Rotating joystick for Qbert project

[severdhed]

Hey guys, i'ts been a while since i've done anything here, but i'm getting the itch to build another cabinet. Early next year, we will be moving our I.T. business into a new building with more space. When I do, I plan on building a cabinet or two for us to use in our free time.  my 4 player pedestal cabinet is probably moving from my house to the office, but i want something dedicated for vertical monitor classics.    I plan on building a wall mount cabinet with a vertical monitor, 4 way joystick and just a few buttons. (still deciding if i want to put in a trackball for millipede/centipede or just continue to play them on the big one.


anyway, one of my all time favorite classic games is QBert.  Normally i just use an 8 way stick with a square gate and map the controls to use the diagonals, but sometimes this leads to missed inputs.  i really want a 4 way joystick mounted at 45 degrees to properly play this game, but building a dedicated qbert cabinet seems like a waste of space/materials.  So decided to engineer my own solution.  i fired up tinkercad and started 3d modeling a mounting plate that I could use to secure the joystick that would allow me to rotate it for qbert.  My first prototype finished printing this morning, so i threw it in a cardboard box and started testing.  so far, i'm quite pleased with it.  I was originally planning on using a Sanwa JLW stick, since they are my favorite, but i didn't have one with me while i was modeling at work yesterday. apparently i used the measurements for a JLF stick instead.   Fortunately I had some JLF sticks that i can borrow from another project. 

basically i removed the metal mounting plate from the stick, and replaced it with a 3d printed circular plate. this has a lip on the bottom that rides in a groove on the back of the larger outsite mounting ring. there is a slot in the back right corner with a knob that can be rotated so switch the stick from normal 4 way mode, to 45 degree rotated mode for qbert.  i need to tweak the tolerances a little, and design some kind of retention system to help hold it in place at the two ends of the travel, but overall i'm fairly happy with how it turned out so far.    you have to cut a 4" hole in the wooden panel below for the body of the joystick to freely rotate.

what are your thoughts?  do you see anyting that i should change/improve?    Since the JLF stick is a little bit smaller than the JLW, i may try to reduce the overall size of each piece a little.  I normally cover my control panels in plexi, but i'd have to somehow route a curved slot in it for the knob to travel, i don't think the current slot is large enough for my flush trim bit to fit in it.  the other option i guess is to just surface mount the plate and skip the plexi.



Full plate mounted in cardboard box


closup of pacman knob


under side of joystick plate


underside of mounting ring

[pbj]

That’s really cool and would have blown our BYOAC minds back in the day.

 

[Extruder]

This is a great project, nicely done!
Other than adding some kind of locking mechanism I don't see anything to add.
I'd be interested in the strength testing, though.
With the joystick acting as a lever, aggressive gameplay might exert angular force that may be beyond PLA's layer adhesion. High-impact PLA+ might be better, or even a nylon but most people aren't set up to print CF/GF nylons.

Are you sharing the files somewhere?

[severdhed]

i added a spring loaded detent notch on the ring to help hold it in place, i think i have the design close to being finished.  I did modify it to work with the JLW stick instead of the JLF...i just like the feel of that stick better. I still have a few tweaks to finalize the design. Once it is finished, i'll share the files for anyone that is interested.  I did increase the thickness of the disk and mounted it in a scrap of wood. some initial testing feels pretty solid, i think it will hold up fine.  this is printed in PLA+.  the main plate is 5mm thick, so it is fairly solid.  My plan is to make two more square plates and mount them next to each other in the cabinet.  I'm planning on adding a 2.25" trackball, and a few buttons.  Initially i was planning on 3 buttons, but i think two will be sufficient for the vertical classics that i plan on playing. i'm thinking of changing it to 2 buttons and a spinner in the middle plate.  here is a quick mockup of what i have in mind. i need some purple on the spinning joystick plate though, so i'm still trying to figure that out.

[severdhed]

here is an updated mockup with the spinner.  I'm using happ buttons for the main buttons, but im thinking of using the smaller 24mm sanwa buttons for start and pause/exit.

i'm not sure if i want them on the panel, or if i should make a small admin panel below the monitor...

[Zeosstud]

Looks like a fantastic solution.. Enjoy!!

[severdhed]

I Made some progress over the last two days.  The model has been updated to mount to the JLW stick. i thickened the mounting disk with a recessed area for the stick. this stiffened up the unit. i also added two notches in the disk that line up with a spring detent in the ring, this helps hold it in place at the two desired positions.




i added some decorative elements to the disk, and modified the pacman knob a little bit



I printed the middle panel for the buttons and spinner.  I'm quite pleased with how it turned out.  I had some 24mm black sanwa style buttons that i picked up for a previous project that ultimately went a different direction. these worked well for the start and pause/exit buttons.  I wasn't sure how well the multi color 3d printing would turn out when used for labels and decoration, but it looks pretty good. Everything was printed face down on a textured plate so it has a very nice finished texture to it.  There will still be a 3rd panel to the right, but i have to wait for the trackball to arrive so I can design the plate to fit it. I only had a 3" trackball on hand which was just too large for this project.  I ordered a 2.25" trackball/spinner combo from amazon, i'm optimistic that it won't suck, but it isn't going to be delivered for a few weeks.  that will give me time to find and cut the actual wooden under panel to the correct size so that when it does arrive, i'll have the real panel ready to go. 

the only downside to this design is that my hand rests on the spinner knob while using the buttons. it ins't horribly uncomfortable, but it is a little weird.  i don't know how to get around that though unless i just ditch the spinner entirely.   There are only a few spinner games i'd like to have on here and they certainly arent' a deal breaker, but i haven't had a spinner in my cabinet in many years, i'd like to have the option.  I pulled the turbo twist spinner out of my cabinet at work to test it with this panel, but i will swap it out with the new one when it arrives.  I thought about moving the spinner to the left side and putting the buttons on the right, this would possibly make it more comforable to rest my hand while playing joystick games, but just like the trackball, i like to use the spinner with my right hand, which would make using the buttons difficult for the spinner and trackball games.

i guess i could move the spinner towards the back of the panel, but then i'd have to relocated my start and pause/exit buttons.

I also printed a new dust washer for the joystick. the stock one was about 2mm too small to completely cover the screw heads.

[pbj]

Nothing to add besides “this is really cool.”  Carry on, sir.

 

[leapinlew]

That is super cool and a clever way for anyone to control it.

[severdhed]

Waiting for my trackball and spinner to arrive on Thursday, so I decided to model a quick mock-up of the cabinet.  The speaker grills and marque will also be 3d printed. The letters will be 1mm thick so they will light up with some LED strips.

The gray panels will be MDF covered in carbon fiber vinyl. I'm not sure if I'm going to paint the purple sides, or vinyl wrap those as well.  I haven't decided of in going to cut a monitor bezel from MDF, or mask and paint some plexiglass instead.

[skr]

Ver nice print indeed, the multicolor thing turned out awesome!
Which printer are you using?

[severdhed]

Thanks. I'm using the Anycubic Cobra 3

[Xiaou2]

Do a test, and try mounting the Spinner to the Front of the Cabinet  (mounted horizontally, like a volume dial)

Another option, is a Spring Mounted mechanism... where you can raise and lower the spinner... by pressing
it.. or using a mounting assembly that can be raised and lowered  (which might be similar to the lever
on your Qbert stick... just in a different vector)

To play games like Tron, Mad Planets, and more... you would want a small fire button on the top of your stick

I believe Ive seen ball-top joysticks, that have a small button on top

Check out the Wico Command joysticks.  They made balltops and long bat joysticks, that have the top mounted button
These also have a Rubber Centering Grommet, making them feel much better for Classic Arcade games

Additionally, at least ONE of your buttons should be a Pinball Leafswitch Button (long travel leafswitch).  These
are excellent for Rapidfire games, like Halleys Comet, Asteroids Deluxe, and Galaga.  You can "Feather" them on/off
by Vibrating your finger.. which makes them fire extremely fast.. while also reducing finger Fatigue by a factor
of 1000 (compared to microswitch buttons)

As for the Trackball...  Having it that close to the monitor... may lead to some hand injuries, when trying to roll it
forwards fast.   Some time ago, I came up with the idea for a Flip-Out trackball assembly.  When the trackball flips
out from the Control Panel... it would make the Trackball be several more inches away from the monitor.. giving
you a lot more space.

You might look into making a Flip Out Trackball module, to give you the additional room to spin it at full speed,
without hitting the monitor


Edit:   There is another possible solution to the Trackball issue..  where you could make the entire Control panel slide
forwards away from the Main Base.  You would need to devise a locking mechanism, to prevent it from sliding
freely, once its slid away from the main base.

You would also want to remove that raised LIP on the edges of the control panel.. as otherwise your hands
will smash into it, when rolling the ball to the right

[Xiaou2]

Example Mockup

In this example... you have a Balltop with the top Button added

A flip out Trackball

Four Buttons (top left button = A Pinball Leafswitch button)

Pinball Buttons on Both sides of the Cabinet, for playing Virtual Pinball tables

A spinner on the Front of the Panel

A possible alternative spinner location, on the Side of the cab.. though, this would
probably have to be raised higher up  (my mistake)

And, add one Bass Shaker Transducer in the cabinet, for a subwoofer like vibrational effect
(even greater vibrations, without the air movement.  they sell them at Partexpress)


And finally... If one does the Flip Trackball method, it would be best to round all of the corners,
to prevent any hand scrapes

You would also need a small post or Lip to pull the Trackball up