Cornchip's Revolver Arcade Project....Side art added.

[Cornchip]

  Finished my first cabinet...finally. I have made up a lame webpage with a link to my photo gallery.

 http://cornchiparcadeproject.wetpaint.com/

 Hope this link works for others. It's a free site. Post any problems and I'll see what I can do.

Cornchip.

[IG-88]

Nice Cab....! I'd love to see a video of that sucker rotating the monitor.

Whats the story on the PSU? Sucker looks like you could start an airconditioner with it!

[Xam]

If you ever need another window motor let me know. I have access to used ones quite often. 

Great looking project.

Xam

[clockwork]

Excellent job, Cornchip. Looks really good.

[kizer]

Wow,

Ive been lurking for a while and man I have to honestly say thats a slick looking cabinet. If I had an ounce of skill I would build something that looked like it.

What I really liked is the circuit boards, which add a really clean look. I'm guessing they might be a bit harder to swap out on the buttons if you have a problem, but clean.

[blueznl]

I *love* it, would you be willing to share construction details on the rotating stuff?

[IG-88]

Ya, I like to see them also.

[clockwork]

After browsing through all your screens, I have to agree with everyone. I'd love to see plans too! Or just some explanation text on your images would be great.

[Kaytrim]

  Can't wait to see the full write up on the build.  Especially on the rotating system.

[Cornchip]

I'll try to describe my reasoning for making my rotating mechanism. I decided to keep the large disc to support the monitor (as seen in other designs) at the front and use rollers to support the weight. The disc is made from 1/4" aluminum and is 25 1/2" in diameter (Black anodized). 4 standoffs go between the aluminum disc to the 4 clearance holes in the monitor chassis. From the back side of the mounting holes are longer standoffs to connect to the rear mounting plate. This rear mounting plate has a driveshaft that is 'on center' with the 4 holes in the chassis. Basically the setup drives from the rear and also supports the weight.

 The next thing I needed to select was a motor. A 12V DC gear motor is reversable by simply reversing the polarity by means of a switch or relay. I went with a keyed switch that is 'center off' and either side of that is FORWARD/REVERSE. When driving to each position..a limit switch was employed to kill the power to motor stopping the monitor where needed. This setup needed to be adjustable as there is a certain amount of deceleration after cutting power to the motor (adjustable end stops).

 With the motor decided upon...next came the rotation RPM that I wanted. I guessed that 5 seconds allowed enough time to transit 90 degrees. My calculations are below worked backwards from the motor RPM at 12 VDC (my power supply is separate from my PC).

 165 RPM at 12 VDC (motor)
 Desired RPM of monitor 3 RPM (very slow).

 First drive sprocket 10 teeth
 Second driven sprocket 80 teeth
 Total gear reduction is 8

 165/8=20.626 RPM

 I needed to do this a second time using the same ratio with identical sprockets.

20.626/8=2.6 RPM final

 Why did I want 3 RPM final? Here's why.

 60 second/3 RPM=20 seconds for 1 revolution.
 20 seconds (1 revolution)/4 (90 degrees)=5 seconds.

 My power supply is 13.8 VDC vs 12VDC so the motor runs a little faster. So I'm sure the final is closer to 3 RPM vs. 2.6. Perfect.

 So I used a CAD/CAM program and made my own sprockets for a 25H roller chain. This is the same as used in pockets bikes...making it cheap.

 I made a numbered diagram of the parts.

 1 - Motor drive sprocket
 2 - Primary driven/secondary drive idler shaft. Also used a chain tensioner.
 3 - Secondary driven shaft.
 4 - Limit switches for horizontal/vertical orientation.
 5 - Monitor power interupt switch. Cam activated.
 6 - CAM
 7 - Rear support (3/8 x 3 aluminum). Has a bearing for #3.
 8 - Denso 730556-7030 12VDC gear motor.
 9 - Front plate
 10 - Idler wheel for front plate (x4)
 11 - Lower idler wheel mount (top is the same...just upside down)
 12 - Rear mounting plate.
 13 - Drive chain.
 14 - Primary chain eccentric tensioner.

 Hope that helps a little.


 1

[Cornchip]

  Video link up at web site and below.

 http://video.yahoo.com/video/play?vid=c21d69e0382f71459e1fae72760a3adf.1766423

[IG-88]

Dude, that is flat out impressive. You should be in the runnin' for a Mamey for that.   

[Veinman]

Slick work!

[Ohioboxster]

Every time I think Im pretty smart I see something like this.........pure genius

[(+_+)]

2 words.

Ola Salima.   

[Havok]

One word:

Awesome!

 

[Gamester]

That is an outstanding achievement for your first cabinet.  Very impressive engineering!

[needlesmcgirk]

Unbelievable.  What an amazing looking cabinet!  Congratulations on that!  Man, I was actually going into the section on the boards to start a post on my cab, but now I don't feel like it...

[clockwork]

What did you do to get the shine on your cab? It looks metallic.

[Cornchip]

  The cabinet is painted with Black Latex. It was a premium paint made by CIL here in Canada available through the Home Depot. Whats neat about it is it has a 'blue pearl' to the finish. It went on easy and didn't stink the house up in the process. It would be interesting to see what it would spray like.

[clockwork]

Wow, that's nice. I can't believe you didn't have to do any extra coating.

[Knievel]

Wow, very nice job all around. The monitor rotating mech is amazing enough but all those custom circuit boards and the custom bat-top handles and spinner top. I'm sure everyone would enjoy some more details on how you did those...I know I would. You are a very humble builder.

And those button surrounds look great. 

[(+_+)]

Hey Cornchip,

I was looking into something similar but not quite as industrial seeing my screen is the same size but an LCD which weighs far less. The other thing I was considering was making it a part of my launcher program. I have a setting that allows you to ask whether it is a vertical or horizontal game. Based on your choice send a message programatically to a serial or parallel port and have an encoder trigger the stepper motor. I hope I haven't bitten off more than I can chew here, but seeing you've raised the bar, I'll try to up the ante in the name of arcade building fun. Have you looked into this at all. If so, any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

Once again great job. 

[fjl]

Dude awesome! But thanks for making our work look like crap. 

Now we can expect our cabinets to be graded on a curve. 

You deserve a Mamey

[leapinlew]

One word:

Awesome!

 

0 words:

 

[Cornchip]

LCD monitors would be a win with this type of setup. Less weight,space and no degauss issues. If this monitor dies I'd consider a retrofit. The only bad thing I could think is 'gun' games would not be possible (no sync?). But I don't have one..so it wouldn't matter. I think the near future will bring lots of options for LCD.

 Here's a shocker you don't want to hear. I'm currently using Mame32FX as it has made life easy for 'globally' selecting display properties. I'm not sure if the standard command line version of Mame will do that without editing or separating Roms. I'm just guessing here. That dream of interfacing Mame with a serial/parallel port relay is possibly just that. You might have to sleep with a Mame developer to get it. I do believe it is possible....just not by me. With a DC motor you'd be half way there.

  Those Bat-top handles I didn't intend on building originally. It happened quite by accident at work on the lathe. To make a long story short...the halogen light on the machine illuminated the plastic. At this point I had already bought my translucent push buttons fro GGG along with extra blue button blasters (BBB's). The Led's and the plastic were a great match. Light seems to illuminate the entire piece of plastic...even behind the LED. Neat stuff.

 The spinner I did next. This took a little more work as it is made from 3 pieces. A new shaft....fits the TurboTwist 1 in the same manner as the original. The shaft is pressed into the spinner body (careful with the pressfit in plastic...it can crack if there's too much interference).  No set screw is needed with a careful press. The last part is a thin pressed Stainless ring on the outside diameter. I did this for the bling factor as well as dividing the skirt from the top. Really sparkles.

 Under the spinner is a 'hoop' circuit board that has 4 Led's. The shaft passes up through the center. All the resistors are soldered in place and 5VDC is supplied to all. These boards are drafted in Eagle Layout Editor. Oh...Kenevel...those button surrounds are drawn in Eagle and printed on the 'backside' of the vinyl (whiteside) and cut out. Print,cut and stick.I grabbed that idea form you. Thanks!

 The Bat-tops came next. A post by 'Imageek' gave me the info to build my own Slikstick copies. Thanks dude for the spy photos. I just copied the original dimensions using stainless for the handle and the same Nylon for the tops. The hardest part was getting a 3.5mm jack that had a thread I could tap in the end. The part I found had a 8mmx1 thread. Not a standard size...but I had one in my tool box. Drawbacks was the depth needed inside the shaft for the 3.5mm female jack. Note in the length below the the last circlip groove. My shaft is longer here by 3/4 of an inch. Add the right angle 3.5 plug and I'm close to having no clearance inside the panel. I got lucky.

 That original post..

 http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=52509.0

 Hopefully this post makes sense...it's long winded. Sorry. I'll see if I can dig up some different pictures also.

[clockwork]

Dude, if you wrote a book on how you built your cab from start to finish, I'd buy it. 

[Cornchip]

  Great...I could use the money!   

[(+_+)]

Here's a shocker you don't want to hear. I'm currently using Mame32FX as it has made life easy for 'globally' selecting display properties. I'm not sure if the standard command line version of Mame will do that without editing or separating Roms. I'm just guessing here. That dream of interfacing Mame with a serial/parallel port relay is possibly just that. You might have to sleep with a Mame developer to get it. I do believe it is possible....just not by me. With a DC motor you'd be half way there.

I was thinking of embedding the code to do so within my app and not Mame. I think the code behind it won't be too difficult, it's the unknown (electronics) that I'm uneasy about. The reason I prefer doing so within my app is also due to the familiarity and control I have there. There are some app shots in the thread below somewhere.

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=62244.0

[allanon]

Wow Cornchip, that's extremely cool man.  I love the color scheme.

[Cornchip]

I was surfing Ebay tonight a did a search for serial relay cards. They'll run you 50 to 100 bucks depending on how many relays you want. I think I would want a minimum of 4. I'd like to keep my key switch...if I choose not to use it I could lock out a relay that supplies power to the switch (manual or auto mode).

 I think this is a possibility as long as you can write code to control the serial port. By using your app...you'd have a better chance. It's a shame a Mame dev couldn't throw in something that we could monitor with a program. I posted a picture of a serial relay board as seen on Ebay. This model has a PIC microcontroller...so it needs programming knowledge specific to PIC. Probably wouldn't be a good buy. I don't know.

Cornchip.

[(+_+)]

I stumbled across this myself the other day. I'd be able to plug this in to my app using the dll provided. Problem is I don't whether I want to spend the $200 for the card, stepper motor and gears and pulleys. I'm having an internal debate as to whether or not I should just drop the $200 beans into a Billabs 27" monitor. On the one hand an auto rotating monitor would be way cool. On the other a behemoth 27 inch screen would be great also and much simpler to implement. I hate it when I do that to myself.

http://steppercontrol.com/s100.html

http://steppercontrol.com/asoft.html

[Cornchip]

Stepper motors are a big move beyond simple motor control. Totally overkill for an arcade project. Granted...it would work great and totally eliminate most moving parts. That last picture of the Serial Relay board was not for stepper motor control.

 I can see where your right about the effort not possibly being worth it vs. a large arcade display. My project was really only possible due to the resources that I have available in the shop. I doubt I would pay the costs out of my own pocket for what I did. I would have definitely have bought a large display.

[WaRpEd]

That is simply AWESOME 
Congrats on a cab that should be up for a Mamey IMHO.

[Cornchip]

The HP p1130 monitor used in this project has two VGA inputs.  I never bothered to add a second VGA before I buttoned up the cabinet. I rushed the drying process after painting and reassembled the rear panel before it was properly dry. This weekend I was able with the help of a broom handle to free the rear panel from its bonds and get to work on the second VGA input.

 After adding wires from the add on board and rerouting the bundle to a position inside the cabinet (safe spot out of the way) ...I then made a remote panel using spare arcade buttons. The switch was desoldered from the add on board and secured as well. It was a painfull job that had to be done. Yuk.

 After the job was finished I was able to try out my Dreamcast. I have to say VGA and a Dreamcast are great together. I even tried out 'Radiligy' in a vertical orientation (must be one of the few that supports vertical). I think I'll look into building a second panel to support the DC and maybe some other console. We'll see.

 Also...I made a second video from the rear of the machine with the panel off. Additional pictures also at the gallery.

 http://video.yahoo.com/video/play?vid=c21d69e0382f71459e1fae72760a3adf.1811007&vback=Studio&vdone=http%3A%2F%2Fvideo.yahoo.com%2Fvideo%2Fstudio%3Fei%3DUTF-8

 Cornchip.

[Knievel]

Thanks for the extra info on the joys/spinner, way beyond my skill level I'm afraid. If you go into production on those let me know. 

Love the second vid, you are definitely hitting new levels with this cabinet.

That said, I really think this machine needs/deserves some custom artwork to put it over the edge. I suggest you enlist Pixelhugger to make you a marquee/sideart, if you don't have those skills as well.

And I'm going to throw this cabinet name out there... THE REVOLVER

[Cornchip]

   Damn....that's actually a great name. I had  thought of 'Rotacade'. It was rather generic for a name. Perhaps generic like the stock Mame graphics I currently have. 

 I could think on it....I have some ideas. A favorite shooter I play is Capcom's Gunsmoke. Pehaps a hack on the original Marquee might work. I don't know if it would have the 'pop' that the Mame Atomic has. It would also be nice to work the 'rotation' arrows from the front keyswitch it it some how. Beyond my skill level. I'll have a look at Pixel Hugger's work.

 I'd love to make a small run of something to sell.  Someday I'll move from this small house to a place with a decent garage. There I hope to have room for a small mill and lathe. Until then...anything that I do has to be made at work. That unfortunately puts a kibosh on production. But maybe just once I should try it.

Cornchip.

 

[Knievel]

I came up with that name for a dedicated gun cabinet, suits yours though.

That Gunsmoke art doesn't really fit with the high-tech cabinet. Pixel is the master of flashy blue/chrome type graphics. I'm sure he'd come up with something cool.

I'm envisioning circular sideart with REVOLVER angled across it and your blue rotation arrows around the outside.

[blueznl]

Perhaps check some of the Anime series for inspiration, such as _Gunslinger Girls_ or _Gungrave_. Or you could go down the _Serenity_ route... good excuse to see more of Firefly

[Pixelhugger]

Stunning. Absolutely stunning. The water-jet cutting is just unbelievable. And the engineering leaves me in awe... talk about project envy. 

[Pixelhugger]

Oh, and check your PM regarding artwork. 

[NickG]

Hello great cab.  I am planning to make my own translucent bat-style controllers and spinner knob as well.  Yours look nice, and I was wondering: did you cast them or turn/machine them?  Any other advice/thoughts on the matter?

[danny_galaga]

ooh, rotating monitor. a man after my own heart...

[danny_galaga]

If you ever need another window motor let me know. I have access to used ones quite often. 

Great looking project.

Xam

hehe. i was wondering what a Windows motor was!

[danny_galaga]

I stumbled across this myself the other day. I'd be able to plug this in to my app using the dll provided. Problem is I don't whether I want to spend the $200 for the card, stepper motor and gears and pulleys.

yeah, forget stepper motors, as cornchip says, its overkill. just use a dc motor. if you work out an auto-rotate function, all you will need is two different 'signals' - one for clockwise and one for anti clockwise. the signal doesnt even have to be timed or anything. just has to be one or the other. silver  and i were rambling about some sort of solution here at one stage:

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=32060.0

[Cornchip]

   The Bat-tops were turned from solid bar stock. I don't believe type of plastic can be 'cast' as I'm sure that it is a thermo plastic. You're better off just turning them. Just copy the dimensions off your original.


 Cornchip.

[NickG]

Thanks!  Did you make the shaft, too?  The design looks effective.

[Cornchip]

Yup..I had to make the shaft as well. I machined it from 304 Stainless steel. This is a free machining type of stainless. Dimensions are also kept the same with exceptions for the ball thread and the extended shaft length below the cir clip.

 Cornchip.

 I just had a thought. The Happ's 360 is a 8way joystick. How does it fare to the Super. I'm finding the Super's fine for most games except Pacman etc. I'd consider the 360 because it will swap in place of a Super's base. I also think the shaft can be adapted to this style of LED treatment. Any constructive opinions on the 360?

[leapinlew]

The 360's about the same diagonals, have about the same throw, and they are a little stiffer. After using the 360's for a while, the supers feel pretty buttery. After using the supers for a while, the 360's feel stiff.

Hope this helped. 

[Cornchip]

    I got to thinking and I missed something very obvious here. Trying to play a 4 way game with the 8 way bushing end is the problem. I flipped it to 4 way and it made a huge difference. Don't see how I missed that.   

Cornchip.

[csa3d]

4 - Limit switches for horizontal/vertical orientation.
 

Can you give me some more info about what type of limit switch you used, where you got it, model info, etc.  I'm brewing up an lcd rotating project as well, and am curious to learn more about this issue, as that seems to be the biggest unknown at this point.

Thanks!
-csa

[Cornchip]

Don't get hung up on the exact model of limit switch. You might not ever find the same thing twice. What you want to know is more about the type. It is an industrial 'plunger' limit switch. It has a snap type switch much like the push button's we all use. Mine just happened to have a roller (doesn't matter)....but more importantly has a fair bit of travel (3/16"). The switch opens during the first 1/16th of travel....the rest is just travel. Something to note here as well...rotating objects have momentum. After the switch cuts power to the motor, the assembly will not stop instantly.It will decelerate. Go to fast as you approach the limit and you will quickly use up that 3/16th of travel (crash!). A geared slower approach will assure you of that.

  I bought my limits off Ebay. Here's an example I found just now. These will handle more power than you have to throw at them.

http://cgi.ebay.com/6-HONEYWELL-MICRO-SWITCH-ROLLER-PLUNGERS-BZE6-2RQ8_W0QQitemZ330087501429QQihZ014QQcategoryZ55833QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item330087501429

Cornchip.

[JoeB]

Are you using Mame32FX in order for it to auto-rotate the display?  You can accomplish the same thing with MAMEWAH.  It wouldn't be that difficult to write a utility that detects the orientation of the ROM and then send a signal to start the rotation.  MAMEWAH can be used as a front end to tie it all together.

Best part, it will work with any emulator (MAME, Daphne, and even PC games!)

[Cornchip]

No...there's no magic auto-rotate when a vertical game is launched. Mame32FX (and standard Mame32) has a 'Default Game Options'. Under 'Display' I set 'Rotation' to 'Auto Clockwise'. After a vertical game is launched the display has to be manually rotated from the key switch below the console. No magic here. I hear you though...launch a vertical game and automate the whole process.

 Why I bother with Mame32FX for the time being is I honestly don't have a clue what 'command' I would have to add to the standard command line version to accomplish what I need. A frontend is in the works in the near future. I'll cross that hurdle when I get to it.

 Another plus for FX I like over standard Mame32....after a game is launched for the first time....there is no 'nag' screen after that. Also the hi-score feature works (most of the time). The source for Mame32FX is downloadable. With that I believe you can recompile a command line version that would be compatible with a frontend (my eventual goal). Hopefully that's what you were asking.

 Cornchip.

[Cornchip]

  Thought I'd do an update and mention a cool audio gadget that I added. This gadget was intended for the motor cycle rider who needed a way to control up to 3 audio sources (ear phone jacks) and vary the volume. The item is called the Ampli-Rider ( http://www.electric-avenues.com/amplirider.html) and cost $60 CDN plus shipping. The unit needs 12VDC-13.8VDC and allows the remote mounting of the volume knob (I made a plate to match the rest of the cabinet).

 This has allowed me to combine the PC jack and the Dreamcast jack into and control the volume on both with one knob. I should mention that the PC speakers I have are not 'hackable' as to remove the knob. Works great.

 Cornchip.   

[Cornchip]

   Thought I'd do an update to show what Pixelhugger's been up to when not working on his own project. These are currently out for printing at Mamemarquee.com. I can't wait to see the finished product. Thanks Pixel!

 Cornchip.

[Donkey_Kong]

Wow. I heard this guy is good but dang...That is awesome. Congrats! Now to get him to do something for me.

[KenToad]

Wow.      Can't wait to see it with the new Graphics applied.

Now, about spelling Knievel's name correctly ... 

[javeryh]

Wow.      Can't wait to see it with the new Graphics applied.

I totally agree. WOW!!!     Amazing work - this will give your cab a great finishing touch.

[Cornchip]

  Oh no...I've been spelling his name wrong throughout this entire post. 

 Cornchip.

[Cornchip]

  My graphics showed up today. I quickly mounted all the pieces and took some shots. The end product is simply amazing. Thanks go out to both Mitch and Scott for there help, great work by both. 

 Cornchip.

[Pixelhugger]

HOLY FREAKIN CRAP!!!

I sure lucked out on the blue t-moulding match! Damn Cornchip that looks spectacular. The printing I mean. And the overall effect of "branding" the game. Really looks like a production game. I had toyed with some Photoshop mockups after the art was done, but I'm really glad I didn't post anything 'cause they looked NOTHING like this stuff you just posted. WOW. Just wow. Mamemarquees just knocks it outta the park every time. Guaranteed if that'd been anyone else printing the oranges would've gone brown and the blues magenta.

[Chris G]

Shwiiiiiiing!!!  Beautiful.  Really like the colors.

 
Chris

[Kaytrim]

Guys that is some sweet artwork now that it is mounted on the cab.  PH you couldn't have done a better job matching the colors unless you were live on site.  The T-Molding and artwork look like they were made for each other.

TTFN
Kaytrim

[patrickl]

Wow that looks great. The matching of the t-molding is really fortunate yes.

What's with the chips commercials in the pictures?

[Cornchip]

   Frito's brand Cornchips are a fav of mine. Kinda goes with the user name. Just something I do here and on other forums. 

 Cornchip.

[javeryh]

This is one of my favorite cabs.  The artwork ties everything together perfectly.  Well done.   

[Knievel]

Nice job guys, very professional looking.

I'm getting a bit of a western vibe off the corner gears on the marquee...kinda look like wagon wheels.

[bfauska]

<expensive but cool idea>

Hey Cornchip, I don't know if you play poker or not, but that sideart with a slight modification to put the word completely in the circle would make some kick ass custom poker chips.  I have no idea where you could get them made but I'm sure you could, and I'm sure they would cost an arm and a leg.

</expensive but cool idea>

[DaOld Man]

Sorry to bring this post out again, but with all the rotating monitor projects going on right now, I thought it would be a good idea to offer this one up for review.
Great job Cornchip! I love the lighted spinner and bat handles.. got me to thinking about other adventures now.
Hats off to the master! 

[psychotech]

Sorry to bring this post out again, but with all the rotating monitor projects going on right now, I thought it would be a good idea to offer this one up for review.
Great job Cornchip! I love the lighted spinner and bat handles.. got me to thinking about other adventures now.
Hats off to the master! 

Hats off to the master! YES  (  )

Sorry? Sorry???

Not worthy? You? Not. Me. Yes. Very much.

Cornchip's - working solution - is an awesome example that just needs to be seen, read and appreciated!

Still, come on

DaOld Man, keep on documenting. You're really on to something awesome! 

(Still hunting for suitable sprockets.. to fine tune the semi...)

[Cornchip]

    My thread came back to life. Thanks for the kind words guys.

      Little has changed since last April with this cabinet. I have been looking to further explore a little front end automation using Mala and DaOldman's printer port inputs. I just need to get to it (I'm a bit lazy....I apologize!). It's not like it's a big task either.   

                   Something else.....I'm removing a Happs Super from the panel to be replaced with a U360. From what I can tell so far, the 360 is a much more precise stick and a nice step up from the Super. I'll post pic's when I have it mounted up and get a little play time on it. It's going to be sick.   

 Cornchip.

[DaOld Man]

Psycotech: Thanks for the kind words, I am still working on my project, it's just the several hours I've been putting in at the job that pays me is very demanding, and the weather has been rather nasty. But I am still preparing for my project mentally.
I think my next step is to cut some circles out of MDF. More on that adventure later..

Cornchip: I'm the one that invented lazy (or was that the internet, no wait, Al Gore did that.)
Anyway, no sweat.
I was thinking about purchasing one of those U360s, you say you like it?
How is it for the 4 way games?

[Cornchip]

   Nice try....I have first dibs on lazy. It's mine.   

[Krohboy]

I like this a Cab a lot, there's just something about it.