Idea for a simple Swappable CP

[Guywiththegun]

Here's the deal. I love the Hotrod SE because you can just plug it in anywhere and start playing (I'm putting an IPAC VE in it to make it even better). I wanted to use it on the cab I'm doing (old Kangaroo cab), but this would eliminate half of its appeal to me. So I want to make a system where the Hotrod can attach to the cab, firmly, and be somewhat easy to remove.

If I get that worked out, great, but it would leave the cab looking terrible when I took out the Hotrod. So I had an idea. I once considered making an old school cab for Pacman, Frogger, etc. with just a 4 way joystick, a couple of buttons, and maybe a trackball. What if I were to make this CP, and keep it inside the cab like a sliding drawer that easily goes in and out. When I want to fire up SFII and MK with the Hotrod, I just slide the other CP in. When I want to use the Hotrod somewhere else, or play some 4-way games on the cab, I take the Hotrod out and slide the 4-way CP out.

Here are some sketches of what I mean:







Does this look feasible? Any suggestions on how to go about this? Should I just scrap the whole thing, keep the Hotrod separate, and make a big dedicated CP? (Keep in mind this is a small Kangaroo cab, and I'd have to learn wood-working from the ground up if I went that route)

[TopJimmyCooks]

This reminds me of the single cartridge neo geo cabs - the pcb and cart is mounted on the same plywood piece as the bottom of the cp, and you slide the CP up and out to bring the pcb forward to change the cart or whatever.  you might want to take a look at photos of those for geometry or ideas.  I think this is very doable, though. 

[Vigo]

I think having a drawer slide can work. The part of getting the CP to come up at an angle, then lay flat once it is in position seems to be the difficult part of the task.

You could have the control panel stay level as it comes up, you would probably want to have 2 drawer slides on each side of the CP. I don't know about joystick clearance though.

You could also use a drawer slide system where there are two roller wheels mounted to each side of the CP, and once you get to the top, the first roller wheel will pop out of the drawer slide. This will leave the CP "free spinning", and you can lock in into place once it is in the position that you want.


If I was to design a pop out control panel, though. I would probably consider some sort of swing arm hinge. It would be bulkier, but probably easier to work out. Have boards the go down either side of the coin door, and swing on a hinges mounted on the front interior of the cabinet.

[Donkbaca]

The difficult part of the task is getting the CP and the bezel/monitor area to meet up right, and having space in your cab. 

Why would you ever remove the Hotrod?  Just get a couple of xbox joysticks, they are smaller, plug into a computer and you can use them on an xbox to boot.

[TopJimmyCooks]

if you're doing an lcd monitor, you may need the small "admin" panel that most people end up having under the monitor to get it up to the right viewing height.  if you do use that, you could make it hinged at the top to flip up and clear the joysticks.

[Guywiththegun]

This reminds me of the single cartridge neo geo cabs - the pcb and cart is mounted on the same plywood piece as the bottom of the cp, and you slide the CP up and out to bring the pcb forward to change the cart or whatever.  you might want to take a look at photos of those for geometry or ideas.  I think this is very doable, though. 

Thanks for the heads up! I actually got the idea from a SFII dynamo cab I had. You'd unlatch the CP, then pull the PCB board up and out. It was really easy and VERY convenient (I could never get it to work so i did a lot of tinkering in there . . very thankful for at least that).

I think having a drawer slide can work. The part of getting the CP to come up at an angle, then lay flat once it is in position seems to be the difficult part of the task.

In the SFII cab I had, there were 2 roller wheels inside a little wooden track. The track came up at an angle then became straight once it was at the right level to come out. It worked really great, but I would need some way to secure it once in place (which I have no idea about yet).

If I was to design a pop out control panel, though. I would probably consider some sort of swing arm hinge. It would be bulkier, but probably easier to work out. Have boards the go down either side of the coin door, and swing on a hinges mounted on the front interior of the cabinet.

Definitely another good option. As long as I have enough room for the PC in between the two hinges it could work great.

The difficult part of the task is getting the CP and the bezel/monitor area to meet up right, and having space in your cab.

I figured if I measured right everything should be pretty flush, especially if I make it so the CP can be extended further than it needs to be . . I could just push it right up to the bezel myself and lock in place.

Why would you ever remove the Hotrod?  Just get a couple of xbox joysticks, they are smaller, plug into a computer and you can use them on an xbox to boot.

Not sure what you mean here. The Xbox fighting sticks? I don't like the look of them. I prefer the one panel and the happ joysticks/buttons. They're way overpriced too, IMO.

if you're doing an lcd monitor, you may need the small "admin" panel that most people end up having under the monitor to get it up to the right viewing height.  if you do use that, you could make it hinged at the top to flip up and clear the joysticks.

That's what I was thinking. It would be hard to clear the joysticks coming up towards the monitor, so part of the bezel/monitor mount might need to be removable.

[mytymaus007]

Sounds like you can build without issues but the only issue that i see is the cab itself. You said that you want to play 4 way games seems like they are mostly vertical view, thats great for your first panel, but MK and street fighter are horizontal. I would just build two cabs sounds easier and more efficient all around

[leapinlew]

Sounds like you can build without issues but the only issue that i see is the cab itself. You said that you want to play 4 way games seems like they are mostly vertical view, thats great for your first panel, but MK and street fighter are horizontal. I would just build two cabs sounds easier and more efficient all around

Totally agree.

Simple +Swappable have never really gone together.

[Donkbaca]

I just don't see why you would remove the hot rod.  Its a big thing to carry around.  Xbox joysticks plug into your computer. You can get them on ebay for less than thirty bucks each, I wouldn't really call that overpriced.  I guess I could see not liking the japanese style, but if I were going to carry around joysticks, I would just get those. 

[Guywiththegun]

I get your point, but personally I just like the look of it as a peripheral. I've always used it planted in front of my PC and its super comfortable like that. Its especially good when partying. I don't think its big at all, actually.

For the record I got it custom painted black and took the Hotrod stickers off! It looks sleek. I wouldn't be able to live with that ugly purple.

Sounds like you can build without issues but the only issue that i see is the cab itself. You said that you want to play 4 way games seems like they are mostly vertical view, thats great for your first panel, but MK and street fighter are horizontal. I would just build two cabs sounds easier and more efficient all around

The cab is most definitely being built for horizontal games but vertical games look perfectly acceptable. I'm not going for arcade-accurate, just the best option that suits me personally.

[Vigo]

I have to chuckle at the "Just build a whole second arcade cabinet, it will simplify things" suggestions.



Yeah, that's the easy solution. 

[Donkbaca]

Just build a dedicated CP instead of using the hot rod.  That is the simplest solution