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Author Topic: Xcelerator - Xbox driving cab  (Read 120112 times)

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theCoder

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Re: Xcelerator - Xbox driving cab
« Reply #200 on: April 25, 2007, 07:52:32 pm »
Pedal Covers
I picked up a pair of pedal covers today at my local auto parts store.  I'll probably have to replace the cheap clip system holding them on, but, hey, for $15.00, they look a lot better than the smooth slabs of steel that are on there now.

ChadTower

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Re: Xcelerator - Xbox driving cab
« Reply #201 on: April 26, 2007, 07:56:02 am »

Strong velcro is your friend here.

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Re: Xcelerator - Xbox driving cab
« Reply #202 on: April 26, 2007, 03:52:39 pm »
I've had those cheap pedal covers on my Tracker for about six years - trust me, they ain't going anywhere. ;D

theCoder

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Re: Xcelerator - Xbox driving cab
« Reply #203 on: April 27, 2007, 12:38:00 pm »
Pretty boring stuff, but progress just the same.  This morning I securely fastened the pedal covers on.  The pedal clips assumed you were putting them on car pedals, not arcade pedals.  The clips did not line up quite right.  Instead I put them on with 3 flat head cap screws.  Drilling into the pedals was a major pain.  The metal was very hard.  A trick I learned in school was to drill first with a very small diameter bit.  This makes the second, “to size” bit cut more effectively.  It has to do with the amount of rubbing (instead of cutting) that goes on at the very tip of the bit.  There’s less rubbing going on with the smaller diameter bits.  Even with that, it took about 2 minutes to drill each hole.  For good measure I put on a small dab of epoxy.  I’m planning on slamming these pedals and don’t want them rattling loose. 

…and a quick shot of the fans and grids.  Nothing fancy here.  When possible I prefer to use socket head screws instead of Philips head and definitely avoid straight blade screws.  I had a heck of a time finding very small long socket head cap screws for the fans, but tracked them down at the third (and last in town) hardware store.

Last night I put in the top retainer for the glass.  The cab is slightly skewed to the left.  The glass goes in fine, but it is a tight fit at the top right and lower left.  Hopefully it won’t break when the cab is lifted or jostled around.  If so, I’ll have to get the next piece about 1/16” narrower.  The glass will be held in with strips of dark Rosewood that match the dashboard.  I’ll keep you posted.

theCoder

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Re: Xcelerator - Xbox driving cab
« Reply #204 on: April 27, 2007, 09:13:15 pm »
Woofer Installation
The woofers are now installed.  It was a chore leaning the cab on its side to route the wires, but I managed to do it without breaking anything or adding any more scratches to the paint.  I really don’t want to have any problems with the wires coming loose, so they are soldered directly to the speaker posts.  I put lock-tite on the threads because there is no way to get lock nuts on the backside of the screws.  I’m looking forward to these puppies generating some serious vibrations, and don’t want them shaking loose.

OPINIONS WANTED – Which speaker covers look better?  The large grills or the original cover that came with the speakers?  The grills look big and intimidating, but the original cover is stylish.  What do you think?

Timoe

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Re: Xcelerator - Xbox driving cab
« Reply #205 on: April 27, 2007, 09:21:34 pm »
I think the grilles look tough  >:D



...but the solid mesh looks clean and modern.  I need a reference shot to see where this is located.

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Re: Xcelerator - Xbox driving cab
« Reply #206 on: April 28, 2007, 06:23:36 am »
Over the edge = grills.

psychotech

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Re: Xcelerator - Xbox driving cab
« Reply #207 on: April 28, 2007, 08:34:42 pm »
WTF?

Aren't those subs at the back, behind the seat? Essentially hidden, and more so in a closed (& dark) cab? Save the grilles for your next (big) project and use the originals! (If it isn't an optical illusion, the grilles are quite a bit off-center anyway.. and as they're not really seen..)

Just an opinion..

theCoder

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Re: Xcelerator - Xbox driving cab
« Reply #208 on: April 29, 2007, 12:49:23 am »
DC Power
The other day I picked up a 5vdc transformer from Goodwill for a three bucks.  This plus a spare 12vdc laptop power supply will give me all the DC power I need on this project.  The 12 volt side will drive the fans, dome light and LED’s.  The 5 volt side will drive the rumble motors and their associated driver circuit.  I made a board with the one brick transformer along with a terminal block.  This will tidy things up a bit in the back.  I suspect it is going to get a bit busy back there.

Dome Light
Probably more of a novelty than actually useful, I put in a dome light.  It came from a junkyard for $5.00.  My thinking is that it will be dark in there, and if I ever need to read a manual, or some other thing while inside, it will come in handy.  For the electrically challenged, I’m no expert with wiring car dome lights.  No Google search or anything.  The thing came from a car, which (in the U.S. anyway) runs off of 12vdc.  By looking at the light, I saw three plug leads that looked promising.  With a 12 volt + and – lead in hand I started poking around.  Within 30 seconds I found the winning combination.  I had to hack out a lot of the plastic inside to better defuse the light and give me access to the leads to solder the wires.

The wire for the dome is buried in a slot, covered over with bondo.  I had taped over the wire for the painting/sanding process.  When I went to pull the tape off, the wire broke, flush with the surface.  What a pain.  I had to dig out some of the bondo to expose enough wire to solder an extension on.  What a stupid mistake.  I should have just unwrapped the tape instead of pulling on it.  Oh, well.

leapinlew

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Re: Xcelerator - Xbox driving cab
« Reply #209 on: April 29, 2007, 01:26:51 am »
Dome light is a nice touch...

As for the speaker grills - I agree with nearly everyone else. Use the grated grills. They look nice.

theCoder

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Re: Xcelerator - Xbox driving cab
« Reply #210 on: April 29, 2007, 12:16:38 pm »
WTF?

Aren't those subs at the back, behind the seat? Essentially hidden, and more so in a closed (& dark) cab? Save the grilles for your next (big) project and use the originals! (If it isn't an optical illusion, the grilles are quite a bit off-center anyway.. and as they're not really seen..)

Just an opinion..
It isn't an illusion, the grilles are off-center.  They are too big for the box, and I couldn't find smaller ones that would work.  If I use them, I will put in a thin black liner to hide the fact that they are off.  I think the original cover would be easier to install and look cleaner.  There is something to be said for the bad---I'm attempting to get by the auto-censor and should be beaten after I re-read the rules-- look of the grilles.  But as you mentioned, they will be in the back, in the dark, behind a seat.  Either way, it will work out fine. 

"Next big project" ??   How much bigger do you want me to go?

psychotech

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Re: Xcelerator - Xbox driving cab
« Reply #211 on: April 29, 2007, 07:05:02 pm »
!!!

Quote
"Next big project" ??   How much bigger do you want me to go?

Well.. Partybox -> Xcelerator -> Something like this: http://www.electronichouse.com/article/studio_apartment_transformed_into_star_trek_shrine/C154

 :dizzy:

Anyway, the dome light really is a nice detail, and functional even! And if you decide to use the grilles, you could (just) saw off the grille's sides to fit? What are they made of, metal/plastic..?

Spying..

theCoder

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Re: Xcelerator - Xbox driving cab
« Reply #212 on: April 29, 2007, 08:19:50 pm »
Quote
"Next big project" ??   How much bigger do you want me to go?
Well.. Partybox -> Xcelerator -> Something like this: http://www.electronichouse.com/article/studio_apartment_transformed_into_star_trek_shrine/C154
 :dizzy:
Anyway, the dome light really is a nice detail, and functional even! And if you decide to use the grilles, you could (just) saw off the grille's sides to fit? What are they made of, metal/plastic..?

Spying..
I think my next big project will be a shop.  No plastic looking, blue drop shadow, futuristic stuff.  Just 2x4's, plywood, concrete, and tools.  I'll call it my, uh, detached garage.  Yea, honey, I can clean out all the junk in our attached garage and put it in there.  Just think, you can have a place to park your car.  That's it.

Regarding the grilles...  They are coated (painted??) steel, with a rubber grommet around the edge.  They come in 8, 12, and 15" diameters.  Unfortunately the 12" is too small for the speakers I've got.  Cutting these to size is not an option.  I got mine off EBay if you're in the market.

psychotech

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Re: Xcelerator - Xbox driving cab
« Reply #213 on: April 29, 2007, 08:48:56 pm »
Oh well..

So, a game room it'll be :)  :cheers:

On the speaker covers again, I'd go with the originals. Quite sure you'll find the grilles more than necessary sooner than you'd think anyway ;)

Ebay: Not really the diameter(s) I'd need anytime soon ..

theCoder

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Re: Xcelerator - Xbox driving cab
« Reply #214 on: April 29, 2007, 10:50:04 pm »
Carpet Installation
My local carpet/tile shop had some scrap carpet I could have for free, but nothing in black or dark green.  I found this 4x6 ft. throw rug at my local hardware store for $16.  Unfortunately it was a little crushed, which gave it a bunch of ripples.  To get them out, I hung it up on my grape arbor, and hosed it down with water.  After doing this three times in three days, the ripples are mostly gone.  Notice the length of my grass.  Not much yard work going on these days.  I cleaned the surface up well with soap & water.  Before that I scraped off all the big chunks of paint, bondo, solder, etc.  The carpet was cut to size using a large drywall t-square.  I laid down some glue bead right at the front to get things started.  Once in place, I tacked it down with 4 or 5 staples.  They will be coming out once the glue dries, so I didn’t push down too hard when pulling the trigger.  I needed it tacked down firmly so I could really pull hard on it to smooth out the last remaining ripples.  Tomorrow I’ll pick up a strip of 90 degree angled aluminum to wrap around the entry.

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Re: Xcelerator - Xbox driving cab
« Reply #215 on: April 29, 2007, 11:14:43 pm »
I was gonna recommend carpet.  Sweet.

psychotech

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Re: Xcelerator - Xbox driving cab
« Reply #216 on: April 30, 2007, 05:19:37 pm »
Nice!

..still, why not hack real footboards ?

javeryh

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Re: Xcelerator - Xbox driving cab
« Reply #217 on: April 30, 2007, 06:46:47 pm »
Carpet.  Sweet.   :cheers:

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Re: Xcelerator - Xbox driving cab
« Reply #218 on: May 02, 2007, 01:58:46 am »
Wiring Fun
I got in a full 4 hours or so tonight working on the component installation and layout.  Things fit in there nicely, with plenty of room to bundle excess wire, and to get around in.  There is a small shelf (top of the foot well) below the monitor platform.  This is where the Xbox controller, speaker cross-over circuits, and ButtKicker amp go.  The stereo, power strip, and DC power board are in the bottom section.  I still need to mount the back seat rumble control circuit.  It’s a bit of a mess, but it should clean up nicely. 

The light did not work when I initially wired it up.  I tracked the problem down to a cut wire at one end of the bondo slot.  What probably happened is that the wire was exposed a little, and got nicked with the sander.  I suspect the same happened at the other end, where I broke the wire pulling off the tape.  Lesson learned…when burying wires in a bondo slot, protect it heavily from sanders and tools.  It is a pain to dig it out to repair after the fact.

The speakers came with little cross-over circuits to direct low/mid/high frequencies to the woofers/mids/tweeters.  I mounted these circuits into a piece of wood, and mounted it to the back of the monitor shelf.  So far so good.  I’ve got it wired, and boy does it crank!

One thing I noticed while booting the system time and again.  The stereo will power up by itself when the power strip goes live.  The Xbox, on the other hand, does not.  I suspected it might behave like a TV, where if you keep the on/off switch pressed all the time, it will boot when it sees power.  It turns out that is the case.  Many months back (page 2 of this thread somewhere), I hacked a wired plug into the on/off switch of the Xbox, thinking it would be needed on the dashboard.  I just plugged the other end in, with the wires twisted together, and whola…..boots on power.  Boy did I luck out.

So as of tonight, the dome light works, the major electrical components are mounted, the 5 and 12 vdc power system works, the Xbox sound flows through the amp, and the woofers are wired through the cross-over circuits and vibrating the foundation.  Good progress, but lots more to go…

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Re: Xcelerator - Xbox driving cab
« Reply #219 on: May 02, 2007, 07:00:11 am »
Notice the length of my grass.  Not much yard work going on these days. 

Looks good coder. Perhaps you could graft a lawn mower blade onto the bottom, build a game called virtual mower and trick your kids into mowing the lawn.

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Re: Xcelerator - Xbox driving cab
« Reply #220 on: May 02, 2007, 09:47:42 am »


IIRC, the Xbox uses an ATX style power supply, which requires a momentary on/off switch signal to boot when power is applied under normal circumstances.  Google around a bit, you can probably short those two power supply pins so that it will boot immediately when power appears.

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Re: Xcelerator - Xbox driving cab
« Reply #221 on: May 05, 2007, 04:14:00 am »
Speaker Cover
My wife chimed in with her preference, and it turns out she liked what I was leaning towards; the original cover.  It looks more stylish.  Plus, as psychotech points out, that leaves those monster round covers for another day (GettoBlaster-Cade??).  The outer width of the two speakers was about ¼” wider than the inner width of the cover frame.  Thank goodness for Dremel tools.  With a number of passes with a side-cutting bit, problem resolved.  I picked up some sticky back Velcro, thinking that would hold the cover in place.  Unfortunately the mating surfaces are too small and I had to go another route.  I went with approximately 16 large dollops of silicon around the perimeter, and a thin layer where the cover touches the edge of the speakers.  The silicone is just inside the frame, and does not ooze out where you can see it.  That should hold it, be easy to remove, and not vibrate loose.  Before I put it on, I put down a guide piece of masking tape to make sure I put it on straight.  To keep it tight while drying, I leaned a couple of weights against it. 

Seat Mounting
It seams like an eternity ago when I set the seat down on a plain wooden surface, measured for square & depth, and drilled some pilot holes.  Now with the project substantially down the road, it’s time to use those holes.  I had to poke a nail from the underside to find the holes through the carpet.  I marked the holes with tape, then cut a small X at each hole to allow the bolts to go through.  Before I could mount the seat, the rumbler circuitry had to be dealt with.  The prototype relay based circuit had to be cut out.  It is being replace with a high current transistor equivalent (page 2 of this thread; thanks again richms.)  Also, instead of housing the circuit in back of the chair, it will go in the front of the cab, for easier access if/when it fries.  A three-conductor wire (ground, rumble low & rumble high) goes from the chair to the circuit in front.  The ButtKicker wire and rumble control wires are now securely tie-wrapped to the chair, and held together in a bundle with a piece of spiral cable wrap.  Both wires, and the sub-woofer speaker wires are threaded through holes in the 2x4 base structure underneath.  The speaker wires are in their own set of holes, keeping them away from the others to avoid generating noise/feedback.  The chair is held down with ¼” bolts.  The front two feet of the chair are at an angle, so I had to create a couple of wedges to more evenly distribute the load.  They’re made of wood, spray painted black. 

Once installed, I sat in it quietly, for about 15 minutes, adjusting the seat back & forth, checking my foot position with the pedals, adjusting the lumbar, reclining, etc. basically taking a break to enjoy this milestone in the project.  But wait, there's more.....

theCoder

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Re: Xcelerator - Xbox driving cab
« Reply #222 on: May 06, 2007, 12:22:07 am »
Plexiglas Roof
I want others to be able to comfortably watch others drive in this cab.  I’m envisioning two or three people during a party standing around, watching and talking while waiting for their turn.  A key element of that is a see-through roof.  Peeling the paper off was a real workout.  You have to be stronger than the paper & glue I guess.  The roof is held on with dozens of small #4 wood screws.  To minimize the potential for cracking, each screw has a small nylon washer.  In two places however, I did get small cracks.  For as much as this piece of plastic cost me, I’ll have to live with them, at least if they stay small.  I went with a smoked glass to make the inside more dark and subdued.  That definitely is the case especially with the front rounded piece is in place.  This plastic is a dust and fingerprint magnet.  This is one surface I’ll have to clean before parties; along with oiling the foosball table rods.  Oh, the price we pay to entertain….

T-Molding
I went with the black leather looking stuff.  Many people on this forum have good things to say about it, so I thought I’d give it a try.  This cab takes over 60 feet of t-molding (64 feet 3 inches to be exact).  Too bad t-molding is sold in 20 ft. rolls.  If someone needs a few 5 ft. pieces of black t-molding, just drop me a PM.  The seams are on the bottom, both at the front and back sides (from the profile view).  One piece covers the outer profile, and another covers the doorway.  It worked out pretty well, and really finishes off the profile.

Volume Control
I wired a 100k pot into an audio cable.  I screwed up and did not wire it the first time as I had tested earlier.  Putting the resistor in series with the signal works, but not particularly well.  You need to use the pot to vary the amount that you ground the signal.  I thought that shorting the signal to ground might mess something up, but apparently that is how it’s done.  Now if I only had a dashboard to mount it into.

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Re: Xcelerator - Xbox driving cab
« Reply #223 on: May 06, 2007, 01:39:22 am »
 :applaud:

That's starting to look good.  The paint has looked nice since you did it, but the project is starting to take on a darn-near-completion kind of look. 

About the fingerprints and dust on your Plexiglas, you might want to try to hunt down some acrylic cleaner, it cuts the static and leaves a really nice clean finish, some glass cleaners are also harmful to Plexiglas.

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Re: Xcelerator - Xbox driving cab
« Reply #224 on: May 07, 2007, 03:23:10 am »
Now Playing...
I got in a few hours tonight.  The speaker wires are all soldered and routed to approximately where the mids and tweeds will be mounted.  I wired in a couple of 80 mm fans, one into the stereo, and the other sucking from the xbox across to the Buttkicker amp.  In each I cut the sound (and RPMs) by about 50% by putting a 40 ohm resistor in series.  The fans are probably overkill, but I wanted something given how much gear is packed into this small confined space.

I also mounted the TV.  With this step, the cab is now playable.  This will probably cut productivity to nothing.  I played a few games, with half the speakers plugged in and driving with a hand controller.  Oh, man....  Now I REALLY can't wait to get the wheel/dashboard on. 

It is really hard to photograph the TV image through the smoked Plexiglas.  It is much brighter in person. 

I'm now at the mercy of my friends schedule and his CNC mill to make the wheel bracket and speaker mounts in the dash and top header.  In the mean time I've still got to install/debug the rumble circuit, design/do the car key switch controlling the 110 AC power strip (cross your fingers on that one, smoke & fire is bad), track down and install an exhaust fan I accidentally crushed by tightening the screws to tight, tidy up the wiring, and design/print the side art. 

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Re: Xcelerator - Xbox driving cab
« Reply #225 on: May 07, 2007, 02:47:30 pm »

Nice work.  Very nice.  Now unplug the TV and don't turn it back on unless you're debugging something.

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Re: Xcelerator - Xbox driving cab
« Reply #226 on: May 07, 2007, 02:56:06 pm »
Wow - awesome job!  I have a feeling that this thing will be near impossible to walk by without at least making one lap in some game.  Speaking of which, do you have a definitive game list yet?

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Re: Xcelerator - Xbox driving cab
« Reply #227 on: May 07, 2007, 11:13:44 pm »
I probably missed it somewhere in the previous 5 pages of the thread, but are you going to do a bezel?  It would be a shame to put so much work into a great specialized cabinet and then let people see that it is just a TV that they are playing on.

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Re: Xcelerator - Xbox driving cab
« Reply #228 on: May 08, 2007, 12:29:12 am »
Wow - awesome job!  I have a feeling that this thing will be near impossible to walk by without at least making one lap in some game.  Speaking of which, do you have a definitive game list yet?
Thanks.  I missed half of a meeting this morning at work.  Uh, I couldn't find my car keys.  I'm going to have to mount a clock somewhere on the dash.

A while back I picked up about 20 XBox games from a coworker for $80.  Along the way, I’ve also been buying Xbox games off EBay for 5-10 bucks each.  I put a 200 gig HD in the console and loaded up almost every game I (and my son) own.  I’m into the driving/flying games, he is into the first person shooters.  I also loaded my entire mp3 library (about 6 gig).  To answer your question, I’ve got the following games loaded and available from the menu:

Driving Games
ATV – Quad
Burnout Revenge
Burnout 3
Crash Nitro Kart
Crazy Taxi
Flatout 3
Forza Motor Sport
Midnight Club 3
Midtown Madness 3
Need For Speed (#2, Most Wanted, & Carbon)
Rallisport Challenge 2
Street Racing Syndicate
Simpsons Hit & Run

Flying / Arcade
Blazing Angles
Crimson Skies
Fuzion Frenzy
Pure Pinball
… and of course…Mame

Shooters
Area 51
Doom 3
A few Tom Clancy titles
Gun
Red Dead Revolver
Halo 2
Panzer Dragoon

Others
3 Poker games
10 adventure style titles
Media Center
DVD Movie Player

I’ll be spending most of my time in Forza, NFS Carbon, RalliSport, and Blazing Angles; with the occasional Mame game of Donkey Kong, Star Castle, Qix, and Rip-off.

Any recommendations for other games that would play well in this cab?

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Re: Xcelerator - Xbox driving cab
« Reply #229 on: May 08, 2007, 12:49:20 am »
I probably missed it somewhere in the previous 5 pages of the thread, but are you going to do a bezel?  It would be a shame to put so much work into a great specialized cabinet and then let people see that it is just a TV that they are playing on.
I misspoke on the earlier thread where I listed the remaining work.  After I hit the post button, my mind started racing on all the other work remaining; the bezel being one of them.  I'm considering 3 options: 
1)  Happ plastic bezel
2)  Mask off and paint the back side of the glass with a black paint
3)  Cut a bezel out of black heavy card stock.

I'm leaning more towards #3.  I was planning on cutting it out about 1" bigger than the screen and paint the existing plastic TV bezel a flat black.  I've only got about 1.5" gap between the glass and TV.  I'd appreciate any recommendations on this topic as well.

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Re: Xcelerator - Xbox driving cab
« Reply #230 on: May 08, 2007, 09:01:48 pm »
Heh..

Looks too damn good. Actually  :notworthy:

Still, on your bezel options..

--------------------------------------------------------------------
2)  Mask off and paint the back side of the glass with a black paint
3)  Cut a bezel out of black heavy card stock.
--------------------------------------------------------------------

What I did with my bartop (Bombjack..):

(I have about half an inch gap between the screen and the glass..)

1. Paint the CRT/TV front (matte/flat) black... Done that already? ...
2. Print the bezel graphics to screen size! Even with my two player solution there was no need to make the bezel bigger than the screen.. Works!
-> And, as the Xcelerator is a 1 player solution, and viewed from straight ahead, the bezel should actually be an exact fit?
3. I printed my bezel graphics on white construction paper / heavy card stock / etc. - Works quite nicely ;) I did not paint the glass inside black but instead used a sheet of black construction paper under/behind the bezel graphics.

As the Xcelerator's screen will be in a dim/dark/whatever environment, I'm sure that'd do the job :) ? You'll get the "floating" effect..

Still, it's just

psychotech :)

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Re: Xcelerator - Xbox driving cab
« Reply #231 on: May 09, 2007, 01:47:30 am »
Houston, We Have Ignition
The power strip and Xbox power button is now controlled with an ignition switch.  The switch will be mounted in the dash when ready.  With the switch in the off (left) position, nothing is on.  In the center position, the power strip is on.  And in the right position, the power strip is still on, and the Xbox power button switch is shorted, turning it on or off depending on its current state.    Or so that was the plan.  Read on.  This was an interesting little job with a few mess-ups along the way.

I was a little nervous about bringing 110vac into a metal key switch.  To avoid any possibility of electrocution, the contacts of the switch drive the coil of a 30 amp relay.  I picked up the relay at an automotive supplies store.  It needed to be 12 vdc on the coil side, and be able to handle a lot of amps on the contact side.  As long as I had an ignition switch, I decided to use it to cycle power on the Xbox as well.   I had previously just wired the Xbox on/off button so the switch was always on.  This worked, the Xbox would power on when the strip came alive, but the DVD drive button does not work while the power button is “pressed”.  I'm also not crazy about turning off a computer (even if it is an Xbox) by just yanking the power cord.

So the switch drives a low current relay that is connected to the Xbox power switch, and also drives a high current relay that is switching the hot lead of my power strip.  On the power cord, I stripped back the insulation, exposing about 3 inches of wire.  I only cut the hot lead, and wired it into the normally open contacts of the high current relay. 

The first mess-up involved powering the 12 vdc power supply that drives the relays, that supplies power to everything.  See the problem?  The power supply was plugged into the power strip.  I couldn’t get power to the power supply until the power supply / ignition switch / relay did their thing.  I had to hard wire the power supply straight into the incoming 110 vac line.  This sort of worked.  The system will now turn on, but all my fans and other 12 vdc stuff is/was on all the time.  Not good.  Tomorrow I’ll track down another 12 vdc supply and drive it from the strip, and have it drive all the accessories.

The other problem involves the ignition switch itself.  For some idiotic reason, it does not behave like a car ignition.  The left and center positions are basically swapped.  In the center position, nothing is on.  In the left position, the power is on.  In the right position, both the power is on and the Xbox power button is on.  There is no graceful way to power down the Xbox with this configuration.  I’ll have to find a more traditional switch (i.e. 0, 1, 1+2).

The good news is I can now power my cab from an ignition switch and after about 30 minutes of test-driving (joystick, no wheel yet), the relay did not explode, melt, or catch fire.

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Re: Xcelerator - Xbox driving cab
« Reply #232 on: May 09, 2007, 09:17:19 am »

Niiice.  Maybe you could head back to the junkyard and pull an actual ignition mech?

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Re: Xcelerator - Xbox driving cab
« Reply #233 on: May 09, 2007, 09:25:49 am »
Wow - Serious skills on display with this project.  :notworthy: 

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Re: Xcelerator - Xbox driving cab
« Reply #234 on: May 09, 2007, 09:31:41 am »
Burnout Revenge would be so much fun in this thing.  I really like the plexi back/top.  That is a really slick touch.

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Re: Xcelerator - Xbox driving cab
« Reply #235 on: May 09, 2007, 10:29:26 am »

Thought about this a bit last night... and about how guys are always going to a little extra effort to try and get the women to play too.  You already have all those rumble motors in the chair... add 3-4 of them to the seat. 

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Re: Xcelerator - Xbox driving cab
« Reply #236 on: May 09, 2007, 12:44:21 pm »

The first mess-up involved powering the 12 vdc power supply that drives the relays, that supplies power to everything.  See the problem?  The power supply was plugged into the power strip.  I couldn’t get power to the power supply until the power supply / ignition switch / relay did their thing.  I had to hard wire the power supply straight into the incoming 110 vac line.  This sort of worked.  The system will now turn on, but all my fans and other 12 vdc stuff is/was on all the time.  Not good.  Tomorrow I’ll track down another 12 vdc supply and drive it from the strip, and have it drive all the accessories.


Hey coder,
Maybe I missed it earlier in the thread, but  why do you need a two position switch? Was the original idea to first turn on the power supply and then the xbox? If you find a wall wart 12v power supply to drive the coil of your relay you should be able to avoid the problem above. Nothing large is needed because the coil on that type of relay you are using only pull 150 -250 mili-amp.

Looking great by the way  :applaud:

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Re: Xcelerator - Xbox driving cab
« Reply #237 on: May 10, 2007, 02:05:07 am »
Niiice.  Maybe you could head back to the junkyard and pull an actual ignition mech?
Ignition switches from cars have weird nonstandard mounting.  I need one that can mount in a flat panel.  I picked up one today that is a better fit.

Wow - Serious skills on display with this project.  :notworthy: 
You know what they say, the girls like guys with skills;  bowstaff skills, numchuck skills, computer hacking skills, you know...skills.  Actually I have a little skill, and a wreckless disregard of fear of the unknown.  This, plus Google, forums like this, a soldering iron, a fire extinguisher, and a desire to learn more.  Thanks for the complement.


Thought about this a bit last night... and about how guys are always going to a little extra effort to try and get the women to play too.  You already have all those rumble motors in the chair... add 3-4 of them to the seat. 
;D

Hey coder,
Maybe I missed it earlier in the thread, but  why do you need a two position switch? Was the original idea to first turn on the power supply and then the xbox? If you find a wall wart 12v power supply to drive the coil of your relay you should be able to avoid the problem above. Nothing large is needed because the coil on that type of relay you are using only pull 150 -250 mili-amp.

Looking great by the way  :applaud:
Thanks.  The problem is not the start up, but more the shut down.  I really hate turning off any computer device by just shutting off the power.  I could put in a push button on the dash to do this, but why add another button to the dashboard?  I've already committed to using a car ignition switch.  It comes with a spring loaded "start" feature.  It is a metaphor that anyone that drives understands.  I want a way to gracefully shut off the CPU or hard reset it if it locks up.  I'll be driving the relay from a spare 12 vdc power supply.  Long answer to your question, but that was my reasoning.

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Re: Xcelerator - Xbox driving cab
« Reply #238 on: May 10, 2007, 02:20:54 am »
Burnout Revenge would be so much fun in this thing.  I really like the plexi back/top.  That is a really slick touch.
Thanks.  I played Burnout this morning.  The rumblers are not yet wired up, but the buttkicker really vibrates the chair when you crash.  Being 6" away from two 12" woofers helps out too.  I like driving with the cockpit view, not the third person view.  It is a lot harder to control when you can't see the car from above, but the visual effect makes the game more realistic and encompassing.  Just the effect I was going for on this project.

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Re: Xcelerator - Xbox driving cab
« Reply #239 on: May 10, 2007, 05:19:51 am »
Coder check your PM  :cheers: