Friday, November 1, 2013

MAMEFrame - The battery-powered MAME system

Tools:
For the Raspberry Pi 
A laptop with an SD card reader

For the controller box
A saw - a table saw is best, but a skilsaw will work
A screw driver to attach the hinge
Sand paper
3/8" Counter sink (optional)
A drill
A set of drill bits - (really, all you should need is a couple around 1/4" and 3/8") for pilot holes when building the controller box and mounting the joysticks
A 6mm hex key to screw in the blind hole screws
1 1/8" hole saw - another type of drill bit that looks like a cylinder with teeth
hacksaw - to cut the hinge and the electronics mount

For installing the wires on the switches
Wire cutters
Wire strippers
Crimping tool (or pliers)

Parts

Phase 1 - Controller Box
3/4" plywood good one side (about 1/2 a sheet) $26 per sheet
piano hinge from Lee Valley $7.00
rubber feet $4.00
Wood plugs $3.00
Box of screws (I used 1 1/2" drywall screws) $3.00
(optional) Primer and Paint $51.00
Acrylic, wood or some other thin, non-conductive materialsmall piece (4" x 4") plexiglass, .  This will be used to mount the iPAC and RPi to the inside of the cabinet.
Adhesive feet  $2.00
(optional) Roll of velcro $7.00
Total: $103.00

Phase 1 - Arcade Parts
I get all my parts from Ultimarc (http://www.ultimarc.com/ ) in the UK.  This setup will be for 2 players.  Each player will have a 4/8way joystick, 6 buttons, a player start button, and there will be on Add Coin button.  Ultimarc are great to deal with, and the shipping is really quick.  The controller parts required are:

* I-PAC2 Interface - this component acts as the brains in a way.  All buttons and joystick controls are connected to this, and this interface then plugs into your computer.  The I-PAC works right out of the box using the MAME standard for controls.  It basically takes button pushes, joystick movements, etc, and converts them to keystrokes, then send them to MAME running on your computer.  We will reassign two buttons later on.  It comes with software that lets us do so.  

* 14  Game Buttons - (only 12 are shown) I used the Happ Classic Pushbuttons.  Note that the buttons from Ultimarc come with switches, but some other sources may not.  Don't bother putting the switches on your buttons until they are in the controller platform.  The switches that come from the Happ buttons from Ultimarc are E-Switch.

*  1 of each Player Start 1 and 1 Player 2 start Buttons - They come in white and black

* 2  Add Coin Button - This is really just another Happ button like above, but I picked a different color.  Strictly speaking, you can get away without this, as you can program the I-PAC to send the 'add coin' keystroke using existing buttons and movements.  I think by default it's Player 1 start + Player 1 button 1.  I wouldn't recommend it though.  Just buy the extra button.

* 2  Mag-Stik Plus Joysticks - I picked these because they can easily be changed from 4 way to 8 way.  Some games require 8 directions and some don't really work well with 8 directions enabled, so it's nice to be able to switch back and fourth without having to get at the bottom of the joystick.  These are expensive.  If you want to save some cash, get a cheaper joystick.

* Mounting hardware for Mag-Stik Plus - A nice kit for mounting the joystick to the controller platform, assuming your platform is wood.  You could probably get away without this if you wanted to save a few bucks.  Note: If you order this, be sure to get size that matches your joystick (6mm for the Mag-Stik)

* 1  Daisy-Chain Harness - again, if you want to save a few bucks, you can probably do without this, but this is a really nice premade kit that just allows you to connect the ground from all the button switches together.  We'll cover this more later, but each switch (and direction on a joystick) has a ground, a Normally Open, and Normally Closed.  When we wire these, all the grounds can be chained together from switch to switch, but the Normally Open  connector must be connected directly to the IPAC.  This is why we have both the Daisy Chain, and other crimp connectors.  Note that this harness must match the size of the switches on your buttons.  This may differ by brand, but it 6.3mm for the Happ buttons I'm using.  Also note that switches are included with the Happ buttons listed below.

* 1 pack Crimp Connectors - These are the connectors that connect to the joysticks and switches.  As with the daisy-chain harness,  these connectors must match the size of the switches on your buttons.

Total parts list (prices in Canadian Dollars):

Classic Pushbuttons from Happ Controls. Orange 2 x 1.95 = $3.90 (only one shown in photo)
Classic Pushbuttons from Happ Controls. Red 1.95 x 4 = $7.80
Classic Pushbuttons from Happ Controls. Blue 1.95 x 4 = $7.80
Classic Pushbuttons from Happ Controls. Black 1.95 x 4 = $7.80
Classic Pushbuttons from Happ Controls. White 1.95 x 4 = $7.80 (not shown in photo)
Crimp Connectors 6.3 mm 9.00 x 1 = $9.00
Daisy-Chain Harness 6.3mm (1/4in) Connectors 14.00 x 1 = $14.00
Joystick Mounting Kits 6mm for Mag-Stik 7.00 x 2 = $14.00
Mag-Stik Plus Red 33.00 x 2 = $66.00
Start Logo Pushbuttons Black. Start1 1 x 2.90 = $2.90
Start Logo Pushbuttons Black. Start2 1 x 2.90 = $2.90
Sub-Total: $134.17
Shipping: $27.00
Total: $161.15

Note this cost doesn't include the two white buttons, or the second Coin button.  I added the 2 player coin later in the project after I realized that some games actually require the player 2 coin in order to go into 2 player mode.  Also, the two white buttons are used as Enter and Escape.  These are absolutely required either, but I highly recommend them.  They make the MAME controller playable without having to know the secret combinations for Enter (Player 2 Start + Player 1 left) and Escape (Player 1 start + Player 2 Start).

Phase 2 - Parts for the Raspberry Pi

Raspberry Pi from Lee's Electronics 1 x $45.00 (for Phase 2) - this is the amazing little computer that will run MAME.

8GB SD Card 1 x $9.99 - There's debate about the best class of card to use.  I'm using a cheap class 4.  This will be running the brains of the system, and I've read a few articles that discuss how different classes of cards affect speed.

Micro USB B to USB A cable 1 x $9.99 - This will provide the power from the projector (USB A) to the RPi (Micro USB).  Don't mistake Mini USB for Micro USB.  

Total Phase 2 Costs $64.98

Phase 3 - Parts for the Projector

1/4" x 1 1/4" bolt to mount the projector

Self Adhesive closed foam weather stripping for the projector mount $4.48

(Optional) 1/8" Headphones stereo splitter 1 x $4.00 (I got mine from Lee's Electronics, but I can't find a link on their site)

(Optional) Old headphones that you can cut apart (free) or 1/8" Headphones stereo extension cables 2 x $16.0 - I put the headphones in Phase 3 because I connect the splitter to the projector rather then the RPi.  I noticed that I was getting a lot of noise when I ran the audio directly from the RPi, however, the audio from the project was fine.  I think maybe because it's a digital signal from the HDMI cable, as opposed to the analog signal from the RPi?  I don't really know.

Brookstone Pocket Projector from Brookstone.com 1 x $329.00 (Phase 3) - this is the key to making the system portable and battery powered, as the projector contains a rechargeable battery that can power the Raspberry Pi and the iPAC.
Plus taxes and duties: $38.46
Plus shipping: $36.84
Total projector cost: $395.79

Total Phase 3 Cost: $420.27


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