Author Topic: Retro-Futuristic Mame cabinet (Read 646988 times)

Ond · « **on:** January 26, 2009, 11:00:22 pm »

This is my design for a Retro-Futuristic arcade cabinet project named Astro. This project covered in detail my different approaches to crafting the various components of the rendered concept you see below.

In the early stages I updated this thread regularly often several times a week. Progress was good and the community here at BYOAC helped to both inspire and motivate me to do the best work I could. As you can see I came close to realising my vision.

Two things ultimately stopped this in its tracks. One was a design flaw which only became apparent after quite a few years. Though the build neared completion I was unhappy with cracking and warping in the lower part of the cabinet due to expansion and contraction of plywood over the seasons. The project slowly stalled with a few false starts here and there.

Then came the Photobucket debacle which wiped out all my images over some 40+ pages. To be honest I just wanted the whole mess to go away at that point. Foolishly I removed my own text from the thread which, without the accompanying images made little sense. Much was lost to BYOAC, but even more was lost to me because I gave up on the project.

Dispirited I left the forum and the cabinet sat gathering dust under a sheet in my workshop for many months. One day I had a light bulb moment. “What if I could fix not only the warping/cracking problem but any other things about the cabinet I didn’t like?”. I was no longer on the forum, I could do whatever I wanted with the cabinet. From the proverbial ashes…..well you know the saying. I sat down and redesigned the cab, the concept, the premise, the backstory everything.

So now the project is re-born here - http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,158083.0.html

Thanks for looking and taking an interest – OND.

Games001 · « **Reply #1 on:** January 26, 2009, 11:07:37 pm »

That's an awesome setup. Why can't I cut a stright line with a table saw and a fence?

Ond · « **Reply #2 on:** January 26, 2009, 11:12:24 pm »

leapinlew · « **Reply #3 on:** January 27, 2009, 12:09:12 am »

Looking good. I'm keeping my eye on this. Good luck. Work at a comfortable speed. This looks pretty intricate.

Bender · « **Reply #4 on:** January 27, 2009, 01:07:12 am »

Dude, that thing kicks ass!

love the design
Where did you get those bearings and brackets?

XeviouS · « **Reply #5 on:** January 27, 2009, 01:20:31 am »

Bloody hell, what a brilliant design!!!

danny_galaga · « **Reply #6 on:** January 27, 2009, 02:36:53 am »

Quote from: Xevious on January 27, 2009, 01:20:31 am

Bloody hell, what a brilliant design!!!

+1 (",)

Blanka · « **Reply #7 on:** January 27, 2009, 02:45:56 am »

What's the screen type?

Ond · « **Reply #8 on:** January 27, 2009, 02:58:14 am »

Quote from: Bender on January 27, 2009, 01:07:12 am

Dude, that thing kicks ass!
love the design
Where did you get those bearings and brackets?

Thanks! the bearings and brackets are from a bearing wholesaler - they mainly sell to the automotive market. I had to find something that was strong and wouldn't wobble, not a even a little bit, it has to support the 21" NEC LCD Monitor which is a heavy pro unit. The shaft will be attached by direct drive to a stepper motor controlled by PC. When a game is chosen in the front end (Mamewah) a small app will turn the monitor through 90 degrees. Well thats the theory anyhow. I have researched the stepper motor side of things a fair bit...there are motors that are torque matched to the weight and will mount onto the frame nicely....

Ond · « **Reply #9 on:** January 27, 2009, 03:00:09 am »

Blanka · « **Reply #10 on:** January 27, 2009, 03:06:19 am »

Only thing I don't know yet is the "Zeeuws Meisje" / "Nurse" part: the cap and the ears:

Martijn · « **Reply #11 on:** January 27, 2009, 03:08:41 am »

great sketchup idea!

and the first build pics look nice and clean to

good planning ! keep it up

how is the weight and stability doing now. when you get button smashing friends over i hope it wont break or fall

Ond · « **Reply #12 on:** January 27, 2009, 03:14:10 am »

Ond · « **Reply #13 on:** January 27, 2009, 03:21:10 am »

scriptfactory · « **Reply #14 on:** January 27, 2009, 03:28:03 am »

Quote from: Ond on January 27, 2009, 03:14:10 am

Quote from: Blanka on January 27, 2009, 02:45:56 am
What's the screen type?

The monitor is an 21.1" NEC Model LCD2090Uxi SpectraView 2090 , they are expensive, three times the price of my Samsung WS 22"! (my wife says " that should have been our new fridge!") it weighs 9.7Kg or 21.3 lbs. specs are here http://nec.com.au/d7e13d2711994bce83257e3563aa225e.htm

1600x1200 native res will be used for Mamewah front end and any games that support it. Mame just uses video hardware stretch as you know.

Why did I spend so much? well, big 4:3 LCDmonitors are getting reaaly hard to find now....the fridge will hafta wait

I love the Mame cab idea AND that monitor! I'm going to have to get one of my friends in the States to pick a refurbished one up for me.
http://www.techforless.com/cgi-bin/tech4less/LCD2090UXI-BK?mv_pc=pricescan&tts=20090123140542

Definitely a thread to watch.

Ond · « **Reply #15 on:** January 27, 2009, 03:42:06 am »

Blanka · « **Reply #16 on:** January 27, 2009, 05:15:32 am »

The best deal in that segment is still the Samsung 214T I believe.

Ond · « **Reply #17 on:** January 27, 2009, 05:34:42 am »

csa3d · « **Reply #18 on:** January 27, 2009, 08:33:30 am »

Quote from: Ond on January 27, 2009, 03:42:06 am

Hey wow, there are other dudes with rotating designs here!.....I'm in the right place yeah?

Indeed you are.

Off the top of my head you should look up:

- Weisshaupts "Ghost in the Machine" project
- Cornchip's project
- DaOldMan's rotating project
- Psychotech's "Yet another Take" project
- Danny Galaga's cocktail project
- Koz's project
- Edge's project (He used bearings from Grainger very similar to what you have!)

I've linked a few of these projects in my thread linked here in my sig.

Your design is very cool. I too am interested mainly in the bearings.. anything you can post about part numbers, where to order, how the motor interfaces, etc. Software wise, DaOldMan is knocking out a command line program with a plugin for MaLa to rotate via the Parallel port. You should be able to rotate with this software from Mamewah as well. It's still being beta tested currently, but it's pretty much ready to go.

Nice design skills! Thanks for sharing with the forum!

-csa

YoGaBaR · « **Reply #19 on:** January 27, 2009, 08:50:38 am »

That is AWESOME!!!

Those speakers wont interfer with the monitor being right behind it will it?

gatordad · « **Reply #20 on:** January 27, 2009, 10:40:05 am »

Love it!

Nice original idea.
one comment though,

It will get boring playing with yourself after awhile!

Add a second player to that cp.

Ond · « **Reply #21 on:** January 27, 2009, 02:45:24 pm »

Ond · « **Reply #22 on:** January 27, 2009, 02:52:20 pm »

Quote from: gatordad on January 27, 2009, 10:40:05 am

Love it!

Nice original idea.
one comment though,

It will get boring playing with yourself after awhile!

Add a second player to that cp.

The CP panel is interchangeable, there will be other configurations. I have to come up with a simple docking system for connections so that the panel basically just lifts out. Another great reason to be on the forum -so many ideas!

Ond · « **Reply #23 on:** January 27, 2009, 03:10:37 pm »

Pixelhugger · « **Reply #24 on:** January 28, 2009, 07:10:45 pm »

Wow! Really really impressive design. I love the plywood curves. I've been planning similar curves for the top and back of my project and thought I'd have to brace them quite a bit more than what I see you've done. Are the unbraced portions of the curves relatively solid?

It's great to see the envelope being pushed. I'm just amazed at what people have been doing around here lately. The production value of these projects keeps ratcheting higher.

Ond · « **Reply #25 on:** January 28, 2009, 08:38:53 pm »

drventure · « **Reply #26 on:** January 29, 2009, 12:01:42 am »

Very cool idea. and Great Progress.

I love the curves.

Franco B · « **Reply #27 on:** January 29, 2009, 04:40:38 am »

Love the deisgn and the woodwork!

Will be following this one closely

thatitalian · « **Reply #28 on:** January 30, 2009, 05:42:05 am »

I love this design! Very space saving but completely different! And it really does look "arcadey" still!

But why did you not make this bad boy 2 player? You could easily fit another joy a 6 buttons on there!

Loving the wood bending! And the thing looks sturdy as hell, more so than so of the fat boys I have seen on here!

Visitor Q · « **Reply #29 on:** January 30, 2009, 10:18:20 am »

NEAT!

Can't wait to see it finished.

patrickl · « **Reply #30 on:** January 30, 2009, 10:38:45 am »

Looks great. Amazing how the render looks quite fragile, but the build shows it should be quite sturdy.

Ond · « **Reply #31 on:** January 30, 2009, 04:58:05 pm »

bgspot · « **Reply #32 on:** February 02, 2009, 01:38:27 am »

WOW just when i think i've seen it all someone comes along with another fresh cab. I LOVE!!

Ond · « **Reply #33 on:** February 08, 2009, 03:39:56 am »

TAG · « **Reply #34 on:** February 08, 2009, 09:27:02 pm »

Quote from: Ond on February 08, 2009, 03:39:56 am

(you can never have too many clamps! )

Amen to that!!

Quote from: Ond on February 08, 2009, 03:39:56 am

Maybe it's the angle on this picture, but the hole for the joystick looks smallish to me. Is it smaller than the typical button-sized holes? How much smaller?

The cabinet looks truly amazing so far, not to mention unique!

Ond · « **Reply #35 on:** February 08, 2009, 09:40:07 pm »

TAG · « **Reply #36 on:** February 09, 2009, 02:44:01 am »

Quote from: Ond on February 08, 2009, 09:40:07 pm

The joystick hole is smaller than typical button sized holes, but the plate is rebated underneath for the joystick unit, so where it mounts is only about 5mm thick. The hole allows complete x /y movement of the stick i.e. it doesnt touch it even if you try and force it! Thanks for compliment btw.

I was just impressed by how clean the smaller hole made the joystick area look, even without a dust washer on it. With the details that neat, it's no wonder the project is looking so great!

thatitalian · « **Reply #37 on:** February 09, 2009, 08:07:34 am »

Bonkers!

drventure · « **Reply #38 on:** February 09, 2009, 08:16:02 am »

I'm impressed by all the curves. Getting those to look right ain't easy!

Very nice. Can't wait to see how things progress!

YoGaBaR · « **Reply #39 on:** February 10, 2009, 09:27:06 am »

This is coming along very well. Keep up the work, cant wait to see it done.


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