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Rotating control panels in the CNC age... why so rare still?
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Xiaou2:

--- Quote ---I never got this. You have the room for a full size cabinet, but when it comes to a slab of wood with some hardware on it
--- End quote ---

 A Tron stick takes up nearly 1ft on top, and what... another 5" on bottom... which you would want to enclose, so that nothing gets damaged as you swap and store them.    Then you have things like dual T2 guns,  Starwars, Spyhunter, and Supersprint wheels.  All of which take a large amount of space in both directions... especially if you have built the proper raised mounts for them, to get the correct play angles.    I even have a few Arcade Analog sticks, which have something like 9" long under brackets.

 I doubt Id use an LCD, as I dont care for the look.  But even if you did..  you would still need to build an extended cabinet to house all the controls Ive acquired... with some sort of non standard pull out shelving drawers.   And again, this is still a pain in the rear to do.. as well as cost more in materials & parts.


--- Quote ---Do you really need to switch controls after EVERY game? I feel like joysticks and a few buttons cover a large number of game
--- End quote ---

 Again, this is how you feel.  But I love games with unique controllers.  Supersprint, Starwars, T2, Tron, Discs of Tron, and more.  These are some of my favorites, and I play them more often than many of the more generic controller games.


--- Quote ---Plus it's not like the rotating panel isn't taking up a ridiculous amount of real estate
--- End quote ---

 A rotating Cp at its worst, doesnt take up that much more space than a typical cab.  But, its still cheaper, and its still easier to play games, rather than spend 4 min each swap out.  (plus the possible need to exit and restart mame to deal with the controller changes)

 Vertically, I think a 5 sided panel is about as small as Id go, if I were to go that route.

 But my goals have changed, so my machine may be a beast, if I ever get around to building it.
DaveMMR:

--- Quote from: Xiaou2 on September 25, 2013, 11:47:11 am ---
--- Quote ---I never got this. You have the room for a full size cabinet, but when it comes to a slab of wood with some hardware on it
--- End quote ---

 A Tron stick takes up nearly 1ft on top, and what... another 5" on bottom... which you would want to enclose, so that nothing gets damaged as you swap and store them.    Then you have things like dual T2 guns,  Starwars, Spyhunter, and Supersprint wheels.  All of which take a large amount of space in both directions... especially if you have built the proper raised mounts for them, to get the correct play angles.    I even have a few Arcade Analog sticks, which have something like 9" long under brackets.

--- End quote ---

But that's what I was trying to say: if they're taking up space stored somewhere else, they're going to take up space in your rotating CP.  Look at 1UP's PacMamea - that control panel enclosure is much larger than just a single one and he still has to store those modular parts anyway. Rotating panels are not space-savers.


--- Quote ---Again, this is how you feel.  But I love games with unique controllers.  Supersprint, Starwars, T2, Tron, Discs of Tron, and more.  These are some of my favorites, and I play them more often than many of the more generic controller games.
--- End quote ---

Well you're a tad unique and therefore your needs are different. For you, rotating control panels might be a more viable option. I feel that most builders are only going to worry about the more basic controls and I was kind of offering my findings based on the common denominator.


--- Quote ---But, its still cheaper, and its still easier to play games, rather than spend 4 min each swap out.
--- End quote ---

Not exactly cheaper - you'd have to now get additional hardware to work the rotation mechanism plus keep in mind you have to have all the controls bought up front (instead of building as you buy with removable panels.) And that leads to the final problem:


--- Quote ---if I ever get around to building it.
--- End quote ---

You spend so much more time planning and measuring instead of simplifying and playing the games.


AGarv:
Rotating panels are _definitely_ another level of complexity to design and build.

There's more room to mess stuff up.  It takes a lot of time. It is much harder to make the panels lock into place and feel "solid". Precious time that could be spent wiring LEDs to buttons and installing subwoofers will be forfeited. I get it.



That said, now that LCDs can overcome the "high monitor" issue (which admittedly looks terrible) created by CRTs, a well designed and constructed rotating cab could look great (slim cab optional) and offer great ergonomics, particularly for custom controls (e.g. I love Assault), without the PITA of swappable panels. A good design is worth exploring in 3D, IMO.
Malenko:

--- Quote from: AGarv on September 25, 2013, 02:49:55 pm ---Rotating panels are _definitely_ another level of complexity to design and build.

There's more room to mess stuff up.  It takes a lot of time. It is much harder to make the panels lock into place and feel "solid". Precious time that could be spent wiring LEDs to buttons and installing subwoofers will be forfeited. I get it.

--- End quote ---

I for one appreciate your sarcasm. Wiring in LEDs and even too much audio is not the logistical nightmare of a rotating panel. Your animated gif example is 3 panels, of which 1 is a frankenpanel. Xeth-head said he's do FIVE panels.  In what world is doing the math and construction of 5 separate panels joined onto 1 bingo ball dispenser easier than making 2 or 3 swappable panels?

How long would it take to lift up a magnetically or industrial velcro'ed panel, unplug 2 or 3 DB9 connectors. Plug in 2 or 3 DB9 connectors, and sit control panel back on cabinet. This time could be reduced by having the DB9 connectors line up on the bottom of the panel.

how long would it take to tilting up the base of the monitor, opening the coin door area, rotating to the desired panel, locking the panel, closing the coin door, tilting the monitor back in place.

Now how much more time does one take over the other? even if it took about the same time (which it probably would) how much easier is the design and implementation of one over the other?

I think the major issue here is how many panels would you actually need. 5 seems far fetched, the standard 2 player 8 way and 7 buttons takes care of a TON of games. Is the plan to not use just the neogeo layout for standard jamma games? Realistically, excluding various wheel panels (your driving cab should be dedicated IMO) 3 should cover pretty much everything which to mean would eliminate the need for a rotating panel.
CoryBee:
I had given the idea of a contained system with multiple control panels a thought before and this is what I came up with.

At the push of a button or more preferably switching to the proper gamelist would make control panel one sink to the bottom of the cabinet via a linear actuator while control panel two would come in from the back and lock into place via a separate linear actuator.

As reference to by the quick paint "rendering" (lol)

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