Paul's Modular Control Panel

[Paul Olson]

I started thinking about a modular control panel a couple of years ago, but I think I finally have a workable design so I am starting the build process. I will try to document this as much as possible so others can use it if they want.

To save quite a few comments, let me say that a lot of you will probably not like this design. I designed it more for strength than asthetics, although I think I will be happy with the way it looks. It breaks a couple of unwritten rules I have noticed around here over the years.  The biggest broken rule being that the panels will mount to the box from the top and the heads of the cap screws will be visible at all times! Yeah , I know, terrible isn't it.    I will also have to screw them in every time adding a bit of time to the swap. This was a more than acceptable trade off to me because this design is very strong. I tried many different designs before settling on this one, but none of them were strong enough. Most involved rabbiting the MDF panels, and the MDF was just incredibly weak in that situation.

Here is a picture of my old cp. My goal is to make the new modular panel resemble this one. I like the way it looks, and the size is perfect for me.


I made a new box for the cp and I am using unistrut to mount the panels. The panels attach really flat and tight, and it is very strong. Before I mounted the box to the cabinet, I attached one panel and shook the box around by it for a little while, so it is definitely strong.


I decided to do something different with the panels. I want to limit the amount of configuration options to make things simple, and to avoid small filler panels. The inside of the cp box is 34" wide(the panel with trim will be 37", the same as my old panel), and I will use four sizes of panels: 6", 7", 10", and 14".

Here are the panel blanks:  

The 6" panels will be used in the center of 2 player layouts and they will contain the start buttons and possibly some admin buttons. I made a feww of these so I can experiment with this.

All joystick and button panels will be 7". I do not want to try to fit these on smaller panels, and I think the extra width will make the panel stronger. Two 7" panels per player, plus the 6" panel in between gives me my 34", so there is no extra space to fill up.

Here are the parts that will go on these panels:


The 10" panels will be used for trackballs. I currently only have one little one, but someday I plan to buy two new 3" trackballs. 10" panels will also be used as blank panels and start button panels. For 1 player layouts, I will use the 7" joystick and button panels and two 10" panels on the side to get 34" A single trackball layout will use the 10" trackball panel plus 1 or 2 7" button panels (for left and right handers) plus to more 7" to fill up the rest of the 34". Dual trackball layouts will use a 10" and 7" for each player. This one creates a problem since there is no blank panel to mount the start buttons on. I may end up making a 14" panel for this to mount start buttons and both player buttons on.


The 14" panels will be used for larger controls. So far I have two steering wheels, motorcycle handlebars, and a space harrier controller. I will need to make boxes on top of the panels to get the controls at correct angles. These will probably wait for a while.



I will try to update this as I make progress.

[leapinlew]

This should be interesting.

Good luck

[Paul Olson]

I finished drilling the mounting holes in all of the panels. Here is a picture of the blank panels. I need to find some more cap screws tomorrow. I have been trying to get enough of them for a couple of weeks now, but they seem to be incredibly hard to find. Once I test fit all of the panels, I can build the trim that will box in the panels and make the finished panel look like my old one. Hopefully this will happen tomorrow, but probably not.

[SavannahLion]

Interesting use. They use Unistruts at work (or something like it), but had no idea what they were called.

Looking around at their web site, would the Closure Strip not have worked in your application? Cut, align and attach the metal closure strip to your panels and your panels clip in and out. No screws necessary.

[Paul Olson]

Those are definitely a possibility. The only problem is I haven't found a place to purchase them. All of the electrical supply houses around here are closed on the weekends, and I don't have time to go look during the week. I am actually hoping to find different solutions to attach the panels to the strut, but I am starting with what I have because I need to get this panel working. My cab has been sitting collecting dust for over a year now. I planned this one as a testing prototype and it seems like it will work pretty well as is, so I saved some time there. Like I said in the first post, I am most concerned with strength. My motorcycle handlebars are heavy, so the panels will need to be locked down very securely.

[TOK]

Cool idea... I planned to do something like this originally but went off the deep end and just kept building more cabinets, including one with a dedicated Stargate layout. 

If you're going to use threaded fasteners, perhaps you could see if there is a Zeus application that would work for you. These are the real flat fasteners you see a lot on race cars and motorcycles. They have a standard slotted screwdriver end, but latch and unlatch at half a turn. To me, the panels have to be something you can swap in under 30 seconds or they just won't get swapped often.

[Paul Olson]

TOK - Do you have a link for info on the zeus fasteners? I am not coming up with much on google.

If I can find a fastener that will allow me to speed up the swap time, that would be great. I finally found the cap screws so I can get everything lined up and start the face frame. I had to go to 4 hardware stores to find them!

Thanks,
Paul

[TOK]

It was my fault you had no luck because I spelled the name phonetically... Its actually spelled Dzus.
If you search google for dzus fasteners, you'll come up with a ton of links and styles. Sorry for the confusion.

[Paul Olson]

I was actually looking at the quarter turn fasteners before I went with the unistrut. I still like the idea, but I really like the way the panels sit on the strut. It is a very solid mount. I will try to find some way to make the quarter turn fasteners work with the strut in the future for sure. I know it will get old screwing in the panels all of the time. Although, it did occur to me that it might be better if the swap is a bit of a hassle. That way I will probably play more games instead of constantly swapping the panel. If friends are over playing, I think I might keep it limited to one setup. Then the next time everyone is over, we'll try a different one.

I made the face frame on Sunday, but I think I will redo it this weekend. I made it with MDF, and I am not sure how well it will hold up to the swapping of panels over time. If a panel wears out, I can just mount the parts on another one and keep going, but if the face frame wears out, it will be a pain to replace. I will grab some poplar and do it right. I will try to also get some hardware on some of the panels this weekend. I have to write a paper for school, but hopefully I will have enough time to get at least a few done.

[Paul Olson]

OK, I decided to stay with the MDF face frame. The hole in the frame is big enough to leave a little gap to account for small variations in the panels. I left the gap on purpose, but I am going to test it out to see if the gap is needed, and also to see if it bothers me. I will be using vinyl to cover the panels and everything else will be painted black, so I may not notice the gap much. I still need to clean up the frame a bit and then I will route the outside edges this weekend. Hopefully it will be ready for paint Saturday, then I can turn my attention to the panels.

[Paul Olson]

The first coat of paint on the box is drying. It will take at least one more since the paint doesn't want to stick to the primer in spots. I am working on the panels today. Here is the panel for my Donkey Kong jump button. I wrapped it in vinyl from parts express. I am going to paint the sides and mounting holes black, but I was impatient and wanted to see how the vinyl looks. If anyone knows of a good way to cut the vinyl out of the mounting holes please let me know. I was able to cut it out of the button hole with my forstner bit from the back, but I don't think I will be able to line it up good enough from the front.



I have a few button panels drilled, and now I am starting on the joystick panels.

I have the patch panel ready to mount in the box. I was originally using a 48 port panel (yeah, overkill!), but it didn't fit with with the strut and 2 x 2 in the way. The rope of CAT 5 on the back of that one was insane.  



I have a box of patch cables, so I will be able to wire as many panels as I can think of to build.

[telengard]

I have a very similar setup (modular panels) although I used aluminum plates.  The 1/4 turn thing interests me as I have to unscrew rack mount screws to remove panels.  Not a terribly big deal with an electric screwdriver nearby but I'm always looking to improve.  

How do these things work?  I currently screw into a rack rail and the distance between the holes is *very* important.  Is there some solution I could just drop in?

Here's a link to my control panel, the 2nd and 3rd pics show the part they mount on:

    http://home.comcast.net/~bsturk/mame/controls.html

To the OP, congrats on going modular!  You won't regret it.

EDIT: Here are the pics





Sorry for kinda trampling this project announcement, maybe I should start another thread about these cool sounding connectors?

~telengard

[Paul Olson]

telengard:
Trample away! My panel is pretty much my interpretation of a cross between your panel and Doc's. I wanted the solid mounting of yours without the cost of the rack panels. Any discussion of the quarter turn fasteners can only be a good thing. Like you said, it is not too bad using screws, but an improvement would certainly be welcome.

My panel is coming along pretty well. I will try to get another coat of paint on the box tonight. I am using the Hammered texture spray paint and it does not want to stick to the primer very well. I had the same problem on my old panel, but I forgot about it. 

I have about 20 of the panels drilled and routed, so I hope to be able to finish these up this weekend.


I have a couple of original donkey kong joysticks. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to mount these on 3/4 MDF?

[arcadefever]

Here's a link to my control panel, the 2nd and 3rd pics show the part they mount on:

    http://users.adelphia.net/~bsturk/mame/controls.html

  very impressive   

[Anubis_au]

That is seriously cool!!

I'm following a (somewhat) similar approach with my cab, in that I'm setting up the software side of things first, and my final selection of games will dictate my controls. But modular is damn cool...

[telengard]

telengard:
Trample away! My panel is pretty much my interpretation of a cross between your panel and Doc's. I wanted the solid mounting of yours without the cost of the rack panels. Any discussion of the quarter turn fasteners can only be a good thing. Like you said, it is not too bad using screws, but an improvement would certainly be welcome.

My panel is coming along pretty well. I will try to get another coat of paint on the box tonight. I am using the Hammered texture spray paint and it does not want to stick to the primer very well. I had the same problem on my old panel, but I forgot about it. 

I have about 20 of the panels drilled and routed, so I hope to be able to finish these up this weekend.


I have a couple of original donkey kong joysticks. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to mount these on 3/4 MDF?

Hehe, yeah the stability is pretty important to me too.  I'm too rough/physical on arcade games.  Not in a destructive way, but in a jerk the joystick so hard I could unintentionally rip it off kinda way.   

And yeah, the blank rack panels can get expensive.  Even though I get 2 panels out of each one I have to have them cut and stuff at a machine shop since I don't have the skill to do it.  This is also the reason I didn't use wood etc.  I just don't have the tools/skills.

Your panels are lookin good!    Smart move doing the RJ45s too   
Molex are quite a pain w/ a modular setup IMO.  Also one thing I've learned lately is that using crimps that attach to the leaf switch ends aren't good for storing, they are loose and don't have good strain relief.  I went back and soldered everything and used tie wraps and tie loops on the undersides and it's much better (man I've come full circle, started w/ solder, back to crimp terminals, and back again).

Maybe the modular thing will catch on.  I do hope someone with 1/4 turn screwn experience can jump in here.

EDIT: I'll also be eyeballing how you mount your wheel, handlebars etc.  I have a bunch of stuff like that too and haven't worked on it because I have no idea how to make the angled mounting block for them. 

~telengard

[Paul Olson]

No wiring yet, and I still have a lot of panels to finish. Here is what it is going to look like.



The color of the frame is not an exact match to the panels, but it is not very noticeable in person. The picture makes it look kinda brown.

Paul

[Paul Olson]

I finished some more panels.



If DDR becomes playable, I am ready.  

I still need to wire the panels, but it won't happen today. I still have a paper to write for school and it is due tomorrow, so no more procrastinating.

[telengard]

I finished some more panels.



If DDR becomes playable, I am ready. 

I still need to wire the panels, but it won't happen today. I still have a paper to write for school and it is due tomorrow, so no more procrastinating.

Man you are fast.  Lot of nice joysticks too.  I've given up on the 1/4 turn stuff for now.  Did a LOT of looking and couldn't find anything that would work w/ an existing #10-32 setup.  However, I did find shorter rack screws.  That should cut down a little bit more on time (1/2" to 3/8").

~telengard

[Paul Olson]

I just got done looking at your site (again). I am glad to see I am not the only fan of Karate Champ! Four of the joysticks are Supers set to 4-way just for that game.

I should have a new controller sometime this week, so keep checking back. I'm pretty excited about this one.

[blueznl]

DDR and its clones? Yeah baby!

(Got anything working? DDR is on my list of 'features to add'...)

[Paul Olson]

Well, I moved and started the fall semester at school, so it has been a while since I updated. Since my last post, I finished the wiring up to the patch panel. I am using a jpac, an optipac, and an AKI so far. I have been acquiring more controls, and I will need to add a 49 way encoder and a rotary encoder. I also removed the PC from the case and mounted it on a piece of plywood. It hangs from a screw in the side of the cab, nice and easy to remove when I need to.

Here is my newest addition:  

The 4-way is on the left because girlfriends will not play Ms Pacman with a Tron stick

I have a lot of controls to mount on panels and wire up, but I don't have much time with work and school, so it will probably be pretty slow.

I decided to make my own Tapper joystick, now I just need to buy a 2-way to mount it on.  

[NickG]

It looks great! 

You could eliminate screwing around time entirely by connecting the top and one side panel together and hinging them so that they raise upward, then sliding the panels along the rails from the side.  You could then effectively cover the screws with the top as well.

[Paul Olson]

NickG - I am not sure if I understand your suggestion exactly. The top is just a frame around the panels, and the only thing locking the panels down is the screws. If I made the top to cover the screws, then I would not have a flat surface when everything is installed. I don't think anything hinged would be strong enough (for me at least), I really like how solid this design is. Screwing the panels down is getting easier and faster. I am wearing the screw holes down a little and it is making it easier to find the hole in the rail. Before, everything had to be exactly lined up in order to get the screw threaded, and that was a pain. Now I have about 1/32 of play to get it started. I may try to loosen the holes up a little more, exact tolerances do not seem to be needed there.

[Paul Olson]

Well, I didn't do much on this project during school, but I am trying to be productive during the break. I had to redo the wiring on the panels. Crimp connectors just do not hold well enough, so I am soldering all of the connections. I was worried about the wires getting snagged, so I decided to cover everything with tupperware. It looks a little strange, but it works and it was a fairly cheap solution. It also makes the panels a little easier to stack for storage.



Since I have a pair of rotary sticks, I added a GPWiz rotary encoder to the cabinet. I haven't made the rotary panels yet, but I am happy with the GPWiz for sticks and buttons. It seems more responsive than a keyboard encoder. I hope to be able to test out the rotary function this weekend.

I have 2 weeks left before school starts, and I am going to try to get as many of these panels done as possible. I'll post updates as I get them done.

Just a note on joysticks: I put together a wico 4-way, and I now finally understand what everyone is talking about. I played Ms Pacman with it, and it was incredible! My reunion stick does not even come close to this one. I am very impressed. I will get a couple of 8-way wicos built this weekend, and I am really looking forward to testing them out.

[weisshaupt]

SO is thatr tupperware you have on the bottom of those? Is it permanently attached? if so, how?

I was thingking of doing something similar with my panels to protect them, but wasn't sure it was worth the effort-- any cons/pros to report?

[Paul Olson]

So far it is working out great. I am attaching them with staples at the moment, and they are pretty secure. If I need to take it off, a pair of pliers is all it takes. It was a hard decision to use something like tupperware on my cabinet, but I could not find anything else that was at all cost effective. I'm starting to get used to it now, and it is nice not having to worry about the wiring.

[Paul Olson]

These were easy panels to make, but it took for ever to actually get started. They do not actually do me too much good yet since I have not hooked up the pedals, but it is nice to have them finished. Playing with a button instead of a pedal just does not quite do it for me.

If you want to add a 360 wheel to your panel, I highly recommend looking for a Badlands wheel like these two. All I had to do was bolt the housing to the panel and wire it up. I actually bought these to replace the wheels I was going to use, it was worth the cost since it saved so much time refurbing and mounting the other wheels.

I found a tip that may help some of you. If you have rust spots on chrome, you can clean them up easily with tin foil. get the chrome wet ( I used 409, but I read that others use coke or water) and do a little light scrubbing. I spent about 10 minutes per wheel. Here is what they looked like before I cleaned them up and repainted the center piece:


Now to design a mount for my Pole Position wheel...

[Paul Olson]

I hear a lot of people on hear talking about adding a holy grail to their collection. I guess a Donkey Kong stick added to my modular CP would be mine. It is one of the main reasons I decided to go modular in the first place. It took me a long time to get this stick, but it was worth the hassle. There really is no substitute for this stick; my wico 4-way is good, but this is great. It took me a couple of games to get the feel of it; I had to remember that I used to hold this stick between my first two fingers (now I know why my middle finger is indented on the side between thew first and second knuckle - wow I really did play this game alot! ), but the third game I made it past the 3rd elevators. I am still not as smooth as I was, but with some practice, I think I will improve. I want to beat my previous best of 250,000.

Modular panels are a lot of work, but this makes it worth it.

[leapinlew]

I decided to make my own Tapper joystick, now I just need to buy a 2-way to mount it on. 

You'll want a 4 way for tapper...

[Paul Olson]

Yeah, I have that part. I was talking about the base to mount the tap on. 

[wbassett]

Very nice Paul.  I love the modular designs people make.  To me the all in one cps look cool, but they can become huge and even confusing for people to know what controls to use for what game...  modular is ideal in my opinion.

I have a console up and running and currently have a TankStick, but that was a known temp setup.  I may be new to building an arcade, but I am not new to DIY projects.  One thing I know is certain things come together quickly, others take a lot of time, thought and engineering.    So the TankStick makes sense to me... I am up and running while I design my final and ultimate cp.

Can you show some detailed shots of how your panels anchor down?  Also can you provide some information on your panel interface setup.  It looks like you went the cat 5 route, but it would be nice to see your layout and any comments of problems, or tips too.

I'm still in the designing stage of my final cp, but I do know I will have some permanant buttons and then swappable panels.  I may do a few generic panels that I can move around and make custom layouts, but I also may just do full panels for some of the games we play all the time.

Are you using one ipac, or some other method?  I am kind of intrigged with the UltraStik 360 for a couple of panels.  It's usb and you can connect up to eight buttons to it.  Like I said, I am still in the designing my cp but I love seeing how other people tackle modular layouts.

Great job!

I

[Paul Olson]

thanks wbassett

Use the hell out of your tankstick while you have it. Test as many games as possible to find out how much you hate how the stick feels in each games. I have a bunch of happs sticks, and I will probably end up selling a lot of them because I am buying new sticks constantly to get the right feel for each game. When you find the right joystick for a game, it just feels right; there really is no substitute. That is what makes modular so nice.

Stcks like the u360s sound like a great all in one compromise, but I do not think they could replace the original controls. The physical restrictors really change the feel of the sticks in adition to limiting how they register inputs. This summer break, I hope to find and/or create a list of original joysticks for the games in MAME so I can play all of the (decent) games as they were intended. There are many games that I never played, so I don't know how they were supposed to feel.

When you start your modular/ swappable panel, try to do what most of us don't do. Try to mount the controls on panels as soon as you get them. It is no fun having a closet full of cool parts that you cannot use, and once it gets like that you never seem to get caught up. I finished 3 panels recently, and I have bought the parts for 4 more - it never ends! 

I will try to post a pic this weekend on the mounting. I tried a lot of different ideas, but none of the others worked with MDF. They all required routing part of the MDF so the lockdown pieces would sit flush and MDF is really weak in that situation. In the final design, the panels are just bolted down to the box. All the parts (capscrews, washers, unistrut, and channel nuts) are available at lowes or home depot and are fairly inexpensive. I keep thinking that I want a more elegant solution, but I don't need it; this works really well.

I will try to get you a pic of the patch panel too. If I redo it, I will add even more ports. I currently have 24, but most of them are used, and I would like to have them all mirrored. I rarely need to remove the start button panel, and it can be a pain to get the cable under it to the port on the opposite side. I use 6 ports for my AKI (analog controls), 6 for the optipac, and the other 12 go to the jpac and GPwizrx. The jpac is currently only used for start and coin buttons ( I have a short somewhere and it just was not reliable for all of the inputs, even the shift function is not working right. One of these days, I will trace the short, but for now it easier to just not use it. I will eventually add 49way encoders, and maybe another analog interface if calibrating turns out to be an issue (I don't have any of my analog controls mounted yet, so I don't know).

The main plus of modular is that you can do almost anything -- but you don't have to. Do as much or as little as you want. My modular panel was only as functional as my old panel for a long time, until I started building new panels. Just try to design for anything you may want to do in the future. I made mine big enough to accomodate a heavy gp rider controller (which I hope to actually hook up someday). Everything else should fit easy.

Have fun!!!!


Paul

[telengard]

Looking good!!  Any feedback on how you did the steering wheel mounts?  I need to make a way to mount my Pole Position and SW yoke on something.

Sorry to hear about the crimps.  I went through the same thing and ended up soldering too (went full circle).

~telengard

[Paul Olson]

telengard - Those wheels were way too easy, they already had the mount built in. All I had to do was drill 3 holes in each panel, and bolt them on. 
I already had wheels, but I bought these just for the easy mount; glad I did, it worked out great.

I only have 2 more weeks untill summer break, then I will get to work on some more panels. My Pole Position wheel and Gamecab flight yoke are at the top of the list. I'll let you know what I come up with. I am going to try to make the mounting boxes out of wood first. If it doesn't work, I will do it out of metal.

Paul

[Paul Olson]

I have been working on this quite a bit lately, but I haven't gotten very far. A nasty virus actually killed my harddrive, so I started over with a fresh install. I tried to upgrade MAME to .125, but my computer can't handle Donkey Kong on that version, so I dropped back to .120.

I decided to try Ultimarc's new U-HID. The wiring on my CP is now much easier to manage.

Old:
New:

I am still working on configuring everything. Joysticks, buttons, spinner, and my Happs trackball are working great. My 360 wheels and wico trackball are not compatible, so I will need to try different optical cards, or rewire my optipac. I still don't have any analog panels made up, so I haven't tested those yet. I think I am really going to like this encoder once I get everything working right.

I have been working on a layout for mala. Here is a screenshot of what I have so far:
I am going to use definables in mala to display the right panel for each game. I hope it works good, because that is going to be a lot of work, I think.

I was planning to buy a Happ 2 1/4" trackball for centipede, but my 3" works really well, so I think I will save a little money.

[Paul Olson]

wbassett - sorry, I forgot to post pics of how the panels are mounted.

The panels sit on top of 2 pieces of unistrut; one at the top, one at the bottom. I use socket cap screws to screw the panel down into the unistrut nuts. The nuts can slide anywhere along the length of the strut, but I try to add nuts for any panel layout and just leave them in position; it speeds up the swaps quite a bit.

Here is a pic of everything that goes into making and attaching a panel:

The unistrut and nuts are mounted in the cp as seen here:

I just use a T-Handle hex wrench to tighten the panels down.

The panels are all wired with cat 5 patch cables, and the plug into a patch panel mounted in the back of the cp. I haven't labeled any of the plugs on the panel yet, mostly because I change things a lot. Since I switched to the U-HID, I am now using 3 ports for player 1, 3 for player 2, and 1 for the start button panel. 2 coin buttons and a pause button are wired directly from the encoder to the buttons mounted in the bottom of the CP. These buttons are shifted so I also have esc, tab, and enter.



Please let me know if I need to explain anything better. I am in the (slow) process of writing a documentation site for this project, and I want to explain it well.

Paul

[huygens]

Nice design! I'm working on a modular panel myself. About the Tapper tap control, the base is the same as used on Galaga, Galaxian, Mappy, and Driving Force, just with only one switch mounted. The manual has an exploded view of the controller.

[BASS!]

I have been working on this quite a bit lately, but I haven't gotten very far. A nasty virus actually killed my harddrive, so I started over with a fresh install. I tried to upgrade MAME to .125, but my computer can't handle Donkey Kong on that version, so I dropped back to .120.

I decided to try Ultimarc's new U-HID. The wiring on my CP is now much easier to manage.

Old:
New:

I am still working on configuring everything. Joysticks, buttons, spinner, and my Happs trackball are working great. My 360 wheels and wico trackball are not compatible, so I will need to try different optical cards, or rewire my optipac. I still don't have any analog panels made up, so I haven't tested those yet. I think I am really going to like this encoder once I get everything working right.

I have been working on a layout for mala. Here is a screenshot of what I have so far:
I am going to use definables in mala to display the right panel for each game. I hope it works good, because that is going to be a lot of work, I think.

I was planning to buy a Happ 2 1/4" trackball for centipede, but my 3" works really well, so I think I will save a little money.

I have seen a lot of wiring jobs on this site, and this has to be one of the most epic examples that I have seen. Hats off to ya if it all ends up working

[Twin-X]

Clever idea using a patch panel. I still have 1 lying around.
Nice for a future project.

Looks real profesional.