers and allows to concentrate on controlling of the character and avoiding enemy bullets.

The J-ACE has a dedicated Autofire button. It is recommended to also connect an autofire LED.

Autofire mode is activated by pressing the autofire button. The autofire LED is lit, which indicates that autofire is on. Now when you keep button pressed down, the J-ACE repeatedly presses and releases it, at a predefined rate. The autofire LED flashes at same frequency, giving a visual indication of the fire rate. Pressing the autofire button again disables autofire mode.

You can enter autofire setup mode by keeping autofire button pressed down for more than 1 second. The autofire setup mode is indicated by the autofire LED which blinks at the current firing rate. You can increase the firing rate by moving joystick up and decrease it by moving joystick down. There are five speed settings, which are: 4 cps, 8 cps, 16 cps, 31 cps and 63 cps. Cps means clicks per second. At the fastest rate, you probably can't see anymore that the autofire LED is flashing, but it seems to be constantly lit.

You can also configure which buttons have autofire enabled. When exiting autofire config mode, keep those buttons pressed down, then press the autofire button shortly. When you now press the autofire button, the autofire is activated to those buttons. All the other buttons behave normally.

Note that if you use the Aqua's Key Test or Windows joystick test app, they can't show the fastest autofire rates correctly. But the actual fire rate still is correct. You can see this if you test e.g. on Notepad how many characters you can get per second (in keyboard mode, of course).

Configuring the keyboard mode keymaps

The keyboard mode of J-ACE has four preconfigured keymaps. This allows you to connect four J-ACE based controllers simultaneously and enables four player gaming. You can change the keymap by keeping button 1 pressed down when connecting USB cable. This enters the keymap selection mode. The mode is indicated by flashing all the connected LEDs. Now you can select the desired keymap with joystick. Keep the joystick pointing at desired direction and press button 1.

• UP for player 1 keymap
• RIGHT for player 2 keymap
• DOWN for player 3 keymap
• LEFT for player 4 keymap

Currently the keymaps are fixed. The keycodes for different maps are shown in table below:

Shift function

Shift function is similar to shift in keyboard. It changes what other buttons do. J-ACE uses start button as shift. The shift function allows to build a mame controller with fewer buttons, as you don't necessarily have to use dedicated buttons for e.g. coin acceptor or other emulator related buttons. The shift function makes the start button behave a little differently. The normal start button keycode is sent when you release the start button, not when you press it down. If you have used the start button as shift to send some other keycodes, then the normal start button keycode is not sent at all.

The shift function is only available when J-ACE is configured to player 1 keymap. The alternative keycodes sent with shift function are showed in table above.

The joystick mode also implements the shift function. If you want to disable the shift function in joystick mode, look at keymap configuration instructions. The same configuration mode is available in joystick firmware as well. The shift is enabled when configured as player 1. The keymap configuration mode with joystick firmware doesn't have any other effect than enabling or disabling the shift function.