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Control Panel

The parts finally arrived!

All "essential" parts have arrived. Time to create a system...

This is a picture of the Ultimarc T-Stick-Plus Joysticks. Yes, I can verify that they truly are physical toggle switches you can switch at run-time to determine what mode to play in (4-way (Pac-Man) or 8-way (Time-Pilot). you simply pull up on the joystick and rotate the head...Its that simple...

Here is a picture of the Happ Super Joystick...

A close-up of a Happ Horizontal purple switch. Cost $2.00 though...

Add an Over/Under Door (+$130 bucks)...

Here are the special Canadian coin mechs you need for this project if building in Canada..

 Some "keyed alike" locks for the Front coin door panel and the rear panel for the monitor...

I found this button template on the web. I decided to use this configuration for the mobile Cabinet... All holes (including joystick holes) are drilled with

Here I am, using the template as my drilling guide for all the holes. Here I am laying out the Player 2 controls. Note: The tool you see is an awl. This is used to mark the center of the hole from the template. Later, I will use this as my guide for the drill bit.

Here are some of the tools you'll need for this part of the project. Some crimps (from Radio Shack), Wire (I used 16 guage). Perhaps for the next CP, I'll use 22 guage and go with smaller crimps. These ones are a little big.

Some quick disconnect crimps. These were too big. I'll get some better ones at a electronics store later this week for the real panel

Here is the template I got off of Lusid's download page. I just printed the template off on a regular 8 1/2 x 11 printer and voila, instant layout for a control panel joystick and button cluster. I may modify this design in my real control panel as in Lusid panel, you can actually move the buttons around (in Microsoft Word)

A spade bit is a definate must. DON'T use a hole saw if at all possible. Hole saws take a long time to cut, and burn the wood (I know, I've used them in the past). If using the Happ horizontal buttons, buy a 1 and 1/8 " spade bit. This spade bit cut through the MDF like a hot knife through butter.

Picture of laying out the control panel template. Just fix it to the surface, and punch holes in the center of the button/joystick template. This is where you will be drilling.

Here is a close up picture of the Player 1 controls.

It took me a bit to realize that lining the joystick over the center of the joystick hole is tricky.

Tip: Draw horizontal and vertical center lines for the joystick. This makes lining up the joystick later on easier when drilling the 1/4 " holes that will hold the carriage bolts.

Note: I used the same spade bit to cut the joystick hole. I also used the 1/4" to cut the holes for the carriage bolts as I am using 1 and 1/2 inch 1/4 carriage bolts to mount the joystick to the CP. 

A woodworkers best friend, dust... (although we prefer pine, basswood or oak to MDF).

One good thing about MDF. It does not splinter, and it is very easy to shape with a belt sander.

Control Panel Player 1 and Player 2 buttons and joystick cut out. I first drilled a 1/4" hole, then the cut with the spade bit. The 1/4" hole helps guide and keep the spade bit perfectly centered.

Tip: Use an electric drill for the spade bit as it has a lot more guts than a battery drill.

Ultimarc T-Stik Plus joysticks in place. The plan is starting to come together...

Micro switches installed in buttons. They are quite clicky...

Another view of Player 1 controls.

Before wiring up. Looks like a control panel to me.

Getting ready to wire...

Prepping the common wire. Cutting and stripping took quite a bit of time.

Installing the I-PAC. I ordered the mounting brackets. In this picture they are installed.

Crimping...

All commons are now wired. I took the advice of others on BYOAC and wired the Player 1 controls to one common, and the Player2 controls to another common. The I-PAC has two Ground/Common contacts. This will make debugging potential problems down the road easier to solve.

The final product. Looks messy and complicated, but actually, very simple.

And now for a couple of games of Joust!

Mobile Control Panel and Serial Cable Hack!

Oops! After testing out the control panel, button #4 on the Player 1 cluster was not working! After investigation, it turned out being a bad crimp job. As suspected, the crimps are too big and wire too thick.  So, I decided to re-wire the control panel.

While I was at it, I thought that It would be really nice if I could detach my control panel and put in another if I wanted to build another specialized control panel down the road.  Also, it would be nice to have a mobile control panel, meaning, I could bring it to my friends and plug it into their computer. Well, to have all this flexibility means that I cannot mount the I-PAC in the control pane, rather, it would need to be attached in the MAME cabinet.

I've seen other MAME cabinets use various types of connection methods including serial cables and IDE ribbon wire. I thought I would combine a serial cable with a wiring block to make the control panel easily detachable.

Here is a rough diagram of the potential design...

In this design, the I-PAC will be mounted in its own box (MDF Box for now). This Mobile I-PAC box will be attached to the inside of the MAME cabinet using velcro. t will have a PS/2 or USB cable running out of the Mobile I-PAC box to the computer, and will attacha hacked female 25 pin serial cable to connect with the control panel.

On the control panel side, I will wire all the buttons to a series of wiring blocks, and then attach the male part of the serial cable to the wiring blocks. This means I will be able to attach the Control Panel to the Mobile IPAC using the serial cable. Sounds like it will work. Because the I-PAC/2 has 28 connections, I will need a second serial cable to complete the connections. I decided to go with a 9 pin serial cable for this. Probably use this one for the system buttons (Esc, Tildy, Pause, etc, etc).

Next few pictures will show you how I did this...

I decided to purchase smaller wire (22 gauge) and smaller quick connectors.  I've decided that I will solder each quick connect joint. This definitely makes the electronics part of the project more solid and stable.

Here are the new quick connects I will be using. You may not be able get these smaller parts at Radio Shack or Home Depot. Look up a local electronics store in your area and buy what you need. I found Active Electronics in Ottawa on Merivale Ave (mear Kirkwood).

This is a multi meter tool. I will use this to test the connections to make sure they are working properly. You have to set it to the picture that looks like an AND-Gate.

Male and female part of an old 25 pin serial cable.

A close-up of the serial cable. Notice how each pin has its own color. Never knew this. This will be easier than I thought!

Notice the shielding around the bundle of wires. Never knew these things were shielded as well. The things you learn hacking...

Another picture of the hack...

Every color of the rainbow is here...

Underside picture of Control Panel

I bought some wiring blocks. Here they are installed on the control panel. I will run all the wired from the switches to the wiring block, then the wire serial cable to the other side of the wiring block.

Here I am preparing a wire for a solder...

Here I am wiring the wire to the wiring block...

And at last, here is the final layout of the control panel with the serial cables attached. Now to test it out with MAME... I used the multi-meter to test that the connections on both end of the serial cable were correct.

Here is the control panel dry fitted. Used the same technique as the cabinet by using 1x2 strapping. This shored everything up and makes everything very solid.  Still using the drywall screws...

Here is a view from the side of the control panel. I cut the top of the front and back piece on the table saw using a 9 degree angle. This makes using the control panel a little easier to use. To cur the side pieces, I used the skill saw, cut outside the line, then used the belt sander to sand down to the line... I would have needed to build a custom jig to use the table saw, and did not feel like it warranted it.

Here is a picture of the control panel with the piano hinge... I may buy some black metal pain and paint the hinge later on. The hinge gives me easy access to the control panel wiring later on.

Here I've added a piece to hide the monitor shelf...

Cut/Install Acrylic for Control Panel

To cut the button holes for the acrylic piece, I  sandwiched the acrylic between the control panel top and a scrap piece of MDF (I believe the coin door cutout!). The blue stuff is the acrylic.

I then used a electric drill and a 1 1/8" spade bit (the same bit used to cut the button/joystick holes) to cut out the acrylic holes by using the control panel as a  template. Make sure everything is lined up and clamp securely before starting to cut the acrylic holes...

Here is the acrylic drilled after the above process...

Another picture of the control panel....

Notice that I have counter sunk the carriage bolts into the MDF for the joystick holders on the CP. Since I used 1/4" carriage bolts, I used a 5/8 spade bit to cut the hole. This will allow me to layer the acrylic right over the carriage bolt holes. I touched up the counter synchs with melamine using a small painters brush.

I didn't like the silver bolt heads on the carriage bolts so I painted the tops of each carriage bolt black with the melamine paint. This had the effect of blending the carriage bolts into the black of the control panel, in effect, giving them less contrast.

Rewire Control Panel

The wiring is much more organized and screwed down with 1/4" mounting clips that I picked up at Active Electronics. This really securing the cabinet wiring in a good organized fashion.

  White Wires = joystick connects

   Red Wire  = Pushbutton connects

   Greed Wire = Ground