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Author Topic: Bartop Mame Machine with Rotating Monitor  (Read 10036 times)

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byancey

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Bartop Mame Machine with Rotating Monitor
« on: January 01, 2015, 07:07:58 pm »
Back in October I posted a video of my rotating monitor project based on desktop LCD monitor here.  This setup was geared towards a full-sized Mame Machine, but shortly after, I decided I wanted to use an old laptop I had laying around and go with a Bartop design instead.  I took the same basic design I had for the rotating monitor mechanism and adapted it to accommodate the laptop LCD.  Once that was done, I used Sketchup (great program!!) to completely design the Bartop cabinet around the rotating monitor mechanism. 

I just wrapped up the physical construction on the project this week and wanted to post a project thread here with the results.  I had intended to keep better documentation of my project along the way, but I got so tied up in working through the build that I neglected to take a lot of pictures along the way.  However, the actual design ended up following my Sketchup design very closely, so I've included some snapshots from Sketchup.  I actually ended up laying out and cutting all my parts using the measurements from Sketchup.

Here are some photos of the final build results

byancey

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Re: Bartop Mame Machine with Rotating Monitor
« Reply #1 on: January 01, 2015, 07:10:24 pm »
Here are several snapshots from my Sketchup design, including details on the servo-driven rotating monitor mechanism.

The screen cover you can see in the snapshots is just two layers of plexiglass with masks painted on the back side in black spray paint.  The LCD from the laptop is embedded directly into an indentation I routed into the round piece of MDF.  I used a couple of bearings I picked up at the Home Depot to allow the round monitor support to rotate against the supporting frame.  The monitor rotation is driven by a Hitec HS-645MG servo and controlled by a Pololu Micro Maestro USB Servo Controller.  Had to write a custom controller app in C to drive the monitor rotation from within HyperSpin.

The joysticks are both Ultimark U360s.  The control panel is secured by 4 cabinet latches and can actually be completely removed for maintenance just by giving it a firm pull.
« Last Edit: January 01, 2015, 07:36:22 pm by byancey »

byancey

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Re: Bartop Mame Machine with Rotating Monitor
« Reply #2 on: January 01, 2015, 07:12:43 pm »
Here's a quick video of the rotating monitor in action.  Sorry about the shaky video.  I shot this one handed with my phone. :)

« Last Edit: January 01, 2015, 07:14:58 pm by byancey »

menace

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Re: Bartop Mame Machine with Rotating Monitor
« Reply #3 on: January 01, 2015, 07:24:04 pm »
That's a snappy turn on the monitor! what servo is that--hi-tech?  how many oz-in of torque is rated for?
its better to not post and be thought a fool, then to whip out your keyboard and remove all doubt...

byancey

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Re: Bartop Mame Machine with Rotating Monitor
« Reply #4 on: January 01, 2015, 07:41:17 pm »
That's a snappy turn on the monitor! what servo is that--hi-tech?  how many oz-in of torque is rated for?

It's actually a Hitec HS-645MG rated at 133 oz-in.  There's more than enough torque to rotate the monitor mechanism.  The real trick is getting it to consistently stop at the right orientation given the momentum of the monitor itself as it spins.  Quite a bit of fine tuning involved in configuring the speed, acceleration, and target position of the servo in each direction, which my controller app accommodates via a configuration file.  My original prototype using a desktop LCD monitor had stops...but it was hard to work physical stops into the smaller mechanism for the laptop LCD.
« Last Edit: January 01, 2015, 07:44:55 pm by byancey »

DaOld Man

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Re: Bartop Mame Machine with Rotating Monitor
« Reply #5 on: January 01, 2015, 10:49:29 pm »
Good job!
Don't see that many rotating bartops, would like to see more!
 :applaud: :applaud: :applaud:

n3wt0n

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Re: Bartop Mame Machine with Rotating Monitor
« Reply #6 on: January 05, 2015, 07:51:51 pm »
That is pretty cool and the movement is really nice. Well done.  :applaud:

BorgDog

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Re: Bartop Mame Machine with Rotating Monitor
« Reply #7 on: January 11, 2015, 05:02:19 pm »
Hey byancey, that is sweet!  :applaud:

And darn close to what I am looking to do.  I just picked up one of the $60 Winbook windows tablets and have been playing around with it, MAME seems to do just fine and I'm planning a small single player bartop for it, and with only a 7" screen I want to rotate to get the most from all the games.  Would you mind sharing a little more on your parts that went into it?  servo controller, etc?  thanks.
My Projects:
MisSpent Youth a Vigolix bartop,  Little Bastard a rotating tablet/display bartop,
Pin-Dog a mini pin-cab on vpforums.org  Star Wars a wedgehead pincab on vpinball.com

TheOne

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Re: Bartop Mame Machine with Rotating Monitor
« Reply #8 on: January 12, 2015, 11:26:45 am »
That's hot!  I would love to do that with one of the new HP 7" tablets.

byancey

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Re: Bartop Mame Machine with Rotating Monitor
« Reply #9 on: January 12, 2015, 09:01:07 pm »
Hey byancey, that is sweet!  :applaud:

And darn close to what I am looking to do.  I just picked up one of the $60 Winbook windows tablets and have been playing around with it, MAME seems to do just fine and I'm planning a small single player bartop for it, and with only a 7" screen I want to rotate to get the most from all the games.  Would you mind sharing a little more on your parts that went into it?  servo controller, etc?  thanks.

This list is not comprehensive, but it covers most of the major parts and links to where I sourced them:

2   1-3/8 in. x 1/2 in. Precision Bearing Reducer   $5.78   $11.56   http://www.homedepot.com/p/Unbranded-1-3-8-in-x-1-2-in-Precision-Bearing-Reducer-64278/203537331
1   1 in. x 1-1/2 in. x 18 in. Steel Spacer Bushing   $1.91   $1.91   http://www.homedepot.com/p/Crown-Bolt-1-in-x-1-1-2-in-x-18-in-Steel-Spacer-Bushing-61518/203537918
4   Liberty Double Roller Catch with Spear Strike   $0.98   $3.92   http://www.homedepot.com/s/lh%2520dbl%2520rolr%2520catch%2520w%2520strike%2520ab?NCNI-5
2   1/2 in. Zinc-Plated Coarse Threaded Hex Nut   $0.20   $0.40   http://www.homedepot.com/p/Crown-Bolt-1-2-in-Zinc-Plated-Coarse-Threaded-Hex-Nut-804716/204647892
1   1/2 in. - 13 tpi x 1-1/2 in. Zinc-Plated Coarse Thread Carriage Bolt   $0.52   $0.52   http://www.homedepot.com/p/Everbilt-1-2-in-13-tpi-x-1-1-2-in-Zinc-Plated-Coarse-Thread-Carriage-Bolt-800386/204633571
1   Medium Density Fiberboard 3/4 in.x 2 ft. x 4 ft.   $11.97   $11.97   http://www.homedepot.com/p/Unbranded-Medium-Density-Fiberboard-Common-3-4-in-x-2-ft-x-4-ft-Actual-0-734-in-x-23-75-in-x-47-75-in-1508112/202089064
2   Medium Density Fiberboard 1/2 in. x 2 ft. x 4 ft.   $9.97   $19.94   http://www.homedepot.com/p/Unbranded-Medium-Density-Fiberboard-Common-1-2-in-x-2-ft-x-4-ft-Actual-0-483-in-x-23-75-in-x-47-75-in-1508108/202089097?N=5yc1vZbtn1
1   30 in. x 36 in. Acrylic Sheet   $24.68   $24.68   http://www.homedepot.com/p/OPTIX-30-in-x-36-in-Acrylic-Sheet-1AU0364A/100402507
1   Hitec HS-645MG   $31.49   $31.49   https://www.servocity.com/html/hs-645mg_ultra_torque.html#.VLR4t3te-iw
1   Micro Maestro 6-Channel USB Servo Controller   $19.95   $19.95   https://www.pololu.com/product/1350/
2   Ultrastick 360   $59.00   $118.00   http://www.ultimarc.com/ultrastik_info.html
2   UltraStik Front-Mounted Restrictor Kit for ball top.   $24.00   $48.00   http://www.ultimarc.com/ultrastik_info.html
16   GoldLeaf Pushbuttons.   $1.95   $31.20   http://www.ultimarc.com/goldleaf.html
1   Red Sanwa 18mm SDM-18 Buttons   $2.50   $2.50   
4   Sanwa OBSF-24, White 24mm Pushbutton   $2.50   $10.00   

BorgDog

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Re: Bartop Mame Machine with Rotating Monitor
« Reply #10 on: January 12, 2015, 11:01:53 pm »
Thanks, that helps a lot.  just a couple more questions.   ;D  How is the servo attached to the carriage bolt? I'm assuming that's what it does. and second how is the round sandwich held together?

That's for the help.
My Projects:
MisSpent Youth a Vigolix bartop,  Little Bastard a rotating tablet/display bartop,
Pin-Dog a mini pin-cab on vpforums.org  Star Wars a wedgehead pincab on vpinball.com

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Re: Bartop Mame Machine with Rotating Monitor
« Reply #11 on: January 13, 2015, 09:03:08 am »
Pretty awesome. I was going to build a Vertical and a Horizontal Bartop, but this would be great...

byancey

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Re: Bartop Mame Machine with Rotating Monitor
« Reply #12 on: January 13, 2015, 07:23:41 pm »
Thanks, that helps a lot.  just a couple more questions.   ;D  How is the servo attached to the carriage bolt? I'm assuming that's what it does.

A servo typically comes with several different plastic servo arms or horns in the package.  I've attached a picture with some examples.  I basically took a dremel and removed all of the material from one of those arms except for the center spline connector.  This was small enough to fit snugly inside of the threaded area of one of the 1/2" nuts.  I used epoxy to secure the spline connector to the nut, leaving roughly 1/2 of the nuts thread exposed on the other side.

The length of the carriage bolt comes into play a bit here.  I used the first nut to actually secure the carriage bolt and the rotating plate to the base assembly (through the bearings).  Once that was connected, there was enough of the threaded bolt exposed that I was able to snugly fasten the modified nut to the end.  Add a little thread lock (I just used super glue) to ensure that the nut doesn't work lose as the servo turns, and you now have a spline connection fastened to the end of the carriage bolt.  Slide the servo in and secure it to the base plate, and you can rotate the circular plate using the servo.  Make sense?

Quote
and second how is the round sandwich held together?

I think it might be hard to see from the diagrams, but the round piece of 3/4" MDF has a square hole in the center that fits the square portion of the carriage bolt head.  This square hole is what allows the servo to spin the full circular plate to turn rather than just spinning the bolt in place.  In addition, there is a round counter-sink hole about half the depth of the round plate which allows the carriage bolt to rest completely beneath the LCD panel. (UPDATE:  I added a picture from my model). Slide the carriage bolt in, then the LCD panel goes on top of that, and finally, the round plexiglass sheet on top of that.  The plexiglass sheet is held in place by four small screws at the outer edged of the circle.  Those are counter-sunk as well, to keep them from sticking out above the surface of the plexiglass.  Doesn't take much to hold the plexiglass in place.

Hope that helps.
« Last Edit: January 13, 2015, 07:29:23 pm by byancey »

BorgDog

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Re: Bartop Mame Machine with Rotating Monitor
« Reply #13 on: January 13, 2015, 08:22:14 pm »
awesome thanks, that's exactly what i needed to know.  I'll start up a project thread soon.
My Projects:
MisSpent Youth a Vigolix bartop,  Little Bastard a rotating tablet/display bartop,
Pin-Dog a mini pin-cab on vpforums.org  Star Wars a wedgehead pincab on vpinball.com

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Re: Bartop Mame Machine with Rotating Monitor
« Reply #14 on: January 14, 2015, 09:56:13 am »
 :cheers:

killbill

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Re: Bartop Mame Machine with Rotating Monitor
« Reply #15 on: May 22, 2015, 09:00:09 pm »
Hey Bryce, Amazing work. Sent you a PM. Hope you get it. :)

killbill

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Re: Bartop Mame Machine with Rotating Monitor
« Reply #16 on: May 26, 2015, 01:17:13 am »
Hey Bryce,

I'm working on building a rotating monitor bar top very much like yours, but a bit larger. Hope to pick your brain on a few questions. Please forgive me, as I'm not the most savvy with the rotating monitor tech. I built my last MAME full size cab in 2008.

1. I'm looking to use a 21.3" LCD monitor like the HP LP2065 or the Samsung 214t (5x4 ratio), do you think that the servo that you used would have enough torque to turn that? If not, what would you suggest? Would you recommend stops?

2. Do you think the bearing system you used would support one of these monitors?

3.Have you posted the custom app you created to drive the rotation? If not, is there any way I could get it from you?

4. Where are your speakers mounted? What speakers are you using?

I have more questions, but don't want to overload ya.
Any help is truly appreciated. Thanks.

byancey

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Re: Bartop Mame Machine with Rotating Monitor
« Reply #17 on: May 29, 2015, 12:12:56 am »
1. I'm looking to use a 21.3" LCD monitor like the HP LP2065 or the Samsung 214t (5x4 ratio), do you think that the servo that you used would have enough torque to turn that? If not, what would you suggest? Would you recommend stops?

The servo I used was able to turn my 20" monitor quite easily, so I suspect it should handle a 21" LCD ok. Just to be clear, this was the Giant Scale HS-805BB I used with the LP2065, not the smaller HS-645MG I used with the laptop LCD in my final bar top design.  Not sure the smaller servo would have enough torque.

I would recommend stops.  If you've read all my posts, you know I started with the LP2065 on a modified monitor stand and had it rotating with stops. I then subsequently moved to using a laptop LCD with a smaller servo for an overall smaller bar top cabinet.  In order to keep the profile small, I did not use stops with the laptop LCD.  In retrospect I wish I had. As it is, I can get my rotation parameters setup so that the monitor lands perfectly in the landscape and portrait orientations, and it will continue to work fine for days, or even weeks, and then suddenly it will start to over or under shoot slightly.  It's always fairly close, but off enough to notice.  I think small variances in the characteristics of the materials due to ambient temperature and humidity fluxuations, normal wear, etc. just throw it off over time...and since there's no hard stop, it ends up being a bit off.  I can always tweak the rotation parameters to get it back on track, but I finally just added a small finger hole in the side of the cabinet so that I can just reach in and manually make minor adjustments to get it square.  I think using stops and magnets like I used in my first setup would be enough to overcome the minor variations and keep things square after an orientation shift.

 
Quote
2. Do you think the bearing system you used would support one of these monitors?

Again, the monitor you're proposing is only slightly larger than the one I used, so you're probably fine as long as it isn't significantly heavier for some reason.

Quote
3.Have you posted the custom app you created to drive the rotation? If not, is there any way I could get it from you?

PM me when you get to the point where you think you're ready to start driving the servo and I can provide the app.  You will, of course, need to use the same servo driver that I used.  See my itemized post above for details.

Quote
4. Where are your speakers mounted? What speakers are you using?

I had planned room for a small set of speakers behind the marquee, however, the laptops built-in speakers actually turned out to be quite sufficient in most cases...and when I want a bit more punch on the audio, I just use an external Bluetooth speaker. 

Hope this helps.


killbill

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Re: Bartop Mame Machine with Rotating Monitor
« Reply #18 on: June 01, 2015, 12:12:02 am »
Hey Bryce, Thanks so much! I'm going to start building the rotating mechanism first. I'll PM you when I'm ready for your app. Thanks so much again.