Project Epic Arcade

[lcmgadgets]

Hey, yes they are rollerblade wheels, got 8 of them with dual bearings for $4.00 from the op shop.
They sit nicely in the rim and they have a fluid movement. Couldn't ask for better wheels for the job.

Okay, u may just have inspired a revamping of my (stolen from many others here) design. I'm a HUGE roller skating fan & a pack rat, & I've been hesitant to throw out my old, shot All American Dreams (absolutely great wheels--no longer available). Maybe now  I've got a use for them...(fits in with the name of my project: 'Legacy')

[epicfatigue]

Good stuff mate, will have to link me to the project.



So i had a little time tonight,
I have decided to use 3 discs instead of 2. I wanted to make the unit alot stronger.

The Final disc is slightly larger then the others, all i had time to do to night was cut the disc itself then cut the hole for the monitor. It came out rather well, i am keen as to put it all together!

Im stupidly tiered at the moment and i am typing like a 2 year old. good night all.

[epicfatigue]

Hey everyone, so this weekend i was very productive.

I finally got around to cutting out the third disc and then placing the monitor in-between them.
Came out very nicely.




I was very happy with it, i created the new frame for it to be mounted in, to increase the overall strength of the unit.
Then came the tricky part.

Dropping it in! was hard as a 1 man job thats for sure, but after doing it once it is now easy just a slight trick to getting it in there.
I need to do a few touch ups, i think i will create the frame again and maybe use a different method for mounting the wheels and i think i will add 3 down the bottom, but i will see how i go. But i am not in a massive hurry it is functioning and will give me some time to create the interface that will control it and work out the mountings for the motors.

Upright has to be the only way to play the flying games its not the same on a horizontal monitor, i played the best game of 1942 i forgot how good that game is!

[Someinterwebguy]

Very nice. That last picture is trippy, because you have 3 arcade games at the same time there. I love the button layout, and the fact that you put 8. The more, the merrier I say!

[BadMouth]

Mad respect for rotating a big CRT. 
The size is nice for that cab and looks correct in both orientations.

bookmarked!

[epicfatigue]

Hey all,

So it all finally came in the mail last night.
Will take alot of mucking around but once finished it will be nice and simple, the firmware will be free to all who would like it.
Below is a very simple version of what i plan to do, if anyone can think of any nice added features let me know.

The rotating system is nice and simple, its USB controlled and i plan to operate it like so.

Call rotate left()

if rotate-status = left then stop
else

turn monitor off
rotate motor left
once pin X is pulled low
stop rotation
turn monitor on
endif


Call rotate right()

if rotate-status = right then stop
else

turn monitor off
rotate motor right
once pin X is pulled low
stop rotation
turn monitor on
endif

It will be a simple exe that will be attached to mame that is executed with vertical or horizontal games.
If i am getting alot of picture distortion i will create a degaussing circuit separate that can be fired after orientation is completed.

This is just a building block at the moment more features will come in, i figured its time we all moved away from parallel ports, mainly because i don't have one!

[kahlid74]

Don't forget to work limit switches in there!  I love using custom PIC chips.

[epicfatigue]

Don't forget to work limit switches in there!  I love using custom PIC chips.

Yerp they will be in there they are a must!

[TopJimmyCooks]

Good work going on here.  This looks like a very workable system.  Did you set up for the monitor to turn off while rotating?  so it will degauss in the new position when turned back on? 

Also, let me cast a vote for keeping that CP exactly as it is now and not widening it.  It looks awesome. and I'm afraid grafting on a wider CP would hurt both the appearance and the function. 

Much respect for your electronics chops.

[Cornchip]

   Looking great. I'm following the build. 

[epicfatigue]

Hey everyone,

Sorry for my absence i have been very busy with work and working on something i hope to share with you all soon i just have to confirm it.


So an issue i have had for awhile is working out how i was going to be able to have the arcade start up with a push of a single button.
This was easy enough but i also wanted to be able to turn the monitor off or on if need be and still have power inside that could be used without the machine on if required.

I came across this Master/Slave power saving board that was to good to pass up.
The board has a current meter in it, what when it detects a decent flow or power it activates the other power points.
Two of them can be turned into normal mode which is exactly what i wanted if i needed to attach a wand or something else



So it was down to bunnings!!!
I got some cable and flex etc etc.

Please ignore the spaghetti of cables, it will all be cleaned up when the project is finished! This is will be like showroom when its all done

I ran an extension cable to a fixed power point inside that the power board could plug right into.
The computer is connected to the master slot, when the computer is turned on it then starts up the speakers cabinet monitor guns etc etc.

[darthpaul]

Just seen this build, great job so far, rotating a CRT can be quite a challenge. I am rotating a 20" CRT and I know what you are going through(my aching back), I like the roller blade wheels and rim. I used plywood instead of MDF for the circle to hold the monitor because of the strength issue. How are you going to power it, one of my wheels at the bottom is connected to a windshield wiper motor and I let gravity do the rest. If you are going to use MALA, DaOld Man created a plugin MRotate, which pretty much does everything you could ever want to rotate a monitor, including sounds while it's rotating. Keep up the good work.   

[epicfatigue]

Hey thanks darth,

I will be using a windscreen wiper motor aswell, no plugins for me a simple exe file will turn it and do all the rest, so its just atached to vertical games or hor games with some checkin options. I wanted to go full usb support because when i go to upgrade in the future i didnt want to have to recreate it.

As for strength the design i used could hold another 50kg, the rim is a racing titanium rim, wedged between 2 16mm MDF that is tek screwed.
Rotating a CRT is alot more fun though, and i just love the crts. Good thing for us Darth is when the crt is dead in 10 years time we can just put a lcd in there.

[epicfatigue]

So i have been playing around setting up the pic with HID, i have worked out the driver set i will be using and boot loader, works with linux xp 32 64 and windows 7 32 and 64.

USB is fully working time to start writing my program.

Took alittle tweaking to get the caps in the right range, seemed to vary across systems, the newer systems seem to require more smoothing then the older ones ODD!!!.

Here is a little sneak peak not much to see just the device loaded with an on and off button and a reset button,

[epicfatigue]

So i have been playing with the PIC chip setting up usb communication and learning a little about them, have to start with the basics and tackle it from all angles.

I believe i have worked out how i will write the code thinking about making the pic a slave and it can be fully controlled by python script.


In celebration of working out how to give my driver/pic a name and have full usb communication with a fantastic boot-loader installed i thought i would sing you all a song.

[DaOld Man]

Impressive!
Im glad to see you developing a usb interface. I was working on one but that thing called life (and taking on way too many projects at once) got in the way.
Cant wait to see this baby turn!
PS, dont forget to share your usb circuit (parts list, schematic, software).

[epicfatigue]

Impressive!
Im glad to see you developing a usb interface. I was working on one but that thing called life (and taking on way too many projects at once) got in the way.
Cant wait to see this baby turn!
PS, dont forget to share your usb circuit (parts list, schematic, software).

Hey Thanks Daoldman,

When the project is completed it will be for all that would like it.
And software etc, here is what i am planning to do.

Have Rotate left and right modes with Auto-degauss, with a thermistor as protection.
On demand degauss if needed.
A Coin counter, it will see coins inserted into the machine manually as-well as if someone presses mame coin insert (So you can work out how many years it has taken to pay for your habbit) (this is for a Manual 12v coin counter)
Automatic KVM switcher.

And maybe a LCD with a few temps or rpm monitor i dont know yet see how we go for time.
Any ideas are welcome.

The chip can be had for about $10 with all the components needed to run it, a back lit lcd can be had for about $2.00 delivered on ebay so its a very affordable little circuit.

[rockyrocket]

My new favourite build thread!.
Anyone who can engineer hardware certainly have my admiration - well done!.

[JOHN HOWARD]

Mate,
Great build so far, good to see other Auzzies on here too. Where did you score the master and slave powerboard? I could only find ones online with US plugs and was afraid I would have to either build my own or use adapter plugs for each socket,

Cheers,

[epicfatigue]

Mate,
Great build so far, good to see other Auzzies on here too. Where did you score the master and slave powerboard? I could only find ones online with US plugs and was afraid I would have to either build my own or use adapter plugs for each socket,

Cheers,

PM Sent

[epicfatigue]

Hey everyone So i have finished the major part of the USB rotatable interface.
At the moment all i have to do is build the Automatic KVM feature in.

Then i have to add switches to the Rotate.exe file like below.

Rotate.exe -right
Rotate.exe -left
Rotate.exe -deguass


It also has a a GUI interface that allows you to manually Rotate Left, Rotate Right, Degauss.

It Operates as follows.

Rotate Right Selected by GUI or Rotate.exe -right
Monitor Relay Is turned on (turning off the monitor)
5v is applied HVBridge (High) Rotating the monitor Right
Limit Switch is pressed Turns off rotating, Turns off Monitor Relay(Monitor Comes on), Degaussing Coil fired.
Message is Sent to GUI Letting user known the position.

Rotate Left Selected by GUI or Rotate.exe -left
Monitor Relay Is turned on (turning off the monitor)
5v is applied HVBridge (High) Rotating the monitor Left
Limit Switch is pressed Turns off rotating, Turns off Monitor Relay(Monitor Comes on), Degaussing Coil fired.
Message is Sent to GUI Letting user known the position.
 
Degauss Selected by GUI or Rotate.exe -degauss
Deguassing Coil is fired 3 times.
200ms ON
200ms OFF
200ms ON
200ms OFF
200ms ON
200ms OFF

If the monitor is in the left position  (meaning the left limit switch is pressed)
And Rotate left is selected by GUI or Rotate.exe -left The Chip will not turn the monitor off nor will it send power to the HV-Bridge.

If the monitor is in the Right position  (meaning the Right limit switch is pressed)
And Rotate Right is selected by GUI or Rotate.exe -Right The Chip will not turn the monitor off nor will it send power to the HV-Bridge.
The Chip will not turn the monitor off nor will it send power to the HV-Bridge.


I Have taken a Youtube Video for you all, its not an ideal setup and hard to see but you all get the idea.
I Would love your feedback, i spent alot of time working on this and i hope you all like it as much as i do.

[epicfatigue]

So today i have a very special announcement,

I would like to send a big shout out to Corsair for sponsoring this arcade build.
I will be uploading the plans soon however i am away this weekend, the inside of the machine will be featuring a wind tunnel with a Corsair theme i know its hard to picture but i can assure you it is going to be amazing.

Here is what arrived in the mail today just as i was walking out the door for a family trip, i quickly ran back inside to take a photo but!!!

16 x 120 SP120 Performance Fans
1 x corsair H110i

The Wind Tunnel should be able to move 1000 + Cubic feet per minute of air, it will be using a custom as always fan controller system allowing the system to gain maximum airflow.

[epicfatigue]

So its come to that fun time now, CHEMICALS!!!
Not a fan of buying etchent so i make my own, makes a board in about 20 seconds!

Its time to get ready to make my HV bridge once it is completed i will then build the PIC master control PCB.

The HV bridge is what will allow the PIC to drive the motor using a series of transistors.
This allows me to provide the motor with its own voltage and control its direction by a separate lower voltage. 

[TopJimmyCooks]

can you point me to a good home board etch tutorial?

Man I love overkill, but 1000cfm is total overkill for cab cooling.    interested to see what a wind tunnel in a cab is going to look like though. 

[epicfatigue]

can you point me to a good home board etch tutorial?

Man I love overkill, but 1000cfm is total overkill for cab cooling.    interested to see what a wind tunnel in a cab is going to look like though.

Hey mate, thanks its a work in progress feels like its taking for ever if i had full days to work on it, i would have it done in no time.

i learnt the method many moons ago in school, quick google however here is how i do it,

http://www.abiscus.com/projects/TonerTransfer/TonerTransfer.htm

Thing to note, dont use a boubler, dont bloody do it inside either hence no photos.

Now i go alittle overkill with my etchent, and use 50% Hydrogen Peroxide from a Hydroponics shop and  Hydrochloric (muriatic acid, "pool acid"),

Hydrochloric first then Peroxide and cover your mouth, i use a ratio of 1:1 so i just drop it in 10 seconds and pull it out, but thats me experiment and most of all saftey first and have fun.

When your finished dilute it to 50L of water and its safe to go in the garden

[rablack97]

I use this http://www.lvl1.org/2011/05/03/toner-transfer-and-muriatic-acid-etchant-making-pcbs-at-lvl1/

Important parts are use a good glossy photo paper, and a good laser printer....The rest is easy....

You can also use liquid tin, its pretty cool and it protects your traces.

I actually use a bubbler for the muratic acid approach, its the oxygen that promotes the etching.  I just do it outside.

[TopJimmyCooks]

Thanks for the info on making pcbs'.  I've got a couple of little things wired point to point that I might try doing pcb's for. 

Now, explain how you are going to get 1000cfm through a cabinet!

[rablack97]

Also, I would use a 2:1 ratio 1/2 cup muratic to 1 cup of peroxide.

Also epic, look really close at your board you have a broken trace, in your drilling photos, look directly down you will see it.

When etching try to use fairly wide traces, those really thin ones can get eaten by the acid or easily broken during the drilling phase...

similar to this guy....also give yourself nice gaps in between the traces, (not illustrated well here as this not the finished board) this will ensure that your toner doesnt bleed over into another trace....



 

[kahlid74]

So today i have a very special announcement,

I would like to send a big shout out to Corsair for sponsoring this arcade build.
I will be uploading the plans soon however i am away this weekend, the inside of the machine will be featuring a wind tunnel with a Corsair theme i know its hard to picture but i can assure you it is going to be amazing.

Here is what arrived in the mail today just as i was walking out the door for a family trip, i quickly ran back inside to take a photo but!!!

16 x 120 SP120 Performance Fans
1 x corsair H110i

The Wind Tunnel should be able to move 1000 + Cubic feet per minute of air, it will be using a custom as always fan controller system allowing the system to gain maximum airflow.

A wind tunnel concerns me in how you're going to incorporate the fans.  Fans inside of fans can be very dangerous.  Often times you see or hear wood shop guys stringing multiple dust collectors together for a more powerful system.  This results in the second fan running faster than the first thus pulling more AMP/Watt than it was originally speced to pull.  This then results in electrical fires.  Mind you these fans are smaller grade than wood shop dust collectors but the same principle applies.  If you're planning to use fans inline of one another I would be very very careful to watch their pull. 

Otherwise the electrical stuff is BA for sure.  Keep up the good work dude.

[epicfatigue]

Hey there, sorry for the late reply been busy working away.

Yes thanks for pointing the trace out rablack97, was more for a trail run, i decided to make the traces much bigger because i dont know what the motor requirements might be like in the future and i dont like going back and redoing things.

Hey Topjimmycooks the cfm is just going to be a tunnel, however there will be 3 fan controllers that i designed that i am sure will get a work out on the forums and the internet for that matter. Will post that next week when i test it.


Now for some exciting things,
I have designed this board that will go up on the forums along side the software for USB rotate, as you can see by the design it allows room for people to get in there and add flexibility to your cabinet im sure somone will come along and input some new features into the PIC.

As you can see the PIC has an extra 15+ controllable ports, these can be input or output pwm etc etc.






 

[epicfatigue]

So today i have a very special announcement,

I would like to send a big shout out to Corsair for sponsoring this arcade build.
I will be uploading the plans soon however i am away this weekend, the inside of the machine will be featuring a wind tunnel with a Corsair theme i know its hard to picture but i can assure you it is going to be amazing.

Here is what arrived in the mail today just as i was walking out the door for a family trip, i quickly ran back inside to take a photo but!!!

16 x 120 SP120 Performance Fans
1 x corsair H110i

The Wind Tunnel should be able to move 1000 + Cubic feet per minute of air, it will be using a custom as always fan controller system allowing the system to gain maximum airflow.

A wind tunnel concerns me in how you're going to incorporate the fans.  Fans inside of fans can be very dangerous.  Often times you see or hear wood shop guys stringing multiple dust collectors together for a more powerful system.  This results in the second fan running faster than the first thus pulling more AMP/Watt than it was originally speced to pull.  This then results in electrical fires.  Mind you these fans are smaller grade than wood shop dust collectors but the same principle applies.  If you're planning to use fans inline of one another I would be very very careful to watch their pull. 

Otherwise the electrical stuff is BA for sure.  Keep up the good work dude.

Hey My friend i have not seen you pop your head in for awhile, yes i am aware of this, alot of calculations went into the tunnel the fans are not back to back. A custom circuit has been made (you know me by now guys i have to make everything) this actually will make a strip of fans act as one fan and will make 3wire fans PWM and allow them to be controlled from a 4 wire computer fan header, it will also monitor RPM etc. Hard to explain but i will post everything about it so other people can use what i have created .

[epicfatigue]

So i have fine tuned and changed the layout a little,
I have added some things for future expansion so the device can drive LCD screens control relays PWM and support inputs (if you press a switch do something like for example have 1 switch to turn on the computer aswell as a screen power baord etc etc.

I have it up and running, currently i am just messing with a few things, working out mounts and other goodies and the Wind-tunnels controller board.

I have attached a printable schematic  for all those that would like to download and make it.

Total cost of parts is about $12.00
I will upload more information on it as i near the end of the project so it has some decent beta testing.

[epicfatigue]

Hey everyone, so i thought i would show a little video of the USB rotating system controlling a motor.
Its very poorly setup on the bench for a quick demo.

Its all starting to come together, will start to work on the other circuits now.

Still on the todo list.

• Create Fan PWM Circuit
• Create Degauss Circuit
• Refine counter Circuit
• Etch them onto a PCB
• Mount Monitor chain and motor

[Brian74]

Thanks for doing this! Looks like it is coming along great

Sent from my SGH-T989 using Tapatalk 2

[epicfatigue]

Thanks for doing this! Looks like it is coming along great

Sent from my SGH-T989 using Tapatalk 2

No worries i hope it goes to good use lol its capable of controlling alot more then meets the eye.

[epicfatigue]

So it was time for an upgrade, I have always used the iron method for my PCB and the results are okay, but I am doing more and more PCB fab these days for my small business so it was time to step up the game.
I went out and brought a laminator, now these on their own off the shelf are not very good, they do not generate the required heat.
I went out and brought one from a local store and did a quick google to see if anyone else had done a mod on this particular laminator and just so happens a fellow Aussie had done this!
here is a link to it if anyone wants it.
http://ultrakeet.com.au/write-ups/superFuserV2

This modification only took a few minutes and man was it worth it, the results speak for themselves.
This is my effort using standard glossy photo paper.



The mod itself.

The finished Product


Now for the fun part!!!


What is this exactly, well I think there will be many a people out there that will love this,
This is a special fan controller, it will convert  a 4pin fan header on your mother board (PWM) to control a large number of 3pin fans from the 1 input up to a large number of amps!
It has reverse polarity protection for people that shouldn’t be doing it, and then it also has added protection for the MB just on the off chance something unusual happens.
This will allow you to be able to control a network of fans as one fan, and it will also make use of the RPM wire, (please note only use one of the fans in the network for the RPM they will all be the same!)
If you dont want or have a MB to get a PWM signal you can make a simple one using a 555 timer and a pot to create the adjustable signal pic etc etc)

This makes management nice and easy so you can control those noisy fans have them quiet as and ramp on when needed via temperature control.
It also has two pots that will allow you to change the amplification of the signal.

This is my secret weapon for the wind tunnel, as I will have the fans installed in blocks of 5, they will represent one fan on the MB and I will be able to adjust each block accordingly to gain maximum airflow when needed as well as minimal noise when it’s not needed!
The printable version is posted for download enjoy!

[epicfatigue]

So I have been away for a little, but that’s not to say work has stopped!
I was having issues using the Asus rampage trying to get a driver functioning correctly, and I figured the time had come to push on to some more powerful hardware.
However the biggest issue with upgrading is I have to stick with hardware that is supported by Windows XP64, this is due to dirext-X issues with Windows 7 using hacked drivers.

I7-920 with 6gb Tripple channel memeory with one hell of a board, it features additional NB cooling as well as a factory water block!
Currently the unit has only be slapped together to run a burn in and test, once OS is setup and installed I will see how far it can be pushed! Very exciting!!!

Big thanks to Sainter4Life form OCAU for assistance in the hardware!

Moving on I have started to work on the cabinet
Currently I have not done much, just testing that everything fits and making last minute adjustments.
The cabinet will be divided into 2 sections, featuring a door for each.
Now this might sound silly, but this cabinet is for my daughter and safety is first always.
The top cabinet will be locked with a key, sealing the exposed CRT tube away from little hands and keeping all high voltage confined to one zone.
The below cabinet will have the computer sealed inside the wind tunnel, this will be shielded by Perspex and wood, sorry cannot give away too much here don’t want to spoil the surprises in store!
Here are some pictures of how it is shaping up, please note this is just rough everything will be gone over however everything needs its place before the tidy up will go ahead.

[DaOld Man]

Wow. Great work and the computer setup is something else!
I think overkill, but who cares?
Nice work. I like the rim on the monitor rig. Will have to remember that.

[rockyrocket]

Yep the rim/rollerblade wheel idea is one of those combinations that together are just perfect I think.
Both the OP`s and ericmans build seem to work great for such a hefty monitor, well done.

[stigzler]

Cudos, Epic. Loving this build. It's great to see different folks' preferred area of machine builds.

Loving all the leccytronics. And thanks for sharing all the schematics etc.