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Author Topic: IKEAKADE - Updated 6/15 - 99.6% Done! (Up from 99.5%)  (Read 55835 times)

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processedmeat

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IKEAKADE - Updated 6/15 - 99.6% Done! (Up from 99.5%)
« on: October 15, 2013, 08:22:09 pm »


As a child of the 80's, I've always had a place in my heart for these arcade games that I spent countless hours and quarters on.  Some of my fondest memories include my generous dad taking me and my younger brother to the arcade, giving us a bunch of tokens, hanging out with us despite not really caring about video games, hanging out at the local liquor store playing karate champ and later the original big buttoned street fighter with other kids, and pretty much fainting when we first saw the number of machines at the Disneyland arcade back in the day.  So for the past few years, I've totally wanted to build my own arcade cabinet but unfortunately my wife and I love the modern clean lines of the Ikea aesthetic as our small house is pretty much an Ikea showroom.   When I approached her a few months ago about this, it was a quick "Heck no!  Where would it fit in here?  It would totally look out of place even if we had the room for it."

The design...
I convinced her to allow me to build and put an arcade cabinet in our living room if I could hide it inside a really slim 11.5" deep Ikea billy bookcase that we had upstairs.  I started working on the design using Autodesk Inventor.  I figured that I would divide it up into two parts and put them on drawer slides so that they would extend out and make it look like a real arcade cabinet.  The marquee and the monitor would make up the top part and the control panel would make up the bottom part. 



It was at this point where I decided that I would play up the Ikea aesthetic using their blue and yellow color scheme and even the graphics that they used in their instruction manuals.  Our black Ikea Billy bookcase is pretty nondescript from the outside and I wanted to contrast that with the hidden arcade machine that is bright, brash and perhaps even obnoxious with its lights and colors. And thus the Ikeakade was born.



Starting the build...
My woodworking skills were rather poor and I lacked a table saw and a router.  I borrowed a miter and jig saw from my brother and designed the cabinet on the computer in advance so that I could construct it with the fewest number of cuts.  I had bought a multitool and a drill earlier in the year and I went ahead making the cuts.  It was here that I learned about the wonders of the sanding attachment tool.  I clamped the differently cut two side pieces together and started sanding away until they completely identical to each other.  You literally can't tell how horrible my jig sawing abilities are.  Another lesson that I learned was that despite the hardware store telling you that the a plank is 10" wide, it is actually only 9.25" wide.  I counter sunk my screws using a slightly larger drill bit and filled them with wood putty.



Control Panel...
Once I received my buttons, joysticks, and controller from Paradise Arcade, I built a test control panel quickly so I could figure out what bits and how big things actually are and to make sure all of the lights worked out.  I also ordered a cheap 2" trackball from Sparkfun.  Because it didn't come with any mounting materials, I took some ideas from the way that DaOldMan mounted his in his control panel.  I highly recommend this because if you are doing an cabinet for the first time, its a lot easier getting the mistakes out of the way on the practice control panel.  I also wanted two spinners on my control panel for games like Ivan Stewart's OffRoad or SuperSprint and after seeing the prices on them I went the DIY route.

Here's the contraption I build to mount the trackball.


You can see the DIY LED light fixture I built to light up the trackball through a hole in the bottom of the trackball mount.


I used some 5/16" threaded rod and fed them through a skateboard bearing that was sandwiched between two washers.  I JB welded it all together.  The washers allow the center part of the skateboard bearing to spin freely.  I then used a fostner bit to route out a hole on the bottom side of the control panel, big enough for the washer in diameter but not enough for its depth so it sticks out a little bit.  I then drilled a hole in the center of that for the threaded rod.  I had to make sure that it was big enough for the center part of the skateboard bearing to spin freely.  I then took a mending plate that was holes in it, bent it into a L, drilled a hole big enough for the threaded rod and screwed the mending into the bottom of the control panel.  The mending plate bends a little and keeps the washer bearing sandwich in place.  I used nuts, plastic washers, and metal washers to hold the threaded rod in place and give the rod some momentum when spun.  For the top, I found a 1-1/2" PVC cap (who knew it is actually over 2" in diameter), JB welded a coupling nut in the middle of it, painted it yellow, and screwed it in to the top.  The hard part was making sure the coupling nut was lined up in the center.  I wasn't able to get it perfectly lined up so when I spin it, it wobbles a bit.  Maybe I'll try again in the future.  After reading online, I noticed everybody was using rollerball mice in their DIY setups.  I wondered if I could go the optical route, so I flipped the mouse over and had the laser pointed at the nut and noticed that the computer was able to translate this data into a certain axis.  I then used a piece of wood to mount the mouse pcb, hot glued the clear plastic piece that the laser shoots through, and adjusted where the laser was pointing at on the spinning nut at the bottom until I got some smooth motion on the computer.

Here's a quickly drawn out sketch of this crazy contraption


Here's the newly painted PVC cap


Here's what the skate bearing and washer sandwich looks like.  My first usage of JB Weld!  Just make sure it doesn't get on the spinning part in the middle.


Besides the slight wobble when it spins, the only other issue is that is spins too good and if you accidentally bump it, it will spin for a bit.

I then took my Lexan, borrowed a bunch of clamps from work, printed out my control panel layout, taped that on real good, and then got some 1", 1-1/8" and 1-3/8" forstner bits to cut the holes for the buttons.  Unfortunately, I didn't have a hole saw with the right diameter for the trackball so I had to cut the hole using the next largest size.  It works fine, but there is a 1/8" space between the ball and the sides of the hole.  It bugs me a little bit, but I think I've gotten over it as I get closer to the end of the project.  I then made a printout from Costco using their poster making services and put that under the Lexan with the holes drilled out.  I used a sharp xacto knife that my wife uses for her scrapbooking to cut out the holes on the printout.  Make sure you tape it up good with some painters tape so that nothing moves.  For my control panel graphics, I found a website that would "Ikea-ify" words and put the names of video games that I grew up with e.g. Donkey Kong became Dankki Kanng, Space Invaders became Spass Insvadders etc. 

Here's a picture of the control panel graphics


Because I didn't have router, I used my multitool with a plunge cutter to cut the slots for the T moulding.  I simply drew a line of where the slot needed to be and with the correct thickness and then proceeded to cut it as straight as I could.  I cut off a piece of the T moulding and tested as I went along.  I'm glad I did that because some of my slots were too thin and required some extra cutting.  In the end, its not perfectly straight but I thought it was a pretty decent job.

I then covered the front faces of the control panel with Lexan that had been spray painted blue on the other side.  Once you removed the protective tape on the other side, you get a nice glossy look that looked really professional.  I sprayed painted some screws and then mounted the Lexan onto the control panel.

Here's the final version.  Next time, I need to remember that the T molding has a tough time making 90 degree turns.  Some of it doesn't fit totally flush around that bend. 


Painting...
Yikes!  After lurking on these forums for a while, I had the choice between spraying it and hand rolling it.  Since I didn't have a compressor or sprayer, I thought that having to buy a bunch of spray paint cans would be very costly.  I ended up ordering some Kansas Jayhawk blue laytex Gliden paint from Home Depot.  I put down some Kliz primer and then sanded and sanded some more.  I then put down some paint using some 1/4 nap rollers thinking it would give me a smooth finish.  No matter how many coats I put on, and how much I sanded I could never get the brushless consistency that I wanted.  I even bought the expensive microfiber rollers thinking that would solve my problems.  I tried wetsanding with latex but I just couldn't get it to look right.  I used a wide variety of different grit sandpaper as suggested by people on the forums but to no avail.  Luckily for me, most of the painted areas are hidden by the Ikea bookcase so my poor paint job wouldn't be too noticeable.  The next time I do this, I think I'm gonna bite the bullet and just go down the spray paint can route.

Marquee...
The marquee is attached using some aluminum L brackets that are sprayed painted yellow.  I then took some metal sheet screws, sprayed painted their heads yellow, and screwed them into the L bracket.  The marquee is a poster print (which I think is on photo paper) from Costco.  The nice thing about it is that the back of the photo paper doesn't have anything printed on it so you don't get any dark blotches when you shine light through them.  It is sandwiched between 2 acrylic panels.  I then got a 5 meter strand of led strips, attached them to a thin piece of mounting board (the one with all those little holes) and hooked it up to the 12V of the power supply.  I learned that the sticky tape doesn't hold up well to the mounting board and it kept coming off.  I've got my fingers crossed about the large amount of hot glue I layed down to keeping the strips from coming off.  I attached some small L brackets on the light board and screwed in some metal mending strips in the cabinet and put one of those ridiculously strong magnets in between.  This allowed me to play with how far the light strip board was from the marquee so that you don't get those hot spots from the individual leds and also lets me quickly take out the light strip board and access the computer that is behind it.

Here's the marquee and the painted top cabinet.  I put the front "glass" just to make sure it fits.


Here's a picture of how the light strip board is mounted.


Speakers...
I then used my hole saw to cut 3" holes for the speakers I took from a pair of computer speakers.  My poor 12V drill would overheat so it took forever to cut these two holes.  They didn't have any holes for mounting so I simply hot glued them to the cabinet.  I then bought on ebay some metal speaker covers and I sprayed painted them yellow and attached them on the bottom.  While browsing ebay, I came on some yellow EL wire that seemed reasonably priced and it came with a box that flashes the wire when detects sound.  I wrapped the EL wire in several loops and stuck them above the speaker.  It makes the speakers flash as sound is being played through them.  I also installed a door pull I got from Home Depot so I could pull the top cabinet forward and extend it out of the cabinet.

I installed the computer motherboard using some mounting standoffs that I screwed and hot glued into the wood.  I installed a smaller powersupply that I had left over my HTPC.  Luckly it had some places where you could put a screw through so that I could affix it to the cabinet.  With the hard drive I used some industrial strength velcro to affix it to the powersupply.  Plastic tie downs everywhere to somewhat organize the cabling!

Here's the computer installed


Here's the drawer pull and speaker covers installed


After painting and installing the drawer slides, I put them in and the control panel and monitor piece seemed to slide in and out find.  However, I quickly noticed that the special "lock in and lock out" drawer slides I searched high and low for weren't up to the task of steadying the control panel during play.  I ended up using those cabinet door magnets to help lock each of pieces in places whether they are out or in.

Here's a picture of the drawer slide and the magnet on the side of the top monitor cabinet.


It also reinforced the top drawer slide with some extra pieces of wood.  Hope it gonna be able to hold up everything.


Monitor...
The next thing I did was to install the monitor.  I was orginally going to use the 4:3 17" lcd monitor that I had laying around but after really looking at it, I thought it was much too small for proper gaming.  Luckily the week I searched ebay, I found a 21" 4:3 monitor that would fit the cabinet and for a reasonable $60 shipped.  It had VESA mounts on the back so I took a board, drilled some holes for metric bolts, and then mounted  it to the top unit at an angle.  I then used some metal tie downs to keep the gigantic power brick in place.

Look at that ginormous power brick for the monitor circa 2005


My improvised monitor mount.  For a monitor this big and heavy, you would think the screws would be bigger!  Its been holding up so far! 


Plastic or glass...
After looking at online prices of Lexan and Acrylic and also at Home Depot and Lowes, I decided that the online route even with shipping was pretty comparative.  I eventually ordered from Tap plastics and had them cut the pieces to size.  I ended up ordering 1/8" sized Acrylic for everything except fot the control panel in which I ordered 1/8" Lexan.  I read all the horror stories of cutting Acrylic so I figured the extra scratchabilty aspect of Lexan was worth it for the control panel.  One thing that I was glad to read somewhere on this site was that there was an arcade buidler that sandwiched 1/8" clear with 1/8" solar grey acrylic for the front "glass."  I spray painted the back of the solar grey black for the "bezel" and then I was able to slide in between an instruction card for a professional look.   So I highly recommend Tap Plastic, their prices are online and reasonable, the order was quickly fulfilled and shipped out to my workplace (for some reason shipping to business rather than residential is cheaper).  As many of the builders on the site attest, the smoked glass with the spray painted bezel makes a big difference especially to make that screen seem like its floating in midair and to hide the monitor when its off.  The only thing about acrylic that everybody complains about that is completely true is that it is a dust magnet.  I looked for a place to get smoked glass cut around where I live but it was to no avail.  The one place that a lot of builders use, www.onedayglass.com was a little pricer than the acrylic to get it shipped to my location.
 


Instruction card.  Printed at Costco for cheap again.  Not sure why its doubled up in the photo...


Automation?...
So far so good with the project.  The only hiccup was my attempt to make this build automated by having the control panel and monitor cabinet slide out by themselves.  I only had to make the top monitor cabinet slide out 4 inches and the control panel 11 inches.  Doesn't sound too bad right.  However, because I might need to take the control panel and the monitor cabinet out eventually if we ever moved the arcade cabinet, I needed a solution that could be detached and reattached quickly or that was all in one self contained unit.  I also only have an 1/2" between the sides of the bookshelf and the control panel and monitor cabinet due to them being on the drawer rails.  So that eliminated the pulley and wheel option.  I looked into buying or making a linear actuator.  Besides the cost, linear actuators are rather slow and that to move something 11 inches, the linear actuator would be much greater than 11 inches, which is greater than the depth of the Ikea bookshelf that I'm working with.  So I ended up using the turning wheel idea that a lot of you have used for the rotating monitor.  I mounted a wheel and motor to the screen door hinge and then mounted inside the top monitor cabinet horizontally. So as the wheel turned it would push against the inside of the Ikea cabinet, and thus move the monitor cabinet forward and back on the drawer slide.  The problem was that I was never able to get enough traction for the wheel and it kept spinning not always pulling.  I ever put some really grippy traction tape under it but I was never able to get smooth, consistent movement with it.  So for now, I'm resigned to the idea of having to pull the top monitor cabinet and control panel out by hand.

Wiring...
I've spent the last few days, extending all the wires and making sure that there is enough slack but not too much slack so that when the parts move in and out that they get caught in something.  I've thought about using a server rack arm but I don't have enough room in the bookshelf to put one of those in there.  The solution that I ended up with was to use those retractable key chains that I bought at the dollar store.  So when the control panel goes out, the key chain will extend out and when it goes back in, the key chain will make sure the cable goes back to the right spot so it doesn't get caught in anything. 

I bought myself one of those Smart Strips and they work great after turning the adjustment dial a little.  My power button is wired up to the motherboard.  When I turn on the computer, the marquee that is wired directly to the 12V of the power supply turns on, and the USB computer speakers turn on.  Then the strip will power on the monitor and the lights of the control panel.  So big thanks to the forum for this idea.


I then cut the end of the Smart Strip and wired it to the back end of a power plug that allows access from the outside of the bookshelf.  I still need to find a solution to make sure our kid when getting something out of the bookshelf doesn't accidentally detach the wiring from the insulated crimps and hurt himself.




The home stretch...

This is a photo of the empty Ikea bookshelf with the administrative control panel that has the power button, USB ports and speaker volume, mic jack and power button.


I'm about to put everything into the bookself but I'm still thinking about how to make it automated. 

The Gameex front end is done so all of the software is ready to go.  I've hidden Windows XP and the system flies with my 2GB i3 540 system.   I'll post some of my experiences regarding this soon.  I know this was a long post, but I hope somebody enjoys reading it as much as I've enjoyed reading all of this sites' posts regarding your builds.  Now I gotta get back to work!
« Last Edit: June 12, 2015, 02:34:20 am by processedmeat »

yotsuya

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Re: IKEAKADE - In the home stretch!
« Reply #1 on: October 15, 2013, 08:53:46 pm »
Is this based on the Jerker or the Sklurg line? :cheers:
***Build what you dig, bro. Build what you dig.***

eds1275

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Re: IKEAKADE - In the home stretch!
« Reply #2 on: October 16, 2013, 03:15:49 am »


processedmeat

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Re: IKEAKADE - In the home stretch!
« Reply #3 on: October 22, 2013, 02:32:54 pm »
So after extending all the wires, what a pain in the a** that was, it was finally time to put in the top monitor piece and the control panel into the bookshelf.  For the most part, it slid in pretty well except that part of the top of the control panel was rubbing against the T molding that wrapped along the bottom of the monitor part.  I forgot to include the depth of the T-molding in my calculations.  I ended up taking the slides for the control panel out and setting them a little lower to give in enough clearance.

Alright, everything finally "fits!"


View of the backside.  Trying to keep the cabling organized so that when the monitor and control panel parts slide in and out, that nothing gets caught and that the cabling goes back to where its suppose to be.  Trying to be legit by using the Ikea grey cable organizer tube as well!


Here's the custom Gameex frontend.  What a nice piece of software to use.  I really wanted Hyperspin and gave it a go but the inability to update a game list within the program gave the nod to Gameex. 


List of things to finish:
1) Because the top monitor part has so much mass compared to the rest of the cabinet, it wobbles a bit when trying to play something on the control panel.  I'm gonna replace the cardboard like backing of the bookshelf with a sheet of plywood and hopefully that will minimize the wobble and give it some stability.
2) I assumed that the dimensions for this Ikea Billy bookshelf has stayed the same since I bought it over 7 years ago.  I went to Ikea the other day, bought a pair of doors for the bookshelf so that I could hide the arcade cabinet, and when I took it out of the packaging for some reason they were too wide and too long.  I decided to take the doors apart and reconstruct them so that they fit.  Not a big deal but definitely another time sucker.  I'm getting to the point where I'm starting to feel some fatigue about finishing the project.
3) Also trying to find hinges to attach the doors to has been a wild goose chase.  I can't use the ones that came with the doors because they are too thick and there isn't enough clearance for things to slide in and out.  I then got inspiration when I opened up my medicine cabinet the other day and noticed this hinge.  Does anybody know what these are called?  I've searched the internet but I've been coming up empty.



Thanks for reading my babbling!

matt4949

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Re: IKEAKADE - In the home stretch!
« Reply #4 on: October 22, 2013, 03:01:18 pm »
It looks like a plain old hinge that some one bent with a hand brake. See the third screw hole?


oh yeah, really cool build.

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Re: IKEAKADE - In the home stretch!
« Reply #5 on: October 22, 2013, 03:13:04 pm »
It looks like a plain old hinge that some one bent with a hand brake. See the third screw hole? oh yeah, really cool build.

Once found, of course, it becomes a "HINJ"!

:D

Love this! Very original! (I certainly hope you plan on putting large encircled arrows on the floor of your home, helping visitors get to the arkaad.)

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Re: IKEAKADE - In the home stretch!
« Reply #6 on: October 22, 2013, 05:19:53 pm »


Cranked hinge?

processedmeat

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Re: IKEAKADE - In the home stretch!
« Reply #7 on: October 22, 2013, 06:18:01 pm »
Love this! Very original! (I certainly hope you plan on putting large encircled arrows on the floor of your home, helping visitors get to the arkaad.)

I'm gonna force them to walk through my entire house first and then to the arcade just like in the store ;)

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Re: IKEAKADE - In the home stretch!
« Reply #8 on: October 22, 2013, 06:18:28 pm »
It looks like a plain old hinge that some one bent with a hand brake. See the third screw hole? oh yeah, really cool build.

Once found, of course, it becomes a "HINJ"!

:D

Love this! Very original! (I certainly hope you plan on putting large encircled arrows on the floor of your home, helping visitors get to the arkaad.)

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Re: IKEAKADE - In the home stretch!
« Reply #9 on: October 23, 2013, 08:25:02 am »
I Love these kind of off the wall builds (or in the case build..)--nicely done!  and don't worry about project fatigue--if you were the only one feeling it--there wouldn't be a thread in everything else about getting people motivated (looking at you rick--how's doom'd coming  ;D)

Is it top heavy at all--as in does it feel like its going to fall forward when playing it due to its shallow footprint?
its better to not post and be thought a fool, then to whip out your keyboard and remove all doubt...

processedmeat

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Re: IKEAKADE - In the home stretch!
« Reply #10 on: October 23, 2013, 11:26:29 am »
Is it top heavy at all--as in does it feel like its going to fall forward when playing it due to its shallow footprint?

Thanks for encouragement.  I'm getting to the place where I just want to reduce the clutter in my house and garage that this project has caused.  I don't think the wife knew what she was getting into when she agreed to this project.

Regarding if it is top heavy, luckily the monitor part doesn't extend too far out so the center of balance is still over the majority of the bookshelf footprint.  I haven't played anything too seriously yet so I'm not sure about the falling forward potential.  We'll see when we start playing some serious Street Fighter II.  I was also going to bolt the bookshelf into the wall to give it that extra stability.  This is the only place in the house where it would look like it normally fits any way so I don't plan on moving it any time soon.

Thanks for reading about my project!

processedmeat

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Re: IKEAKADE - In the home stretch!
« Reply #11 on: October 23, 2013, 11:38:42 am »
Cranked hinge?

Thanks for the lead.  I think that might be it.  Now to find a source!

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Re: IKEAKADE - In the home stretch!
« Reply #12 on: October 23, 2013, 07:09:05 pm »
Brilliant idea! Will it dispense meatballs?

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Re: IKEAKADE - In the home stretch!
« Reply #14 on: October 29, 2013, 11:47:24 pm »
3) Also trying to find hinges to attach the doors to has been a wild goose chase.  I can't use the ones that came with the doors because they are too thick and there isn't enough clearance for things to slide in and out.  I then got inspiration when I opened up my medicine cabinet the other day and noticed this hinge.  Does anybody know what these are called?  I've searched the internet but I've been coming up empty.





That's just a typical full overlay hinge.  Many different styles are available, should be able to find a similar type at a local hardware store.  Here's one style as an example, but it has the hinge pin extended by the door rather than the cabinet to allow the door to swing 270deg.

http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=259&site=ROCKLER


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Re: IKEAKADE - In the home stretch!
« Reply #15 on: October 30, 2013, 09:27:20 am »
Google Full Inset Partial Wrap

You get these guys....see if can find a variation you like


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Re: IKEAKADE - In the home stretch!
« Reply #16 on: October 30, 2013, 09:41:23 am »
This project is awesome !:)

processedmeat

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Re: IKEAKADE - In the home stretch!
« Reply #17 on: October 30, 2013, 09:24:44 pm »
That's just a typical full overlay hinge.  Many different styles are available, should be able to find a similar type at a local hardware store.  Here's one style as an example, but it has the hinge pin extended by the door rather than the cabinet to allow the door to swing 270deg.

http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=259&site=ROCKLER



Thanks for the tip.  I had actually found the same one with the help from the fine folks at Rockler this weekend.

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Re: IKEAKADE - In the home stretch!
« Reply #18 on: October 31, 2013, 03:38:35 am »
Looking forward to seeing this one in motion :)

processedmeat

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Re: IKEAKADE - 99.5% Done!
« Reply #19 on: November 28, 2013, 02:56:39 pm »
After a grueling but fun few months for myself and neglecting my family almost every night, I'm proud to say that I'm 99.5% done!

Doors
Since my last post, I bought two Ikea Billy doors to attach to the front of the bookshelf to hide the cabinet.  When I got them home, for some reason, they were too tall and too wide.  Perhaps, my bookshelf isn't an Ikea bookshelf or they changed the size of them since we got the bookshelf many years ago.  :(  I had to take these doors apart, cut them done to the right size and then put them back together again.  Since Ikea products generally are not supposed to be taken apart and hacked, the doors ended up being very flimsy since they are held together by dowels and glue.  I ended up having to screw in some mending plates to make them a little more sturdier.  Luckily the fine folks at Rockler got me the right hinges and they mounted fine without any issue.  I then got some of those magnetic press to open door latches for a nice clean look from the outside.

Attached doors


Flashing Led light strips
I bought a 15 feet yellow led strip that is connected to a box I got on ebay that flashes whenever it hears a sound above a certain threshold.  I put this strip in between the sliding monitor and the cabinet and on the bottom of the sliding control panel.   No seizures induced yet so I think it'll stay!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/DC-12V-Sound-Active-Module-For-Car-LED-Bulbs-LED-Strip-w-Adjustable-Sensitivity-/230981553067?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item35c792cbab&vxp=mtr

Here's an animated gif of it opening and closing.


Final list of things to do.  Please chime in if you have any advice!
1) Stop obsessing about every little imperfection and gaps due to improperly placed and cut parts.
 
2) Figure out how to have 2 USB gamepads plugged into the cabinet for some 4 player action without it messing up the mame controller assignments.  To be honest I'm actually kinda of scared of plugging them in and seeing what happens since everything is working so well now.  I'm gonna try the ControllerMapUtility that one of the fine folks of this forum put up but I know it'll take some time to config which is something I'm not looking forward to doing.  I would totally pay good money for an easy to setup gui. 

Picture of USB Plugs


3) On one "play testing" session of Street Fighter as Guile, I tried to execute a flash kick which is pressing kick and pushing the joystick upward at the same time.  This jerked the control panel pretty hard and the control panel "disconnected" from the magnets and slid backwards.  For 99.9% of the time, this inelegant solution has held up.  I wonder if magnets get weaker after time and that this disconnection would occur more and more.  Should I evaluate a much stronger option?  Perhaps an electromagnet solution?

Picture of one of the magnet latches connecting to the control panel.


I just want to thank everyone on this forum for all of their helpful tips and the time they put in to document their builds.  It has been an immense help in fulfilling a lifelong dream of mine. 

Superfrog

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Re: IKEAKADE - 99.5% Done!
« Reply #20 on: November 28, 2013, 05:31:44 pm »
Kudos for having the guts to do something completely different  :cheers:

And it worked out really great  :applaud:

Greetings

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Re: IKEAKADE - 99.5% Done!
« Reply #21 on: November 29, 2013, 11:42:35 pm »

Thanks for sharing.

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Re: IKEAKADE - 99.5% Done!
« Reply #22 on: December 01, 2013, 07:29:20 am »
Fantastic - very unique.

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Re: IKEAKADE - 99.5% Done!
« Reply #23 on: December 01, 2013, 12:44:55 pm »
If you used rare earth magnets, they will not weaken appreciably in such a short time.

Sweet build, very unique!

 :cheers:

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Re: IKEAKADE - 99.5% Done!
« Reply #24 on: December 01, 2013, 12:59:52 pm »
cool build.

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Re: IKEAKADE - 99.5% Done!
« Reply #25 on: December 02, 2013, 02:47:37 pm »
That was awesome.

AJ

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Re: IKEAKADE - Updated 6/15 - 99.6% Done! (Up from 99.5%)
« Reply #26 on: June 12, 2015, 01:49:53 am »
So after taking a break from the Ikeakade to build an automated DSLR photobooth, I decided to revisit one of my original features that I wanted for my arcade cabinet - a dynamic marquee.  After noticing that nobody makes a 21:10 ultrawide LCD monitor that would fit my arcade cabinet, I decided to make an LED matrix that could display whatever I wanted up there.  Though the resolution is only 38 X 9, it figured it was good enough to display words, and very simple animations that would have the arcade pixel aesthetic.



I know people around here have used a Betabrite LED display but I wanted to expand my knowledge of electronics stuff so I decided to build my own. 

I bought a 5M strip of WS2812B leds (60 Leds/M), cut and arranged them so that they were equally spaced from each other.  In my marquee space this resulted in that I could only have 38 columns and 9 rows in my matrix.  Though its a very low resolution, I played around with a program called LED Matrix studio to map out the images and I found that I was able to make very crude graphics and works at the very least.



This program was a lifesaver because it allows you to easily modify your graphics and it also allows you to see what your animations look like by showing each frame after each other like a flipbook.

After I laid out the strips in what Adafruit calls "horizontal zig-zag matrix" and wired the ends together using 3 pin JST connectors. 





Some of the reasons I picked the 60 leds/meter strip instead of 144 leds/meter one is the current required to light all of the leds and also making the little dividers for each pixel would be a pain in the ass.   At Home Depot, they sell an eggcrate diffuser for ceiling lights whose spacing matches almost exactly the distance between the leds in the 60/meter strip.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Lithonia-Lighting-White-Eggcrate-T12-Troffer-Replacement-Diffuser-L2GT-PLTS-R5/100579509

I then attached a capacitor (to smooth out the current) and a molex connector so that it would be able to attach to the pc power supply in the arcade cabinet.  Also, I noticed when I was running the led matrix that there was a very large voltage drop at the end of the 5M strip which caused the coloration to be off at the end.  I made sure to have for every 3 strips to have that segment be connected directly to the pc power supply.



I then cut a sheet of bronze acrylic and laid it over my led matrix.  I noticed that the leds were very too bright and needed to be diffused.  I put two sheets of tracing paper between the acrylic and leds and it made the image look more like pixels.


« Last Edit: June 12, 2015, 02:04:10 am by processedmeat »

processedmeat

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Re: IKEAKADE - Updated 6/15 - 99.6% Done! (Up from 99.5%)
« Reply #27 on: June 12, 2015, 02:28:06 am »
Next was programming the Arduino sketch to display my graphics.  My plan was to use arrays to determine which leds were turned on or off.  Each array would show a particular frame of the animation and when I displayed each array in progression such as in a flip book, I can make it look like things are moving.

I first started with Fastled but I had a lot of problems understanding it and especially trying to use arrays to store the data for turning on and off each individual pixel.  I'm sure its possible, I just wasn't able to figure it out. 

I then searched the Internet for examples using the Neopixels library and eventually I was able to adapt this person's code into something that I could figure out. 

I also noticed that the arrays use a lot of the Arduino's limited SRAM memory and in order to have a lot of animations I had to figure out how to store the array data in flash memory instead using the progmem command.  I'm sure there is a better way of programming this and to a coder my code might seem really crude but here it is for noobs like me.  I can't post the entire code below due to the "message exceeding the maximum allowed length" error but I'll post an excerpt of it.  I've attached the sketch file in the attachments.

Here's my modified code:
Code: [Select]
/***********************
 NeoPixel Matrix Sprite
 February 2015
 Giovanni Gentile
 http://www.0lab.it
 Creative Common License
************************/

#include <Adafruit_GFX.h>
#include <Adafruit_NeoMatrix.h>
#include <Adafruit_NeoPixel.h>
#ifndef PSTR
 #define PSTR // Make Arduino Due happy
#endif
#include "Definitions.h"
//include this for PROGMEM
#include <avr/pgmspace.h>

// Control PIN
#define PIN 6

Adafruit_NeoMatrix matrix = Adafruit_NeoMatrix(38, 9, PIN,
  NEO_MATRIX_TOP     + NEO_MATRIX_LEFT +
  NEO_MATRIX_ROWS + NEO_MATRIX_ZIGZAG,
  NEO_GRB            + NEO_KHZ800);

// -------------------------------------------- 
// Set the color of animation (see Definitions.h)
unsigned long COLOR = YELLOW;
unsigned long COLOR2 = BLUE;
unsigned long BACKY;
unsigned long SPRITECOLOR;

// Determines which sprite to utilize
unsigned long SPRITEY;
unsigned long SPRITEY2;
unsigned long SPRITEY3;
unsigned long SPRITEY4;

//Determines how many times to repeat the frames
int loopy;

// Set the brightness (max 50)
int brigh = 50;
// Delay between animation
//int wait = 500;
// ---------------------------------------------

//change from "static unsigned char PROGMEM" to "const PROGMEM uint8_t"

long ghostcolor[4]={0xFF0000, 0xFFC0CB, 0xFFFF00, 0xFFA500};

const PROGMEM uint8_t alienoa1[] = {
B00000000,B00000000,B00000000,B00000000,B00000000,
B00010000,B10000000,B01111000,B00000011,B11000000,
B00001001,B00000001,B11111110,B00000111,B11100000,
B00011111,B10000011,B10110111,B00001101,B10110000,
B00110110,B11000011,B11111111,B00011111,B11111000,
B01111111,B11100000,B11001100,B00000010,B01000000,
B01010000,B10100001,B00110010,B00000101,B10100000,
B00001001,B00000010,B00000001,B00001010,B01010000,
B00000000,B00000000,B00000000,B00000000,B00000000
};

const PROGMEM uint8_t alienoa2[] = {
B00000000,B00000000,B00000000,B00000000,B00000000,
B00010000,B10000000,B01111000,B00000011,B11000000,
B00001001,B00000001,B11111110,B00000111,B11100000,
B01011111,B10100011,B10110111,B00001101,B10110000,
B01110110,B11100011,B11111111,B00011111,B11111000,
B00111111,B11000000,B11001100,B00000111,B11100000,
B00010000,B10000001,B00110010,B00001001,B10010000,
B00100000,B01000000,B10000100,B00000100,B00100000,
B00000000,B00000000,B00000000,B00000000,B00000000
};

const PROGMEM uint8_t ikeakade[] = {
B00000000,B00000000,B00000000,B00000000,B00000000,
B01110100,B10111001,B10010010,B01100111,B00111000,
B00100101,B10110011,B11010110,B11110111,B10110000,
B00100111,B00110011,B01011100,B11010110,B10110000,
B00100110,B00111011,B01011000,B11010110,B10111000,
B00100111,B00110011,B11011100,B11110110,B10110000,
B00100101,B10110011,B01010110,B11010111,B10110000,
B01110100,B10111011,B01010010,B11010111,B00111000,
B00000000,B00000000,B00000000,B00000000,B00000000
};

void setup() {
  matrix.begin();
  matrix.show();
  matrix.setBrightness(brigh);
}

void loop() {

//show ikeakade - switching sprite and background colors
 
 sign(5,500);  //ikeakade
 invaders(5,500);  //spaceinvaders
}

void sprite(const uint8_t* x, unsigned long y, int w){
 byte red = (y & 0xFF0000) >> 16;
 byte green = ( y & 0x00FF00) >> 8;
 byte blue = (y & 0x0000FF);
 
 //The parameters to the drawBitmap() function are, in order: X, Y (top-left corner of where the bitmap will be drawn on the display), pointer to bitmap data, bitmap width and height in pixels, and the color.
 matrix.fillScreen(BACKY);
 matrix.drawBitmap(0,0, x, 38, 9, matrix.Color(red, green, blue));
 matrix.show();
 delay(w);
 //matrix.fillScreen(BACKY);
}

void sign(int loopy, int wait){
for (int i = 0; i <= loopy; i++){
BACKY = LIGHTYELLOW; SPRITECOLOR = COLOR2;
sprite(ikeakade,SPRITECOLOR,wait);
BACKY = COLOR2; SPRITECOLOR = COLOR;
sprite(ikeakade,SPRITECOLOR,wait);
  }
}
 
void invaders(int loopy, int wait){
for (int i = 0; i <= loopy; i++){
BACKY = LIGHTYELLOW; SPRITECOLOR = COLOR2;
sprite(alienoa1,SPRITECOLOR,wait);
BACKY = COLOR2; SPRITECOLOR = COLOR;
sprite(alienoa2,SPRITECOLOR,wait);
  }
}   

If anyone can help me figure out how to display more than 2 colors that would be awesome.  This sketch shows a background color and then when there is a 1 in the array, it changes the color of that pixel.
« Last Edit: June 12, 2015, 02:32:38 am by processedmeat »

stigzler

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Re: IKEAKADE - Updated 6/15 - 99.6% Done! (Up from 99.5%)
« Reply #28 on: June 12, 2015, 02:43:25 am »
Whoa - that innovative and looks fab on yer cab.

Nice GameEx theme too - gonna prop it up over at the GameEx forum.

Reading your thread - see couple of years ago you weren't looking forward to the ControllerRemap experience. It's a great utility, but I eventually ended up making a GUI for it. Dunno if it'll still be of any use to you:

https://controllerremapgui.codeplex.com/

Oh... and does it take about 5 hours to finally find the exit button? :)

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Re: IKEAKADE - Updated 6/15 - 99.6% Done! (Up from 99.5%)
« Reply #29 on: June 12, 2015, 10:54:15 am »
That is just awesome...too cool. Good work, very creative  :cheers:

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Re: IKEAKADE - Updated 6/15 - 99.6% Done! (Up from 99.5%)
« Reply #30 on: June 12, 2015, 11:04:19 am »
I missed this project when it was first posted.
Very cool.
I love the IKEA theme.
You pulled it off nicely.

I hope you made a measurements using one of those little paper measuring tapes they have at the store.

This would go great with Swedish meatballs and a side of lingonberry.

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Re: IKEAKADE - Updated 6/15 - 99.6% Done! (Up from 99.5%)
« Reply #31 on: June 12, 2015, 11:10:35 am »
Looking at the code for drawBitmap in the adafruit github repository, If you wanted to do a 4 color bitmap I think you could use code something like the following:
Code: [Select]
// Draw a 2-bit color bitmap at the specified x, y position from the
// provided bitmap buffer (must be PROGMEM memory) using color0, color1, color2, and color 3 as the
// pallette
void drawFourColorBitmap(int16_t x, int16_t y,
            const uint8_t *bitmap, int16_t w, int16_t h,
            uint16_t color0, uint16_t color1, uint16_t color2, uint16_t color3) {

  int16_t i, j, byteWidth = (2*w + 7) / 8;
 
  for(j=0; j<h; j++) {
    for(i=0; i<w; i++ ) {

      // The bitmap is stored so that every 2 pixels represents a color
      // so for a 4 by 1 bitmap, it can be stored in a single byte as
      // follows 0Baabbccdd so that aa represents the color to use for the
      // first pixel, bb the second ...
      switch(pgm_read_byte(bitmap + j * byteWidth + (i*2) / 8) & (0xc0 >> ((i*2) & 7)))
      {
        case 3:
          drawPixel(x+i, y+j, color3);
          break;
        case 2:
          drawPixel(x+i, y+j, color2);
          break;
        case 1:
          drawPixel(x+i, y+j, color1);
          break;
        case 0:     
        default:
          drawPixel(x+i, y+j, color0);
          break;
      }
    }
  }
}


I can't guarantee that the above is bug free, and it certainly isn't the most elegant way to do it, but I hope you see what it is trying to do.

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Re: IKEAKADE - Updated 6/15 - 99.6% Done! (Up from 99.5%)
« Reply #32 on: June 26, 2015, 11:24:53 pm »
Just came across this today, but I've gotta say: I love how you've hidden these bright, punch-you-in-the-face colors behind an otherwise "normal" bookcase! (I personally love bright, almost garish colors!) Great job!

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Re: IKEAKADE - Updated 6/15 - 99.6% Done! (Up from 99.5%)
« Reply #33 on: September 05, 2017, 01:37:09 pm »
Going to Necrobump this one so people can see that originality hasn't totally died out :)

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Re: IKEAKADE - Updated 6/15 - 99.6% Done! (Up from 99.5%)
« Reply #34 on: December 10, 2018, 03:32:56 pm »
I know I'm necroposting, but I love this build!    I'd be really afraid that it was going to fall over on top of somebody but beyond that, I love the idea and the execution.   :applaud: :applaud:
No crap, don't put your kids in a real fridge.
-- Chad Tower

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Re: IKEAKADE - Updated 6/15 - 99.6% Done! (Up from 99.5%)
« Reply #35 on: March 15, 2019, 04:35:25 pm »
Another semi-necrobump and a +1 for seeing someone else built a cabinet that has a slide-out drawer controls!

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Re: IKEAKADE - Updated 6/15 - 99.6% Done! (Up from 99.5%)
« Reply #36 on: March 21, 2019, 05:22:13 pm »
this is my first post in years - but this place still astounds me at the creativity out there.

Very well done -super cool.

Congrats !
Seriously. Will it fit in my basement or what?