The NEW Build Your Own Arcade Controls
Main => Main Forum => Topic started by: Warborg on December 03, 2002, 02:30:36 am
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My completed spinner... :)
Just had to share, finally finished my homebrew spinner the other night!
I borrowed a lot from the Cheep Spinner design, with my own twist on it... That, and for the encoder wheel I just bought one from Oscar Controls, as frankly for the price it was easier to just order it, wouldn't have been much cheaper to make one... That, and Kelsey is a great guy...
Basically the spinner is a 1/4 threaded shaft, with the encoder wheel and the counterweight bolted onto it. The part that the shaft rotates in is what works well, and was cheap... It's a inline skate wheel with bearings/bushings that I got used from a local proshop for $2. Gives the spinner some nice action and spins VERY well... Tempest is SMOOOOOOOOOTH now... The counterweight is simply a metal caster wheel found at OSH...
Anyway, that's it... Just proud of how well it works, had to post!
Warborg
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You can't post a message like that without pics! We need pics! :P
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Agreed, I want to see some pics as well, that'll be awesome. I still haven't had time to sit down with my dad and finish up my spinner, which sux, but oh well.
-CthulhuLuke
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You can't post a message like that without pics! We need pics! :P
I'll be happy to put up some pics... I just moved recently so I am still trying to find everything for my digi cam, but once I find it all, I'll snap a couple of shots and send 'em up. I intended to snap a couple while I was building, but I couldn't find my cam at the time, and I was too impatient to wait... :)
You know, I just got inspired and had to roll with it... ;)
Warborg
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Well, here are a couple of pics of my spinner mounted to my panel...
(http://home.attbi.com/~w.colvett/spinner1.jpg)
(http://home.attbi.com/~w.colvett/spinner3.jpg)
The big yellow disk is the inline skate wheel that the shaft rotates in...
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Ah c'mon people... You ask for pics, I post pics... Gimme some input! :)
What do you think of my design?
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I wish i knew why we need spiner.I never played any game with spiner before but from what i can tell by the looks...nice !..I am not quite sure on this as I started playing game around 93 and have no idea why need spinner ????
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Wicked idea!...and I bet it sounds like like a tempest knob with the "wrrrrrrr" that skateboard wheels make.
Honestly, this seems MUCH simpler/cheaper than hacking apart an old hard drive. Nice job!
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Thanks all... :)
I went through a few revisions before I came up with this design, but it works VERY well... SMOOTH action...
And Snaaake, I guess I am quite a bit older then you (I'm 31), and I grew up with games like Tron and Tempest, which needed the spinner... I think Tempest is an all-time great, so that's why I needed one... :)
Plus, I loved the challenge of coming up with a design that was relatively easy and cheap to implement... I felt like I really accomplished something after I got it up and running and played my first real game of Tempest in years...
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Hey Snake,
While you could play a game like Tempest with the mouse... its not quiet as smooth and controllable as a spinner. (as you dont have to pick up the spinner at the end of each roll like do with a mouse! ) Its like your stereo knob - you can easily get the right volume by turning to the desired degree. Many games use this, especially driving games like Supersprint, Turbo, and many others. Others use it as a pointer to aim your gun/arm..ect. Heh - try mad planets... that game is sick! Cant controll it very well without both a spinner and a trigger stick!
Some games that used spinners...
Pong
Arkaniod (and many other breakout clones)
cosmic chasm
Tac Scan
Pole Postion
Tron
Disc's of Tron
Mad Planets
Turbo
Tempest
SuperSprint
Championship Sprint
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Warlords had four spinners. It is a breakout variant, but I think it needs to be mentioned seperately because of the four spinners.
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Oh, I forgot to say "Nice job Warborg!". I also went with a modified version of the Cheep Spinner design. I didn't like the screen door bearing/sandwich part.
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Very nice 8)
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HEY HEY...
I went to arcade to try this spinner games..played arkanoid for a while...very cool.What will be the easiest way to add a spiner ???..buy from oscar? ???
How do I interface it?Hack $2 mouse :P?
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HEY HEY...
I went to arcade to try this spinner games..played arkanoid for a while...very cool.What will be the easiest way to add a spiner ???..buy from oscar? ???
How do I interface it?Hack $2 mouse :P?
Buying one from Osacarcontrols probably is the easiest way... If you buy the Model 3, then it comes with the interface already...
The most fun it to build one like I did... ;)
Warborg
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Very nice Warborg!
I used the Cheep spinner design too and didn't like the sliding door bearing. I am planning on making another and have an old pair of skates around.
Does the skate wheel fix the "wobble" that the sliding door bearing has?
Thanks,
Rocky
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Nice Warborg!
Any chance you can provide us with a detailed list of parts? It'd be nice to put one of those together, but a lot of us have never stepped foot in a skate shop, and wouldn't know where to begin.
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Very nice Warborg!
I used the Cheep spinner design too and didn't like the sliding door bearing. I am planning on making another and have an old pair of skates around.
Does the skate wheel fix the "wobble" that the sliding door bearing has?
Thanks,
Rocky
Actually, mine has a slight wobble as well, but it's due to the fact the threaded shaft I used isn't completely true, but because of the bearing setup... The wheel/bearing fit absolutely perfect, and seeing as how it's like an inch wide because of the 2 bearings and the bushings and whatnot, there should be NO problem of wobble through it...
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Nice Warborg!
Any chance you can provide us with a detailed list of parts? It'd be nice to put one of those together, but a lot of us have never stepped foot in a skate shop, and wouldn't know where to begin.
Well, all I asked for was an inline skate wheel, including the bearings and the axle bushing/plastic spacer that fits through the middle of the bearings. They charged me $2 for an old used wheel and some bearings from a repair kit.
Aside from that, I used:
1/4" threaded shaft from AutoZone
Small encoder wheel from OscarControls
Metal caster wheel from OSH
Nail Plate from OSH
Volume Knob from Radio Shack
Predrilled PCB from Radio Shack
Kiningston USB mouse that I had laying around.
Various nuts/bolts/inside tooth lockwashers
I think that's about it... Pretty much a bolt-together design, aside from remote-mounting the optics from the mouse to the PCB from Radio Shack.
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I've been working on a sealed bearing spinner with a design similar to yours. It uses a sealed bearing pulley made for a bicycle rear derailleur - smooth control! The bearing is a bit smaller than 1/4", I had to use a metric m6 bolt or else sand down a 1/4" bolt to fit it through. I'm having a custom spindle made to replace the bolt, it's lathed 1/4" on one end and m6 on the other, hopefully it will turn out right. Oscar Controls was nice enough to sell me some of his spinner weights :) This spinner was made for use with an Atari Jaguar and Tempest 2000. I like the skate bearing idea, maybe I'll try that next.
(http://home1.gte.net/res07nzn/zap_1.jpg)
(http://home1.gte.net/res07nzn/zap_2.jpg)
(http://home1.gte.net/res07nzn/zap_3.jpg)