The NEW Build Your Own Arcade Controls
Main => Main Forum => Topic started by: USSEnterprise on February 14, 2007, 05:30:20 pm
-
Finally getting going working on my cab again. It sits in my living room, empty and unpainted, and my parents either want me to finish it or throw it out. Because I cannot bear the thought of tossing it, (with the $100 in MDF already invested), I'm going to finish it.
Currently, I have a 17" Acer LCD that I plan on using as the main display. I have to use an LCD, because I already cut the cab shallow to fit where we want it to go. A CRT really wasn't an option.
Because I do enjoy a variety of different games, both horizontal and vertical, I want to make the monitor rotatable. How difficult is this to do? I've seen examples using casters and making the front of the monitor a disc, essentially. Is that the only method of making a rotatable monitor?
-
Finally getting going working on my cab again. It sits in my living room, empty and unpainted, and my parents either want me to finish it or throw it out. Because I cannot bear the thought of tossing it, (with the $100 in MDF already invested), I'm going to finish it.
Currently, I have a 17" Acer LCD that I plan on using as the main display. I have to use an LCD, because I already cut the cab shallow to fit where we want it to go. A CRT really wasn't an option.
Because I do enjoy a variety of different games, both horizontal and vertical, I want to make the monitor rotatable. How difficult is this to do? I've seen examples using casters and making the front of the monitor a disc, essentially. Is that the only method of making a rotatable monitor?
You could put 1 hand on one side of the monitor, another hand on the other and pick it up and turn it.
-
You could also check out Cornchips build.... if your an engineer and own a machine shop - you can do what he did.
-
You could mount it to a lazy susan and use those little cabinet bumpers to keep it in place. It's a manual solution that would also require you to use leapinlew's original suggestion.
http://www.thehardwarehut.com/catalog-product.php?p_ref=4536 (http://www.thehardwarehut.com/catalog-product.php?p_ref=4536)
-
Edge used to have a page up where he had used some parts from Grainger.com to achieve something a bit more simple the chornchips build as well. Here's a pic.. I'll be modeling my build after this method.
-
Edge used to have a page up where he had used some parts from Grainger.com to achieve something a bit more simple the chornchips build as well. Here's a pic.. I'll be modeling my build after this method.
hey - someone remembered. :)
Yes - I have details on my rotating LCD engine that I can dig up if you are interested My website harddrive unfortunately crashed a few months ago and I haven't had time to get it back up.
csa3d - I would love to see pics from your project.
-
Edge
I have been avoiding the monitor part until I get the actual monitor, as I'm fairly certain any amount of planning is not going to be enough until I am holding all the parts.
My project page is here (http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=59170.0) and be sure to check out the animated gif (http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=59170.0;attach=59353;image) only imagine your technology underneith. I emailed you a while back and you got me a list of part numbers. Last we spoke, you were figuring out limit switches to have it stop automatically. Did you ever finish that portion?
Also, I've noticed you've been quite active in Mala plugin land. Any interest in sending a signal via parallel port or other so that the motor activates upon game launch then back upon exit. That would be the cat's meow!!!
Let me know. I'll be sure to post lots of details when I get this monitor in place. Baby steps.. ;)
-csa
-
Last we spoke, you were figuring out limit switches to have it stop automatically. Did you ever finish that portion?
Nope - on the to do - but haven't had the time. I ran into a little mouse problem in my basement, so everything is chaos done there. Need to fix that up before wifey "understands" how important it is for me to finish my autorotating, autostopping, arcade cabinet. geesh - women!
Also, I've noticed you've been quite active in Mala plugin land. Any interest in sending a signal via parallel port or other so that the motor activates upon game launch then back upon exit. That would be the cat's meow!!!
That would be a cool Mala plugin. Once I finish v2 of the LEDWizard, I will look into it. :)
-
I was considering using my 20" LCD and adding rotation capabilities and then decided on going for a much larger 26" LCD screen. No more need to consider rotation. My hats off to you guys though since I put a lot of thought into it myself and know first hand that it is quite a bit more work. Edge's version does look like a much simpler version on the surface but don't forget cornchip was rotating a monitor which required more robustness and horse power. Good luck with it.
-
(+_+) - Did you go with a 26" widescreen or 4:3 format?
-
I built a rotating monitor in my cab (21 in. crt) - controlled through the parallel port. The parallel port controls an h-bridge which controls the direction of motor rotation. (if one pin is high, rotate clockwise - if the other pin is high, rotate counter clockwise.)
There are two limit switches - each switch is set up to interrupt the signal to the h-bridge to stop rotation, as well as set another pin on the parallel port so the pc can read when the limit is reached. Another paralled port pin is attached to the monitors degauss circuit.
I wrote a quick command line prg that you pass a few arguments to - which way to rotate, degauss at end of rotation or not, and a timeout in seconds, so the montitor will stop turning if there is a limit switch malfuntion. You can use this from you desktop or call it from whatever to change the monitors orientation.
I also re-compiled mame to do this automatically based on the orientation of the game that's launched.
If any of this sounds like it might be helpful, let me know, and I'll pass on any info you may want.
Good luck!- I think the rotating monitor is awesome.
Koz
-
That's interesting. Can the monitor be rotated to all four directions, or just two directions and you use a setting to flip the video?
-
Good point - I just have it set up so there are two orientations - vertical and horizontal. If the monitors normal orientation is horizontal, it rotates 90 deg clockwise for veritcal, then 90 deg counterclockwise for horizontal again. Any other variations need to be set individually thru the emulator.
I suppose it wouldn't be too hard to set it up for 4 orientations insetad of two. You'd need a different limit switch setup, and make sure your rotation logic was set up to return to a home position so you dont get your cables all twisted in a bunch doing multiple 360s. Definitely doable if you think its worth the extra complexity.
-
What would you want it for? :dunno
-
(+_+) - Did you go with a 26" widescreen or 4:3 format?
I went with an LG 26" wide. The screen is now almost as high as my 20" would be rotated to portrait mode. It will be great now for my 2 outer players since the viewing area is huge now. I tried my favorite games such as Robotron, Mutant Storm, RIP and many others and was very satisfied with the stretched image. I can also opt to not stretch and play the game as it should be with 2 narrow bars on each side, but so far I don't see the real need to. What's also good about this screen is I'll be able to take advantage of newer widescreen games.
-
I wouldn't bother unless you really had to have vertical games in the correct orientation.
I would figure how many vertical games are on my favorite list an go from there. Motorized, lazy susans, bike tires, etc are great but is it worth it? I hear that motorized rotation systems goof the LCD up and you have to degauss it everytime.
I have heard from several people who have rotated their monitors only for them to tell me it was a waste of time. I wanted to rotate mine, but I play only a few vertical games. Big deal.
I would get a pivot bracket, that way you would not spend too much time and money if it goes pear shaped, and these brackets cost less than $30.
-
I hear that motorized rotation systems goof the LCD up and you have to degauss it everytime.
I'm pretty sure you are referring to rotating CRT monitors. LCD monitors do not degauss.
-
I wouldn't bother unless you really had to have vertical games in the correct orientation.
I would figure how many vertical games are on my favorite list an go from there. Motorized, lazy susans, bike tires, etc are great but is it worth it? I hear that motorized rotation systems goof the LCD up and you have to degauss it everytime.
I have heard from several people who have rotated their monitors only for them to tell me it was a waste of time. I wanted to rotate mine, but I play only a few vertical games. Big deal.
I would get a pivot bracket, that way you would not spend too much time and money if it goes pear shaped, and these brackets cost less than $30.
I actually like more vertical games that I do horizontal, but my issue was that my absolute favorites of all time are horizontal (Robotron, Moon Patrol and Defender). I considered a rotating monitor briefly, but decided to just have 2 cabs. Its very cool when you have company over and both are going.
-
I hear that motorized rotation systems goof the LCD up and you have to degauss it everytime.
I'm pretty sure you are referring to rotating CRT monitors. LCD monitors do not degauss.
Yes well spotted.
:cheers:
-
FWIW, I think the extra effort put into rotating the monitor was totally worth it.
Building the cab was as much fun as playing it is, so it really wasnt any extra 'work'.
I went with a 21" PC monitor in my current cab, I wanted the high resolutions for vector games. I want to build another cab this summer with an actual arcade monitor, I'll probably set that one up to rotate as well.
-
You see, there are some horizontal games I really enjoy, like Marble Madness and Missile Command, while some of my other favorites, like Donkey Kong and Centipede are vertical. I am definitely going to use some type of rotation, and I have a plan utilizing an old turntable which may work, may not. I need to tru it out, and see if that old fisher turntable can move the weight of an LCD. Its direct drive, so there is a chance that it will work.
-
I built a rotating monitor in my cab (21 in. crt) - controlled through the parallel port. The parallel port controls an h-bridge which controls the direction of motor rotation. (if one pin is high, rotate clockwise - if the other pin is high, rotate counter clockwise.)
There are two limit switches - each switch is set up to interrupt the signal to the h-bridge to stop rotation, as well as set another pin on the parallel port so the pc can read when the limit is reached. Another paralled port pin is attached to the monitors degauss circuit.
I wrote a quick command line prg that you pass a few arguments to - which way to rotate, degauss at end of rotation or not, and a timeout in seconds, so the montitor will stop turning if there is a limit switch malfuntion. You can use this from you desktop or call it from whatever to change the monitors orientation.
Koz: Do you have any pictures of the rotating setup on these forums by chance? I didn't see any linked to the Golden Ticket thread..
-
Koz: especially if you go large, I'd like to see how you set up.
-
I don't think I ever posted pics of the rotating setup... I'll check and see if I have any handy. If not, I'll take a few sometime this weekend and post them.
If I do another cab, I'll probably stick with an arcade monitor in the 19-21 inch range (do they even make 20 or 21 in arcade resolution monitors? I need to check). The main reason is I want to keep the size of the cab as reasonable as possible, and to allow the monitor to rotate, you need to allow some additional width. For my space, a cab set up to handle a 25 or so inch monitor would probably be bigger than I want. (meaning I would no longer be able to fit it thru the door :) )
Just out of curiosity, what do you consider large?
For my current cab, I etched a simple board for the motor contoller at home. If theres some interest, I could probably get a few made at a boardshop for a couple of bucks each. I dont remember the cost off the top of my head, but it couldnt have been more than 10$ for components, if that.
Koz
-
Awesome! Can't wait to see this setup. Sounds interesting.. board etching.. H-Drives... like pig latin to me ;) Hopefully a pictures says a thousand words.
-csa
-
By large I meant 25 to 27 inches.
-
Personally, I like to say it's not the size of your monitor, but more how you rotate it. My wife might have other opinions...
-
I went with a post above.
Miltie arcades.
room is now a issue .Going with main TV witch is a 32"
I would go with a cocktail cab if I was to just build 1 cab
with 3 or 4 player CPs
most LCD monitors I have played with had a base that did flip.
I saw a cab posted with a large wooden disk. With cut outs on the sides of the cab. He just grabbed the wheel and turned it,
did not look all that bad to me.
other I have seen was the Basel was cut to pull out. You then just reached in and flipped the screen, Flip the glass and insert.
-
I saw that first one. Ick. If you're gonna do it, you might as well make it high speed.
-
I just came into possession of a 21 Inch Sanyo TV from a pile of garbage curbside. Works great. Its very shallow, and I am looking into the possibility of using it in the cab with no rotation. When I was thinking of using a 17", it seemed necessary, but it doesn't anymore with the bigger screen.
-
It's all a matter of what you can settle for. After having a rotating 19 LCD, I can still enjoy playing a vertical game horizontal-ways on my 21" PC monitor....but it ain't near as cool as with it on its side! You could get two and build a two-piece, double-wide cab. I might do this...ahhh, the problem with having too many options, but not unlimited space and bank to just say, 'yeah, I want that!'
-
You could put 1 hand on one side of the monitor, another hand on the other and pick it up and turn it.
not such a silly idea. ive seen at least one upright with an lcd that does this. it doesnt even have to rotate on a swivel. he just made it so that you pull it out of its bracket and then you just turn it 90 degrees...
-
I built a rotating monitor in my cab (21 in. crt) - controlled through the parallel port. The parallel port controls an h-bridge which controls the direction of motor rotation. (if one pin is high, rotate clockwise - if the other pin is high, rotate counter clockwise.)
There are two limit switches - each switch is set up to interrupt the signal to the h-bridge to stop rotation, as well as set another pin on the parallel port so the pc can read when the limit is reached. Another paralled port pin is attached to the monitors degauss circuit.
I wrote a quick command line prg that you pass a few arguments to - which way to rotate, degauss at end of rotation or not, and a timeout in seconds, so the montitor will stop turning if there is a limit switch malfuntion. You can use this from you desktop or call it from whatever to change the monitors orientation.
Koz: Do you have any pictures of the rotating setup on these forums by chance? I didn't see any linked to the Golden Ticket thread..
yes, post all this please! have you not noticed how stumped we are on how to automatically rotate with software? especially just by selecting a game.i know ive linked this a few times but wont hurt to again:
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=32060.0
that would be a brilliant addition to my machine (",)
-
With an LCD I guess I wouldn't motorize it, but just rotate it by hand. Hmmm... where's that braincell if you need it... ah, yes. I dunno what kind of cab you're planning, but if it's a lowboy design you could simply 'lift' the bezel and rotate it :-)
-
yes, post all this please! have you not noticed how stumped we are on how to automatically rotate with software? especially just by selecting a game.
Agreed entirely! The only thing I'm hesitant about after reading the description was that a custom Mame executable was recompiled. As often as Mame is changing, this doesn't seem like an optimal solution. I'd want my front end to be in charge of this process if possible, as it's not likely Mame Devs are going to make that a permanent feature. Still interested in the process non the less.
-
You could put 1 hand on one side of the monitor, another hand on the other and pick it up and turn it.
not such a silly idea. ive seen at least one upright with an lcd that does this. it doesnt even have to rotate on a swivel. he just made it so that you pull it out of its bracket and then you just turn it 90 degrees...
Going that way, you could buy a rotating stand. I like the powered version.
-
<Thinking outloud>
Could you use some of the outputs from an LedWiz to fire a relay that rotated your monitor until it hit some limit switches.
</Thinking outloud>
I don't know much about the LedWiz or the software available for it, but I had gotten the impression that people were having it do game-specific things when they launch a game from their frontend (illuminate the buttons used by a game for instance.) If the LedWiz can do that, then there should be a way to use the orentation tag (or whatever it is) to send power out of some pins on the LedWiz that are then conected to some relays that control the monitor.
If somebody already has an LedWiz then this seems like a simple(ish) solution with out much cost for the interface.
Sounds promising to me, but what do I know?
Later,
Brian
-
It might be a question to ask Randy. The LedWiz can put out up to 500ma/output. A 5VDC relay typically might only need 60ma. Match that with a decent rating of 10amps (plenty) and you'd have something workable.
http://oeiwcsnts1.omron.com/marcom/pdfcatal.nsf/0/391BE930848E283386256FC700609BA6/$file/MJN+0906.pdf
Cornchip
-
It might be a question to ask Randy. The LedWiz can put out up to 500ma/output. A 5VDC relay typically might only need 60ma. Match that with a decent rating of 10amps (plenty) and you'd have something workable.
http://oeiwcsnts1.omron.com/marcom/pdfcatal.nsf/0/391BE930848E283386256FC700609BA6/$file/MJN+0906.pdf
Cornchip
the output is certainly no prob, besides you could use power transistors. but can you program the ledwiz to recognise horizontal/vertical games? thats the key...
-
the output is certainly no prob, besides you could use power transistors. but can you program the ledwiz to recognise horizontal/vertical games? thats the key...
I've been pondering this too. The ledwiz as I understand, is set up to turn on lights, mainly to identify button usage. I've never seen a button on an arcade light up telling the user they are playing a vertical game, so I'm too confused on how this would work. Anyone with insight, do tell. I always assumed I would need to beg someone from Mala Land to code me a plugin to fire off a signal.
-csa
-
csa3d -
I think they mean that when a user selected a horizontal or vertical game, the front end can send a signal to the LEDWiz (or similar hardware) to turn on/off the rotating motor.
As for relays.. I think whamoed (sp?) makes a little hardware relay that people have used to turn on/off their PCs/marquees/etc. Maybe that is another option to automatically control the rotating engine?
-
Edge: Yes, this makes sense. So everyone is talking about part 1 of 2 to achieve this. Someone still needs to write the interface to the hardware, and that missing link belongs in the front end. So currently, there is no "out of the box" solution to this as I understand it. I suppose upon reading the first few posts, I got to thinking maybe there was and I was missing something.
Thanks!
-csa
-
I was going to take some pictures of the monitor setup in my cab this weekend, but I forgot I loaned out my camera. I got the camera back today, I'll try to take some pics tonight.
I did find some old pics from when I was building the cab. Unfortunately, they were taken with the worlds worst digital camera. They also unfortunately dont show any of the electrical connections. They do give a fair idea of how the monitor is mounted though. If you look in pic mountcab5a.jpg, you can barely make out the motor and belt used to turn the monitor. (Motor drives a belt wrapped around the monitor 'cage' to turn it.)
The current command line util I use to control rotation can be called from a frontend before mame is launched to turn the monitor. (FWIW, the mame recompile is pretty simple, this is actually what I use now.) I do want to get away from having to modify mame to auto rotate though. I'm about halfway done re-writing the cmd line prg to query mame for a games orientation and rotate as necessary. The idea is to call this prg (instead of mame) with whatever parameters you normally pass mame. The prg queries mame, rotates as necessary, then launches mame passing the params.
I'll post the pinouts/wiring I'm using, I just need to find my wiring diagram in my garage :) . I'll also post the command line util if anyone is interested.
If you want to build your own controller, see this link http://www.bobblick.com/techref/projects/hbridge/hbridge.html (http://www.bobblick.com/techref/projects/hbridge/hbridge.html)
This is the basic circuit I'm using, I just connected it to the parallel port and added limit switches.
I want to make two more of these for myself. I took a look at what it would cost for the components and to get a few pcb's printed. Looks like it's right at 25$. Thats for a complete PCB with components, terminal blocks for the motor supply in, power output, limit switch connections, as well as a db25 connector and a 25pin cable to connect to the pc. If anyone else is interested, let me know ($25 is actual component cost, not interested in trying to profit here)
Anyway, here are some really bad pics. :)
Koz
-
Not sure if this was mentioned, but how do you handle the bezel for a rotating monitor? Would it just be a 'plus' shaped hole that partially shows the back of the cabinet? Tinted plexi? I also suppose it could also be done with two overlapping bezels.
-
Not sure if this was mentioned, but how do you handle the bezel for a rotating monitor? Would it just be a 'plus' shaped hole that partially shows the back of the cabinet? Tinted plexi? I also suppose it could also be done with two overlapping bezels.
If you look at the pics attached to the previous post, you can sort of see one way of doing this. Normal Happ bezel attached to monitor and trimmed. Plexi masked and painted (in the plus shape you mentioned) to mask everyting else. Looks decent IMHO.
Koz
-
Ahh, I totally missed that. Looks good! (I assume you painted the circular wooden piece around the monitor black as well?)
-
Ahh, I totally missed that. Looks good! (I assume you painted the circular wooden piece around the monitor black as well?)
The wooden circle is completely cover by a standard Happ bezel, which is trimmed to the shape of the circle. (So the circle is not painted) This bezel rotates with the monitor.
The painted plexi covers everything else. The Happ bezel shows through the 'plus' shaped window in the plexi.
Koz
-
Any progress on making an interface to automatically rotate the monitor?
Im thinking of making a program that is launched by a frontend, such as GLaunch, that could look up a list of games, and turn on an output (printer or serial) to rotate the screen.
For example: run galaga88.
Program looks on a list of games for Galaga88, if found in list, read in desirable screen position, turn on appropriate output to turn screen.
If game is not on list, use a default setting.
My problem right now would be how to intercept the run game command from the front end.
Perhaps there is a frontend already out there that can do this?
This is just an idea in its infancy. Appreciate any input.
-
I built a rotating monitor in my cab (21 in. crt) - controlled through the parallel port. The parallel port controls an h-bridge which controls the direction of motor rotation. (if one pin is high, rotate clockwise - if the other pin is high, rotate counter clockwise.)
There are two limit switches - each switch is set up to interrupt the signal to the h-bridge to stop rotation, as well as set another pin on the parallel port so the pc can read when the limit is reached. Another paralled port pin is attached to the monitors degauss circuit.
I wrote a quick command line prg that you pass a few arguments to - which way to rotate, degauss at end of rotation or not, and a timeout in seconds, so the montitor will stop turning if there is a limit switch malfuntion. You can use this from you desktop or call it from whatever to change the monitors orientation.
I also re-compiled mame to do this automatically based on the orientation of the game that's launched.
If any of this sounds like it might be helpful, let me know, and I'll pass on any info you may want.
Good luck!- I think the rotating monitor is awesome.
Koz
I'd be very interested in your patch to mame etc. I have a rotating monitor and one of the few things left on my TODO list is to make it automatic. I'm not sure if my computer has an LPT port though. PCs don't seem to ship with them anymore which is a shame because they are *perfect* for a lot of stuff like this. I'm porting and modifying an existing program to act as a 1541 disk drive over the parallel port. Hopefully parallel port cards will continue to be available.
What method did you use for rotating?
EDIT: Didn't realize this was a grave diggin' thread. :)
~telengard
-
Not sure if this was mentioned, but how do you handle the bezel for a rotating monitor? Would it just be a 'plus' shaped hole that partially shows the back of the cabinet? Tinted plexi? I also suppose it could also be done with two overlapping bezels.
If you look at the pics attached to the previous post, you can sort of see one way of doing this. Normal Happ bezel attached to monitor and trimmed. Plexi masked and painted (in the plus shape you mentioned) to mask everyting else. Looks decent IMHO.
Koz
I did the exact same thing pretty much, except I have a PC monitor and a foam-core bezel (soon to be D9500 and Happ bezel). The glass bezel has the "plus" slightly smaller than the size of the bezel which also is trimmed so when rotating it, it doesn't catch on the cab.
~telengard
-
Im not sure if you replying to my post or the one you quoted.
But I have not started on my rotatable monitor yet.
What method did you use? Any pictures or links?
The last motherboard I purchased a couple of years ago did have a printer port.
But all MB's now have USB, so it may be possible to use that as an I/O port to do what we want.
-
Im not sure if you replying to my post or the one you quoted.
But I have not started on my rotatable monitor yet.
What method did you use? Any pictures or links?
The last motherboard I purchased a couple of years ago did have a printer port.
But all MB's now have USB, so it may be possible to use that as an I/O port to do what we want.
Oops, sorry yeah I was responding to the ones I quoted, but I thought this was a new thread. Who knows if those folks still hang out on the boards.
I haven't seen any USB -> LPT cables yet just USB -> Serial. That's great they exist though. Might have to look into that. I did my rotating monitor pretty much exactly like Mr Salty. If I could give one word of advice on his method that I've learned over the past few years is to try and cut as best of a circle as you can. Any part that isn't uniform near where the monitor is parked will cause it to move slightly to the left/right which can be annoying if little things like that drive you crazy (like me). I used a jigsaw to cut it and wish I had taken it somewhere to be done better. I stink at woodworking. :dunno
As for my project it's here, if you have any questions about rotating I may be able to help, except for with doing it automatically w/ hardware. that's next on my list of things to do.
http://users.adelphia.net/~bsturk/mame.html
~telengard (does my site show up in my sig???)
-
Your site looks good. (The url does show up in your signature BTW)
Do you have details on how you hooked a motor to it?
Also, I was thinking of using metal instead of wood to mount the monitor to, and maybe use some type of bearings to support it, however, looks like the cabinet wheels worked good for you.
I was thinking of using USB as a serial port, not LPT. I am sure you can write to the USB to turn on an output card, however a printer port is much easier. I have done projects at work that uses the printer port for inputs and outputs. Its really not that hard. The output (one pin and a ground on the LPT port), could turn on a transistor, which would turn on a relay.
It would be neat if I could write a program that will recognize when a mame game starts, then look in a data file to see which way the screen needs to turn for that game.
Its just easier said than done.
-
Your site looks good. (The url does show up in your signature BTW)
Do you have details on how you hooked a motor to it?
Also, I was thinking of using metal instead of wood to mount the monitor to, and maybe use some type of bearings to support it, however, looks like the cabinet wheels worked good for you.
I was thinking of using USB as a serial port, not LPT. I am sure you can write to the USB to turn on an output card, however a printer port is much easier. I have done projects at work that uses the printer port for inputs and outputs. Its really not that hard. The output (one pin and a ground on the LPT port), could turn on a transistor, which would turn on a relay.
It would be neat if I could write a program that will recognize when a mame game starts, then look in a data file to see which way the screen needs to turn for that game.
Its just easier said than done.
Unfortunately I haven't hooked up a motor (yet). I manual rotate by grabbing a cabinet knob I installed on the wooden circle. I think you can see it in the screenshots on my site. Making Mame do what you described wouldn't be too difficult (then again I'm a software developer and have hacked mame/mess) but the HW aspect is what has kept me from doing it. I have minimal electronics design skills.
~telengard
-
I've been playing around in sketchup lately trying to design my cab. I'm getting a 21" Hantarex Polo arcade monitor, and I want it rotate, so I've taken a few ideas from other projects on this site and come up with this (see pics below). I've designed it to fit into a cab that's 28" wide, and the monitor is to be mounted at a 45% angle. The monitor unit can slide in from the back of the cab.
I haven't started building yet as the designs are still unfinished, but its getting there :) Sketchup is great!
jimbo
-
I like it. Hope you dont mind if I borrow some ideas from you.
What is sketchup? And where, pray tell, do I get it?
-
Somehow this thread made its way past me in February, so my apologies for being so late to the discussion.
The LED-Wiz could indeed be used to control something like this. I know AtomicFE allows for a user to tweak the LED-Wiz lighting on a per game basis, and others may as well. One would need only to designate a particular output on the LED-Wiz as "Horizontal" and another as "Vertical". Then tweak all of the control lighting definitions as necessary.
It could also be done with a small app that watches for the game title being played in MAME, searches through the game info file for whether it's a vertical or horizontal title, and then turns on the appropriate outputs.
The wiring would probably want to be such that a limit switch at the end of travel in both directions sends a signal to the software to kill the motor. The LED-Wiz+GP would be a good solution as it has both Inputs and Outputs on one board. Of course, a relay circuit with a means of reversing polarity on the DC gear motor would also be necessary.
RandyT
-
ooh, that sounds great! and im already a fan of atomic as well. the rotation on mine is set up so that when the monitor reaches its limit, the microswitch cuts out and is set up for the opposite rotation. so signal-wise my particular set up only needs two different + signals. hmmm...
-
I like it. Hope you dont mind if I borrow some ideas from you.
What is sketchup? And where, pray tell, do I get it?
http://www.sketchup.com/
Its a 3D design program that's free, and easy to use. I think its perfect for designing a cab.
-
It could also be done with a small app that watches for the game title being played in MAME, searches through the game info file for whether it's a vertical or horizontal title, and then turns on the appropriate outputs.
The wiring would probably want to be such that a limit switch at the end of travel in both directions sends a signal to the software to kill the motor. The LED-Wiz+GP would be a good solution as it has both Inputs and Outputs on one board. Of course, a relay circuit with a means of reversing polarity on the DC gear motor would also be necessary.
RandyT
The reverse rotation would be very simple. Using two relays rated for the current of the motor, one supplying current in one polarity to the motor, the other supplying current in reverse direction. A end of travel limit (one for each direction) could turn the appropriate relay off. One output is all that would be needed. Output on, turn monitor one way, output off, turn it the other way.
I just need a software app that can tell when a mame game is called to start, and identify the game. A list could be made with each game displaying if it needs the output turned on.
Default for non listed games would be output turned off.
-
Oh, sorry I forgot to say this on last post:
Thanks Jimbo for the link. I will check it out tonight, at work right now..