Main Restorations Software Audio/Jukebox/MP3 Everything Else Buy/Sell/Trade
Project Announcements Monitor/Video GroovyMAME Merit/JVL Touchscreen Meet Up Retail Vendors
Driving & Racing Woodworking Software Support Forums Consoles Project Arcade Reviews
Automated Projects Artwork Frontend Support Forums Pinball Forum Discussion Old Boards
Raspberry Pi & Dev Board controls.dat Linux Miscellaneous Arcade Wiki Discussion Old Archives
Lightguns Arcade1Up Try the site in https mode Site News

Unread posts | New Replies | Recent posts | Rules | Chatroom | Wiki | File Repository | RSS | Submit news

  

Author Topic: Space Base - A homebrew ICB/ZP  (Read 88336 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

AlienInferno

  • Trade Count: (0)
  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 515
  • Last login:March 12, 2024, 03:45:03 pm
Re: Space Base - A homebrew ICB/ZP
« Reply #200 on: May 20, 2015, 09:29:07 pm »
Wow!  Been a while since I logged into the BYOAC forums and I find this.  Holy  :censored: ! Good work guys.  Now finish this so I can add yet another build to my list of things wanted.

sushy18

  • Trade Count: (0)
  • Jr. Member
  • **
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 2
  • Last login:March 18, 2018, 02:28:42 am
  • I want to build my own arcade controls!
Re: Space Base - A homebrew ICB/ZP
« Reply #201 on: May 28, 2016, 10:49:14 am »
Hi,
amazing job !!!
there is some news about this project ?
is it possible to have/buy some cnc plan?
I'm new in this forum i can't PM the author.

if he/you read me, i'will be glad to read you.


best regards

PL1

  • Global Moderator
  • Trade Count: (+1)
  • Full Member
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 9393
  • Last login:Today at 08:42:35 am
  • Designated spam hunter
Re: Space Base - A homebrew ICB/ZP
« Reply #202 on: May 28, 2016, 02:59:23 pm »
Welcome aboard, Shushy18.   ;D

Your PMs should be working now.   :cheers:


Scott

XXVII

  • Trade Count: (0)
  • Jr. Member
  • **
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 2
  • Last login:June 30, 2018, 10:58:25 am
Re: Space Base - A homebrew ICB/ZP
« Reply #203 on: July 24, 2016, 06:56:28 pm »
Hey Le Chuck, IDS, and eds1275,

We're years late to the party, but a gaggle of us on Pinside have only recently discovered and been inspired by your incredible project and we would love to give a go at building our own based off your pioneering work. You mentioned in the first post of this thread that you were planning to open source the whole thing. Will that still happen?

Some of us have a vague idea of how to move forward, but we're stuck on various issues. For example, how did you guys make the telescoping rod? Did it have to be custom fabricated or were there some off-the-shelf components that you were able to modify into it?

Would love to hear your insight. Thanks, and great work!

Le Chuck

  • Saint, make a poll!
  • Wiki Contributor
  • Trade Count: (+6)
  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 5509
  • Last login:March 26, 2024, 08:00:17 pm
  • <insert personal text here>
Re: Space Base - A homebrew ICB/ZP
« Reply #204 on: July 25, 2016, 07:50:15 am »
Hey everyone, I'm glad to see this still has some interest.  It certainly isn't dead but it has been moving slowly for the last year or so.  A lot of life changes for several team members that had to be sorted out before work could resume, myself included!

All that said, I will be getting back into this shortly.  I'll be fabbing up a second playfield (the first is with IDS) and I'll do a step by step build up on that.  I can't put a deadline on anything past that but I'll be starting the playfield in August as soon as I finish the panel I'm building for my boys. 

Once complete everything will go open source, the reason we aren't do releases as we go is because things are still in flux and I personally don't want to put out bad poop, have someone spend money, get ahead of me only to find out it doesn't work as advertised.  Plans, parts lists, music, code, the works.

As it stands now the only truly custom fabricated bits are on the ball the return (which is simple) and the circuit boards (which is supposedly simple for those in the know but might as well be rocket surgery for me).  Everything else is off-the-shelf modded or tooled. 

Regular updates to recommence soon.  Thanks!

AlienInferno

  • Trade Count: (0)
  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 515
  • Last login:March 12, 2024, 03:45:03 pm
Re: Space Base - A homebrew ICB/ZP
« Reply #205 on: August 04, 2016, 06:22:51 pm »
I for one am still interested. Just patiently waiting in the corner.

skipper.nick

  • Trade Count: (0)
  • Jr. Member
  • **
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 1
  • Last login:May 18, 2018, 11:31:44 am
  • I want to build my own arcade controls!
Re: Space Base - A homebrew ICB/ZP
« Reply #206 on: May 11, 2018, 11:04:57 pm »
Hi!

Really love the artwork and designs! Seems like you have put alot of work into this project and made it pretty far! Gorgeous!

Was it ever finished?

You mentioned wanting to release the designs as open source once done. Great :) Even if you never finished it, I for one would LOVE LOVE any files, templates, diagrams etc that you produced along the way. Even if never completed it would give one a HUGE head start on making a similar game. Full disclaimer of work in progress understood and accepted :)

Please consider! Thanks in advance!!!

Ian

  • Trade Count: (0)
  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 1060
  • Last login:September 26, 2021, 01:50:35 am
  • "A day without Laughter is a day wasted"
Re: Space Base - A homebrew ICB/ZP
« Reply #207 on: May 15, 2018, 06:54:43 pm »
Yes... an update would rock!
Every normal man must be tempted at times to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin to slit throats.

eds1275

  • Trade Count: (0)
  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 2157
  • Last login:March 21, 2024, 02:31:34 pm
  • Rock and Roll!
Re: Space Base - A homebrew ICB/ZP
« Reply #208 on: May 19, 2018, 10:20:50 am »
I wrote the music and did some sound effects. Unfortunately since then I got divorced, lost my house/audio studio, got robbed, got really sick and nearly died, went blind in one eye and am currently renting a room in a friend's place "for a month or two" beginning 16 months ago. Things are on the up though, looking at real estate Wednesday and hoping to lock in an offer on a place that's big enough for my audio business and lifestyle (the blindness is pretty crippling, I can't enjoy reading or television, video games with decent graphics. Anything visual just gives me headaches due to my dumb eye straining to focus - but for some reason I am still legal to ride a motorcycle [I CHOOSE NOT TO THOUGH.]) I just play an obscene amount of guitar while I'm not working. It's not all bad. But currently I'm not set up to do anything more than edit audio or work with one of two microphones since most of my belongings are in storage.

Le Chuck

  • Saint, make a poll!
  • Wiki Contributor
  • Trade Count: (+6)
  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 5509
  • Last login:March 26, 2024, 08:00:17 pm
  • <insert personal text here>
Re: Space Base - A homebrew ICB/ZP
« Reply #209 on: May 21, 2018, 05:09:30 pm »
IDS is wrapping up the back end hardware now. There may have been a litany of personal issues on his end as well, and life has decidedly kept me from doing much of anything arcade related for quite some time.

Rest assured, at some point in the future, there will likely be another post by me telling everyone that we'll have something soon.


Le Chuck

  • Saint, make a poll!
  • Wiki Contributor
  • Trade Count: (+6)
  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 5509
  • Last login:March 26, 2024, 08:00:17 pm
  • <insert personal text here>
Re: Space Base - A homebrew ICB/ZP
« Reply #210 on: May 21, 2018, 05:11:15 pm »
I wrote the music and did some sound effects. Unfortunately since then I got divorced, lost my house/audio studio, got robbed, got really sick and nearly died, went blind in one eye and am currently renting a room in a friend's place "for a month or two" beginning 16 months ago. Things are on the up though, looking at real estate Wednesday and hoping to lock in an offer on a place that's big enough for my audio business and lifestyle (the blindness is pretty crippling, I can't enjoy reading or television, video games with decent graphics. Anything visual just gives me headaches due to my dumb eye straining to focus - but for some reason I am still legal to ride a motorcycle [I CHOOSE NOT TO THOUGH.]) I just play an obscene amount of guitar while I'm not working. It's not all bad. But currently I'm not set up to do anything more than edit audio or work with one of two microphones since most of my belongings are in storage.

Jeeeeeesus. Bro. Wow. My condolences man. Fucksake that's terrible.

eds1275

  • Trade Count: (0)
  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 2157
  • Last login:March 21, 2024, 02:31:34 pm
  • Rock and Roll!
Re: Space Base - A homebrew ICB/ZP
« Reply #211 on: May 21, 2018, 10:29:44 pm »
Jeeeeeesus. Bro. Wow. My condolences man. Fucksake that's terrible.

Ha thanks luckily I've been on the mend and can laugh at myself. Things are, as I said, looking up.

Mike A

  • Trade Count: (0)
  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 5884
  • Last login:Today at 08:51:45 am
  • This plan is foolproof
Re: Space Base - A homebrew ICB/ZP
« Reply #212 on: May 22, 2018, 04:03:29 am »
I am glad you can live with a positive outlook. It will make a big difference in the quality of your life.

I am glad you are doing better. The universe kicked you in the balls pretty hard.

luquio2008

  • Trade Count: (0)
  • Jr. Member
  • **
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 2
  • Last login:October 05, 2018, 07:14:16 am
  • I want to build my own arcade controls!
Re: Space Base - A homebrew ICB/ZP
« Reply #213 on: September 17, 2018, 07:38:48 pm »
you can share your project and files?

I would need if possible the design of the playing field please.

thank you very much!

Le Chuck

  • Saint, make a poll!
  • Wiki Contributor
  • Trade Count: (+6)
  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 5509
  • Last login:March 26, 2024, 08:00:17 pm
  • <insert personal text here>
Re: Space Base - A homebrew ICB/ZP
« Reply #214 on: March 03, 2019, 09:41:17 pm »
Ummm, hi guys. Long time no progress on this one.

Actually, that's not entirely the case. There has been progress thanks to IDS keeping this going. I'll quickly catch everyone up to what happened and where we're at.

Four years ago, (almost exactly) I packaged up the playfield and sent it to Canada so IDS could do all the stuff he said he'd do. And he did! He did it through some major life changes and things that other people would've walked away from, he kept plugging away. There has been a working playfield with him for well over a year now.

Now, it's been said often enough, but I'm an idiot. When I sent the playfield to IDS I had every intention of building another one right away...but I didn't. And then I moved five times between then and now (holy cats my life is nuts) and forgot what I was doing and lost a bunch of pieces and by the time IDS sent me a box of beautiful wires and boards and everything I needed to complete this project (damn near a year ago) I had completely forgotten what the hell I was doing. Literally lol.

So, I've started the slow and painful process of reacquainting myself with Space Base. The past several weeks I've been slowly gathering materials and this weekend I carved out some time to put some things together. I've also cleared my plate of all other hobby-related projects so there is nothing stopping forward progress on this other than my intense love of Netflix.

Too much talky-talk. More picy-pic.

 
I was no joke starting from scratch, had to order new servos, new pulley wheels, find brackets that would work. The whole nine yards. Got everything together and did the necessaries.


I still had the bearing brackets, but had to thread them. Build the rods and stops. Made some minor changes from the first iteration. At least I remembered some of the things I wanted to change, like cutting two different length spacers since the rods are different diameters, using threaded spacers, things like that.


I made the ball return hole a bit steeper this time as well. Modified the gate a bit, and did it in plexi as a test. I'll go back and fab it in aluminum once I'm happy with it.


Here we are ready to bondo and prep for vinyl on the front.


Backside getting the glue up done for the ball channel.

I still need to fab up a half dozen different brackets, bondo in the ball return channel, and just a ton of other little things to get back to where I was four years ago lol. Probably another weekend worth of prep work, and then I'll be ready to start the actual new (for me) part of this build, adding the switches, wiring, displays, power, and you know, the actual game part of this game. 

Anyway, thanks for reading and thanks for being patient.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEFMDqMiOBk&feature=youtu.be#
Here's an old video that IDS probably doesn't want me to show off, but proof positive that all this stuff actually does something!

yotsuya

  • Trade Count: (+21)
  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 19955
  • Last login:Yesterday at 10:19:17 pm
  • 2014 UCA Winner, 2014, 2015, 2016 ZapCon Winner
    • forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,137636.msg1420628.html
Re: Space Base - A homebrew ICB/ZP
« Reply #215 on: March 03, 2019, 09:55:58 pm »
Glad to see this coming along again!
***Build what you dig, bro. Build what you dig.***

Nephasth

  • Trade Count: (0)
  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 1376
  • Last login:March 11, 2024, 11:02:52 pm
  • Bitches love Centipede
Re: Space Base - A homebrew ICB/ZP
« Reply #216 on: March 03, 2019, 09:57:42 pm »
I was hoping this was one of the projects you planned on finishing.  :applaud:
%Bartop

AlienInferno

  • Trade Count: (0)
  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 515
  • Last login:March 12, 2024, 03:45:03 pm
Re: Space Base - A homebrew ICB/ZP
« Reply #217 on: March 03, 2019, 10:06:19 pm »
Glad to see this again Le chuck. Definatly one of the ones I will build in the future. Looks fun as hell.

vwalbridge

  • Trade Count: (0)
  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 2082
  • Last login:July 31, 2021, 12:21:09 pm
  • Don't half-ass two things, whole-ass one thing.
Re: Space Base - A homebrew ICB/ZP
« Reply #218 on: March 03, 2019, 10:08:11 pm »
Bad ass. Great to see you pushing forward on this. The last project I’m following here.
If you can read this, it means Photobucket's money grab ruined my signature photos.

wp34

  • Trade Count: (+3)
  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 4794
  • Last login:April 10, 2022, 09:48:19 pm
Re: Space Base - A homebrew ICB/ZP
« Reply #219 on: March 03, 2019, 11:05:25 pm »
Glad this isn't dead.  One of the best projects ever on this site.   :cheers:

ids

  • Trade Count: (0)
  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 732
  • Last login:April 16, 2023, 05:43:28 pm
  • Fighter Captured
Re: Space Base - A homebrew ICB/ZP
« Reply #220 on: March 04, 2019, 03:14:06 pm »
Some details on the electrical side.... (if you spot anything that looks out of place, please advise, I've never studied this stuff)

First, driving things that light up.  Behind each of the 10 holes you can score on is an RGB LED - that's 30 lines to switch on and off.  The use of 4 TLC5916 constant current drivers handles this nicely.  They are very much like a standard shift register with the added bonus of the constant current part.  Then there is the segmented display; 9 units, 16 segments, you do the math.  For this, we're driving one column at a time and rapidly switching.  So that means only 32 segments have to be dealt with at a time.  Oddly, the LED driver circuit needed for the RGB's supports exactly 32 outputs.  So we need two of these:


The "Display Controller Addition" part is only needed for driving the segmented displays.  Transistors are MPSA56.  All resistors are 1k.  Caps are .1uF (optional)

All CLK and LE lines are connected together.  SDI from first chip is fed from the KL25z.  SDO of one chip connects to SDI of the next chip.  Resistor values are around 950 - 1k should be fine. (see spec sheet for the formula to use for your LEDs)
Vcc connects to your 5V supply - note that it will have to be beefy enough to drive everything.
The KL25Z pins shown in brownish on the left of diagram (PTD0/1/2)
Outputs I've wired to a 34-line ribbon cable to make things easy.
The game does software PWM, allowing for 255 intensity levels for each line/colour.

For the RGB driver, output 0 is red for first hole, output 1 is greed, 2 is blue.  Then hole 2 red, green, blue, etc.
The software has a "test mode" which, among other things, lets you cycle through turning on one line at a time, so you can verify all your connections are good.

For the segmented display driver, all lines are used, 16 for row one, 16 for row two.  The mapping of the SDI/CLK/LE lines to the KL25z pins is not as shown (will use PTE2/3, PTB11).  Segmented display driver also needs a column driver - the 74HC595 is a good fit for this, and add 5 transistors to source current for each column.  This means we can shift out an extra 8 bits and latch it all in one go.
Outputs are wired in sequence to the segments as per this table (hex codes refer to which line to light up, and can be ignored):

J   0X01
A1  0x02
K   0X04
H   0X08
A2  0x10
F   0X20
B   0x40
G2  0X80
G1  0X100
E   0X200
C   0x400
D1  0X800
L   0X1000
N   0X2000
D2  0X4000
M   0X8000

This should make wiring easy, sort of follows pins, top to bottom, left to right.  Pin 1 of the seg-disp unit is not connected, so first in the list is the top right pin (pin 24, the J segment), then second from top on right (A1), second from top on left (K), etc.  I've coded a table mapping characters to appropriate segments to  light up, so it's easy to ask for any text to be displayed.  The code also takes care of flipping through the columns.
You can refer to pinout here https://www.sparkfun.com/datasheets/Components/LED/7-Segment/yetda%20green%20alphanumeric%20S-10012RGU11.pdf


Quick note on "test mode" - if you hold both start buttons during power up, it goes into a test mode.  Since P1 start is used to move to the next phase of this mode, it's probably best to release P1 start then P2 start as you enter this mode.
It begins by turning all lights to white.  If something is wrong, it should show up quickly at this point.
Use left stick down to flip red-green-blue from hole light 1 all the way up to 10.  Right down to reset back to light 1 red.
P1 start to go to next mode - test hole switches.  Place something metallic by each mag switch and it will turn on the light behind it when detected (display also shows which hole is detected).
P1 start to go to next mode - motor test - just moves motors according to joysticks; simple.
P1 start to exit test mode
I found it handy for testing that wiring is all good, things are powered, etc.  More options can be added as needed.

Boot sequence is as such:
initialize hardware
put "power/on" on display
test mode, if start buttons pressed
quick colour cycle of led's
if gate switch not closed, display "No/ball"
wait a few seconds (for r-pi) -- load config and hi-scores if found
initialize game loop with attract mode....
« Last Edit: March 04, 2019, 03:36:47 pm by ids »

ids

  • Trade Count: (0)
  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 732
  • Last login:April 16, 2023, 05:43:28 pm
  • Fighter Captured
Re: Space Base - A homebrew ICB/ZP
« Reply #221 on: March 04, 2019, 03:34:43 pm »
I created a trivial motor board for convenience.  It has no components on it, just wire.  But using 3-pin headers provided an easy spot to connect the motors to power them, and their control lines.

kl25Z pins are shown here as well.


There are 10 hole switches, which is a lot of mcu pins.  To bring down the count from 10 lines to 4 we use a CD40147.  Note that each switch line needs to be pulled up or the pins are floating, resulting in a random output.  Vcc here will connect to the 3.3V line, as it's outputs connect to the micro, which cannot tolerate 5V.


To know when the ball is waiting at the bottom, I went with the QRB1134, tied to an analog line.  (When the bar comes down and releases the ball, the code waits a half-second-ish before allowing the bar to move up, to avoid trapping the ball back in the hole.)  I used this rather than another mag-switch, as the  latter requires rather close proximity and I wasn't sure I could have things lined up just right.
 

I've also created a board to sit on top of the KL25z to break things out in a simpler way (and because a year from now I'll forget everything, something will get disconnected, and that'll be the end of it).  There was room, so I stuck the CD40147 on here.  Using stackable headers here and on the kl25z makes for an easy connection, and leaves all pins available.  You can see here the R-Pi is connected to a serial line, not USB as stated earlier.  I found the usb to be very finicky and unstable at times, whereas using serial at 115200 has been rock solid.  So there is the breakout for the R-Pi, including power.
« Last Edit: March 04, 2019, 03:56:27 pm by ids »

eds1275

  • Trade Count: (0)
  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 2157
  • Last login:March 21, 2024, 02:31:34 pm
  • Rock and Roll!
Re: Space Base - A homebrew ICB/ZP
« Reply #222 on: March 05, 2019, 09:53:02 pm »
I'm glad this is going on! Although I haven't done any work on it I am crazy organized and have all my audio files still. I recently got the verdict that there's just nothing left to save of my left eye and it's just a blurry mess that can't be fixed. I have started work writing another game of my own, another trackball game. I have some of the assets done and am going to leave it where it is until the game plays how I want it to before I start adding all the polish. I'm dirt poor since after I got sick it really gave my employment opportunities a beating but I have recently applied for more jobs in my area and hopefully someone will give me something better than what I have currently. At least where I work now I have extra time in the day to work on my own projects!

ids

  • Trade Count: (0)
  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 732
  • Last login:April 16, 2023, 05:43:28 pm
  • Fighter Captured
Re: Space Base - A homebrew ICB/ZP
« Reply #223 on: March 06, 2019, 10:29:23 am »
Eds, sorry to hear about your troubles.  I hope things pick up for you.  The audio you did for this is amazing.  If you're interested in getting a SpaceBase going, I can contribute the electrical side to the cause, and I'm sure we can find a way to complete the rest.  Let me know.

Le Chuck

  • Saint, make a poll!
  • Wiki Contributor
  • Trade Count: (+6)
  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 5509
  • Last login:March 26, 2024, 08:00:17 pm
  • <insert personal text here>
Re: Space Base - A homebrew ICB/ZP
« Reply #224 on: March 06, 2019, 11:45:22 am »
Eds, sorry to hear about your troubles.  I hope things pick up for you.  The audio you did for this is amazing.  If you're interested in getting a SpaceBase going, I can contribute the electrical side to the cause, and I'm sure we can find a way to complete the rest.  Let me know.

Absolutely, I’m down as well for hardware and fabricated items.

eds1275

  • Trade Count: (0)
  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 2157
  • Last login:March 21, 2024, 02:31:34 pm
  • Rock and Roll!
Re: Space Base - A homebrew ICB/ZP
« Reply #225 on: March 06, 2019, 12:24:32 pm »
Hey Thanks guys!

   I absolutely would love to, however priority for me currently is getting a space to live that is my own. I currently have an awful 7x9 foot bedroom for privacy, and shared everything else with a friend and her army of children. I need to get out!!!!

ids

  • Trade Count: (0)
  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 732
  • Last login:April 16, 2023, 05:43:28 pm
  • Fighter Captured
Re: Space Base - A homebrew ICB/ZP
« Reply #226 on: March 06, 2019, 06:59:58 pm »
Just wanted to add... created a few boards at them cheapo fab plants across the ocean

This is to drive the segmented display.  I created an almost identical one without the column driver bits (stuff on the left, the last shift register and transistors) to drive the RGB's behind the holes:




And one for the segmented displays themselves.  Sadly these are no longer available and I'm not sure if similar units can be found.



Earlier post shows the one which mounts on the KL25z as well.  With a few wires and solder, it all comes together fairly easily.

Someone who knows electics may laugh, but I think I did ok for not knowing this stuff.  And it seems to work, no fires so far :)

gerber files upon request.  (I do have a couple spare units, but a set is going to Le Chuck and a set on reserve for eds....)  Created using DesignSpark - those files, again, available on request.


Eds, man, wish you the best, you deserve it
« Last Edit: March 06, 2019, 07:01:31 pm by ids »

Le Chuck

  • Saint, make a poll!
  • Wiki Contributor
  • Trade Count: (+6)
  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 5509
  • Last login:March 26, 2024, 08:00:17 pm
  • <insert personal text here>
Re: Space Base - A homebrew ICB/ZP
« Reply #227 on: March 06, 2019, 09:18:55 pm »
That is so ridiculously cool, can’t wait to get my set so I can’t have to solder all that from scratch!

ids

  • Trade Count: (0)
  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 732
  • Last login:April 16, 2023, 05:43:28 pm
  • Fighter Captured
Re: Space Base - A homebrew ICB/ZP
« Reply #228 on: March 07, 2019, 12:12:33 pm »
Thought I'd fill in some more details and provide a pictorial view of the progress from early days to now....

This began a while back with a lot of breadboard.  You can see the sd card which held audio files from Eds, the KL25z micro, etc.  Just above the speaker, small chip is a simple audio amp.  The LED's are simulating the hole lights (and were used to convey debug info).  On the right, a long row of switches to simulate the hole switches.  Somewhere in that mess of wires are switches to simulate the joysticks.  So glad to have moved off the breadboard.  This is before Le Chuck shipped the playfield and related components.



Once stuff arrived, I used a dremel and appropriate bit to create a groove to bury wires in, mounted the mag-switches and connected it all.  I later used a hot glue gun to hold it all in place.  I ran the wires upwards to exit at the top as it seemed easiest and least likely to get in the way of the ball.



Next up is installing the 5mm RGB LED's.  Again, using ribbon cable here - with 30 lines to connect, it was a natural fit, and lets us use standard 34 pin 2 row floppy-cable style connectors and cabling.



I don't seem to have pics handy... limit switches were added to the back of the beast, triggered by the metal block things that hold the ends of the bar.  These are all tied to interrupts, so we can immediately stop the motors.  At the bottom, they are at different heights.  This is to work the exit-gate mechanism properly, and it also helps the ball exit fully onto the bar.  In early testing I found that if we allowed the user to move the bar up at the instant the ball was no longer detected at the gate, the ball could get pushed back in, or jam in the gate, etc.  So an angled bar and a delay in the code makes for a fine solution.

With that in place, it was time to get off the breadboard and get serious.  To drive the RGB LED's we have our first board full of TLC5916 chips.  It was not fun pulling apart the ribbon cable, stripping, soldering, and then trying to figure out why some LED's didnt light up at first...  Ugh



Then to translate 10 hole switches to the minimal input pins on the micro, we have the CD40147.  For this I crimped some ribbon cable and used the connectors you see here.  10 inputs, pull-ups, 4 outputs, power....



Since the motors have 3-pin female connectors, the best way to deal with power and signal was to create a simple board to bring it all together:



The display, this one was not fun to solder.  I stripped some cables to run across the rows of seg. units, and some to run the common lines for columns.  You can see wire exposed at regular intervals here - this is to connect to the same pin on each display unit across a row.  Getting all that soldering into tight spots was challenging, and I never did complete it all in the end.  I sent the partially complete bit to a brave man who said he could wrap it up, but perhaps might change his mind when I ship the fabbed board his way.



Even with these boards in place, the rats nest of wires everywhere drove me nuts, and every once in a while, something got loose and things didn't work quite right and I'd forget which wire went where or to which pin of the micro, and troubleshooting was less fun than making progress...  So I thought I'd make my own boards - both to pretty things up, and to make it so that in 10 years, if there is a need to disconnect and reconnect things, I won't need to find a manual, it will just fit.  At first I tried the toner transfer method method but could not get the toner to transfer well enough.  I picked up a mini CNC to etch them, but had z issues and ruined a bunch of copper (I will eventually resolve this one).  In the end, the easiest thing to do was send boards off for fabbing - this was a new experience and one I've come to like, the results are something I am mostly happy with.  (I say "mostly" because this was a learning experience, I could have done things a little better, they works fine... live and learn)

Hole lights driver:



display driver - sorry, blurry pic and missing the caps and stuff but gives you the idea.  Even tho we are driving only 5 columns, I broke out a spot for a sixth (had the room), and  the remain 2 outputs of the shift register are available, as is the shifted data-out from it, so this board, in theory, could drive 8 columns, and be chained to other shift registers off board (see, I'm learning... :) ).



The microcontroller "hat" (or whatever the cool kids are calling them these days).  Here I also broke out some extra power connects, both 5V and 3.3V (and gnd of course).  Using arduino style stackable headers lets this pop right onto the micro, and still expose all lines for whatever you may want to use it for in the future.  Dips let you customize some bits of the game without the need to find a way to write updates to the config file on the SD card mounted in the R-Pi (e.g. difficulty level)



And display... for this I designed the board to hold all 10 display units, even tho the game calls for 9 (you can leave any spots blank).  I've lit all segments in one column here:




I think that does it for my contributions here, unless anyone has a question.  The software side doesn't have any nice pics, so... guess I'm done.  I imagine Le Chuck will continue to post the proper sort of build progress type of stuff we've all become accustomed to
« Last Edit: March 07, 2019, 12:46:31 pm by ids »

Le Chuck

  • Saint, make a poll!
  • Wiki Contributor
  • Trade Count: (+6)
  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 5509
  • Last login:March 26, 2024, 08:00:17 pm
  • <insert personal text here>
Re: Space Base - A homebrew ICB/ZP
« Reply #229 on: March 07, 2019, 09:36:48 pm »
Y’all don’t even realize how next level this is. Build your own boards!! Dayumm

Le Chuck

  • Saint, make a poll!
  • Wiki Contributor
  • Trade Count: (+6)
  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 5509
  • Last login:March 26, 2024, 08:00:17 pm
  • <insert personal text here>
Re: Space Base - A homebrew ICB/ZP
« Reply #230 on: March 10, 2019, 08:15:53 pm »
Another set of pics. Trying to carve out some time each weekend to work a bit on this. Next week I may tackle some cabinet issues that have been languishing for several years, or may dive into the wiring. Either way, I need to fab up a final ball gate out of aluminum. Also, sorry the pics are sideways. They aren't on my computer, and when I clicked on them in the post a pic thread they displayed correctly. Unsure what's up.


I made some minor changes to how the ball return backboard is supported in this version, which meant that I had to change up how I made the ball return. Getting started here. 


Filled the void with bondo so I could carve it down.


No wiring on the back yet, but here's where we're at. Pretty clean in appearance.


First time she's had a partially complete playfield installed in four years.


Minus needing to finish the ball gate, I'm back where I was in 2015 lol. That said, I'm much further along now thanks to IDS and all his work in getting this actually going. Now I'll start chipping away with no-kidding real-new progress on this odyssey next week.

Arroyo

  • Trade Count: (0)
  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 1558
  • Last login:Today at 02:59:27 am
  • Budgets are boring
    • newforum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,156267.0.html
Re: Space Base - A homebrew ICB/ZP
« Reply #231 on: March 11, 2019, 04:15:40 pm »
Had never heard about Ice Cold Beer until reading this thread.  Stumbled on one at a new Arcade shop in San Fran, game is incredible.

Likewise you guys are hitting home runs with this thing from what I can tell.  Very much looking forward to the completion of the build, especially if you still plan on releasing all the plans/files ;-)

Mike A

  • Trade Count: (0)
  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 5884
  • Last login:Today at 08:51:45 am
  • This plan is foolproof
Re: Space Base - A homebrew ICB/ZP
« Reply #232 on: March 12, 2019, 09:07:03 am »
If you like ICB then you should track down Fire Escape.

AlienInferno

  • Trade Count: (0)
  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 515
  • Last login:March 12, 2024, 03:45:03 pm
Re: Space Base - A homebrew ICB/ZP
« Reply #233 on: March 23, 2019, 11:30:59 pm »
Agree with Arroyo.  If y'all release plans or something to build one of these I'm down. Hell I'd even pay you for y'alls work this is so awesome. 

Not to mention IDS' circuit boards he made. I've played around with that myself. A definate learning curve.

Mike A

  • Trade Count: (0)
  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 5884
  • Last login:Today at 08:51:45 am
  • This plan is foolproof
Re: Space Base - A homebrew ICB/ZP
« Reply #234 on: March 23, 2019, 11:33:58 pm »
This is an ambitious project. I hope it gets completed.

opt2not

  • Trade Count: (+15)
  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 6173
  • Last login:February 15, 2024, 07:31:21 pm
Re: Space Base - A homebrew ICB/ZP
« Reply #235 on: March 23, 2019, 11:59:05 pm »
Had never heard about Ice Cold Beer until reading this thread.  Stumbled on one at a new Arcade shop in San Fran, game is incredible.

Likewise you guys are hitting home runs with this thing from what I can tell.  Very much looking forward to the completion of the build, especially if you still plan on releasing all the plans/files ;-)

We’re gonna have fun a Zapcon. Last year, MikeA, Neph and I were smitten by Fire Escape. Hopefully it’s there this year. There was an IBC next to it but it kept breaking down. These cabs are really difficult to keep functional due to the nature of the belt system.

Le Chuck

  • Saint, make a poll!
  • Wiki Contributor
  • Trade Count: (+6)
  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 5509
  • Last login:March 26, 2024, 08:00:17 pm
  • <insert personal text here>
Re: Space Base - A homebrew ICB/ZP
« Reply #236 on: March 24, 2019, 09:52:08 pm »
Boards from Canada are en route, hopefully, will be in soon. In the meantime, I've chipped away at a few things


Bits and pieces for the score hole lights. These weren't made for RGBs so I had to do some cutting on the inserts, all should be well now.


All put together, I have some wiring shots but they aren't uploaded so I'll try them again next time.


Redid the ball gate to my liking. Decided to stick with plexi just because I had it about the shop and it's easy to work.


Still doing touch up on the cab. Need to repaint some spots that have been rubbed in all the moves over the last few years. CP isn't done yet but put on the carbon fiber vinyl. Went back to the drawing board on the rest, plan on using two or three colors of vinyl and going crazy with my cri-cut for a fitting design. Also, cut out the areas where I'll mount the score display and took care of some other small issues.

Nephasth

  • Trade Count: (0)
  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 1376
  • Last login:March 11, 2024, 11:02:52 pm
  • Bitches love Centipede
Re: Space Base - A homebrew ICB/ZP
« Reply #237 on: March 24, 2019, 11:10:13 pm »
Looking slick! Are you planning on painting the edges of the holes?
%Bartop

Le Chuck

  • Saint, make a poll!
  • Wiki Contributor
  • Trade Count: (+6)
  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 5509
  • Last login:March 26, 2024, 08:00:17 pm
  • <insert personal text here>
Re: Space Base - A homebrew ICB/ZP
« Reply #238 on: March 25, 2019, 07:49:45 am »
Looking slick! Are you planning on painting the edges of the holes?

Dyeing them, but yes.

Mr. Peabody

  • Trade Count: (0)
  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 810
  • Last login:November 05, 2019, 02:30:42 pm
Re: Space Base - A homebrew ICB/ZP
« Reply #239 on: April 06, 2019, 02:40:53 am »
That is far out. Love the purple gal graphic.