If there is one object I’d like to have, it’s certainly a Tabletop from Nintendo. I remember playing one of those when I was about ten years old and really enjoyed playing this beauty. The problem is that today, I’m not sure of which kidney I’m going to sell to get one in good conditions. So, I had to build one by myself. COMPONENTS_ For this project, the components are pretty basic. The trick is the use of a NESPI case+ to save time (and money) on electronics. Note that it’s possible to make one with the NESPI Case basic. So we have : – A NESPI case+ – A Raspberry PI ( used a 3B+ for thermal purpose ) – 6 red Sanwa SDM-18 push buttons ( the same one I used in my Pi_Commander ) – A small joystick like CV4-YQ-04R2G ( exists under several names, with better quality ) – A NES “START SELECT” silicone buttons and some protoboard to make the contactors – An 800×480 HDMI 5″ screen – A Flat HDMI ribbon ( the same one I used in my Pi_Commander ) – A PAM 8302 for sound – A rectangular speaker, salvaged from an old screen with integrated speakers – In my souvenirs, there was a magnifying lens, so I get a Fresnel lens from the Quanum FPV V2 upgrade which got the perfect size for this project. Not mandatory, but gives an HUGE plus to the experiment. Obviously, some wires, some Duponts et some screws. The cool thing is that you can use the micro screws from the NESPI case. For the other screws, it’s 2.5 et 3mm diameter. Note that this is a first version. I’m finalizing the V2 which should cost less and have some improvements such as : – Custom PCB with soft touch buttons – An analog...
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- May 17, 2020You certainly saw the Tomy RaceCab, an arcade version of the Tomy Racing Turbo toy dedicated to racing games. It gaves me an idea, why not doing the same for air combat simulation ! Fortunatly, some jet fighter cockpit toys where made by Tomy and others. I just needed to put some Recalbox in it to create a Jet fighter simulator ! You can see it in action here. COMPONENTS_ Roughly for this project, I needed : – A jet fighter cockpit toy such as “Sky Commander” – An arcade joystick looking like those you can find on Jet Fighters – A Sanwa SDM-18 push button – A tactile push button – A Raspberry Pi 3A+ – A 4″ 800×480 HDMI TFT screen – A Flat HDMI ribbon – A PAM 8403 – A speaker – A cob LED – A female Micro USB connector – A switch And some resistors and wires. 3D PRINTS_ For this project I needed to adapt some stuff. First : The screen. The original screen was an opaque filter fixed by 3 screws. I had to adapt the frame to be able to install the TFT. Second : Joystick. The original base from the stick was way too large to fit into the case. I wanted to keep the original PCB, which was installed under the control plate. So I had to build a new base, smaller than the original in 3 parts to fit into the toy, without damaging the control plate. Then I’ve changed the microswitches to have a better sensibility for the controls. This is the gusset. Not essential but more aesthetic. I’ve printed it with NinjaFlex for it to deform while using the controls. Then I printed some random RPI3 A+ case to maintain the PI into the toy. ELECTRONICS_ This...
- April 14, 2020I’m a big Zelda fan since the first one, I always wanted a cool Zelda themed object. As I like retrogmaing, swords and shiny glowing stuff, it was natural that I build this retrogame station with a Raspberry Pi and Recalbox, that boots when putting the sword into. You can see it in action on my youtube channel. COMPONENTS_ For the electronics, I’ve used : – A Raspberry Pi3B (I advise you to use a Pi3B+ for cooling purpose) – An Arduino Nano – A Micro USB connector – A micro-switch – A Neutrik HDMI connector – A HMDI ribbon – 11 adressable LEDs – 2 squared neodyme magnets 5*2 – A male Jack cable – A femal Jack connector And some wires, screws and threads. 3D PRINTED PIECES_ This project is composed by 2 parts : The pedestal where the Raspberry Pi stands and the sword. I decomposed the case in 3 parts : – Base – Body – Lid There are other pieces for the switch, the HDMI and the Triforce. The sword has 6 pieces : – The body in 2 parts – The pommel and grip, with a piece to attach them – The end of the sword where the magnet fits You can order one by contacting me.You can find the STLs here. ARDUINO, LEDS AND CODE_ I start by preparing LEDs and Arduino, I have to install the code. For this project, I need 2 libraries : Adafruit neopixel and Arduino thread. There are 11 LEDs, 9 yellows for the Triforce et 2 blues that will light the sword. I wanted them to fade-in fade-out but at 2 different frequences. I’ll plug DATA cable to PIN 5. Here is the code : #include <Adafruit_NeoPixel.h> #include <Thread.h> //define NeoPixel Pin and Number of LEDs #define PIN 5...
- April 4, 2020I always wanted to have an assistant. Well, after a long research, I had to face the truth : I have to build one by myself. Here it is : The Macintouch ! It’s an articulated artoy, looking like a Macintosh with some electonics in it for making it alive. It’s a mix from an artoy i’ve made few years ago and the “Adafriend” from Adafruit. This little guy reacts as you bumps his head thanks to a vibration sensor. It has several moods : Neutral, happy, angry and sad. It makes some sounds and whistle songs when drunk happy. PARTS_ For the electronics you’ll need : – The Adafruit Pro trinket 5V – The Adafruit Backpack Lipo – The Adafruit 8*8 LED Matrix – A fast vibration sensor SW-18010P – One 3.7V 500Mah Lipo – A 7*7 self lock switch 6 pins – A 12mm buzzer – Two 2.5*4mm metalic inserts with two 2.5*8mm screws – A 2.5*20mm screw You can use other brand parts but those fits perfectly on this project. For the arms and legs, you’ll need : – Some silicone/rubber hose (Diam. 7mm) – Some thick copper wire 3D PRINTS_ The structure is composed by : – The box in two parts : front and back – The screen support and bezel where fits the screen – The power switch with support (notice that the support doesn’t appear on the upper picture) – Hands and shoes You will find STLs here. These STLs are FREE ! But you can help me buying materials to make more stuff here ! You can also order a fully working unit by contacting me. ASSEMBLY Well, for the wiring, I will not translate it. I assume that you speak a good english so here is the wiring tutorial from Adafruit. Now, the screen. Insert the matrix on the support,...
- March 29, 2020As I am kind of active on Recalbox community, I needed a small setup that fits on my desk to be able to make some tests to answer questions. So I decided to build a “desktop” Recalbox. HARDWARE_ The hardware is pretty simple : – A raspberry Pi3B – A 5 inch HDMI 800×480 screen – HDMI connector – Some small screws Don’t forget averything you need to make it work (5V 3A power supply , SD card).You can find the screen at “Bangalibest”. 3D PRINTED PARTS_ The frame is made up of : – 2 pieces for the frame – 2 pieces for the case – 1 piece for the support You can find the STL here. These STLs are FREE ! But you can help me buying materials to make more stuff here ! Everything is simple to build. We start to put the screen on the frame. Then we install the case behind the screen and insert the PI on the case. Beware to align correctly the GPIO pins in the GPIO slot from the screen. The two HDMI ports has to be aligned face to face. Close the case, put everything on the support and TADAAAA, you’re done. About 10mn of work. CONFIGURATION_ To get the screen to work correctly, you’ll have to change some lines on the config.txt. You can open a terminal and type : sudo nano /boot/config.txt or connect in SSH via putty to modify the file directly. Then you’ll have to change the following lines : disable_overscan=0 # uncomment to force a specific HDMI mode (this will force VGA)hdmi_group=2hdmi_mode=1hdmi_mode=87hdmi_cvt=800 480 60 6 0 0 0 CONCLUSION_ This is a fast and effective build, if your desk is like mine, with tons of stuff on it. I did not configured the touch screen because I’m using it as a retrogame station under Recalbox. But...
- March 19, 2020I just got the 7W Ortur laser. Well, 7W are big words, because this is for the consumption, not the engraving power … It seems to be around 2000mW … or how to play with words to make sales … The frame_ First thing to do is changing the frame, fortunately, this is a pretty simple frame, which will define the working area. And it’s made with aluminium profiles 40*20 and 20*20. Pretty handy, these are the ones you can find on most of chinese 3D printers. So go shopping at “bangalibest” and here it is ! For my project, I bought one 40cm long 40*20 profile and one 50cm long 20*20 profile. The laser is mounted on the 20*20, the 40*20 carries the steppers. The hard thing was to tap the threads for the supports. I don’t know if tapping threads by hand is hard or that’s because I’m a noob but I had hard times to do it. It works but the thread is not perfect. I’m making a second version that doesn’t need tapping threads, it will use V-slots to make it waaaaay easier. Supports_ I modeled those supports to print them. To make it simpler I scanned them with my desktop scanner/printer. Pretty handy. Once they were scanned I vectorized them, then extruded. I needed to make them bigger to avoid balancing while the new frame is much bigger. Here is the STL . As I mentionned, a second version is on the way to avoid thread tapping. Belt_ It uses a GT2 Belt. This is the belt you will find on every chinese printer, so you will easily find them at “bangalibest”. For this project I bought 2m, just to be sure I don’t miss some. To connect the ends, I found the perfect clip on Thingiverse. You have to be...