Author Topic: My Cabinet Build Updated Post Mortem (Read 54086 times)

Howard_Casto · « **Reply #120 on:** November 05, 2015, 03:40:01 pm »

Nah... I mean the led is tied to the switch, so you can't control it independently. Or at least that's what one of the auctions said in the description. I'm pretty sure a description on another button was for a ball bearing though, so I don't know how accurate that info is.

I looked at the estimated arrival date.... sometime between Thanksgiving and Christmas...... stupid China and it's low, low prices.

I guess I better at least order a sample of the nickel ones to see if they are fixable.

Howard_Casto · « **Reply #121 on:** November 05, 2015, 11:05:51 pm »

So on the gauges front I've decided to cut some holes about the size of a common smart phone and fill them with plexi and black paper. I can back-light the plexi like they do on the outrun 2 sp cabinets until I find a solution I like. I'm leaning towards NIVO's boxes...... I would just de-solder the 7 segment displays and split them out over 3 or more gauges.

Xiaou2 · « **Reply #122 on:** November 06, 2015, 03:45:32 am »

Why would you want to use a smart phone? IMO, thats far more added expense, with so many possible failure points.

Why not just use a smaller LCD display, or a larger lcd that is visually cropped?

Best solution, imo:

You could even use a LCD facing up or down... with a small front-faced mirror above / below it (mounted at a 45 degree angle) .. to reduce mounting footprint.

That would give you some natural looking gauge depth, reduce glare issues, and possibly allow for more display possibilities.
(Wider window of use)

jaharr01 · « **Reply #123 on:** November 06, 2015, 06:25:01 am »

What about this Howard it's small relatively cheap

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Coby-Kyros-Mini-4-3-Inch-Android-4-0-Internet-4GB-Tablet-MID4331-4-BLACK-/161692980679?hash=item25a5a715c7:g:y54AAOSwrklVRXHY

Jay

Howard_Casto · « **Reply #124 on:** November 06, 2015, 11:58:50 am »

I've got one of those tablets (the regular sized version) and they are kind of crappy. I'm not sure if it's the processor itself or their custom build of android, but they chug on the simplest of tasks.

To answer the question of why a smartphone.... Any thing I've test fitted doesn't fit in the small space correctly. I have to kind of arrange multiple displays around the wheel.

Howard_Casto · « **Reply #125 on:** November 06, 2015, 06:48:59 pm »

Oh about the added expense part.... cell phones are cheap these days. There have been a few for around 10 dollars this month.... one was a pair of phones for 10 bucks.

Like I said though, Nivo's solution is looking better and better.... with some modifications of course.

Nuexzz · « **Reply #126 on:** November 06, 2015, 10:18:08 pm »

A little off topic and I'm sorry accurate • Measures of furniture daytona someone has?

n3wt0n · « **Reply #127 on:** November 07, 2015, 07:15:36 am »

Hi Howard,

I noticed that you were considering using smart phones in your build and I saw this and though it may help with your idea. Different application but the info may still be relevant. They are used phones that are broken in some way. He asked his Facebook friends for old broken phones and he got a few donated to him to use. No cost except the apps needed to run the images. Good luck with your build.

Howard_Casto · « **Reply #128 on:** November 07, 2015, 03:38:49 pm »

Yeah if I go the cell phone route I was going to use tasker to load up a program of my design that would allow me to display different, skinned images similar to mamehooker's display files. The only issue is I've never wrote a program for android before. I'm studying as we speak and which route I go entirely depends upon how comfortable I am making an app.

Howard_Casto · « **Reply #129 on:** November 08, 2015, 02:26:57 pm »

So I'm thinking about re-evaluating my design a bit. The plan all along was to put the computer in the slide-out podium so it would move relative to the control panel and save me a whole lot of headaches in terms of wiring. The only thing is, now that I've got the computer I'm going to use and the platform built, I would have to route out the underside of the floor to get it to fit. I didn't know how much until today.... it's about a half an inch, which would make the 3/4 inch floor dangerously thin.

So options:

I could increase the height of the slide out platform. This is the easiest solution, but I only have about a half inch of leeway that I had added in the design to compensate for the thickness of carpet or a floor mat. That means if I go this route I have to leave the platform bare and even then there is the potential for the finish to get scraped to heck every time I open the thing.

I could increase the height of the seat and put the computer under it. This would cause a cable nightmare and throw the geometry of the rig off as well. Probably not the best solution.

I could mount the pc on the outside of the steel tubing holding up the control panel. That solves the cabling issue, but now the pc might get shook to pieces.

Anyway I'm going to my scrap pile as we speak. I'm hoping to get this done this week as it's the last big structural issue I have to deal with.

Fursphere · « **Reply #130 on:** November 08, 2015, 05:08:50 pm »

I was originally going to mount my PC on the 'back' of my cabinet, or inside.

Now, years later, I've got a subwoofer and 2x Aura bass shackers mounted in the cabinet. So my PC sits on a table behind the cabinet, with a pretty bundle of cords all wrapped up leaving the cabinet to hook into the PC.

I don't think there is enough vibrations to kill a hard drive (it will degrade performance though for sure), but why risk it?

Howard_Casto · « **Reply #131 on:** November 08, 2015, 11:09:17 pm »

Well I shimmed up the floor to see how it would go and it's not too bad. That being said when I put the pc inside for a test fit and scratched the crap out of the bottom side from a flush screw that wasn't necessarily as flush as it should have been. I think with some additional shimming or perhaps by taking off the outer panels of the case I can fix it, but I'm beginning to wonder how safe a pc is in there.

Another option would be to turn the pc into an arm rest and mount it beside the seat. It'd be pretty easy to do, but that would totally ruin my 2'x2' footprint and I'd still have the issue of the wires.

BadMouth · « **Reply #132 on:** November 09, 2015, 10:16:24 am »

I personally don't think a pc looks bad sitting beside a driving cab. A lot of twin cabs had a pc sized box with an over/under coin door in between them.

Howard_Casto · « **Reply #133 on:** November 09, 2015, 03:16:58 pm »

It's not the looks I'm concerned about at all.... my rig is pseudo-portable, so I don't want to have to unhook the pc and all those cables every time I move it... I want the pc to go with the rig.

I could probably make a pretty nifty arm rest and put the pc in there... I'm going for a regular car cockpit and not a racing one after all. I plan on putting an analog shift box in anyway. I'm just worried about increasing the footprint and how to manage all those cables so they don't get mangled when everything is collapsed. I've just got to think on it a little.

It seems I'll be dead before my buttons arrive anyway. I'm pretty sure there is a poor Chinese man swimming across the ocean to send me my buttons... and I'm not even sure if those are the ones I'm going to use!

Howard_Casto · « **Reply #134 on:** November 09, 2015, 09:25:44 pm »

Well I think I might just put the pc on the side as an arm rest for now. I'll build it in such a way to where I can remove it if I change my mind. I started thinking and putting a sub right under the pedals would be pretty cool... it'd be like I feel the engine vibration.

I'll mount it backwards so the connections are facing the dash and build some kind of covering to hide all the ugliness.

On the aesthetics front I pulled out some old brass decorations I took off of a 1940's office chair. As you can imagine they are quite art deco. It's just scraps, not enough to decorate everything but I can use them as inspiration. I covered one of the plates in aluminum tape and burnished it into all the nooks an crannies.... it made a convincing chrome look. Foil tape is quite fragile, but with a coat of clear varnish it should do just fine. It does such a good job I'm thinking a could use regular metal scraps or perhaps even wood and plastic to make my trim. Of course I'm waiting for my dumb old buttons to come in so I can't really start.... I have a rough idea of the layout but that's if the buttons I bought are useable.

I'll post pics of the trim when I get a chance.

Xiaou2 · « **Reply #135 on:** November 10, 2015, 03:06:43 am »

Its a prototype right? Rebuild it with a larger under-base so the PC can fit better.
Or, place the PC elsewhere. Having a nice base shaker under the seat. Its so worth it.

If the PC has an SSD drive, then no problems.

You might want some access to USB, DVD, power, reset... etc.

IMO, the steel legs are not that good of an idea. Using some wood supports would look nicer.
Probably more stable too... if you do it right.

Also, Thinking... why case the PC? Mount the parts to a sliding pull tray. Make sure you have push in and pull out fans.. to keep it cool.

Howard_Casto · « **Reply #136 on:** November 18, 2015, 01:08:09 pm »

Ok with the shims I installed previously and after removing the bottom panel of the pc it fits!

I've decided for ease of tinkering to cut the floor into three sections. There will be a 4" long section in the front, where the pedals mount, and a 2" section in the back, where the floor is under the seat box even when fully extended. I ran across these 90 degree hinges I bought ages ago. They unhinge in an odd way and are specifically for oddball instillations where the door doesn't have room to unhinge the traditional way (which mine won't due to the 2x4 on either side. The only problem is they are 1" thick, so I'll have to make my opening slightly longer than the pc and brace it so that it stays between the hinges. Probably not a big deal. My buttons STILL haven't came in, so I'm on a holding pattern on that one.

Howard_Casto · « **Reply #137 on:** November 19, 2015, 11:28:08 pm »

So I cut my trap door today. It went pretty well. I've decided to bypass the hinge all together due to the odd angle the door would open and use cabinet clasps instead.... just pull the floor off when I need access. I need to drill vent holes and put in a couple of fans just in case. The plan is to put them in the front and make it look kind of like a car grill.

I've also started bending metal for some of the skinning. The brake I built this summer works pretty well.... I just need to get some more metal cutting blades. Also ordered a wifi adaptor so I don't have to plug the thing into a network.

Howard_Casto · « **Reply #138 on:** November 20, 2015, 06:39:41 pm »

Not much to report..... I put stop blocks on the trap door so it doesn't wiggle around too much.... I need to pick up a couple of cabinet latches.

I also started squaring everything up... things were just kind of test fitted as I was working on things. After everything was tightened and adjusted it appears that the chair needs moved about an inch to the left. That shouldn't be a big deal to fix as I used L-brackets to attach it.

It's far too cold to work on the metal parts today (I have to do that outside) so I think I'm at a standstill again. Baby steps. So I haven't done any pics in a while so maybe I'll do that tonight if I have time.

Howard_Casto · « **Reply #139 on:** November 25, 2015, 12:41:01 pm »

Well my buttons FINALLY came in. Just in time for the holidays so I can't install them.

I think for machines where space is tight like mine they are a good solution. The build quality is excellent and they appear to be 2/3 scale replicas of the traditional VR buttons. Here's the rub though.... I'll have to mess with them a little to confirm, but it looks like the leds and resistors aren't meant to be swapped out. Even more frustrating is the fact that I had to get half of them in 24v because they had ran out of stock. I mean this isn't the end of the world.... I have a 24v power supply lying around and I could just put resistors on the two 12v buttons, but that means I'll have to control the lights with relays, which is just weird.

Howard_Casto · « **Reply #140 on:** November 30, 2015, 01:02:05 am »

Well you've got to love China for it's lack of quality control. After testing them, the only apparent difference between the 12v and 24v buttons is the 24v sticker slapped on them. Yeah they all run brightly at 12v. So I'll have to use a transistor array or something to drive them but that's preferable to the relays I would most likely have to use for 24v.

I apologize for the lack of pics... it's just it's the holidays and everything is a bit of a mess inside. After getting my car back I've been working on it a lot as well. Third gen Camaros don't have cup holders so I thought I would build a new set to match the exterior beautification.

Howard_Casto · « **Reply #141 on:** December 10, 2015, 04:08:33 am »

Man I really need to take some pics don't I? Eh but I'm lazy.

I haven't had much time to work on things, but I can't sleep tonight. Those VR buttons I ordered are actually fairly easy to get into now that I know how. The face of the button just snaps on, so holding the base and pulling on the side will make it snap loose, allowing access to the leds. Now the LEDs are in a little plastic sleeve and it appears that the resistor is inside the sleeve somewhere, but the led is soldered on so I think a better route would be to simply put a naked led in the socket and attach the resistor at the connectors on the back of the button. So that means for the most part I'm back to low voltage, which is nice.

So since I'm kind of at a standstill on the physical build, next I might work on something that I'm a bit more comfortable with. Obviously the wheel will be the main I/O device on the rig, but the start, exit, vr and "misc" buttons, as well as all the leds, whatever speedometer solution I decide upon, and an analog shifter. will be controlled via a teensy. I'm probably going to release the sketch in one form or another to progress the hobby a bit further.

A racing cab has a lot of special purpose stuff on it. A disturbing trend I've been seeing is throwing money at the problem. Don't get me wrong, sometimes you have more money than time, but a full led controller and a keyboard encoder for a machine that most likely won't have more than 6 buttons and 5 leds is kind of wasteful. We are having such a big revolution in terms of avrs now... it's really time to start building stuff to spec. Eh maybe I'm kidding myself and it's just the cheap bastard in me, but you can get an Arduino clone for under 10 dollars at this point, so you'll have 30+ dollars extra to spend on something else and more importantly instead of a rat's nest of multiple boards you only have to deal with one.

isamu · « **Reply #142 on:** December 10, 2015, 05:00:21 am »

good stuff man. get those pix out already.

SailorSat · « **Reply #143 on:** December 10, 2015, 05:40:34 am »

I recommend ULN2003A or ULN2803A for the lamp drivers.

You might grab a copy of my "Daytona USB" teensy++ firmware here and modify it to your needs.
On the other hand, doing it yourself is more fun

baritonomarchetto · « **Reply #144 on:** December 10, 2015, 03:03:23 pm »

I second the arduino way! It has been used little to norhing in our hobbie and deserves it's own space. I am working on an arduino project too (a "densha" project

) and will report soon (hopefully

)

Howard_Casto · « **Reply #145 on:** December 11, 2015, 01:17:05 am »

Yeah I think we need an avr section tbh.

Thanks for the help as always SailorSat, I've got a feeling that combining the two aspects of our projects would result in one hell of a starting point for most people. Your sega hardware interface has been extremely impressive.

Generic Eric · « **Reply #146 on:** December 11, 2015, 10:51:32 am »

Quote from: Howard_Casto on December 11, 2015, 01:17:05 am

Yeah I think we need an avr section tbh.

pi & dev board

See: What's this board about?

I don't have a crystal ball, but I'm sure if there is an abundance of AVR projects that they may be moved to a sub forum. That is why tags are important.

Howard_Casto · « **Reply #147 on:** December 11, 2015, 02:03:35 pm »

I'm sure it says something about also including avrs, but go and look at the content. 100% pi. This is probably because "pi & dev board" sounds like raspberry pi and developer boards for the pi.

Howard_Casto · « **Reply #148 on:** January 06, 2016, 10:44:03 pm »

So not much to report as due to family issues I haven't really had time to work on anything. I found these stainless steel bezels off the top of coffee mugs... they look very much like those used on a vintage instrument panel. I've had them lying around for a while, but without anything to put inside they've just been in the maybe pile. I ran across some smoked plexi today and that was the solution.....Try cutting plexi with a whole saw bit btw.... real fun when you don't have a guide bit. Anyway, I cut out some circles to put inside and they fit nicely. Now I can go ahead and mount them as the smoked plexi will hide whatever is behind until lit. So if I do LED gages, or needle based, or even a tablet/phone they will look nice.

I've got a microwave to scrap and the front is stainless steel, so I might swipe some metal for my dash.

My wifi adapter finally came in over Xmas, so I really need to get this in a playable state, but the little stuff is just more fun.

Howard_Casto · « **Reply #149 on:** February 06, 2016, 01:40:22 am »

Ok so I mentioned that my wifi adaptor came in. I just now got around to installing it, mainly because I hadn't ran all the cables and sheesh is it a mess. I have the usb cable and pedal cable running to the dash and the power, audio and video running to the monitor. It doesn't sound like a lot, but considering there isn't anywhere to hide them.... yeah... for now I've just got them zip-tied to the left support beam. It'd be nice to run them through the beam, but I don't know how I would make the large ends of the cables fit.

So anyway, I powered on the assembled rig for the first time and so far so good. I need to drill the hole for the quick dis-connect of the wheel and then it'll be playable.

I wasn't feeling super great today though so I figured I better wait.... I'll only have one shot to make it fairly straight.

Howard_Casto · « **Reply #150 on:** February 07, 2016, 07:59:18 pm »

So the first test run was tonight. So far so good. I drilled the hole for the wheel disconnect and it was actually much easier than I thought it would be. If anything it's a bit too tight, but I figure after I drill the holes for the star wars yoke they'll open up a bit.

Played a few rounds of Daytona 2 and everything seems to be working. I've still got to install the view, start, coin and exit buttons and then it's the pain-staking task of installing and setting up all the software while I work on the cosmetic details.

I'm still not feeling great though.... must be the flu or something, so one thing at a time. Yes I know still no pictures, but the only thing you would notice atm is a pin in the steering column, so there isn't much point.

Howard_Casto · « **Reply #151 on:** February 22, 2016, 12:45:14 am »

Ok finally some pics!

I cut the holes in the dash for the faux gauges. It's some smoked plexi from a document stand or something. So for now they display nothing, but because they can be back-lit I could add one of those button boxes like NIVO made a while back, a secondary monitor, or anything really. The one in the center hides a hole where the optical wheel assembly slides in. That's the bottom of a pop can... I'll cut plexi for it later.

Howard_Casto · « **Reply #152 on:** February 22, 2016, 12:47:44 am »

Ok and here is my issue with buttons. As you can see there really isn't a lot of room if I want to keep them away from the wheel. Also that bezel is temporary, I want to make something art deco like in the included sketch.

Howard_Casto · « **Reply #153 on:** February 22, 2016, 12:52:05 am »

And here are the pieces that inspired the art deco design. They are actually brass, but I covered them in foil tape. I really want to stagger them to look even more art deco, but I only have 4 of them. I'm wondering If I could cast them and make copies. About all I've ever been able to make are plaster copies, which wouldn't be rigid enough for this. Maybe hot-glue or some sort of plastic?

Anyway, as you can see I've got almost everything in place, but it's still kind of rough. I see a lot of wood putty and sanding in my future.

Xiaou2 · « **Reply #154 on:** February 22, 2016, 08:35:57 am »

Stack buttons Vertically.

I find it somewhat odd that you are trying to make the thing look nice... when you have a plastic / rubber toy wheel on it.

But beyond that... the gauges are almost pointless. The wheel is such a small diameter, and so close.. that you could barely see them.

Howard_Casto · « **Reply #155 on:** February 25, 2016, 09:36:58 pm »

I've got a stand-in for the cosmetic details I mentioned before.... vinyl tiles cut to shape and then covered with foil tape... looks pretty good, who would have thought? I'll probably replace most of it with aluminum stock once it gets warmer, but I'm not setup to work with metal (and the mess associated with it) in the house.

So in preparation for the teensy programming I'm removing all the 12v leds from the mini vr lights and replacing them with leds from a string of xmas lights that will run well on 3-5 volts without a resistor. Something that should be simple is taking forever. The buttons are quite tiny and the leds fit in the absolute bottom of the button. Because I can't re-use the led housing, I have to bend the leads from the led in a 'V" shape and wedge them in. Getting them in is easy... getting them in and wedged in good enough to where they will never fall out is a colossal pain in the butt. I've spent over two hours on the first two.... my neck is cramping up so I'll do the other ones tomorrow.

The teensy programming will be interesting. Apparently the board has issues running a HID composite device and a keyboard/joystick so I'll most likely have to control the leds via serial communication.... that is a new one for me.

I was going to hack a mouse for the removable 360 degree wheel, but I can fake a mouse on the teensy along with the keyboard and serial communication, so I might just do it that way.... I've got to see how many pins I have after I map everything out.

Howard_Casto · « **Reply #156 on:** February 26, 2016, 02:36:59 pm »

Well I finished the leds last night. I'm pretty sure I'm cross-eyed now, but eh.... who needs vision.

I'm looking at my teensy 2.0 to figure out the best pin mappings and something has to give. I've got start + the 4 vr buttons, an exit button a radio button and probably a coin button just to be on the safe side. So that's 8 pins. I've got to light 6 of those buttons as well so that's 14..... out of 22. I want to do a analog shifter and a nitro button as well so that's 17. That doesn't leave a lot for misc lights or a mouse encoder or a button box.

So it's one of those deals where I can do it, but it'll be really tight. I've got to think on this one a bit.

Howard_Casto · « **Reply #157 on:** February 28, 2016, 04:51:42 pm »

So I was working on the 360 degree wheel mount.... man I might have to rethink this. The plan was to use that design I posted in that thread from last year, only cut circles out of 2x4 and shove them in a plastic pipe. My hole saw bits are crying for mercy though and I really don't want to buy new ones just for this.

So I think I need to go to Lowes and find some end-caps for the pipe and attach the bearings to them.

I did run across some gears that look about perfect for the star wars yoke though, so that's one less thing to worry about.

Howard_Casto · « **Reply #158 on:** February 28, 2016, 10:53:46 pm »

I started on the avr programming tonight. I decided to go with serial control for the leds because HID seems to have some issues. It took far longer than it should have to build a test app because the teensy tends to jump around in regards to which port it occupies.... I'll have to look into that. Anyway, I'll get the I/O done tonight hopefully and then I can start doing some tests with an analog shifter and encoder.

Howard_Casto · « **Reply #159 on:** February 29, 2016, 01:21:34 am »

So I got the outputs working. I haven't really messed with sending data TO the Arduino before.... it's string management is almost as bad as C. Btw, to those wanting to do custom driver boards I tested mamehooker's serial functions and they do indeed work just fine. So communicating to an Arduino, or any avr really as they all support serial comm should be no problem.

I'll do the inputs tomorrow or maybe tonight if I get a second wind. Still tons of space for some fancy code if I can think of anything.


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Author Topic: My Cabinet Build *Updated* Post Mortem (Read 54086 times)

Author Topic: My Cabinet Build Updated Post Mortem (Read 54086 times)