Mi DIY Star Wars Yoke project

[Sky25es]

It's near impossible to find an original (or replica) Atari Star Wars Yoke here in Spain, so I decided to build my own.
Many thanks to Scott (PL1) for providing me with some needed measurements.

The torsion springs are real replacement parts from ArcadeFixit.com. The spur gears, although not original, are accurate (14, 28 and 60 tooth).

Here are some pics of my already to a 70% finished work:

[Le Chuck]

I dig it! Looks like you're right on track.  What's the plan for handles and cover?

[jdbailey1206]

I don't know why getting this far has been so hard for the collective brain power we have here.  This is a great step forward for creating a homebrew Yoke controller.  I cannot wait to see this controller field tested to see how well it does. 

[pbj]

 

[Sky25es]

I dig it! Looks like you're right on track.  What's the plan for handles and cover?

For the handles I did buy some time ago a pair of these from Happ:



combined with a pair of these to connect them to the shaft:




Admittedly, at 26 bucks each & shipping, they are quite expensive but definitely well worth it. You can however use a less expensive Joystick handle. Any old-school Joy's like the Quickshot series will do the job.

As for the Yoke cover I'll use a sheet metal plate that I'll cut down to size, so that it looks just like the real one:

[ark_ader]

Nice to see someone taking this type of project head on.

Great job. 

[pixel]

Not too shabby  =)


 A few suggestions...

 - The larger Gear is crooked,  and may wear / skip / break teeth as a result.   Also, Hot Glue may not hold it well, for the long haul.

  Take a large gear,  and make a Collar for it... out of wood or cutting-board plastic.   
  Center-Punch a Divit in the material.   Then Measure the diameter of the Pipe,  and mark out on material.
  Use compass,  and mark out the hole,  as well as the external diameter of the collar.   Make the wall thickness from inside diameter to outside.. about 1/2 inch minimum.
  ... AND make the collar thickness at least 1/2"  or more.  (which may require thicker material... or two bonded parts)

  Use a fostner bit to drill the center hole,   then use a circle cutter or hand cut the excess off + sand rough edges a bit.
  Sand the front face rough,  and sand the gears rear side rough - for glue joint strength.

  To provide additional strength:

  Pre-Drill and screw in a few miniature wood-screws.   Or maybe better... to use a set-screw in a tapped hole.   Easiest may be to use two small diameter hard-steel nails or bars... lightly hammered into a very tight fitting hole.    This is mainly to prevent the collar from shearing at the gear to collar bond point.

  Spread something like oil over the main shaft,  so that excess glue does not bond to it.
  Place the gear + collar over the shaft... and bond the collar to the gear with 2 part plastic epoxy.
  Allow at least 1 to 2 days to attain a maximum strength cure.

  Once dry... tap the thing off the shaft gingerly with a rubber mallet and a dowel nearest the shaft.
Clean up anything on left of the shaft.

 Attachment:


 Now you can Drill and Tap a hole(s)  in the Collar.    Either all the way through vertically...  and use a long machine screw + nuts for fastening...
 Or... use 2 or 3  shallow set-screws.     If you do use a full length... remember that it might make it a little more difficult (tight) to pass wire through.


 The collar will not only provide you with a straighter gearing...  but also,  will make it easier to slip on / off... as well as more secure from any strain / stresses.

-----

  I would also recommend rubber bumpers,  on the Y-Axis... to reduce impact forces and wear.



 Best Regards

[Sky25es]

Not too shabby  =)

Hey, thanks 

 

A few suggestions...

 - The larger Gear is crooked,  and may wear / skip / break teeth as a result.   Also, Hot Glue may not hold it well, for the long haul.

 

Yeah. I know the Y axis 60 tooth gear is a Little bit off but it has limited motion range and works pretty well. I didn't use hot glue. With some parts I used Epoxy-glue, but always in conjuntion with screws. All of the Gears are screwed to their shafts. The jelly-like thing that you see on the pictures is actually silicone grease, concretely "Shin-Etsu G-40M".   

  I would also recommend rubber bumpers,  on the Y-Axis... to reduce impact forces and wear.

It already has rubber bumpers like the original yoke. I'll post more detailed pics later...

Thanks for your sugestions. It's always a good thing to improve a design. I know that I could improve my yoke a bit but after so many hours of work, I'm a little bit tired and only want to finish it. I'll post some videos once finished

[lettuce]

Hmmm im not seeing an pictures!?

[pixel]

Not too shabby  =)

Hey, thanks 

 

A few suggestions...

 - The larger Gear is crooked,  and may wear / skip / break teeth as a result.   Also, Hot Glue may not hold it well, for the long haul.

 

Yeah. I know the Y axis 60 tooth gear is a Little bit off but it has limited motion range and works pretty well. I didn't use hot glue. With some parts I used Epoxy-glue, but always in conjuntion with screws. All of the Gears are screwed to their shafts. The jelly-like thing that you see on the pictures is actually silicone grease, concretely "Shin-Etsu G-40M".   

  I would also recommend rubber bumpers,  on the Y-Axis... to reduce impact forces and wear.

It already has rubber bumpers like the original yoke. I'll post more detailed pics later...

Thanks for your sugestions. It's always a good thing to improve a design. I know that I could improve my yoke a bit but after so many hours of work, I'm a little bit tired and only want to finish it. I'll post some videos once finished

 Ohh... I totally forgot... one VERY IMPORTANT thing!

  You NEED to angle the handles inwards at a diagonal slant.

  Long ago,  I had built my own yoke... and I had decided to use vertical handles... to reduce complexity.
 Seemed fine... until I tried to play a game of Starwars...  >_<

 Turns out... that your wrists do not have much vertical travel... and it was painfully straining my wrists,  when trying to go to the full extents of the axis.
 But,  if you angle your wrists slightly... you get far more travel... and no wrist pains.

 So... that is why they made the SW yoke handles at an angle.


 This would not be easy to use your chosen mounting method.   Unless... you put a diagonally cut spacer block between the mounts and the handles.


 I also had to rebuild my own yoke handles using a similar method...  attaching a diagonal spacer to the handles.    After that... everything was golden.

[Sky25es]

Ohh... I totally forgot... one VERY IMPORTANT thing!

  You NEED to angle the handles inwards at a diagonal slant.

  Long ago,  I had built my own yoke... and I had decided to use vertical handles... to reduce complexity.
 Seemed fine... until I tried to play a game of Starwars...  >_<

 Turns out... that your wrists do not have much vertical travel... and it was painfully straining my wrists,  when trying to go to the full extents of the axis.
 But,  if you angle your wrists slightly... you get far more travel... and no wrist pains.

 So... that is why they made the SW yoke handles at an angle.


 This would not be easy to use your chosen mounting method.   Unless... you put a diagonally cut spacer block between the mounts and the handles.


 I also had to rebuild my own yoke handles using a similar method...  attaching a diagonal spacer to the handles.    After that... everything was golden.

Ok. Thanks 

[PL1]

  You NEED to angle the handles inwards at a diagonal slant.

Agreed.

Took several masurements and it looks like the SW yoke handles were angled inward about 12-14 degrees.


Scott

[Sky25es]

Ok. The Yoke is now finished to a 95%. The only things missing are the cover and the decals...

As promised, here are some pics:

Although not clear on the pics, yes: the handles are angled 

Side view:



Open side:



Front:



Top:



And here some videos:

Test 1:



Test 2, playing Star Wars:



Sorry for my terrible gameplay, I know I'm not very good at it, but I have to admit that playing Star Wars with a Yoke makes the Game more enjoyable 

The control feels very sturdy and smooth. I did use 5k pots, rubber bumpers, nylon spacers and the same torsion springs as the original yoke, so in theory it should feel (near) the same, but cause I never tried an original one, I can't really tell...

Here's a small list of some components used to build the Yoke:

-10mm (or 1/2") and 19mm (3/4") MDF
-2pcs 19mm Flange Pipe Bracket 29mm (I.e. from Aliexpress)
-4pcs 20mm KFL004 Pillow Block Flange Ball Bearings (I.e. from Aliexpress)
-19mm (3/4") T-molding
-4x Round Cabinet Instrument Case Foot Circular Rubber Feet Bumpers Black #RF08 (EBay)
-3x M20 x 37 x 3mm THK Nylon Washers HEAT TREATED (EBay)
-ShinEtsu G-40M Silicone Grease (Or similar)
-2x 5K Pots
-2x & 2x Atari Star Wars replacement springs (ArcadeFixit.com)
-Screws (Various sizes)
-L-Brackets
-1x Microsoft SideWinder Dual strike Joystick Controller.
...

By the way:

 I hacked a SideWinder Dual strike, but instead of using the D-Pad buttons I modified the Button Board (1-4), soldering some cables in order to avoid the issues some people are having with the original hack due to some games or emus not capable of mapping the D-pad inputs as fire/action buttons.

[Mr. Peabody]

Ok. The Yoke is now finished...

You have earned your stars. Now someone needs to toughen up and simplify the design some and market them.

[yotsuya]

What did it run you in materials?

[Sky25es]

You have earned your stars. Now someone needs to toughen up and simplify the design some and market them.

Thanks. 

The design isn't too complicated, if someone wants to build one, just ask me and I'll be glad to help, but yes: someone could buy the components  in bulk and sell the Yokes at an affordable price with a reasonable profit margin...

[Sky25es]

What did it run you in materials?

I can't give you an exact amount, but it's around 180 or 190 bucks. You can save a lot of money if you buy other handles instead of the Suzo/Happ ones and if you can find some cheaper springs (The handles & springs alone did cost me over 90 $)

[lettuce]

Looks great!

Going by your YouTube video though i think you need to up the sensitivity of the cross hair on screen, that thing zips around on a proper arcade machine

[Sky25es]

Looks great!

Going by your YouTube video though i think you need to up the sensitivity of the cross hair on screen, that thing zips around on a proper arcade machine

Hmm... you're probably right...
Does anyone know the correct "analog" settings (for the Yoke) in MAME ?

[pixel]

Actually,  besides possibly needing to be fully calibrated in windows...

 Many Arcade games in mame,  have their own special calibration routines... in the service mode.

 In StarWars,  I believe its one of the special games,  that Auto-Calibrate.   When the game starts up.... move the yoke in all directions to the fullest point it will move,  about 3 times each...   and by then... the game should have figured it out and mapped things properly.

 Furthermore... if the Pots are not centered at the right points... they could physically break,   and or might not read in-game past a certain point.

 Also ... if the pot is Audio Taper (ex:  1,2,3,10,50,100)   instead of Linear  (EX:  1,2,3,4,5,6)... the results will be problematic.


 Sadly,  I do not think that Mame has been very good about documenting actual controls,  settings,  and readings of the controls...
couple that with actual windows polling rates,  custom joystick drivers,  and other issues... may further complicate Arcade-Accurate replication of Inputs.