How to program pop bumpers and slingshots¶

This guide is for pop bumpers, or anything else which is a quick-fire pulse action (such as slingshots).

Here's an example of the DL: and TL: commands and how they would apply to a pop bumper.

Initial configuration¶

Here's the initial one-time configuration command which would be sent when the machine was starting up:

DL:10,81,15,10,14,FF,00,00,50

This command sends a new configuration to this driver DL:. The pop bumper is driver number 10, trigger mode 81 (enabled but not connected to a physical switch), associated with switch 15, operating in driver mode 10 (pulse), with a pulse time of 14 (20ms), pulse strength of FF (100% power), no secondary pulse time or power 00,00, and a rest time of 50 (80ms).

Enabling the pop bumper autofire at game start¶

When the game starts, you want to enable the pop bumper to be hardware-fired from its switch, which you would do like this:

TL:10,0

That command sets a new trigger TL: for driver 10, using trigger mode 0 which is setting it for auto control.

Disabling the pop bumper at game end¶

Then to disable this pop bumper, like during tilt or when the game ends, use the command:

TL:10,2

That command sets a new trigger TL: for driver 10, using trigger mode 2 which turns the driver off and disconnects it from physical switch control.

Manually fire the pop bumper (during or not during a game)¶

If at any point you need to manually fire the pop bumper, like for ball search or the coil test menu, you would use:

TL:10,1

That command sets a new trigger TL: for driver 10, using trigger mode 1 which manually "taps" the driver. That causes the driver to run through the configured states from the original DL: command (pulse 20ms at 100% power, and then no secondary pulse, with an 80ms rest time).

This command will not change the switch associated with the driver, and it will not change the state of the autofire trigger. If the pop bumper was disabled before this command was sent, it will stay disabled, and if it was enabled before this command was sent, it will stay enabled.

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