New Republic Flight Trainer

[Le Chuck]

Coming soon to an arcade near you

[harveybirdman]

[Louis Tully]

.

[alfonzotan]

Niiiice.

Do I get a free test-flight for pointing out the cheap-ass SW Trilogy Arcade?  (No, it doesn't matter if you'd already seen it...) 

[emphatic]

Whoah. 

[ark_ader]

Dooku's speeder would be easier to incorporate electronics and the projection display.

[Le Chuck]

SEGA has allowed us to take a special behind the scenes look at how the New Republic Flight Trainer will coming together.  Here at the Micro Arcadia R&D division we're busy salvaging parts and pieces from some classic SEGA builds so we can produce an all new product from retrofitted parts.  Today was tear down of a Super Hang On.  Don't worry, the boards are intact and will soon find a good home.  The bike itself had seen better days but the chassis was in good condition and is being lovingly re-purposed for this exciting prototype build. 


Here we have the initial tear down


A good head on shot of half the bike


And after a thorough cleaning.  There is still prep work to be done and some touch up painting required.  Following that we'll begin MDF and foam mockup to test for ride-ability. 

Stay tuned as we take you through the creation of SEGA's newest coming attraction.   

[AlienInferno]

Awesome!

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I997 using Tapatalk 2

[Le Chuck]

Emphatic, LT, and harveybirdman,  Thanks guys, let's hope it comes together well

Alfonzotan - totally man.  If I pull this off I'll probably have a release party for it. 

Ark - I went back and forth on this, finally decided on the 74-z because of the sleek design and more physical interaction.  If I built Dooku's swoop it would contain all the hardware, be a large immobile mass, have that really awkward front piece that splits the field of vision (no idea why it's designed like that) but would look great and be a lot of fun.  The speeder is more of a challenge and I like the platform a bit better. 

[drventure]

Ark - I went back and forth on this, finally decided on the 74-z because of the sleek design and more physical interaction.  If I built Dooku's swoop it would contain all the hardware, be a large immobile mass, have that really awkward front piece that splits the field of vision (no idea why it's designed like that) but would look great and be a lot of fun.  The speeder is more of a challenge and I like the platform a bit better.

Good call. I had to google Dooku's speeder, but, the speeder bikes from the movies that you've picked just look so much more interesting.

Can't wait to see how this build progresses!

[yaksplat]

Welcome back to full size builds.  Looks like you've got a fun one planned. 

[BadMouth]

In another thread, you mentioned teaching yourself how to work with fiberglass.
Do you have a particular method you plan to use for this? 
(i.e. mold, stretching fleece over frame, carving foam, other?)

Keep an eye out for things that already have a shape close to what you need.
It saves a ton of time to use other objects as a mold, or part of a mold...or stretch fleece from them to a base.
Some of the body panels from the Hang-on look like they might be useful. 
You can sink a lot of time in trying to get 3D shapes with multiple contours perfectly symetrical.
Thin flexible plastic or plexiglass can come in handy for areas where you only need one uniform curve.
The better your initial fiberglass lay, the less bondo/weight/problems you'll have.

[Vigo]

bookmarking thread. 

[Le Chuck]

Today the boys over in R&D stripped the decals off the SHO frame and did some light repair to a bent foot panel.  The resident welder came over to consult on what will be needed.  Mock-up to commence shortly.  That will give us the measurements we need to send off for the initial round of fabrication. 

This evening we broke apart the controllers from SW Racer to notate what changes will be needed.



The axle will be extended and the original handle will be modified for internal support between the two.  A quick release system is still being designed to allow the handles to selectively operate independently but we're confident a solution will soon present itself.  The side panels will need to be squared off and the support tabs will need to be redone in a new position.  Before we send the units out of the shop we'll need to get the Uhid in and ensure they are getting full range of motion in MAME or we may need to adjust the stops.  Doing so will likely not make the pod racer go any faster but it could  .     

- - -

DrV, Yak and Vigo 

BadMouth:  I'll be shaving foam for days.  I'm totally intending to have the garage completely covered in green dust in order to cover all the brown MDF dust I still haven't cleaned out.  I have experience in that so I'm confident I can get the shapes I'm after.  I have no experience in laying fiberglass over foam tho so there will be a learning curve.  I have a buddy who has done some minor stuff like boat repair and between the two of us I'm sure we'll make a huge mess, get high off glue, drink a few beers and eventually get something workable produced.  I'll be spending the prep time to get the foam perfect so I don't have to so as much fill and sanding on the back end hopefully. 

[yaksplat]

Have you tried using a hot wire for the foam over shaving?

Although i don't know what's worse, foam smoke or foam dust.... 

[Le Chuck]

Have you tried using a hot wire for the foam over shaving?

Although i don't know what's worse, foam smoke or foam dust.... 

For rough cuts I'll do that but all finish work is done with a hand rasp or sandpaper. 

[BadMouth]

I should probably mention that certain types of foam & fiberglass resin heat up and produce smoke when curing.
Stick a foam brush in a cup of resin and see what happens.
I've never seen it catch fire, but the fumes can't be good for you.

Toss some of your foam shavings in resin and see if there is any reaction before laying mat on it. 

[yaksplat]

For rough cuts I'll do that but all finish work is done with a hand rasp or sandpaper.

ooo raspy 

[selfie]

  Very Cool. I'll be watching with interest!

[TopJimmyCooks]

subscribe.

[mcseforsale]

Subscribing,......BIGTIME!  You're local so when you have its party, I'd like to see it.   

Waiting with pregnant anticipation.

AJ

[yaksplat]

You obviously need to get the new shirt at nowherebad.com

[Le Chuck]

New subscribers:   

Yak: Purchased.  Awesome-sauce.

X2 - I'll take it under advisement.  I do like this style of racing game, which is why I'm building one. 

No pics this time, it'll be about a fortnight before I have a good set of pics with metal shavings and wires and tape and cardboard and maybe even foam.  Bear with me.  I'll be out of town this coming week and then I want to put in a good week on the bike so there is actually something to check out. 

In the meantime, UHID came in.  Testing has commenced and I am confident that I'll be able to integrate the needed peripherals into the emulators, while ensuring that they are still compatible with the SEGA boards.  Wiring question:

I'm reusing the Super Hang-On throttle and brake.  They are wired together.  4 wires total.  Separate ground wires but the resistance wires switch between the two pots. 

<edit for correct labeling>
On Throttle Pot:
Lug 1 - Red
Lug 2 - Black 1 (wiper)
Lug 3 - Green

On Brake Pot:
Lug 1 - Green
Lug 2 - Black 2 (wiper)
Lug 3 - Red

I understand why it is wired up like this, so braking is actually controlled deceleration, but I'm not sure if I want to keep this configuration.  Any pros and cons to splitting it up?  SWRacer isn't wired like that but that doesn't matter as the throttle will be inert in that game.  Are there other racing games that benefit from this setup?  My gut says to split them into their own channels on the UHID so they assign independently in emulators.  That way I can accelerate while I brake... which doesn't seem to be overly necessary but what do I know.   

[PL1]

I'm reusing the Super Hang-On throttle and brake.  They are wired together.  4 wires total.  Separate ground wires but the resistance wires switch between the two pots. 

On Throttle Pot:
Lug 1 - Red
Lug 2 - Grd 1
Lug 3 - Green

On Brake Pot:
Lug 1 - Green
Lug 2 - Grd 2
Lug 3 - Red

I understand why it is wired up like this, so braking is actually controlled deceleration, but I'm not sure if I want to keep this configuration.  Any pros and cons to splitting it up?  SWRacer isn't wired like that but that doesn't matter as the throttle will be inert in that game.  Are there other racing games that benefit from this setup?  My gut says to split them into their own channels on the UHID so they assign independently in emulators.  That way I can accelerate while I brake... which doesn't seem to be overly necessary but what do I know.   

Unclet had a single axis Virtua racing pedal on B/S/T a while back with this diagram . . .



. . . and a link to this thread.

He might be the one to ask.   


Scott

[DaOld Man]

Sweet project!!

[Le Chuck]

PL1, good links.  Chased the rabbit to here.  Really comes down to this:

one analog input axis to two game axes is okay, two analog linput axes to one game axis is not.

Which means that if I wire in series (single axis) I can play every game but can't burn out.  If I wire in parrallel (dual axis) I am limited in game selection or just can't brake in that game.  I think the best solution is to add another brake.  I've got more than enough inputs on the UHID.  I can do the throttle side brake in series and the left brake in parrallel.  That will match the styling of the speeder and give me added functionality once I start mapping games.  The catch will be knowing which brake is active in which game.  I guess that's why they make LEDs. 

Sweet project!!

Welcome aboard!

[TheShaner]

Wow, just saw this thread for the first time.  Very ambitious.  I can't wait to see it come together!

[PL1]

Crazy spitball idea.  Couldn't you wire it BOTH ways?   

I'm picturing a 6 contact double throw relay used to switch U-HID connections for the pedals from dual axis to single axis.

Maybe use DaOld Man's Control Choose to switch to single axis for the games that use it?


Scott

[BadMouth]

I understand why it is wired up like this, so braking is actually controlled deceleration, but I'm not sure if I want to keep this configuration.  Any pros and cons to splitting it up?  SWRacer isn't wired like that but that doesn't matter as the throttle will be inert in that game.  Are there other racing games that benefit from this setup?  My gut says to split them into their own channels on the UHID so they assign independently in emulators.  That way I can accelerate while I brake... which doesn't seem to be overly necessary but what do I know.   

Model 2 Emulator requires a separate axis for gas and brake.
I'd separate them for the sake of having Manx TT and Motoraid play properly.
If you want to get crazy (like this build needs extras?!),
you could add banking for Wave Runner.

IIRC the pc versions of Crazy Taxi and Outrun 2006 require the pedals to be on one axis, but you're not building this to play them.
Newer games can be configured either way.

I haven't tried it, but H2Seq will allow you to use an Up/Down shifter for MAME and Model 2 games that required a 4 speed.
http://www.racermame.altervista.org/download.htm

[rockyrocket]

Now this looks like a "build!", no point in half measures eh?.
The thing that impresses me most is that the "family" agreed to it in the first place - well done!.

[PL1]

I'm picturing a 6 contact double throw relay used to switch U-HID connections for the pedals from dual axis to single axis.

Maybe use DaOld Man's Control Choose to switch to single axis for the games that use it?

As requested in a PM, here's what I had in mind.

This is based on the unclet threads here and here mentioned in my earlier post in this thread.

Disclaimer:  This is general electronic design/application, not personal experience.  I have not verified precisely how everything works together.  Possible snags/adjustments noted below.   

To energize/deenergize the relay, I pictured a 4/8 way joystick servo switch type assembly connected to a toggle switch instead of the restrictor plate.  There are probably better ideas on how to do that part, but I haven't researched them.   

This application will only require one 4-pole double-throw (4PDT) relay since the brake pink and the blue/yellow are connected and used the same for either configuration.  If you prefer, you can substitute two double-pole double-throw (DPDT) relays with the coils wired in parallel in place of the 4PDT relay.

I don't know for certain if the default position of the wipers (blue/yellow and blue/red) would be next to the brown or next to the pink -- I'm assuming brown.  If someone with a working single-axis setup can confirm that the ohms reading between brown and blue on the throttle is ~1 Ohm when the pedal is not pressed, that will help me confirm if the attached diagrams are correct.

For the relay diagram, I am assuming that the pink wires are Vcc and the brown wires are ground.  They could be wired the other way, depending on the default position of the wipers.

The second diagram shows how single-axis wiring works in general.  Operating voltage (Vcc) from the brake pink wire is applied to the pots as shown.  For this configuration, the blue/red wire from single axis is connected to ground.


Scott

[Le Chuck]

The R&D crew was back at it again trying to make some progress on this behemoth.  Brackets from the SHO frame have been removed to make way for soon to be custom brackets, bits and pieces have started to trickle in, and templates have been printed.  Not a ton of headway but important ground work has been laid and the crew is confident that the Flight Trainer will one day live.  Our resident welder has had to call out for a few days due to other obligations but once he's back we'll be cranking out the new brackets and the handle bar mounts.  Once complete that will allow us to start the foam plug phase but these things can't be rushed. 

Before we go to pics the design department has asked that I address an issue that is sure to come up:  The final product will not be movie accurate.  Big shocker I know but a movie prop accurate full size 74-Z just wouldn't make a great arcade ride-on.  Scale has been reduced to 3:4, certain liberties will be taken with materials and interfaces both for aesthetic reasons and also durability.  Finally, the biggest and perhaps most controversial decision, the foot rests will not be present.  This is both a safety as well as an engineering decision.  Nevertheless the crew is excited and I think I speak for all of them when I say that despite the lack of foot rests you won't be disappointed.     


This is Barb.  Barb is our local connection for all our printing needs.  Here she is seen standing in complete amazement at our 16ft long template print. 


A 1:10 scale model has also been completed to help us visualize some of the curves and connections.  This model is not bad but isn't film accurate.  We'll be splitting the difference between the model, the template prints, the film speeder, and a bit of our own design.  For reference the model is seen here on the template seat.


Le Chuck should never be allowed to use a grinder.


Here we are bracket free and ready for finish grinding once Brent finally comes back to the R&D dept.



Profile template against the bare frame for reference


Contour template on frame.  This gives a very rough idea of what we're basically shooting for.


That's it for this update.  We'll be back again once we have the brackets completed and are getting ready to start shaving foam.  Thanks for looking!


- - - - - -

PL1, thanks for the awesome explanation.  It gives me a lot to think about but don't know if I'm going to tackle that or just go with the second brake.  I may need to incorporate a servo to help with one of the game settings I'm looking to incorporate and if I'm adding one servo I may as well add more.  We'll have to see once I get further along.

Badmouth, I think I have the banking already taken care of but will have to see if the game supports what I have in mind.  Looks like fun tho, thanks for turning me on to Wave Runner. Incidentally I've been power reading your driving threads for tips.  Awesome stuff. 

Shaner & rockyrocket, thanks guys.  Welcome!

[harveybirdman]

Don't worry about the liberties. I'm confident you'll steer clear of any, "Greedo shoots first" catastrophes.   

[PL1]

Apologies for any confusion.  I didn't review this thread carefully enough before posting my earlier answer about single/dual axis wiring.  It's not wrong--just not necessarily relevant to the controls that Le Chuck is using.

   I missed where it said 4 wires.   

I'm reusing the Super Hang-On throttle and brake.  They are wired together.  4 wires total.  Separate ground wires but the resistance wires switch between the two pots. 

<edit for correct labeling>
On Throttle Pot:
Lug 1 - Red
Lug 2 - Black 1 (wiper)
Lug 3 - Green

On Brake Pot:
Lug 1 - Green
Lug 2 - Black 2 (wiper)
Lug 3 - Red

I understand why it is wired up like this, so braking is actually controlled deceleration, but I'm not sure if I want to keep this configuration.

Just confirmed on pg 42 (top center) of the SHO schematic that the acceleration and brake 5k pots are wired as dual axis.

1 red (or green) wire is operating voltage
1 green (or red) wire is ground
2 black wires are separate gas and throttle inputs to the board

Ground is ground and operating voltage is operating voltage -- whether 2 guys jump up and hit their heads (black wires) on the ceiling (red wire) or fall down and hit their heads on the floor (green wire), the ceiling and floor don't move, just them and their heads. (black wires)  They can stand, sit, jump or fall independently. (dual axis)


According to pg 39 of the manual, SW Racer Arcade uses 2 throttles and 1 brake = 3 separate inputs.

Pg 141, item 102 shows that the throttles use analog 5k pots.

Pg 146, item 101 shows that the brake uses a "PHOTO INTERRUPTER GP1A71A" which acts as a switch.  No idea how it is wired, or if it is low level active or high level active.


Since form follows function, several questions to clarify the list of what controls you will need before you accidently start rolling putty:   

1. Besides SW Racer, are you thinking about using other dedicated PCBs?

2. What physical consoles/games do you want to connect/run?

3. What emulators and specific games do you want to run?

4. Are there any controls or parts that you definitely prefer to use for mechanical or asthetic reasons?


Scott

[jmike]

  
      Le Chuck,
                    that 16 foot print out looks sweeet!!  Can't wait to see it come together.


 

[yaksplat]

Now i just want to make sure....


Your speeder isn't going to just be a glorified version of this:


 

[yotsuya]

Now i just want to make sure....


Your speeder isn't going to just be a glorified version of this:


 

 

[Sjaak]

Bookmarked

Notifications ON

This is going to be awesome!

[Le Chuck]

   I missed where it said 4 wires.   

Just confirmed on pg 42 (top center) of the SHO schematic that the acceleration and brake 5k pots are wired as dual axis.

Doesn't matter, it's no longer a SHO and I'm rewiring the throttle and brake to be single axis.  Wanna buy a SHO board?  Still leaves me with the same single axis and dual axis control implementation question previously mentioned but let's say I already have two brake handles on hand.

According to pg 39 of the manual, SW Racer Arcade uses 2 throttles and 1 brake = 3 separate inputs.

Pg 141, item 102 shows that the throttles use analog 5k pots.

Pg 146, item 101 shows that the brake uses a "PHOTO INTERRUPTER GP1A71A" which acts as a switch.  No idea how it is wired, or if it is low level active or high level active.

Correct, all of said hardware is on hand, brake is being wired to the single axis right hand brake as that throttle is not being used in SW Racer.  Those throttles are being re-fabricated to control fore and aft handle bar movement and will selectively operate in tandem sampling only the right throttle for games where Y axis movement is required but retain the ability to operate independently for games where dual throttles are required (ie SW Racer, tank style games, and perhaps Wave Runner)

1. Besides SW Racer, are you thinking about using other dedicated PCBs?

Perhaps, depends on space availability later in the build.  Read Gonk vs PLNK droid. 

2. What physical consoles/games do you want to connect/run?

None

3. What emulators and specific games do you want to run?

My aren't we nosy 

4. Are there any controls or parts that you definitely prefer to use for mechanical or asthetic reasons?

Yes. 

[Le Chuck]

Now i just want to make sure....

Your speeder isn't going to just be a glorified version of this:


 

Well, yeah actually 

I mean, it all goes back to the age old question, "which horse/chariot/car/speeder will get me the most chicks?"

Sjaak - welcome!

[yaksplat]

I'm not sure that, "Want to go for a ride on my speeder?" is the best pickup line.

If it does work, well....good luck.

[Le Chuck]

I'm not sure that, "Want to go for a ride on my speeder?" is the best pickup line.

If it does work, well....good luck.

Beats the hell out of moped 

[yaksplat]

Beats the hell out of moped 

Mopeds are like fat chicks.  They're fun to ride until your friends find out. 

[jmike]

Mopeds are like fat chicks.  They're fun to ride until your friends find out. 
[/quote]



       

[drventure]

I dunno, some of the GameCon cosplay girls would probably love to take a ride on his speeder (literally, metaphorically, and possibly euphemistically) 

[yotsuya]

Beats the hell out of moped 

Mopeds are like fat chicks.  They're fun to ride until your friends find out. 

Quote of the ---smurfing--- year!

[yaksplat]

I dunno, some of the GameCon cosplay girls would probably love to take a ride on his speeder (literally, metaphorically, and possibly euphemistically) 

True, but then again I'm sure it wouldn't exactly be the one you'd want on your 'speeder'.

the lines are blurring.....

[Le Chuck]

Cut sheet is done.  There will likely be one more before all is said and done but this should get things rolling nicely.  It'll be a few weeks to get it all back from the machinist but it should be worth the wait.

[Santoro]

Wow... subscribe indeed....

[rockyrocket]

I dunno, some of the GameCon cosplay girls would probably love to take a ride on his speeder (literally, metaphorically, and possibly euphemistically) 

True, but then again I'm sure it wouldn't exactly be the one you'd want on your 'speeder'.

the lines are blurring.....

Best not to think of it as you lowering your own standards, and more that you are raising theirs!.

[Le Chuck]

First batch of rough cuts is back from the machinist and I'm exhausted  .  The R&D staff would like to point out that I am in now way a machinist but that I did a fair job turning a large chunk of metal into several smaller chunks.  Our welder is still out with real life issues but we have high hopes that we'll get him into the shop eventually. 

I'd like to take a moment and go over my technique for cutting metal.  I lot of folks are put off by doing their own metal work because they think it takes a lot of special tools, and it kind of does, but they're cheap.  All the metal cut thus far is 1/4" aluminum.  Here are the special tools:



Duct tape, packing tape, a rag, WD-40, metal cutting blades with a TPI count of 14 or higher, 4.5a jigsaw. The duct tape is to make a no-scratch coating on the bottom of the jigsaw base plate.  Packing tape is to cover your lines or tape down your paper template to the metal.  WD-40 is to lube the blade.  Rag is to clean up the mess.



Aluminum will gum onto a hot blade quickly making the back of the blade thicker than the front.  This will case binds and blade failure long before the teeth have dulled.  You can easily cut over 1/4" aluminum or 1/8" steel with a jigsaw.  Anything thicker you start running to the need of either more power or specialty tools.  I used a cheap-o base model jigsaw and did all this except the black c/s seat plate:



With just two blades.

I still have edge cleanup to do, smoothing, rounding that kind of stuff.  Hopefully the foil bars will be finished up soon (welder's special project) and I'll be able to get the foil assy mocked up so I can make sure the interior mount placements are correct.  I was going to do the handlebars myself but I may sub those out.  I need to do some test routing on the aluminum and see how brave (stupid) I decide I am.  Seat plate is almost done and is ready for springs and brackets.  We're not breaking any land speed build records here but things are progressing nicely and a fair amount of feature creep has officially set in     

[alfonzotan]

Beats the hell out of moped 

Mopeds are like fat chicks.  They're fun to ride until your friends find out. 

Quote of the ---smurfing--- year!

Yeah, but that year was like, 1984 (especially if you lived in Florida)...

[selfie]

Another trick when cutting alloy with a jigsaw is to put tallow or lard on the blade to stop the chips from gumming up the blade.

[Le Chuck]

Foil is progressing nicely.  I took it to the stage needed to build the frame support but was having such a good time I decided I'd continue to flesh it out.  I plan on finishing the foil before moving on, that way I can break up the build into several small sculptural components so I'm not spending months and months sorting through piles of half finished parts. 

Still a lot to do

• Add one additional cross member
• Add inner and outer pole support struts
• Add support struts to upper fins (will correct minor fin adjustment issues at that time)
• Sculpt greeblies on several pieces
• New hardware
• Complete prep on poles for paint
• Surface and brush aluminum

Aluminum will be selectively detailed for final paint scheme which will be done en masse before top coating

[Nephasth]

 

Coming along nicely!

[drventure]

Nice indeed! 

I'd hate to stub my toe on that, though!

[Le Chuck]

I'd hate to stub my toe on that, though!

Don't worry, it's at crotch level 

[DaOld Man]

Great work Le Chuck!
Good tutorial on how to cut aluminum.

Wait a minute..... I see in the future someone making a regular arcade cab completely out of aluminum sheet! (No MDF).
Now I wonder who makes 1/8" wide T-Molding? 

[PL1]

Now I wonder who makes 1/8" wide T-Molding? 

How about something like GRE34076A?




Scott

[DaOld Man]

Oh yeah.

[PL1]

Wait a minute..... I see in the future someone making a regular arcade cab completely out of aluminum sheet! (No MDF).

Did this concept remind anyone else of the quote at 40 seconds in this clip?



Great name for that cab.


Scott

[DaOld Man]

Did this concept remind anyone else of the quote at 40 seconds in this clip?

Scott

LOL.. loved that show.

[rockyrocket]

Looks like weyland corp has the same idea, hurry up and beat them to production!.
PS, this is from the extra`s from the prometheus disc.

[Gaaargh]

This is an exciting project.

[Le Chuck]

It has been a while since a good update and if you're looking for pics and progress it will be a while longer.  Here in the R&D shoppe we've been stagnated by back ordered parts.  Things have started to trickle in and a few things are now being machined from scratch to meet special needs.  In addition I started the Army Maneuver Captain's Career Course this week and am already buckling under workload.  This project will continue to progress but at a slower rate.  I will be off the net more as I focus on passing this important milestone in my career.  Once I have some time to breathe and all my parts in I'll be out in the shop making it all happen.  In the mean time please consider me on lurker status and I'll try to pop up as often as I can with my colorful off-beat potpourri of wit and conventional pseudo-wisdom.  If you need me please shoot me a PM as I will still respond to all of those in a timely fashion.  I will for certain be around to enjoy facilitating the BYOAC UCAs in a few months... and hopefully have something half decent completed by that time. 

[mcseforsale]

My next door neighbor's a captain (I think)...want me to go over and steal his?  Then you can work on the flight trainer instead.   

Good luck on your test and thanks for your service.

AJ

It has been a while since a good update and if you're looking for pics and progress it will be a while longer.  Here in the R&D shoppe we've been stagnated by back ordered parts.  Things have started to trickle in and a few things are now being machined from scratch to meet special needs.  In addition I started the Army Maneuver Captain's Career Course this week and am already buckling under workload.  This project will continue to progress but at a slower rate.  I will be off the net more as I focus on passing this important milestone in my career.  Once I have some time to breathe and all my parts in I'll be out in the shop making it all happen.  In the mean time please consider me on lurker status and I'll try to pop up as often as I can with my colorful off-beat potpourri of wit and conventional pseudo-wisdom.  If you need me please shoot me a PM as I will still respond to all of those in a timely fashion.  I will for certain be around to enjoy facilitating the BYOAC UCAs in a few months... and hopefully have something half decent completed by that time.

[Woodshop Flunky]

This is an exciting project.

+1  This a VERY impressive undertaking.  Can't wait to see how this develops.

[BuschWolff]

Great idea! cannot wait to see the end product

[griffindodd]

Excellent!!! Here's my opportunity to pull ahead and beat Le Chuck to the punch with my full size Ton-ton build 

[Le Chuck]

Okay, things have reached an equilibrium so I can start devoting time in the R&D wing of the house again  . No pics (again I know) but I am doing a bit of a redesign.  I've run into playability issues with the handles moving.  Combined with how the speeder tilts it's just awkward to control so I'll be going with fixed handle bars (more film accurate anyway) and making the pivot under the seat.  In this manner the side to side will come from the feet and the fore and aft from the core.  I'll have to do some center of balance counterbalancing later but right now I need to figure out what parts I need to make the pivot controllable. 

I've a good plan for the tilt mechanism itself, I'll be having about 30^o of travel and with the uhid that shouldn't be an issue to translate into full onscreen range of motion.  I played with 60^o but it's far too severe a tilt.  I'm looking at using hobby shocks to dampen the movement, I figure that one either direction should work but can use two on each side.  Problem is that I've never used these things and don't know if it will work.  I'm looking at ones like this.

I'm pretty sure these are too small, I'm pretty sure bicycle ones are too stout.  Any way to empirically determine the resistance and how much resistance one needs so that a 100lb person and still have full range of motion and a 200lb person won't be flopping around as if the shocks aren't there?

Is there a better solution than shocks (think teeter totter that needs to balance in the middle when not in use and provide slight resistance both directions)?  Plan is to mount shocks at a roughly 45^o angle from teeter totter base to plank.  Range of motion is 15 degrees off center either way so they total travel required isn't more than a few inches depending on length of shock.  Any advice is welcome! 

[TopJimmyCooks]

gas struts from a car hood/liftgate application?  screen door closers?

[yaksplat]

Maybe if you create some type of lever that preloads the spring. In my head I'm thinking of a lever similar to what's used on rolling ladders like at Lowe's or home depot. Push one lever with your foot and it loads the spring, push another one and it unloads it, giving you a variable spring constant. F=.5*k*x^2 if I remember right....

[griffindodd]

I'm also thinking of a spring, but one who's tension is adjusted by the weight of the rider. Weight on the seat pulls back on the tension spring, the more weight the more tension which means a stiffer side to side movement for heavier riders.

I haven't had any coffee yet so I can't fully draw it out in my head but it seems feasable.

[Le Chuck]

In every project one reaches a point where a decision must be made.  A fork in the road so to speak, where one can either stay the course or spiral off into obscene feature creep and start pushing the limits.  This build started pretty far down the creeping fork already, so let's not wimp out now.  Let's see what level or ridiculous we can achieve. 

Here in RD we've had to slow down a bit due to the aforementioned redesign.  I've decided to let the design simmer a bit so I can look at it thought a slightly longer lens to help me see clearly.  In the mean time we shall not rest on our laurels.  We shall get busy!  We shall have a harebrained idea needing to see the light!

+ + a bunch of = R2Emu the stand alone companion unit to the NRFT!

Every New Republic Flight Trainer will be shipped with an Astromech R-series droid to handle display, power, sound, and many other features.

We'll be producing a 1:1 scale R2 to hold the computer, projector, and sound system but this little rust-bucket will also sport a custom CP similar to the drink stations popular in such locals as Jabba's Barge and any black tie event lucky enough to feature an R2 unit. 

That's a lot of talk, a lot of chat, it'd be nice if there was something in this thread besides big ideas...

Cue the pics!



The dome is an Ikea Brasa shade.  The powder coat was stripped with two cans of Jasco from Lowes.  The dome is mounted on lazy susan and has a central port for wiring.  The dome panels have been roughed in using some blue prints from Astromech.net and were done with a laser level and some patience.  None of the ports and panels have been cut yet either.  The body is hard-board around MDF discs.  Most builders will do a frame and then an aluminum or styrene wrap.  I'm looking for this not to be a bank breaker so I went cheap but needed something that could withstand some heat - hence the hardboard.  It was bent using hot water and ratchet straps.  The outer skin will be styrene over the hardboard for all the typical body panels.  The skirt is MDF and styrene. 



Radar eye is styrene, PVC, and a display ball from Micheal's that's been ground down to the needed size.  Unit has been rough sanded but needs some mud to clean everything up.  I need to crank up the projector and make sure that the lens isn't going to interfere with the display - if it does I'll toss the lens. 



Utility arms were cut from four pieces of .75" MDF and then worked into the proper shape.  I was counseled by a really awesome R2 builder, Joymonkey, that radar arms in 3D really help make a build so I went ahead and knocked them out.  Some other resin pieces are enroute to help flush out the build - holoprojectors mainly. 

I need to cut the access panel in the body, reinforce and mount hinges, and then dry fit the computer, sound system, and projector.  Once that's done I can start doing clean up work like making the skins, mudding, sanding, prepping, and all that glorious work that goes into a thing like this. 

Legs haven't been started yet but aren't necessary to get me through these first few stages. 

[wp34]

Wow.   

This just gets better.

Sent from my Atari 800 mobile device using Tapatalk

[griffindodd]

Damn dude, you sure like to have something to do in the hopper, this should keep you busy for 5 years or so.

[mcseforsale]

Gotta tell ya...when I open up my updated threads and this one is on the list, I check it first!  And this didn't disappoint!  I'm about to turn this thread loose on the SW nerds here at work, they're gonna love it.

Awesome work!   

AJ

[griffindodd]

I can see this thread being responsible for me getting caught up in a 1:1 R2-D2 build myself, I mean come on, who didn't want their very own actual R2-D2???

[yotsuya]

We'll be producing a 1:1 scale R2 to hold the computer, projector, and sound system but this little rust-bucket will also sport a custom CP similar to the drink stations popular in such locals as Jabba's Barge and any black tie event lucky enough to feature an R2 unit. 

My protocol droid translated this as meaning you're going to put cup holders on this thing. Can you confirm? 

[Le Chuck]

We'll be producing a 1:1 scale R2 to hold the computer, projector, and sound system but this little rust-bucket will also sport a custom CP similar to the drink stations popular in such locals as Jabba's Barge and any black tie event lucky enough to feature an R2 unit. 

My protocol droid translated this as meaning you're going to put cup holders on this thing. Can you confirm? 

Well I sure as hell can't deny! 

[griffindodd]

ZOMG YOU CAN'T PUT CUPHOLDERS ON THIS WORK OF ART SOMEONE'S GOING TO TIP THEIR DRINK ALL OVER YUOR CONTROL PANEL AND THEN IT WILL BE THE WORT THING YOU EVER DID AND I'LL SAY HA TOLD YOU SO AND YOU'LL............. oh wait is this my build thread or someone elses?

[griffindodd]

Damn you Le Chuck  I'm already researching R2 unit builds, you've ignited a fire, I'm sending you my credit card bill 

[wp34]

I can see this thread being responsible for me getting caught up in a 1:1 R2-D2 build myself, I mean come on, who didn't want their very own actual R2-D2???

My daughter has a friend who's dad built a 1:1 R2D2, Lost in Space Robot and is in the middle of building a Robby the Robot.  We were invited over to their house in October to see all his awesome projects.  I've wanted an R2D2 since I was a kid and immediately started planning a build until my family reminded me I'm in the middle of too many projects.   

Suffice it to day I'm really looking forward to living vicariously through this build.

[dfmaverick]

Very cool. 

I've always thought of building an R2 since seeing the R2 builders' displays at CIII. I did some research on it back then but never proceeded with a build. I'll keep an eye on this to see how your R2 turns out.

[rockyrocket]

Looking soo cool already Le Chuck.
Reminds of this guy a buddy of mine delivers to, who built himself a dalek that he then puts his son into for propulsion.
Now thats creative child labour.

[Le Chuck]

Legs are progressing nicely.  Have to fab up the battery boxes (rounded off boxes that go inside the feet with wire cables to the feet) and finish some greeblies before I start paint prep.  The feet will be skinned in styrene - the MDF is just for support and structure. 

[mcseforsale]

Awesome job.  That's amazing.  Just remember drugs 'r bad mmmkay?



AJ

[CraftyMech]

Those R2 legs look awesome Le Chuck! Can't wait to see this build come together.

[Le Chuck]

Thanks guys!  MC, my wife shot a pic of what I've been working on to a gf of hers and she texted me that same meme.  Oddly enough I looked at the rubbermaid 18" bullet trashcans as a possible source for the body before I bent my own. 

So I'm looking forward to the CP.  The shape is a bit odd for how one usually sees CPs but I think there will be some advantages to it.  More on that later.  What I've got stuck in my craw now is the classic button conundrum.  How many and what layout. 

Here's the deal, I don't want buttons that aren't being used to be on the CP and I don't want duplicate buttons.  It's the grail I'm after.  You pick a game and the right buttons in the right layout appear on the CP.  Eventually I think we'll get to this with haptic button morphing tech but that's a ways off from the home builder.  I'm thinking about actuating six individual buttons.  That way I can have none or all present and somehow get them into the SF layout, NeoGeo layout, MK layout, and then neat lines of two and three.  I'd probably have to actuate 8 so I can get the middle button in the MK layout and the fourth on the Neo Geo - otherwise the layouts are too complicated as I'd have to have buttons moving in three directions rather than just one.   

I can see how the underside of the panel would look but I'm having trouble visualizing a clean solution for the top.  I don't want a bunch of plugs in the CP all the time, rather a smooth surface.  Maybe I could toss some kind of weird homage to X2's roll-up control panel and have a 7 sided motorized Rolodex but that seems like a waste of so many duplicate buttons and it would probably be ginormous. 

This probably won't see the light of day but when I get a concept in my head that doesn't go away I have to at least see it through far enough to rule out feasibility or figure out how to make it work.  I'd love to hear your suggestions on how to make the ultimate idiot-proof CP.   

[yaksplat]

Wow, how big is this R2 unit going to be?

[Le Chuck]

Wow, how big is this R2 unit going to be?

He's 1:1 scale. 18" dome and 40 odd inches tall.

[Felsir]

Awesome, subscribed :-) how could I have missed this project?

[BadMouth]

Here's the deal, I don't want buttons that aren't being used to be on the CP and I don't want duplicate buttons.  It's the grail I'm after.  You pick a game and the right buttons in the right layout appear on the CP.  Eventually I think we'll get to this with haptic button morphing tech but that's a ways off from the home builder.  I'm thinking about actuating six individual buttons.  That way I can have none or all present and somehow get them into the SF layout, NeoGeo layout, MK layout, and then neat lines of two and three.  I'd probably have to actuate 8 so I can get the middle button in the MK layout and the fourth on the Neo Geo - otherwise the layouts are too complicated as I'd have to have buttons moving in three directions rather than just one.   

The feature creep has taken you. 

[mcseforsale]

These are not the buttons you are looking for...

[yotsuya]

Here's the deal, I don't want buttons that aren't being used to be on the CP and I don't want duplicate buttons.  It's the grail I'm after.  You pick a game and the right buttons in the right layout appear on the CP.  Eventually I think we'll get to this with haptic button morphing tech but that's a ways off from the home builder.  I'm thinking about actuating six individual buttons.  That way I can have none or all present and somehow get them into the SF layout, NeoGeo layout, MK layout, and then neat lines of two and three.  I'd probably have to actuate 8 so I can get the middle button in the MK layout and the fourth on the Neo Geo - otherwise the layouts are too complicated as I'd have to have buttons moving in three directions rather than just one.   

The feature creep has taken you. 

 

[yaksplat]

Wow, how big is this R2 unit going to be?

He's 1:1 scale. 18" dome and 40 odd inches tall.

The scale in that pic is throwing me, i'd have guessed those legs were pushing 50-60" on their own.

[Jigenjuke]

Le Chuck, in a word, AWESOME!!!  Would love to have a 1:1 scale R2!  Way to raise the bar!

[griffindodd]

The scale in that pic is throwing me, i'd have guessed those legs were pushing 50-60" on their own.

Although combined they probably weigh about 50-60lbs. That would actually be about right, a typical 1:1 build weighs about 200lbs on average, so you wont want this thing crashing into your furniture or rolling over your foot for sure.

Looking great man, that's some serious routing and shaping going on there.

[Slig]

Wow, just wow! 

[WaRpEd]

How did I miss this thread Keep up the great work!

[DaOld Man]

Man LeChuck, great work!

[Le Chuck]

Legs are pretty much complete.  Need to do some minor touch up work here and there to really take it to the next level but overall I'm pleased with how the build is going. 

[BadMouth]

wow.

[Le Chuck]

wow.

Thanks! 

[drventure]

Nice gams!

[yotsuya]

Holy crap, Chuck! 

[Nephasth]

Wow! Very nice! That's gotta take some patience man.

[mcseforsale]

Love the use of the braided hose.  GREAT home depot find!!   

AJ

[harveybirdman]

And this is why you are a legend and I play with particle board.
 

[dfmaverick]

Love a great pair of stems.

[griffindodd]

well ---fudgesicle--- me! 

[drventure]

Those hoses were gold on the original! 

Ack! Where's your attention to detail, LeChuck!


 

[wp34]

 

[Le Chuck]

Those hoses were gold on the original! 

Ack! Where's your attention to detail, LeChuck!


 

Copper actually I'm not done yet (although I'm sticking with the silver)

Thanks everybody.

[Gamester]

Incredible work Le Chuck!  And at the same time, curse you!  Now you've got me thinking of all kinds of weird and crazy ideas for my Star Wars pincab build.   

[emphatic]

Amazing! 

[Dalgaard]

This has to be one of the most ambitious projects I've seen! And so far you've not let anyone down...certainly not me! Awesome! Fantastic! I love it! I'll be following this with great interest. Keep up the great work!

[Malenko]

leg is missing a lamp shade on top IMO

[Dawgz Rule]

Crazy Cool project.   

[Nephasth]

leg is missing a lamp shade on top IMO

[mcseforsale]

Fra-gee-lay. That must be Italian.


AJ

[PL1]

Le Chuck should receive a "Major Award" for this.   


Scott

[Ond]

Nice work fella!

 

[AlienInferno]

Holy #($*,
I don't log in for a few months and look what I miss.  Awesome job!  Would love to do this myself but don't have anywhere close to your skill to pull it off.   

[ids]

It has been about a month now since the last update.  More pics required!

[Le Chuck]

Thanks guys, I really appreciate all the feedback!  I will get some more pics up soon.  I've been taking care of a lot of prep work and am getting ready to start on the CP.  The body will be the last thing completed so I can make sure everything gets tied together properly.  I've been struggling with the shoulders but think I have a working solution - he's a bit broad across but I needed the space to ensure that I would have room on the CP. 

In the past on this thread I've mentioned "crew" a few times.  My crew mate was Brent Nevels.  I bring this up now because Brent passed away this week due to complications related to pneumonia and a congenital heart valve defect.  He and I also coached our kids' baseball team together with another mate.  Brent was 27 years old, younger than I.  I've lost a lot of friends, mostly due to my line of work, but to lose one so young to disease always gives one pause.

I'll still be cranking away on this and I'll try to cover down on the technical aspects that Brent was helping out with, but I wanted to mention him because he was a part of this build for a while and will be missed.

Don't spend too much time in the shop guys.  There is a lot of life out there, go make sure you live it!   

[jmike]

Wise words about shop time and enjoying life Le Chuck.

My condolences about your friend. Way too young.


 
               

[ids]

I'm so sorry to hear about the loss of your friend.  You have my deepest condolences.

[mcseforsale]

Godspeed to him and peace to his family. 

AJ

[Le Chuck]

Wise words about shop time and enjoying life Le Chuck.

My condolences about your friend. Way too young.


 
               

I'm so sorry to hear about the loss of your friend.  You have my deepest condolences.

Godspeed to him and peace to his family. 

AJ

Guys, thanks so much for the kind words.  Service was good, he was born and bred in this area so the turnout was amazing.  He had a very nice send off. 

After that I took some of my own advice for a change and took my older boy ice skating for three hours until I could barely walk (stupid rental skates).  He was just getting warmed up.  Kid is 5 years old and is smoking kids three times his age out on the ice. 

I got the legs on for the test fit and am pleased.  Tomorrow I'll start on the CP.  That will be a long bit as I'm not 100% sure on the design yet so I'll have to do a few mock-ups to see how things feel.  I took some pics tho, just to keep the wolves from my door.   

[yotsuya]

Daaaaaaaaaaaaammmmmmmnnnnnnnnn.......

[CoryBee]

[Termin8tor]

 

[emphatic]

Really sorry to hear about your friend.

[ids]

Sounds like you have a budding NHLer on your hands there!

That R2....if I wasn't convinced that it's not the droid I was looking for....dayam

[darthpaul]

I'm speechless, you never cease to amaze me Le Chuck.

[Dawgz Rule]

Amazing.   

[Sjaak]

Wow, this is amazing!

[Le Chuck]

I'm flattered.  I break into a huge smirk every time I walk into the garage and see R2 standing there.  Sure he's got a toilet paper tube looking body right now but that will all get sorted out. 

I need some help.  Advice, crazy ideas, amazon links, the works.  No I'm not talking about buttons again, don't worry, I mostly have that out of my system.  I need gun help. 

Here's what I'm starting with.  Two Taito Gun Buster positional guns fully working.  One shown cracked open for reference. I have a uhid and am fairly confident that I can figure out how to get the force feedback working with some digging in the forum.  I'm thinking about trying to wire both guns pots through the serial port as it would kind of be fun to do but that's mox nix.   



My problems, I think they're huge andugly and don't go with the theme.  I'd like to put a SW universe gun on but I'm not sure if the juice is worth the squeeze.  Here's where my thoughts have been leading me.

Leave them as is:  Pros - well, that was easy.  Cons - well, I just stuck some non cannon guns on a very themed build


Han Solo's blaster:  Pros:  Easy to make as air soft mauser bodies easily available and easily modable.  Cons:  Have to add a second trigger or thumb switch somewhere to account for number of games that need a second button.  Have to lose the recoil in the gun body, no room.  Can probably keep the rumble tho, but w/out recoil what's the point.   


Rebel Blaster:  Pros:  A bit more room than the mauser, can probably fit the recoil solenoid...maybe  Cons:  Pretty sever angle on the handle, will have to fab up a new stock to go from positional gun to shell.  Probably a giant PITA to do right.  Toy versions are available but will take even more modding than the mauser.

So... what do you all suggest?  Chop the current stock and make a new one that fits the blaster? I can save myself a lot of pain by eliminating the recoil but it would be admittedly cooler with it.  That said, I'm not emotional about it either way.  I just really hate the stock shells.  Should I get over it or go with a different gun?  What gun would you go with for this build and why?  They don't even have to be the same, I could do one of each, or would that look bad? 

[Sjaak]

Stormtrooper blasters    Or maybe rebel blaster v.s. stormtrooper blaster.

[PL1]

Anyone wanting to see other views/more info on Han's blaster and the rebel blaster, they are called the DL-44 and DH-17, respectively.

Here are some other possibilities to consider.



Maybe a Model 434 "DeathHammer"?




Scott

[mcseforsale]

!NERD ALERT!!NERD ALERT!!NERD ALERT!!NERD ALERT!!NERD ALERT!!NERD ALERT!!NERD ALERT!

!WOOOWOOOWOOO!

!NERD ALERT!!NERD ALERT!!NERD ALERT!!NERD ALERT!!NERD ALERT!!NERD ALERT!!NERD ALERT!


Damn I love this stuff.  Yeah, I was thinking Death Hammer would be cool!

LeChuck, you are a renaissance man!  What will you me making the gun out of?

AJ

[Le Chuck]

Haha, you guys are awesome. Death hammer may be too small. Im leaning towards one of the droid blasters since it reasons they'd be a likely retrofit for an R2.

Do positional gun games angle the guns so that the gun at rest points at the center of the screen?  I don't angle my joysticks but it stands to reason that perhaps I should angle the guns. Thoughts?

[selfie]

I thought the scout trooper blaster would be the perfect fit. I still have a toy of one of those from the ROTJ era packed away somewhere

[PL1]

!NERD ALERT!!NERD ALERT!!NERD ALERT!

Yeah . . . I'm a "nerd" . . . who knows how to use a search engine to find where the real nerds are posting a bunch of possible design options.   

Why am I suddenly picturing a "Revenge of the Nerds" / "Star Wars" crossover comic?


Scott

[Le Chuck]

!NERD ALERT!!NERD ALERT!!NERD ALERT!

Yeah . . . I'm a "nerd" . . . who knows how to use a search engine to find where the real nerds are posting a bunch of possible design options.   

Why am I suddenly picturing a "Revenge of the Nerds" / "Star Wars" crossover comic?


Scott

I call dibs as Booger Solo!

[Jigenjuke]

Hey there Le Chuck,

I agree, go with the Scout Blaster and make it a little bigger than screen used prop size.  That way you could put the recoil and vibe in as well.  I think that would look pretty awesome scaled up.  Would guess that it would be pretty comfortable in your hand as well.

Jigenjuke

[Le Chuck]

That's not a bad idea, to upscale the scout trooper blaster, have to see how much redesign that will take.

In the mean time I've got two of these inbound now:



I went with these as practice bodies because they have a nice wide base on the grip and look to have the interior space to house the recoil - plus they look cool.  They'll need some bits removed, some other bits added, and a hefty surface treatment to make them look legit but it's a fair start.  What's nice about these is that if they don't work out they shoot silly string and I'm pretty sure my boys will go gonzo over them.   

[PL1]

!NERD ALERT!!NERD ALERT!!NERD ALERT!

Yeah . . . I'm a "nerd" . . . who knows how to use a search engine to find where the real nerds are posting a bunch of possible design options.   

Why am I suddenly picturing a "Revenge of the Nerds" / "Star Wars" crossover comic?


Scott

I call dibs as Booger Solo!

Hock or do not hock the loogie -- there is no try.




Scott

[TopJimmyCooks]

We've got bush.

[jdbailey1206]

That's not a bad idea, to upscale the scout trooper blaster, have to see how much redesign that will take.

In the mean time I've got two of these inbound now:



I went with these as practice bodies because they have a nice wide base on the grip and look to have the interior space to house the recoil - plus they look cool.  They'll need some bits removed, some other bits added, and a hefty surface treatment to make them look legit but it's a fair start.  What's nice about these is that if they don't work out they shoot silly string and I'm pretty sure my boys will go gonzo over them.   

[Le Chuck]

Once every build I try to include some kind of useful how to for the community.  I'd like to do a comprehensive guide on hooking up positional guns with rumble and force feedback.  The pot hookup is too easy but I'm totally clueless about the force feedback.  Hopefully Badmouth will drop in and hold my hand. 

As said I have two gunbuster positional guns.  Each has a recoil solenoid and a shaker motor.  I do not have the manual for gunbuster and don't have a whole lot of info about these guns and their wiring but it seems pretty self explanatory. 

I haven't found any examples of recoil and shake both being wired up in one device so I might be in new territory here. 

I saved this to my phone the other day when I came across it (badmouth again I think) but haven't been able to find the thread to credit it.



I'd like to wire two guns in tandum based on this.  Seems to be possible but there aren't enough outputs for the shaker and the recoil so I thought I'd wire the recoil to the primary trigger with an interupt keeps the solenoid from staying in the fire position if the trigger is held down.  The rumble I figure I'd wire up through the computer and use the feedback to that.  It's a definite hack but might be a good solution.

Perhaps wiring through the parrallel port would be better but I'm out of my depth for now. 

Long story short, this is a call for help.  If you know what you're doing with this stuff drop by and hold my hand!

[Nephasth]

I saved this to my phone the other day when I came across it (badmouth again I think) but haven't been able to find the thread to credit it.

I thought that diagram looked familiar. That's from an old thread: http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,100607.msg1144773.html#msg1144773

[dandro]

damn, this thread is inspiring..

[Le Chuck]

I thought that diagram looked familiar. That's from an old thread: http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,100607.msg1144773.html#msg1144773

^ Yes!  That's the one.  Thanks.  Now can you make Badmouth materialize, that'd be great.   

[Nephasth]

If you post it, he will come...

[BadMouth]

Use a U-HID for the guns.  It's pricey, but it handles everything, inputs and outputs.
MAMEHooker can control which motor is used and what type of signal it gets (with transistors or relays to step up the juice of course).

In that diagram, I have it wired to a joystick port.
It works fine in MAME, but with M2 and Troubleshooter2 the crosshairs don't move smoothly.
I think it's my interface.  RetroRepair's seem to move just fine with the APAC.
Check out the video of his new positional gun cab on his youtube channel.
Bug him for his MAMEhooker scripts. 

[griffindodd]

My deepest sympathies for the loss of your friend Le Chuck, 29 is tragically young, it sounds like you guys had plenty of fun though.

As for the thread, you really need to try harder, everyone knows R2D2 wasn't a toilet roll 

[Le Chuck]

My deepest sympathies for the loss of your friend Le Chuck, 29 is tragically young, it sounds like you guys had plenty of fun though.

Thanks man 

Use a U-HID for the guns.  It's pricey, but it handles everything, inputs and outputs.
MAMEHooker can control which motor is used and what type of signal it gets (with transistors or relays to step up the juice of course).

In that diagram, I have it wired to a joystick port.
It works fine in MAME, but with M2 and Troubleshooter2 the crosshairs don't move smoothly.
I think it's my interface.  RetroRepair's seem to move just fine with the APAC.
Check out the video of his new positional gun cab on his youtube channel.
Bug him for his MAMEhooker scripts. 

I just so happen to have a UHID.  I'm questioning the number of inputs I'm trying to pack into this build that that's why I was leaning towards the joystick input to help break things up a bit.

My working list:

Speeder
X axis analog input
Y axis analog input
Analog throttle
Second analog throttle (for SW Racer only - unless there is a second game out there that needs two throttles)
Analog brake wired to right throttle
Analog brake stand alone
Seat shaker for force feedback

R2
X axis gun one
Y axis gun one
Recoil gun one
Shaker gun one
X axis gun two
Y axis gun two
Recoil gun two
Shaker gun two
High low Spinner from GGG
Trackball (maybe)
Keyboard Encoder
Pololulu servo controller

Spinner, Encoder, and Servo Controller eat up three USB ports.  Sure I can add more but I'm tracking that windows starts having issues recognizing too many devices. 

That leaves UHID and it's 50 pins to map all this stuff to.  Do-able?  Dunno, haven't done the math yet.  Windows is limited to 8 axis but is that per device or total?  If so I'll need to share inputs, like gun one is also the speeder directionals and gun two is also the throttles.  Oh, and I'll probably add an LED controller to add some flash and dash so that's 5 if everything fits on the UHID.   

[Le Chuck]

Got home and did some digging. 

The guns have 24vDC motors and solenoids that aren't marked but based on how it is wired I'm assuming that they ran 24v as well.  An internet search revealed that other taito guns have used a 5amp fuse...which I don't have a fuse setup for this rig at the moment so looks like i'll need to cobble one together.  I found this power supply tho I'm not familiar or that comfortable with the vendor.  I still need to hunt down a solid state relay.  A schematic from the original game would be great but I'm coming up with nada. I would like to think that power  supply can feed two solenoids and two motors at once, and hopefully I'll get a compatible rumbler for the speeder to defray costs.  Sound good so far?

I also have started diagraming how I'm going to be wiring everything and I'll put that up for the smarties to stamp off on before I go trying anything.   

Oh, just to clarify I'll still need the relays with the UHID right?  Four of them right (five counting the speeder rumbler)? Those little bastages are crazy expensive it seems.   

[BadMouth]

Oh, just to clarify I'll still need the relays with the UHID right?  Four of them right (five counting the speeder rumbler)? Those little bastages are crazy expensive it seems.

Oh yeah.  The UHID is 5v USB power.  I doubt your USB ports could handle 5amp bursts.
For the solenoids, you might get away with a cheap little transistor as used in the Aimtrack recoil mods.
It's just a resistor and a transistor.  I complain about various transistors not working in a couple of the threads, but it turned out that I was using the wrong value resistor.   

The rumble motors would probably require something a bit more hefty, or at least a big heatsink. 
I'd use DC to DC solid state relays on them, but I'm no electronics expert.
(I was working my way toward becoming one when hit with longer work days)

[Le Chuck]

Found an okay deal on amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Amico-SSR-40DD-Covered-Solid-5-110V/dp/B009AQNBJW/ref=sr_1_14?ie=UTF8&qid=1363738811&sr=8-14&keywords=solid+state+relay

DC to DC 40amp max.  I'll be pushing 5amp so that should cut down on the resistance somewhat negating my need for the $6 heatsink?  Can I get a ruling on the field?  BobA or Ken, are you in the house?  $10 a pop isn't exactly a steal but I think it's reasonable to just do that for all the solenoids and shaker motors. 

So, I'm at about $80 in parts on top of what I've already got in... not bad I suppose.  Turns out the original guns will be the cheapest part of this component project   

[ids]

Got home and did some digging. 

The guns have 24vDC motors and solenoids that aren't marked but based on how it is wired I'm assuming that they ran 24v as well.  An internet search revealed that other taito guns have used a 5amp fuse...which I don't have a fuse setup for this rig at the moment so looks like i'll need to cobble one together.  I found this power supply tho I'm not familiar or that comfortable with the vendor.  I still need to hunt down a solid state relay.  A schematic from the original game would be great but I'm coming up with nada. I would like to think that power  supply can feed two solenoids and two motors at once, and hopefully I'll get a compatible rumbler for the speeder to defray costs.  Sound good so far?

I also have started diagraming how I'm going to be wiring everything and I'll put that up for the smarties to stamp off on before I go trying anything.   

Oh, just to clarify I'll still need the relays with the UHID right?  Four of them right (five counting the speeder rumbler)? Those little bastages are crazy expensive it seems.

A solid state relay is very cheap and easy to make.  I made one for use with a solenoid: qbert knocker.  I probably have enough spare parts to make you one as well - not sure what it would cost to mail it out tho.

[Le Chuck]

IDS - do you have enough for five?  Would you charge less than $50 shipped?    Building my own relays isn't something I had considered but I will now 

For the seat rumbler I looked at the high end base rumblers on amazon (OND originally turned me on to them) but I have a secret weapon.  It's a Sonic Boom alarm clock.  Because my wife is hearing impaired we have an alarm that connects to a huge 12v shaker motor.  It goes between the mattress and bed spring.  It shakes the whole bed violently.  This is not the romantic Hotel du Luv vibrating bed, this is the end of the world OMG turn it off I'm up I'm up I'm up experience.  We have extras.  You can check it out here:  http://www.amazon.com/Sonic-Bomb-SS12VW-Shaker-Vibrator/dp/B0055UDZBG/ref=pd_sim_sbs_hpc_5

I figure I'll splice 12v off the computer supply, build the shaker underneath the speeder seat, hook it up to a SSR and jack the whole thing into the UHID easy-peasy.  In short bursts it should provide some nice jostling.  The trick will be insulating it enough so it doesn't rattle around and throw me violently from the speeder. 

[ids]

I'll go see what i got.  Like I said, spare parts, not looking for money, other than recovering postage costs.  I don't do much shipping, so I've no idea how much that would be, but it can't be much - these are small and light.  I assume you're in the US, so maybe it'll cost a few bucks to cross the 49'th.  This circuit, as per the post linked earlier, is triggered from a 5v source.  If your trigger is otherwise, I'm not really sure how to adjust - I had MonMotha work me through the original circuit.  I'm sure we could solve this easily, if it's an issue.

Having a quick browse of that old thread, I see MonMotha mention that the circuit is good to 7 amps, so I think you'd be covered when it comes to current draw.

otoh, if you're so inclined, you could see what it would cost to get the parts (digikey, mouser, etc) and build it yourself.  I just took a quick look at digikey.  The main bits, optoisolator and darlington, are about $1.30 combined.  Even cheaper if you get 10 of each - which might be too much.  Resistors are so cheap as to be slightly above free.  Add a board to solder it all onto, and you're still VERY much less than $10 a pop.  Regardless, my offer stands - I'm not saying all this to back out.  I'll be back with a report on how many I could build with the parts I have lying about...

[yotsuya]

The trick will be insulating it enough so it doesn't rattle around and throw me violently from the speeder.

I'll give you $10 if you film this happening.

[Le Chuck]

I'll go see what i got.  Like I said, spare parts, not looking for money, other than recovering postage costs.  I don't do much shipping, so I've no idea how much that would be, but it can't be much - these are small and light.  I assume you're in the US, so maybe it'll cost a few bucks to cross the 49'th.  This circuit, as per the post linked earlier, is triggered from a 5v source.  If your trigger is otherwise, I'm not really sure how to adjust - I had MonMotha work me through the original circuit.  I'm sure we could solve this easily, if it's an issue.

Having a quick browse of that old thread, I see MonMotha mention that the circuit is good to 7 amps, so I think you'd be covered when it comes to current draw.

otoh, if you're so inclined, you could see what it would cost to get the parts (digikey, mouser, etc) and build it yourself.  I just took a quick look at digikey.  The main bits, optoisolator and darlington, are about $1.30 combined.  Even cheaper if you get 10 of each - which might be too much.  Resistors are so cheap as to be slightly above free.  Add a board to solder it all onto, and you're still VERY much less than $10 a pop.  Regardless, my offer stands - I'm not saying all this to back out.  I'll be back with a report on how many I could build with the parts I have lying about...

Take a gander at what you've got.  The q-bert relay looks like it will serve my purposes and building your own (or having them built by another member) is awesome.  Have you had any heat issues with yours at all?  I'm in AL, USA for an idea about shipping, which isn't an issue for me.  I'm also happy to compensate if you're willing to put them together if you want to get at me offline.  Either that or a detailed parts list and some idiot proof destructions.  Sure I build some swell stuff but 90% I have no idea what I'm doing before I get into it.  That's what keeps me coming back I suppose.  If I knew what an assache this all was each time I'd probably stay home 

The trick will be insulating it enough so it doesn't rattle around and throw me violently from the speeder.

I'll give you $10 if you film this happening.

Don't know whether I should take the money or... ah come'on, who're we kidding.  Of course I'm gonna take the money!

[griffindodd]

I know nothing about relays but couldn't you use contactors like people use in v pins? Aren't they high voltage control switches? I got 8 24v ones on eBay for $35 shipped

[ids]

I dont know anything about contactors (beyond the wiki article i just read).  Sounds like they are just relays with specific properties.  Can their coils be driven from a UHID/LEDWiz?  (I asume they can, based on usage in vpins)

I've had no heat issues with the qbert knocker - it's a very brief on time (fraction of a second), and triggers infrequently.  Doesnt get warm at all.  IIRC from earlier threads, heat is only an issue where on-time is longer, and power draw higher - and then you just apply a heat sink and all is well.  I think this would only be an issue if you run that shaker motor continuously for a stretch.  But even then, I'd just monitor the heat of the tip107 and see if there is reason to be concerned.

I've checked my cache of parts: I have an abundance of optoisolators, perf board, but only 3 TIP107's.  I have various other transistors which might be suitable as replacements, I'll have to research this.

If you're driving these with UHID outputs (or LEDWiz or similar), then we're good.  Note that the UHID has a few ports with integrated resistors, so you should probably not use those.


EDIT:  I beleive some of the other transistors I have will do the trick

[Le Chuck]

I dont know anything about contactors (beyond the wiki article i just read).  Sounds like they are just relays with specific properties.  Can their coils be driven from a UHID/LEDWiz?  (I asume they can, based on usage in vpins)

I've had no heat issues with the qbert knocker - it's a very brief on time (fraction of a second), and triggers infrequently.  Doesnt get warm at all.  IIRC from earlier threads, heat is only an issue where on-time is longer, and power draw higher - and then you just apply a heat sink and all is well.  I think this would only be an issue if you run that shaker motor continuously for a stretch.  But even then, I'd just monitor the heat of the tip107 and see if there is reason to be concerned.

I've checked my cache of parts: I have an abundance of optoisolators, perf board, but only 3 TIP107's.  I have various other transistors which might be suitable as replacements, I'll have to research this.

If you're driving these with UHID outputs (or LEDWiz or similar), then we're good.  Note that the UHID has a few ports with integrated resistors, so you should probably not use those.

I am driving with the UHID and I'm tracking here are 9 available pins for me to fire from but I'll figure all that when I'm diagramming.  Let me know what you discover, I'm getting excited about this. 

I know nothing about relays but couldn't you use contactors like people use in v pins? Aren't they high voltage control switches? I got 8 24v ones on eBay for $35 shipped

Griff, I thought the contactors were just used to simulate the sound of the solenoids firing as they have an audible "thunk" when activated in vpins?  The Solid States are noiseless.  A contactor is just a mechanical type of relay AFAIK.  The "thunk" is a killer for me, especially with gun recoil it'd be distracting I imagine.  Nevertheless, link to what you got? 

[ids]

I have a pile of 33N10's, TIP121's and STP12PF06's in addition to the TIP107's.  I could make at least 10 SSR's at this point - limited only by the number of optocouplers i have.  I can also put on some terminal blocks for ease of use

[ids]

Shipping costs, not surprisingly, relate closely to size and weight.  If I can pack them in a padded envelope, and they don't weight too much, then we're talking ~$4-8.  If it gets over ~1lb, the price jumps quite a bit (>$15).  I'll put one together and weight it (or just the parts pre-soldering), to get a better idea where this stands.  Of course, if 5 of them breaks the 1lb barrier, i could just send two padded envelopes at the $4 price point, instead of one >$15.

[Le Chuck]

Shipping costs, not surprisingly, relate closely to size and weight.  If I can pack them in a padded envelope, and they don't weight too much, then we're talking ~$4-8.  If it gets over ~1lb, the price jumps quite a bit (>$15).  I'll put one together and weight it (or just the parts pre-soldering), to get a better idea where this stands.  Of course, if 5 of them breaks the 1lb barrier, i could just send two padded envelopes at the $4 price point, instead of one >$15.

Awesome man  Just let me know.  I really appreciate this!

--
Okay, I had a spare hour at work today so I did my diagram for the UHID.  Please sharpshoot maliciously, I'd like to get it right on paper before I start working in cable.  I've tossed the single axis brake as it isn't necessary and the second throttle isn't shown because that is only for SW Racer and will be wired to the arcade boards.  The 5v terminals on the bottom are all PC controlled LED outs so that way they can be called by MAMEhooker.  As is it looks like I have enough inputs to do two joys, 7 player buttons each, and more admin buttons than I know what to do with.  That being the case I probably won't need a separate encoder on the project which gets me down to four devices. 

Oh, anybody know if a mouse counts as two of the 8 analog axes available in Win?  I don't think it does but if so that will really jack with my plans. 

[ids]

As per UHID  Specs:

Pins on J1, J2 and J3 have integral resistors

The SSR's I was going to build would have included the same resistor on their input side.  However, it's probably easier to use your UHID circuit as is, and leave out the resistor from the SSR, rather than switch pins.  It's one less component to be soldered
Assuming black is gnd and red is +V, you may have to swap them around for these SSRs - they switch the positive side.

[Le Chuck]

As per UHID  Specs:

Pins on J1, J2 and J3 have integral resistors

The SSR's I was going to build would have included the same resistor on their input side.  However, it's probably easier to use your UHID circuit as is, and leave out the resistor from the SSR, rather than switch pins.  It's one less component to be soldered
Assuming black is gnd and red is +V, you may have to swap them around for these SSRs - they switch the positive side.

Swap from the power supplies to the shakers and recoils you mean?  If so no problem, that's an easy switch.   

[Nephasth]

Oh, anybody know if a mouse counts as two of the 8 analog axes available in Win?  I don't think it does but if so that will really jack with my plans. 

Sure does. Up, down; left, right. X and Y.

[Le Chuck]

Oh, anybody know if a mouse counts as two of the 8 analog axes available in Win?  I don't think it does but if so that will really jack with my plans. 

Sure does. Up, down; left, right. X and Y.

   I thought it polled differently than gamepad axes.   

I do not want to give up my high-low spinner.  Any recommendations for remediation? 

[Nephasth]

Oh, anybody know if a mouse counts as two of the 8 analog axes available in Win?  I don't think it does but if so that will really jack with my plans. 

Sure does. Up, down; left, right. X and Y.

Any recommendations for remediation?

2 UHIDs.

Edit. Read that wrong... I don't know jack about Windows' limitations on analog axes...

[Le Chuck]

Oh, anybody know if a mouse counts as two of the 8 analog axes available in Win?  I don't think it does but if so that will really jack with my plans. 

Sure does. Up, down; left, right. X and Y.

Any recommendations for remediation?

2 UHIDs.

Edit. Read that wrong... I don't know jack about Windows' limitations on analog axes...

 

[Nephasth]

From the UHID page:

Control counts which can be configured:

Total 50 connection pins.

Max 8 analog axes on 50 possible pins (Windows limitation)
Max 32 Gamepad buttons on 50 possible pins (Windows limitation)
Max 8 Quadrature mouse devices on 16 possible pins out of the 50.
Max 3 Quadrature mouse axes (X, Y and Z, Windows limitation)
Max 50 keyboard keys on 50 possible pins.
Max 16 LEDs in any combination of PC or U-HID controlled. (USB 500 mA current limitation).
Max 50 low-current output drivers.

Looks like mouse (quatrature) devices don't count towards analog axes... Hook it all up on the bench and see what happens.

[Nephasth]

Then there's this: http://www.microsoft.com/multipoint/mouse-sdk/developer.aspx

Says up to 25 usb mice can be used on one machine.

Surely there's a way to do what you need to.

[Le Chuck]

Looks like it.  Thanks Nep 

I will wait to do bench testing for a bit (still collecting some needed components).  In the mean time I've got lots more building to do, I need to learn how to use MAMEhooker, and one of my guns came in so I can start ripping that thing apart.  Lots todo!

[BC_Jeffro]

nice 

[kahlid74]

Well, somehow I remember your original comments about doing this and then missed this thread.  Great work man, keep it up.

You should team up with the Vulture Pod guys.  You two could make things out of MDF that would make Vanilla Ice weep with joy.

[griffindodd]

So hang on a second, if R2 is the control panel, where are you keeping his Joystick and how are you supposed to grab hold of it?

[dandro]

So hang on a second, if R2 is the control panel, where are you keeping his Joystick and how are you supposed to grab hold of it?

I am thinking this..

[Ond]

I showed my wife the image of your DIY R2D2, her response was OMG!  She's sharing that image with all her Uni crowd as an example of good design (from a DIY perspective).  My son who is a total Star Wars nut can name the owners of most of those weapons by sight  .

[BobA]

Found an okay deal on amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Amico-SSR-40DD-Covered-Solid-5-110V/dp/B009AQNBJW/ref=sr_1_14?ie=UTF8&qid=1363738811&sr=8-14&keywords=solid+state+relay

DC to DC 40amp max.  I'll be pushing 5amp so that should cut down on the resistance somewhat negating my need for the $6 heatsink?  Can I get a ruling on the field?  BobA or Ken, are you in the house?  $10 a pop isn't exactly a steal but I think it's reasonable to just do that for all the solenoids and shaker motors. 

So, I'm at about $80 in parts on top of what I've already got in... not bad I suppose.  Turns out the original guns will be the cheapest part of this component project   

Not sure how you are coming on having SSR made but as a late answer 4 - 5 Amps is about the limit that an SSR can do with only ambient air to cool.  If however you mount an SSR on an aluminum plate or chassis to use as a heat sink you can push higher amps without a separate heat sink.

If you are having SSR fabricated remember to heat sink the SCR or Triac.

Sorry about the late comment but only just got around to catching up on this thread.

and WOW WOW WOW

[ark_ader]

Jeepers you don't mess about.

I need to take a page out of your book.

Awesome work Le Chuck!   

[Le Chuck]

Well, somehow I remember your original comments about doing this and then missed this thread.  Great work man, keep it up.

You should team up with the Vulture Pod guys.  You two could make things out of MDF that would make Vanilla Ice weep with joy.

Thanks dude, I googled Vulture Pods and I gotta tell ya, those are pretty cool.  I'm not 100% sure what they do but I'm 90% sure that I want to build one in the garage 

So hang on a second, if R2 is the control panel, where are you keeping his Joystick and how are you supposed to grab hold of it?

Bend over and I'll show ya...wait...dammit!

I am thinking this..

Oddly not far from the truth.  More to follow.   

I showed my wife the image of your DIY R2D2, her response was OMG!  She's sharing that image with all her Uni crowd as an example of good design (from a DIY perspective).  My son who is a total Star Wars nut can name the owners of most of those weapons by sight  .

Wow, I'm flattered.  Tell her thanks.  If she wants to see some ground breaking stuff she should check out JoyMonkey's R2 builds (over on astromech.net).  He is doing stuff with R2 that will make your head spin, much less R2's. 

Not sure how you are coming on having SSR made but as a late answer 4 - 5 Amps is about the limit that an SSR can do with only ambient air to cool.  If however you mount an SSR on an aluminum plate or chassis to use as a heat sink you can push higher amps without a separate heat sink.

If you are having SSR fabricated remember to heat sink the SCR or Triac.

Sorry about the late comment but only just got around to catching up on this thread.

and WOW WOW WOW

Bob, thanks.  Always nice to get some feedback from a subject matter expert.  5 amp is the max I'll be pushing and I'll be doing some bench testing to keep an eye on the temp.  If necessary heatsinks should be an easy retrofit and I can position a fan to blow across the boards as well.  I take it all my other squiggly lines in the wire diagram look okay?  Thanks!

Jeepers you don't mess about.

I need to take a page out of your book.

Awesome work Le Chuck!   

 

--

My other gun game in so now I have the pair.  Mounting will be a tricky but it looks like it'll be doable and I like these much better than the stock one.  Hopefully tomorrow and Sunday I'll get some cuts made towards the CP - or at least the trial CP.  The CP will have a bit of a sculptural element to it so we'll have to see how it feels. 

[ids]

SSR's in progress, UHID inputs + gnd on right

[Le Chuck]

SSR's in progress, UHID inputs + gnd on right

Awesome!        

[caliliving714]

It's looking great...

Have you checked out http://www.x-simulator.de/? They have some great motion simulator builds there.
Tronicgr there has built a couple Motion controlers and H-bridges. http://www.x-simulator.de/wiki/AVR_Motion_Controller_%28AMC%29_by_Tronicgr and here http://www.x-simulator.de/wiki/Dual_Mosfet_H-bridge_by_Tronicgr

Might be worth checking out for your build.

Can't wait to see this thing running.

[rockyrocket]

Looks great so far!.
Have you thought about zebs board for relays?, seems perfect to me...
http://www.vpforums.org/index.php?showtopic=18203
I use one of the original hi-power boards in my pin cab to power contactors and a knocker at 24v,but it can work up to 48v
Contactors unfortunately lag a bit when used as relays as noticed by people running flipper buttons through them to an ipac ect.
The input signal can pull either hi or low so works with a encoder or  arduino.

Also congrats on the paint finish on R2`s legs.

[floriske.nl]

It's looking great...

Have you checked out http://www.x-simulator.de/? They have some great motion simulator builds there.
Tronicgr there has built a couple Motion controlers and H-bridges. http://www.x-simulator.de/wiki/AVR_Motion_Controller_%28AMC%29_by_Tronicgr and here http://www.x-simulator.de/wiki/Dual_Mosfet_H-bridge_by_Tronicgr

Might be worth checking out for your build.

Can't wait to see this thing running.

It's better to look at http://www.x-sim.de instead

The x-sim team split up a while back because of differences in opinions about commercial intentions and other stuff. The actual programmer of the software (Sirnoname) had to set up a new community because of this and that is x-sim.de. I know this because I helped him setup the new website. Members like tronicgr are no longer active on the old community page and most info in the wiki is outdated.

Ontopic: great work so far! I'm lurking for progress ;-)

[dandro]

dammit,.. less commission work and more building! 

[TeamTEOR]

OMG, I have missed a lot in this thread!!!!!! I am so going to need to follow this! BTW, are you a 501st member?

[lordnacho]

Switched themes just so I could bookmark.  I missed the whole R2 part.  Just awesome.
How much is he gonna weigh?

[Maximus]

I find your lack of building disturbing.

[Le Chuck]

I find your lack of building disturbing.

Oh, I'm building...just all the wrong things 

Who has two thumbs and just spent a day off building a cat jungle gym at the wife's directing?  This guy!

Hopefully I'll be back on track shortly but I don't want to get hopes and dreams up

Switched themes just so I could bookmark.  I missed the whole R2 part.  Just awesome.
How much is he gonna weigh?

Thanks man, R2 should come in under a hundred once fully loaded.  He's about 50 in his current state. 

OMG, I have missed a lot in this thread!!!!!! I am so going to need to follow this! BTW, are you a 501st member?

No, I have some good friends that are in the Phoenix and Atlanta area tho.  I have aspirations of getting a suit together but I'm currently preoccupied.  Which branch are you?

dammit,.. less commission work and more building! 

Heh, might have a few more lined up for later in the year.

Floriske.nl, caliliving714, rockyrocket - thanks for the links guys.  I need to finalize the extent of force feedback I'm willing to commit to - those links give me a lot to go on.   

[Jigenjuke]

Le Chuck, AWESOME!!  You got your fingers in just about everything.  Would mention sonething about the cat junglegym using a different word for cat if I weren't so pure .

Looking forward for progress, keep up the awesome job.

Jigenjuke

[Vigo]

Who has two thumbs and just spent a day off building a cat jungle gym at the wife's directing?  This guy!

At first I read that as Cat Juggling. I guess that was just wishful thinking.

[yotsuya]

Love that movie.

[Maximus]

Pics of the cat jungle gym or it didnt happen (this thing better have t-molding and RGB lighting)

[yotsuya]

Pics of the cat jungle gym or it didnt happen (this thing better have t-molding and RGB lighting)

And cup waterbowl holders.

[TopJimmyCooks]

every cat gym I've seen has a few yards of cheap carpet and about 4000 pneumatic staples.  Just like my projects!

[Le Chuck]

Got back to working on this again after a bit of a hiatus.  Did a lot of templating and used up a full sheet of hardboard doing mockups.  Learned some stuff.  The guns.  Oh the guns.  They aren't going to work on this build.  It looks, in a word, redonkulous.  Even had a sit down with the wife about how disappointed I was about the guns and what to do about it.  Wife wants me to build a Deadstorm Pirates shooter for the kids.  I feel bad tho because IDS went through all the trouble to make me the relay board for this build.  Fortunately the board will still get used for gun build.  I just have to break off the relay for the seat shaker for this build. 

Decided to go much lower profile with the CP tray, not a replica of ROTJ of course, but more along the feel of that. 







Shown are the CP legs and the most recent template CP.  The legs still need a ton of greeblies added but I think they came out pretty well.  The CP will be getting a 10^o downward bend at .5" past the cp legs.  For rigidity I will be doing a steel CP with MDF panels to give it dimension.  Attached are two different layouts I'm playing with.  Not shown are admin, coin, and player buttons.  Those will be much smaller and in the center section. 

Pics of the cat jungle gym or it didnt happen.

And that's the way it's gonna remain.  Damn waste of my life.  Everytime I look past the computer screen I see it there in the corner, unused, taunting me, judging me.  Does the cat like it.  No.  You know what that damn cat likes to drag its claws across?  My chest at 3am.  That's what.  I unloaded a pound of catnip on the thing...cat got all stoned to hell.  Does it lounge around the scratcher looking for more nip like a corner crackhead?  Nope, just raids the fridge and heads for the bed.  I think my cat is channeling a college student.   

[Dawgz Rule]

Lookin' Good!

[kingchimp]

That thing looks awesome!  This is going to be one hell of a build.

Good luck with the cat. 

[mcseforsale]

Time for a new cat.  Personally, I don't like them.  I fee like they are always waiting for me to be distracted so they can eat me.

AJ

[Le Chuck]

Changed the design a bit even more towards the ROTJ and made the 7degree slope at the connection point for ease and aesthetics. Rock solid so far. I'll change out the hardware for appearances later.



I'm leaning heavily towards the capom layout rather than the neogeo friendly due to feel on such a small cp.

[Jigenjuke]

Looking Awesome!  Would be kind of cool if you could get a low profile blue colored trackball for the top of R2 head .

Lookin' forward to seeing more

Jigenjuke

[yotsuya]

Interesting. I didn't know you were going to put arcade controls on this. I thought that drink tray was going to be for cupolders. 

[Le Chuck]

Interesting. I didn't know you were going to put arcade controls on this. I thought that drink tray was going to be for cupolders. 

Oh, it's getting those too. There are a few non riding games I'll want to play on this system but it'll be a specific list of more modern games.

[WaRpEd]

I love this project and the progress you've made. By the way cat's don't have owners they have staff  . Is that an Addams family pinball I spy in the background.

[Vigo]

Wow man, nice cutting! 

Learned some stuff.  The guns.  Oh the guns.  They aren't going to work on this build.  It looks, in a word, redonkulous.

  Is it that they look bad when mounted? Could you come up with some sort of compartment and go wireless? I know I am thinking out ---my bottom--- right now, but I really hate the feeling when I realize something is not gonna work and I am already mid-build.

[Le Chuck]

Yeah, it's a case of eyes bigger than my stomach. The mounting base just requires too much standoff, eliminates the support legs on the tray, and makes it look like I'm trying to cram stuff together. Much better solution to do a separate build. It's more important that the build looks amazing rather than plays gun games, to me.

[Maximus]

I don't know, I don't see how you're going to get a Tron stick, 4-way, push pull spinner, steering wheel, yolk and Paperboy handlebars on that crappy little CP, this thing is going to be the suckz and even if you did get that all on there, there would be no room left for arcade stickers

[Le Chuck]

Let's all just be honest. All I've accomplished is the creation of some rather pricey firewood at this point...and taken years of my life due to MDF dust inhalation.


You guys are funny

[Nephasth]

Much better solution to do a separate build.

You're running out of signature room!

[wp34]

That looks freaking amazing Le Chuck.  The drink tray is brilliant.

[sabreerbasAlpha]

 Le Chuck your Wood working Skills are amazing. That is all. 

[Le Chuck]

I love this project and the progress you've made. By the way cat's don't have owners they have staff  . Is that an Addams family pinball I spy in the background.

Yeah, this cat thinks it's an executive.  I'll learn 'em.  TAF is my baby.  It needs some outside TLC thanks to a rough move from Germany (picked it up for a steal) but the playfield is in good condition, I have a few fun toys installed, and dropped in all LED lighting.  Thanks for the kuddos 

Much better solution to do a separate build.

You're running out of signature room!

Fixed!

That looks freaking amazing Le Chuck.  The drink tray is brilliant.

Le Chuck your Wood working Skills are amazing. That is all. 

Thanks guys, long way to go yet.  The wood work is fun, it's the finishing that really puts it over the top tho.  I need to redo the paint job on the dome since there are a few baubles from the original that need to be fixed but the legs have held up really well over the last few months so I'm pleased overall with where it is heading.  I have the paint job for the tray on my mind right now. 

It's not that important that I make a decision right away but it does drive certain things like button and balltop color.  The ROTJ version is a nice weathered gold with black that is just so iconic to me but I'm really leaning towards using the R2 color palette, doing a silver tray with blue greeblies.  That will allow me to do some white buttons and balltops with a few hacks that I think will be really sharp.  Still, the gold would be pretty righteous.  Thoughts?

[ids]

Your TAF is in a garage?  Show it some love!

And how about a trade, all the SSR's you could ever use in a lifetime for an R2 unit 

[kahlid74]

Let's all just be honest. All I've accomplished is the creation of some rather pricey firewood at this point...and taken years of my life due to MDF dust inhalation.

You guys are funny

Your lack of listening to my constant harping on and on about MDF dust is disturbing.  Get your ass a mask boy.

[ids]

Your lack of listening to my constant harping on and on about MDF dust is disturbing.  Get your ass a mask boy.

He might also consider a mask for his face 

[Maximus]

<----- Love it 

[Le Chuck]

Your lack of listening to my constant harping on and on about MDF dust is disturbing.  Get your ass a mask boy.

Oh I've got'em. Damn dust is micron level shizzle. Need to get a better one. I still brown bogger after routing.

[yotsuya]

Need to get a better one.

If you were truly bad-ass, you'd get this:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1-1-Scale-M-A-S-K-Miles-Mayhem-Venom-helmet-/281093960502?pt=US_Action_Figures&hash=item4172817336

[lcmgadgets]

I just tuned in to this channel. All I can say is, OMG!

[sabreerbasAlpha]

Need to get a better one.

If you were truly bad-ass, you'd get this:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1-1-Scale-M-A-S-K-Miles-Mayhem-Venom-helmet-/281093960502?pt=US_Action_Figures&hash=item4172817336

damn that thing looks like its from an early star trek film. I love it  Le Chuck. You have to buy it 

[Le Chuck]

Did a fair amount on R2Emu over the holiday. Got the computer assembled, OS installed, test fitted the mobo, hd, power, and audio into the body of R2, and started skinning. The skins are hand cut from styrene sheet and layered for depth as necessary. The look not so hawt right now as have only done sanding and surface prep on about a third of the edges.  Also, nothing is glued down yet so if the pics look a bit off as far as positioning and depth that's because they are Once I'm done they'll be great and I'll never want to touch the stuff again lol.

I still have a lot to do on the body to get it ready for final assembly. I need to make the front vents, drill the mounting holes for the speakers, ditto the fans, ditto the volume control, power outlet, and speeder jack. I also need to mount the arms, and install the bracket for the blue ray player.

All that before I attach the skins and start painting. :dizzy

Give me a few weeks and we should have some good looking results.

[Jigenjuke]

Sweeeeeet! 

Jigenjuke

[Le Chuck]

Spent all day (seemingly) on amazon deal hunting.  Signed up for the damn credit card to save 50 bucks.  Gonna cancel that sucker in the first billing period. 

Inbound we have:

A whole mess of audio cables
VGA, HDMI, Audio, and RJ45 keystone inserts
Power cables
Moar R2 parts
Power sockets
Power strips
Slot load media player
Cat5e cable
HDMI cables
KVM switch
USB cabling and ports
some other stuff I can't recall but needed

Did a lot of planning ahead and think I have everything I need to interface the speeder, SW Racer, and R2Emu together while being able to use R2 as the projector or connect to an outside monitor.  I'll just need to get some cool looking cable bundling for the 10ft interlink cable I'll be making.  Everything will take a few weeks to trickle in then I should be able to do the rough assembly and start finish work on the body.  After that I'll need to finish the CP then finally get cracking on the speeder frame. 

I'm glad I've waited on the frame, it's given me a lot of time to plan how best to tackle the integration of the arcade hardware and the emulation hardware.  Should be a fun month!

[BadMouth]

Signed up for the damn credit card to save 50 bucks.  Gonna cancel that sucker in the first billing period. 

   I did that at Christmas because my father wanted something that was more than I'd planned to spend.
I haven't dug through the terms yet to see how long I have to wait to cancel it.  Let me know if there are any repercussions.

R2 wrap is looking awesome.

[ids]

I cancelled mine immediately - privacy statement said, basically, we can give your personal into to anyone at anytime.
I called the number that it said to call if you don't like the privacy statement.  I was forwarded about 10 times cuz nobody there knew anything about their privacy statement ffs.  Needless to say, card cancelled on the spot.

Will not do that again.

[Falk3r]

Eh? Eh?

[kahlid74]

Eh? Eh?

Haha I saw that on Imgur too and immediately thought of this project.

[BadMouth]

Worst feeling controls of any motorcycle game ever invented.
It should not be used as a reference or basis for anything.

[Le Chuck]

Just wanted to pop onto this thread and give a small update.  Lots of test fitting going on.  Installed and adjusted for final fitting (will have to be removed for paint prep of course):  Speakers, Control Arms, Data port disc drive, intake fans.  Skins have been test fitted and they're great, but I need to do a bit more cutting so I can complete 6x CAT5 ports, 2x USB, 1x Power in, 1x power out, 1x VGA in, 1x HDMI out, 2x RCA, and decide if I'm going to mount volume control on the outside or on the inside of the access door.  Sounds like a lot but I'm through all the weird shaped cuts and down to a bunch of rectangles so it should be a lot easier.  Oh, and I also have to fabricate the front vents. 

Um...

Still, I feel really good about the direction R2 is heading and look forward to getting everything fitted so I can rip it all apart for prep and paint!

[Vigo]

THAT'S NICE....BUT....ERMH.....WHERE IS THE CG??

 

In seriousness....It's looking awesome man!!!! 

[ids]

i think it's begging to have one of those micro-projectors mounted in it for the "Help me obi-wan..." thing.  Ok, it's not a real hologram, but u gotta make do with what you have

[harveybirdman]

THAT'S NICE....BUT....ERMH.....WHERE IS THE CG??

 

In seriousness....It's looking awesome man!!!! 

Mesa needsa some morsa vaugley racisista sounding character voisa.

[floriske.nl]

Amazing work Le Chuck!

[Sjaak]

I like it! Can't wait to see the final result

And a lot more progress then a certain sticky thread that shall not be named 

[jdbailey1206]

Ok.  Stay with me on this one.  Changing the head on R2D2 would almost like itself to this video. You could almost mount a small amplifier or sound control into R2's head with the volume itself sticking out to make it look like one of R2's knobs.  Or somehow do this inside the body having all that empty space.  Hope that makes sense.  Also sorry for being "that guy" but how do you plan on routing the wires from the actual play buttons without everything sticking out and looking like a mess.  Something tells me that  you already have that in mind.   

[Le Chuck]

Ok.  Stay with me on this one. 

You could almost mount a small amplifier or sound control into R2's head with the volume itself sticking out to make it look like one of R2's knobs.  Or somehow do this inside the body having all that empty space.  Hope that makes sense.  Also sorry for being "that guy" but how do you plan on routing the wires from the actual play buttons without everything sticking out and looking like a mess.  Something tells me that  you already have that in mind.   

What empty space are you refering to in the body?  I've got a computer, power supply, surge protector, KVM switch, 2.1 sound, encoder, fans, projector, and about a mile of cable management problems stuffed into this sucker.    Cables from the CP will run into R2 via CAT5e keystone jacks.  Wires from the CP components will no be visible at any point.  The cables themselves I plan on covering in the same type of hose fitting used on R2's feet for continuity.  Ditto the slave cable that will run to the speeder when it is in use in conjunction with R2 (it will be stand alone capable for SW Racer).

I also have to so some vibration dampening between the PJ in the dome and the base of the build that the CP attaches to... and figure out where to stick that pesky volume control lol.   

[Steve B.]

i think it's begging to have one of those micro-projectors mounted in it for the "Help me obi-wan..." thing.  Ok, it's not a real hologram, but u gotta make do with what you have

Saw this on hack-a-day this morning. Person shoved a raspberry pi and pico projector into an R2D2 shaped cake. If it can fit in a cake, it can fit in this project!

http://mfsamuel.blogspot.com/2013/06/just-another-r2d2-birthday-cake-build.html

[Le Chuck]

No pic bump!  Skins and paint happening this weekend.  He's getting ready!

[Le Chuck]

R2Emu is coming together! Figure I'd lead with pics this time.  Not done yet but real happy with where I'm at.  Minor touchup needed here and there, need to shave off a few fuzzies, and I have some more work to do on the back door panel but it's coming along nicely.  Once this coat is hardened in a few days I'll be able to tape off two do the two rings around the top where the body meets the dome - I need a silver and blue one, both 1 inch wide.  Not shown are two more silver panels for the bottom, one for each side - they'll go on later as they need an undercoat of blue to lay on. I'll also paint the keystones on the bottom silver so they blend. The blank on the right is getting a switch to power the unit.  Hard to see in these pics but the slot load drive is installed in the data port.  Still need to install the PC, sub, power, kvm, and wire the internals but I've already test fit all that and will get to it once everything is dry and safe to handle more than it is now.  Dome is next, then CP last.  Dome is getting a complete refurb but won't take as long as the body did for sure. Not long now and he'll be playable. 

[drventure]

Nice

I love the fans, speakers and USB ports in the back. Well done 

[Jigenjuke]

Beautiful!

Jigenjuke

[robe_uk]

This is seriously cool 

[ark_ader]

Is a pico projector going in this too?

[Vigo]

Man, Le Chuck....that is a seriously awesome R2-D2. Wow!   

That makes me want to build my own. Unfortunately, I have a bad motivator unit. 

[Louis Tully]

.

[CoryBee]

Imma go back to polishing this turd.

me too

[Richie_jones]

Amazing work...

[Le Chuck]

Thaks guys, I appreciate the compliments. 

At this point it's really good looking from 10feet but has some rough edges at the 2feet vantage point.  I'm working those wrinkles out tho - doing a bit of polishing myself    I don't have any plans to add a pico for the holoprojectors at this time.  I have a 1600 lumen PJ that's going in the head to shine out of the Radar Eye (main eye hole) but I will likely upgrade to a more powerful/versatile projector before all is said and done. 

Hey Vigo, from time to time I think I'm an R5 unit myself   

[wp34]

At this point it's really good looking from 10feet but has some rough edges at the 2feet vantage point. 

I'll just chalk that up to the building seeing all the imperfections.  Your R2 looks fantastic to me--no carbon build up.   

The colors really pop compared to other R2's I've seen.  Impressive, most impressive.   

[BadMouth]

Friggin' awesome. 

The correct looking placement of speakers and connectors adds a level of coolness above a mere replica.

[emphatic]

That is somewhat nerd-boner inducing. 

[Le Chuck]

Got the dome stripes painted and getting ready to affix the last of the body panels.  Also trying to get all the internals arranged today.  Baring any setbacks I'll be able to start on the dome this weekend as well.  I'll try and get some pics up later today once I have things plugged into other things.  Need to do a ton of cable management. 

[Le Chuck]

Components installed. Used the HDMI out on the back panel to watch a movie yesterday Glorious. The wiring won't win any awards but it's neat enough. I took the KVM switch out because I may have borked it by accident and don't need it until the speeder is ready but all the connections work and I've got plenty of time to iron that bug out. R2 is looking good and I'm getting started on the Dome tonight.

[emphatic]

Wow! 

[Bender]

Hey, Now there's not enough room in there for Kenny

Seriously though this is awesome sauce!

[Maximus]

RIDONKULOUS!!!!

 

[DeLuSioNal29]

+1

Amazing work!

D

[kahlid74]

Well done!  Looks spiffy!

[lcmgadgets]

omg Omg OMG! I'm stealing the term 'nerd-boner'! A-FRIGGIN'-MAZING! If u posted that you'd fooled us all, that you'd somehow gotten an original R2 from George & doctored it a little to make it look just a teensy bit different, I'd believe it.       

[Dalgaard]

I love this! My favorite project!

[shponglefan]

Hoe.  Lee.  Cow.  This is amazing! 

[CraftyMech]

I have not checked in on this thread in awhile, and holy is this build off the charts! 

[blashyrk]

Wow 
This is the coolest build i've ever seen, I'm green with envy.

[Le Chuck]

Thanks guys, it's always fun once a project starts coming together and looks like it did in one's head. Glad to hear you all like it as much as me. Most of my projects my wife asks, "are you going to sell that?" but on this one she said, "You aren't going to sell that are you?". For those that speak Wife you know what I'm sayin here. )

Ripped the dome down, epoxied it to the base, made a relief cut to secure a better fit, and plugged the holes. Painting today.

In the pics you can see the fit of the dome to the body now, looks much more like one piece.  Once painted it should be near seamless.

[ChadTower]

I have no idea how I missed this thread until now.

Le Chuck owes me a new pair of underpants.  I just destroyed mine.

 

[Maximus]

This build sucks, I mean it doesn't even have any joysticks.

[Le Chuck]

This build sucks, I mean it doesn't even have any joysticks.

I know, right!? Maybe I'll add some, how many TrOn sticks do you think it needs?

[Monkeyvoodoo]

This build sucks, I mean it doesn't even have any joysticks.

I know, right!? Maybe I'll add some, how many TrOn sticks do you think it needs?

Obviously three. Don't forget to mount the trackball really close to the base of one.

[Maximus]

Well lets see. You need a 4 way, 8 way, analog, rotating one, a spare and a trackball for all 4 players.....oh and a keyboard tray.....oh and 12 buttons each.....and an admin panel.... and a steering wheel, star wars yoke, paperboy handlebars duhhhh, periscope, dancepad and periscope.

Oh













Cupholders.

[Monkeyvoodoo]

Well lets see. You need a 4 way, 8 way, analog, rotating one, a spare and a trackball for all 4 players.....oh and a keyboard tray.....oh and 12 buttons each.....and an admin panel.... and a steering wheel, star wars yoke, paperboy handlebars duhhhh, periscope, dancepad and periscope.

Oh













Cupholders.

You forgot the shotguns for big buck hunter.
It will play big buck hunter right?


Sent from a pineapple under the sea

[Le Chuck]

I'm having a dilemma.  I'll put it to the group for input. 

R2's drink tray in ROTJ is a deep gold with black detailing.  It is a pretty iconic look but if I do that then the controls will pretty much need to be gold and black - which I'm not super crazy about. 

I have been planing to do the CP tray in Silver as a base with white and blue - like the rest of R2.  This will give me a third color to work with on the CP and I like the different combos I can work with significantly more.  I keep returning to gold tho, I'm worried that the tray will lose the "pop" if it looks like a component of R2 rather than a retrofit. 

What say you oh forum goers - stick to canon as much as I can based on the nature of the build ---or--- forge on into unexplored territory? 

[yotsuya]

I say stick with canon.

[mcseforsale]

How about make them look like drinks?  You can still maneuver a joy that's shaped like a shot of super nerdy drink glasses.  Anyone have a shot of the drink tray full?

AJ

[Maximus]

Not surprising to hear this from me but...

Screw canon.

R2 never had frikkin' joysticks or buttons either but you are going to put those on without a second thought. You're designing something that has a specific aesthetic and continuity to it, don't compromise it  just so Star Wars purists won't give you a hard time.

[Monkeyvoodoo]

I say keep it canon. Lucas may have strayed but we expect greater things from you


Sent from a pineapple under the sea

[yotsuya]

Not surprising to hear this from me but...

Screw canon.

R2 never had frikkin' joysticks or buttons either but you are going to put those on without a second thought. You're designing something that has a specific aesthetic and continuity to it, don't compromise it  just so Star Wars purists won't give you a hard time.

Well, to be honest (since you mentioned it), I wouldn't put joysticks and buttons on the tray, either. When LeChuck first unveiled this setup, I thought the R2 unit was solely going to house the guts of the machine plus the projector for the flight trainer. I was surprised when he later posted that he was planning on putting game controls on unit. Cupholders on it I can see making sense because that's what the tray is for. Joystick and buttons in order to play Street Fighter? Not so much. That's just me. I think the R2 unit looks fantastic, and I wouldn't compromise it's looks by putting controls on top of it.

[PL1]

If you want to keep it canon and have the option of joysticks and buttons on R2D2:

-- Build the drink tray/cupholders to look canon.

-- Build a removable/portable CP (or 2) that can be secured to the tray and plugged into a USB port.

As long as the CP mod is done in a different style than the drink tray mod, the CP could look like a mod to the drink tray mod.

Bonus points for making the CP low-profile by using Goldleaf/Sanwa/Seimitsu buttons and putting the drink tray (blue) cupholders (green) where the joystick bases will fit into them.

Hollow out space (yellow) for the wires and encoder between two layers of MDF (tan) and include a protective cap (gray) over the part of the joystick that protrudes into the cupholder.


Scott

[jdbailey1206]

Okay here is a new idea.  Why not just have a gigantic joystick that controls everything? (ie buttons, regular joystick, tron joystick, yoke, spinner, trackball, etc.)  I've shown a reference below in case there is any confusion.     

[Le Chuck]

Good points of view!  Thanks for the recommendations, keep it coming.

Yot - to be fair I revealed my intention to use joysticks and buttons on the tray back in the first R2 post (73ish), but I can totally see your point of view on the matter.

The tray already has a 7^o slope so it's designed from inception to be a CP, just needing to figure out how to thread the needle.

Joel's opinion is both no surprise and also where I've been leaning - but I really like hearing from folks and seeing different ideas on how to handle things now that I'm at that stage of the build (thanks Scott, your feedback is always innovative). 

[yotsuya]

Yot - to be fair I revealed my intention to use joysticks and buttons on the tray back in the first R2 post (73ish), but I can totally see your point of view on the matter.

The tray already has a 7^o slope so it's designed from inception to be a CP, just needing to figure out how to thread the needle.

I went and reread that post, and yes, you do allude to it being a CP. I guess when I first read it back then I thought it was solely going to be for drinks, as that was what it was for in the movie (see my "protocol droid" post a few down from it).

Joel's opinion is both no surprise and also where I've been leaning - but I really like hearing from folks and seeing different ideas on how to handle things now that I'm at that stage of the build (thanks Scott, your feedback is always innovative).

When I say stick with canon coloring, it's solely in agreement with your concern on the aesthetics of the piece. I agree with you completely that a silver-colored tray will blend in too much with the R2 coloring. A gold tray will provide a clear contrast while looking more authentic, and will satisfy any observers who care about it being canon. I think deep down inside you do care about authenticity, as I know you are a real Star Wars fan yourself. After all, you redid the R2 dome, when honestly it probably looked fine to all of us observers.

Your work is solid, Le Chuck, and I like the fact that you solicit feedback and don't take it personally when something might not vibe with your vision. That's the mark of a confident man. I have no doubt that whatever you choose, you'll make it work.

[Maximus]

Pffft I don't follow canon and look how well my stuff turns out...

[mcseforsale]

Dude. that's so awesome.  Amazing craftsmanship and attention to detail.

Subscribed.

AJ

Pffft I don't follow canon and look how well my stuff turns out...

[yotsuya]

What do you mean, that fits the Stars War canon perfectly.

[Maximus]

"STARS WAR!"

In a galaxy a long far away, a secret 5 year mission to discover new space ships and wizards will commence for the good of mankind.

SO SAY WE ALL!'

(Pffft and you think I haven't read all 4 books)

[Le Chuck]

Yotsuya  x 1000

What you said about the color and blending in is where my concern has been as well. 

Whatever I do I'll take a considered approach and if it doesn't work, well, it's only wood - we can try again. 

Joel:  I've been working on a Stars War back tattoo with Jar Jar and Gandalf throwing tribbles at eachother, I'd like you to take a look. 

[yotsuya]

I think Stars War is, after Doctor Whom, one of those under the radar things that will break out pretty big.

[Maximus]

Joel:  I've been working on a Stars War back tattoo with Jar Jar and Gandalf throwing tribbles at eachother, I'd like you to take a look.

I'm not falling for that "hey Joel come and see my new tattoo" trick for the third time

[Vigo]

Thinking outside the box here. Can you make drink joystick covers? Meaning, you put a couple dummy beverages that slip over the joysticks when not in use. When in use, just pull the drink cover off and then you can make the joysticks look however you want. The buttons can just blend in with the tray with a black.

That way you can honor canon and have your own color joystick, and help keep your joysticks dust free.

Thinking off the top of my head, the way I would (try to) make the covers would be to start with real glasses that look star wars accurate, carefully drill holes in the bottoms of the glasses and insert a joystick sized hollow cylinder with a cap into the hole. This will be the area the joystick slips on. Paint the outside of the cylinder whatever color your drink is gonna be. I would probably make it something dark looking, like Guinness colored. Then get some craft water, that gel stuff they use in artificial flower vases to make it look like the fake flowers are really in water. Add dye to make it a dark enough that the cylinder inside is not noticeable and pour it in the glass.

If you want to cover up the buttons as well, you could make a whole control panel cover like this. Permanently attach your fake glasses onto a top overlay panel that slips on top of the control panel. Cut out an empty area on the bottom of the overlay panel to make clearance for buttons. Pull the whole panel off when in use. Then the only thing out of canon is that R2's drink tray will be about 3/4th of an inch thicker. (and I realize it is a complex shaped panel and would be a lot of work to make, but you are the infamous Le Chuck, you can handle it.)

[jdbailey1206]

Went back to the drawing board and worked out a solution to your problem.  We can just transpose the game controllers for arcade parts.

[WaRpEd]

Hey Lechuck I love where your going with this build the attention to detail is inspiring. That being said a balanced approach seems the best way, the tray holder was a retrofit of R2 so I would go with a different color as well maybe a gun metal grey.I like vigo's idea of a false drink topper. Keep up the great work.

[Le Chuck]

Bondo, glaze, hi-build primer, four coats of paint with progressive sanding on the dome.  Getting there.

[Maximus]

Shiny!!

[jdbailey1206]

Well lets see. You need a 4 way, 8 way, analog, rotating one, a spare and a trackball for all 4 players.....oh and a keyboard tray.....oh and 12 buttons each.....and an admin panel.... and a steering wheel, star wars yoke, paperboy handlebars duhhhh, periscope, dancepad and periscope.

Oh













Cupholders.

Something like this?----->   

[TopJimmyCooks]

Well lets see. You need a 4 way, 8 way, analog, rotating one, a spare and a trackball for all 4 players.....oh and a keyboard tray.....oh and 12 buttons each.....and an admin panel.... and a steering wheel, star wars yoke, paperboy handlebars duhhhh, periscope, dancepad and periscope.

Oh













Cupholders.

Something like this?----->   

Man, hadn't seen that one.

Griffmax-You're missing one obvious arcade control considering the dome - Planetarium projector!?  for playing tailgunner on the ceiling!

[BadMouth]

I think an analog trigger stick in the center raised section of the drink tray would be good, especially with Star Wars Trilogy being playable with Supermodel.
Not much depth to work with there, so you'd probably have to go with an old PC one instead of a Happ.

Then standard joystick and button layout on each side of that and drink-holders in the front raised sections.
Guns could go in holsters on the speeder bike.  (this project does still include a speeder bike?)

If R2 had a drink-holder attachment, it's not inconceivable that there were other attachments utilizing the same design.

[Le Chuck]

The speeder will be the controller for SW Trilogy. Not a bad idea having multiple CPs tho. Hrm...

[Vigo]

The speeder will be the controller for SW Trilogy.

All that work to just play a Jakks TV game? 

[jdbailey1206]

The speeder will be the controller for SW Trilogy.

All that work to just play a Jakks TV game? 

Vigo why not just change your profile pic.  I have attached it below.   

[jdbailey1206]

Le Chuck.

Hope I'm not offending you with my jokes.  You do amazing work and I feel like I might have stepped on your toes with my past posts.  Either way keep up the good work and I'll try not to hijack your thread in the future. 

[Le Chuck]

Le Chuck.

Hope I'm not offending you with my jokes.  You do amazing work and I feel like I might have stepped on your toes with my past posts.  Either way keep up the good work and I'll try not to hijack your thread in the future.

Dude, have no idea what you're talking about.  You're fine in my book.  Keep on keeping on.  Sorry if I gave you a wrong impression some how.  Hugs, nohomo, etc ad nauseum. 

[Le Chuck]

Just as an open note to everybody - if I have a problem with you I will very much let you know in no uncertain terms.  That said I rarely have problems with anybody.  I gather that I tend to give off a vibe that reads otherwise from time to time.  Several people have run into this, rablack, hyper, jd, lots of folk I like.  That's part of the nature of communicating through short blocks of text; however, if you met me in person you'd realize that I'm a somewhat prickly cantakerous guy that tends to give off a vibe like he's upset about something while not being bothered in the least...um, well, nevermind about the text bit then.  Known issue.  Back to work minions!

[mcseforsale]

You must be new around here.  Just think of LeChuck as your big brother.  You'll get punched in the arm a lot, but at night, you can use his toothbrush to wash the toilet.   

AJ

Le Chuck.

Hope I'm not offending you with my jokes.  You do amazing work and I feel like I might have stepped on your toes with my past posts.  Either way keep up the good work and I'll try not to hijack your thread in the future.

[Vigo]

Le Chuck.

Hope I'm not offending you with my jokes.  You do amazing work and I feel like I might have stepped on your toes with my past posts.  Either way keep up the good work and I'll try not to hijack your thread in the future.

[Sam Eagle] Le Chuck may not be affronted by your ill-mannered commentary, but I, however, am offended that you insinuated that I suffer from a "Carpathian Kitten Loss". I, for one, am appalled by this degenerative behavior! To ensure that the quality and moral content of this thread is upheld, I demand you cease this repulsive behavior at once! Am I the only decent, upright, and normal one here? Why I remember a time when this forum was about decency and respectability! [/Sam Eagle]

[Le Chuck]

You must be new around here.  Just think of LeChuck as your big brother.  You'll get punched in the arm a lot, but at night, you can use his toothbrush to wash the toilet.   

AJ

Right!  Wait...wut

[jdbailey1206]

Nevermind the man behind the stupid double post.

[jdbailey1206]

You must be new around here.  Just think of LeChuck as your big brother.  You'll get punched in the arm a lot, but at night, you can use his toothbrush to wash the toilet.   

AJ

 

I just didn't want to come off as Annoying Childhood friend meme.  Or worse Scumbag Steve.  My wife says I have a humor that is an acquired taste.  Maybe thats why she giggles when she sees me naked.   

[yotsuya]

You must be new around here.  Just think of LeChuck as your big brother.  You'll get punched in the arm a lot, but at night, you can use his toothbrush to wash the toilet.   

AJ

 

I just didn't want to come off as Annoying Childhood friend meme.  Or worse Scumbag Steve.  My wife says I have a humor that is an acquired taste.  Maybe thats why she giggles when she sees me naked.   

That, or your tiny pee-pee.







Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwweew.......just kidding.   

[lcmgadgets]

[Sam Eagle] Le Chuck may not be affronted by your ill-mannered commentary, but I, however, am offended that you insinuated that I suffer from a "Carpathian Kitten Loss". I, for one, am appalled by this degenerative behavior! To ensure that the quality and moral content of this thread is upheld, I demand you cease this repulsive behavior at once! Am I the only decent, upright, and normal one here? Why I remember a time when this forum was about decency and respectability! [/Sam Eagle]

 
I can hear Sam's voice as I read this. That's EXACTLY how hw would have said it.

[jdbailey1206]

...You're fine in my book.  Keep on keeping on.  Sorry if I gave you a wrong impression some how.  Hugs, nohomo, etc ad nauseum.

Le Chuck.  Did you just Joe Dirt me?  I'm more worried about that than the man love.  (no homo)     

[Le Chuck]

Le Chuck.  Did you just Joe Dirt me?  I'm more worried about that than the man love.  (no homo)     

Life's a garden...dig it. 

[Le Chuck]

Dome is ready for logics, holoprojectors, fan, lighting etc.  Much better than before.

[Brian74]

Le Chuck you sir, have mad skills!

Sent from my SGH-T989 using Tapatalk 2

[jdbailey1206]

Dome is ready for logics, holoprojectors, fan, lighting etc.  Much better than before.

   

In all seriousness, THAT.  IS.  AMAZING!

Your masking and layering of the dome is impeccable.  I assumed you sprayed it completely with silver then masked and put a layer of blue down and finished it with a layer of clear?  Either way nice job.   Makes me want to dive back into being an artist again.  Very inspirational.  (no homo   ) 

[Le Chuck]

Yep, silver then blue over.  Used automotive thinline tape.  Gives a great pop and nice even lines and curves.  That's just the base paint after sanding.  Didn't clear coat yet    Progressive steel wool man. 

[jdbailey1206]

......Didn't clear coat yet    Progressive steel wool man.

       

[Rick]

That's just the base paint after sanding.  Didn't clear coat yet    Progressive steel wool man.

I steal so many great ideas from threads like this, it should be illegal. (Shouldn't you get to it, then? You know, instead of posting here?)

 


Seriously though, great work.

[Maximus]

i want to say something smart ass but I just can't this is simply too good 

[darthpaul]

Beautiful work, I wish I had your patience

[lcmgadgets]

Patience, yeah, I could use some of that. But it takes so long!

[Le Chuck]

R2Emu has been fitted with a restraining bolt to ensure he doesn't wander off saving the galaxy.  Need to install the PJ and make sure it works through the lens, if not I can just pop it out.  I took some shine off him as he didn't match the rest of the build, I think it's pretty seamless now. 

[kahlid74]

Dude, I have that same edger!  It works alright.  Blades degrade quickly when you hit rocks.

[Le Chuck]

Got the projector installed and all the wiring squared away.  Had to lose the lens as it wasn't remotely optically clear.  I'll try and find another one but I'll wait until I upgrade the PJ.  Now that I have a fully working proof of concept I'll start shopping for a projector that has the ass to really make this build worthwhile. 

[emphatic]

This is just golden. 

[PL1]

This is just golden. 

Wrong droid. 


Scott

[degenatrons]

R2Emu has been fitted with a restraining bolt to ensure he doesn't wander off saving the galaxy.  Need to install the PJ and make sure it works through the lens, if not I can just pop it out.  I took some shine off him as he didn't match the rest of the build, I think it's pretty seamless now. 

Me chaade su goodie.

[BadMouth]

I definitely wouldn't do drink-holders on the CP with that opening for the fan on top. 

What's next, the CP or back to the speeder bike?

[Maximus]

R2 is looking a bit too pretty,  how about giving him that 'been busy saving the galaxy' look

[Le Chuck]

I am abandoning MALA for this build.  You use an FE for years, come to understand the ins, outs, and limitations and when you decide to move on it's hard.  This is a major departure for me but MALA isn't able to provide what I'm looking for in this build.  I think the major killer for is the difficulty in handling animation.  I've downloaded the trial of Maximus FE started playing with the layout designer.  So far it looks like it can give me what I'm after with a bit of tweaking but I'll know for sure over this weekend.

My build focus at this time is to finish the software, then the CP.  At that time R2Emu will be playable and I'll take another break from this build series to pursue some other builds.  I have a few commissions on the horizon and a special project I've been tinkering with.  I think I've got my head wrapped around the color scheme for the CP and it will be a nice balance of old and new elements with some visual pop. 

R2 is looking a bit too pretty,  how about giving him that 'been busy saving the galaxy' look

I've been toying with that but I'm worried about my skills at distressing.  IMO it's one of the toughest things to do well in modeling.  I'd rather a new looking R2 that is sharp than a distressed R2 that is amateur.  I really want some blaster scorch marks and some sand staining but we'll see what I'm able to accomplish. 

I definitely wouldn't do drink-holders on the CP with that opening for the fan on top. 

What's next, the CP or back to the speeder bike?

That's a concern as it is a straight shot to some sensitive components.  It's in consideration for sure and may require some mitigation to the internal structure of the dome.  Good looking out tho! 

[Le Chuck]

Rough draft of main select screen.  Everything will branch down from this. The three selection categories are 3D objects that move so their rendering is a bit different than the logo.  I'm still playing with settings. The traces off the rebel emblem pulse and the emblem rotates as well (special thanks to OND and deiby_ybied for that logo). 

Get me some good feedback before I get too far down the road to turn back.  Thanks!

[yotsuya]

That 'Arcade Icons' looks out of place colorwise.

[Superfrog]

Great layout 

If Arcade Icons are just a watermark, then it's ok, otherwise delete it  The layout fits perfect to the drone, the arcade icons logo not.

If you like Films better than Movies, I would close the M and S from the word Films just like you did with games and music.

that was my point of view 

Great build needs a great layout, and you did it again   


  damn smiley's 

[PL1]

That 'Arcade Icons' looks out of place colorwise.

+42

Have you considered changing the "Arcade Icons" text color to match the silver/gray of the other text?


Scott

[Le Chuck]

I wakeup to great feedback - awesome!

Good catch on the floating S in FILMS. I'll get that hooked in. I prefer the term Movies but the letter count doesn't fit.

AI logo is just for uploads, tho it will be on the initial welcome screen. I'll play with the coloring - silver and blue natch.

It's built in CS5. I'm having to get it to swf. Gif conversion is too lossy for what I want. I may have to isolate all the moving bits into a transparency and overlay them that way. I opened the psd in Flash Pro and it looked like crap, dunno.  Need more exp with that.  More to follow a I iron things out with MA. This will be made available upon completion of R2Emu.

[Felsir]

Just a thought; isn't the letter "M" pronounces "em" in English (I'm not a native speaker). so would R2-MU fit closer to the two letter naming convention those astromechs have while still sounding like "artoo-emuu"?

[Le Chuck]

Just a thought; isn't the letter "M" pronounces "em" in English (I'm not a native speaker). so would R2-MU fit closer to the two letter naming convention those astromechs have while still sounding like "artoo-emuu"?

That's a valid recommendation.  Let me play with it.  I've grown pretty attached to R2Emu at this point (the longer naming convention is very common in the astromech building community) but R2-MU definitely has some merits.  Thanks!

Edit:  That didn't take long.  Name officially changed to R2-MU.  You rock Felsir!

[Maximus]

R2-MU is perfect, great catch

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

[Le Chuck]

Finally got the resolution issues ironed out with Maximus arcade.  Well, the problem wasn't with Maximus, it was with my exporting.  After I do my work in PSCS5.1 I have to export it as an image sequence into FlashProCS5.5 and then covert that into SWF.  Just have to make sure the stage is formatted correctly in Flash to get a crisp animation.  Wouldn't be that bad but rendering times are killing me.  Slow work.  I should be done with the three main menu screens I need (one for each selection) soon, then I can move on to designing the other eleventy screens I need.  What have I gotten myself into lol.

[Superfrog]

What have I gotten myself into lol.

 

That's what I told myself all the time........ Why not using a already made artwork for my popeye bartop 
Nooooooooo, I want to do it over and over again by myself, till it's spot on... 

Just like you talked about the dirty look..... when your not sure about the end result, keep it clean 

[Le Chuck]

Intro screen (center emblem animated)

Menu select screens are complete.  Need to nug on the game select screens.  Will probably use this same screen for the loading and just remove the text. 

[AlienInferno]

Love the work you're putting into the FE.  Very nice.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I997 using Tapatalk 2

[Felsir]

Edit:  That didn't take long.  Name officially changed to R2-MU.  You rock Felsir!

Happy to contribute, loving this build!

[mike boss]

I've never even seen Star Wars but I can certainly appreciate this build.
Holy f**k is it ever awesome.
WOW !

[Maximus]

I've never even seen Star Wars but I can certainly appreciate this build.

[BadMouth]

I've never even seen Star Wars but I can certainly appreciate this build.

(not sure if serious)

I hadn't seen The Empire Strikes Back until a couple years ago....on basic cable...with commercials. 
I still haven't seen any of the new ones.

I've seen Spaceballs several dozen times.

[PL1]

I've never even seen Star Wars but I can certainly appreciate this build.

Well, this certainly is Sirius.



Scott

[jdbailey1206]

Wah wah waaaaaaah.

[Rick]

Geez, just how many of these puns are we gonna see?

[jdbailey1206]

[CoryBee]

Griff's threads are one of the most derailed I have seen. And that is coming from a guy who derails his own thread from time to time.

[Le Chuck]

Griff's threads are one of the most derailed I have seen. And that is coming from a guy who derails his own thread from time to time.
I'm so high right now I have no idea where I am

FTFY

I've never even seen Star Wars but I can certainly appreciate this build.
Holy f**k is it ever awesome.
WOW !

Thanks!  I'm still plugging away at this, I've put in way too much work to have a mediocre CP so I'm taking my time, and by that I mean I've completely finished it once only to decide to change the colors and have completely ripped it down and am starting again.  Just the CP, not R2 - he is comfortably waiting in the corner for me to get my tail in gear in that condescending way that only the artificial can master. 

[CoryBee]

Oh ---steaming pile of meadow muffin---, my sorrys man. Still holds true though. 

I love this build, erhm, both of them. After being fascinated with your R2-D@ I had all but forgotten about what this thread was originally for...

[Maximus]

Griff's threads are one of the most derailed I have seen. And that is coming from a guy who derails his own thread from time to time.

I LIKE CHOCOLATE PUDDING!!!!

[Rick]

I LIKE CHOCOLATE PUDDING!!!!

I will refrain from posting Dean from Supernatural, but yeah, that's where my mind went to.

[jdbailey1206]

[Le Chuck]

So yeah, I've totally convinced myself that the CP wasn't bad ass enough.  Going to rebuild from scratch and try again.  Must be badassier!

Oh and Cosby Sweater!

[ark_ader]

So it seems this thread has gone dark.  What is the status and did you put that projector into that little droid?

[Le Chuck]

Not dark, just dim maybe.  I am still redoing the drink tray cp.  I'm on iteration three now.  I'll get it on this one I think.  I have a bunch of different wood working to do this weekend but I should get some traction on this again here soon.  Thanks for the bumb!

[yaksplat]

Might i suggest cocobolo?

[ChadTower]

Might i suggest cocobolo?

cocobolo - dark side trollololololololololo

[CoryBee]

Might i suggest cocobolo?

[Louis Tully]

v

[ViriiGuy]

Omg... I am so friggin jealous right now!! R2Emu is AWESOME!!!

[Le Chuck]

For those who don't follow BYOAC as religiously as others the New Republic Flight Trainer will not be completed.  See here: http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,137798.msg1422637.html#msg1422637

The short short version:  I canned it for personal reasons. 

I did get R2-MU up and working - which was great and all, but without the speeder the project felt half complete...because it was.  Well my Starfighter build needed a computer so I ripped half the guts out of R2-MU and did some research and soul searching.  You know what that soul searching led to?  A deep and dark desire to have draught beer in the garage - aaaaaand might as well have a blue tooth speaker system too and wouldn't you know R2 has speakers. 

After several months of doing other things I finally go around to completing R2-AU.  He serves delicious liquid gold and is an Auburn fan.





He serves from a 5l draught keg (Heineken or New Castle) but will likely be upgraded with a CO₂ system eventually to serve gravity brews as well (We have some decent micro breweries on the river).  He also is a blue-tooth enable speaker system.  Yes the tap is a light saber and yes I know it's Vader's and not Luke's.  It was the candle holder available from thinkgeek and looks tons better than one of those plastic jobbies from Wally-World while being a 1/5 of the price of other metal ones.

He has a chiller built in and is battery capable tho right now he is decidedly corded. 

It took me a while to get the fittings straight and going from those compressed non-standard draughtkegs to regular tower is no easy feat but doable with the right connections and a lot of clamps.  You're probably saying - well isn't beer going to get all over R2?  Yep.  He wipes up and it just adds patina.  He's not a display piece - trust me, he has a few warts and little beer juice will only add a rich layer of filth befitting a droid such as him. 

Oh, and in case you're wondering the maßkrug is crafted by my old landlord, a porzellanfabrik in Bavaria, for my unit, Eagle 2/2 SCR.  I have a lidded one that is engraved but this is my drinker. 

[DeLuSioNal29]

Brilliant!

[Slippyblade]

Ok, this is a worthy re-purpose of an amazing project!  Good on ya!

[BGoulette]

It took me a minute to realize that no, there isn't a girl seated atop the light saber tap...

[BadMouth]

Gonna show pictures of this to people and say "I once owned that tap tower."   

[Rick]

Gonna show pictures of this to people and say "I once owned that tap tower."   

"See this R2-D2 kegerator? I messaged the guy that made it, to say 'nice job!' He actually said, 'Thanks!' How awesome is that??!"

[BadMouth]

Gonna show pictures of this to people and say "I once owned that tap tower."   

"See this R2-D2 kegerator? I messaged the guy that made it, to say 'nice job!' He actually said, 'Thanks!' How awesome is that??!"

I'll be down at the community center with the man who met Andy Griffith.

[Vigo]

I brought Bo Jackson a cup of water at a restaurant I worked at. Cup. Of. Water. Had ice in it too. Without that water, he might have died of heat exhaustion. So, I pretty much saved Bo Jackson's life. True story, bro!

[Le Chuck]

Gonna show pictures of this to people and say "I once owned that tap tower."   

That you did.  A piece of the legend.

Sold at a great price too I might add.  Fist bumps and high fives all around!

I brought Bo Jackson a cup of water at a restaurant I worked at. Cup. Of. Water. Had ice in it too. Without that water, he might have died of heat exhaustion. So, I pretty much saved Bo Jackson's life. True story, bro!

My mother swears that Sean Connery felt her up while riding the London Underground in 1984.  True story. 

[Rick]

My mother swears that Sean Connery felt her up while riding the London Underground in 1984. True story.

When I was in my early teens, I volunteered at a local Muscular Dystrophy Telethon, and got to work with Billy Van. I didn't realize at the time that he was famous for playing on Canadian favourites, "The Hilarious House of Frightenstein" and computer show "Bits and Bytes" with Luba Goy. (The Hilarious House of Frightenstien is also famous for the fact that they had guest star Vincent Price - I ---steaming pile of meadow muffin--- you not - film 400 segments over the course of 4 days, for $13,000.)

[Maximus]

I just fell off my chair in awe and a jealous rage, this is by far the most epic Keggerator in the Universe.

[alfonzotan]

War Eagle, and May The Force-- and the Gus Bus--be with you.