Rotating Arcade Monitor

Projects General Guidance
1

Hi everyone. :slight_smile:

I am new to Arduino and new to the forum.
Like many before me, I have built my own MAME arcade emulation cabinet. At the moment, I have a television mount holding the monitor in place and it can be rotated by hand. I would love to add a glass or plexi cover over the monitor so as to be more traditional to the old arcade machines but then I wouldn't be able to rotate my monitor. That's where Arduino comes in.

I have done tons of research and have seen the posts here and on forum.arcadecontrols.com/ etc. I see there are programs already written to do exactly what I want.
I am a total noob to all of this but I'm learning more every day. I have my cabinet built. I have my front end software (Hyperspin) working like a champ. I have my computer power button rewired and accessible from the control panel to turn the system on. I have the system shelled to boot into Hyperspin/shut down upon Hyperspin exit. The monitor rotation is the last piece in my crazy retro puzzle.

What I would love is a little guidance...

-Would the Arduino Starter Kit be enough for me to accomplish this project? I can get my monitor on a Lazy Susan type mount so there is little friction or resistance. Maybe that would help the motor...

-If the starter kit is not enough, could anyone recommend the parts I would need to get started?

Shabanoty is a member here who started this post: Automaticly rotating monitor - Home Automation - Arduino Forum but it was from back in 2012 and they never checked back in on the status of their project. I am basically trying to do the same thing.

Thanks VERY much everyone!!

2

The below discussion might be of interest.

http://forum.arduino.cc/index.php?topic=220418.0

3

zoomkat:
The below discussion might be of interest.

Appropriate Motor/Shield/Power for 1st timer's Lazy-Susan - Project Guidance - Arduino Forum

Thank you zoomkat. I did read through this post and it was somewhat inspiring and yet I was left a little confused. Like, what is a twin bearing servo? Please forgive my ignorance. Understood, I've taken on a project that's out of my scope. But I'm not quite sure how I would use the same parts as vjpcat. I'm just having a hard time wrapping my single brain cell around the idea...

Really, if I were directed to the parts, I'm sure I could make it work assuming the motor is strong enough, the software communicates, the world doesn't end first, you know what I mean... This same thing has been done before which is why I wanted to become involved with Arduino. I feel it can do some very cool stuff. I plan on ordering the beginner kit either way because I think it looks awesome. Maybe that's where I should start...

Here are some of the other links I've found helpful and inspiring..

http://www.hyperspin-fe.com/forum/showthread.php?25732-Mahrio-s-Rotating-Cabinet
He has the similar 'Lazy Susan' design with a wheel that spins the whole thing (see the last pic in the thread.) Pretty cool. I think the 'wheels parts' link in vjpcat's post would be perfect for the wheel parts he has shown here.

A video of one in testing

A well thought out but more difficult project

To be truthful, I don't care if the motor or mechanism communicates with my front end software. I would be happy with two single button pushes, one for vertical, one for horiz. Or a double action lever joystick or something would be fine. That way, the user could manually swap as necessary. If I could find a way to use Arduino, 2 buttons, a motor, some gears, etc and be able to power the whole thing without breaking the bank, that would equal arcade nirvana for me. I would even pay someone (or at least buy 'em a sixer) to put together a parts list...not to sound desperate or anything :smiley:

Thanks again for anyone reading this and willing to help.

4

For bare basics, you might get a stand like below to mount the monitor on, a cordless screwdriver to rotate the monitor, and control the motor direction with an on-off-on toggle switch from radio shack.

5

That video sounds like a stepper motor is turning the display.

6

zoomkat:
For bare basics, you might get a stand like below to mount the monitor on, a cordless screwdriver to rotate the monitor, and control the motor direction with an on-off-on toggle switch from radio shack.

I don't think that stand would even fit in my system but the cordless drill could be an option. Are you suggesting I take one apart and re-purpose the parts? They're generally battery powered so I would need to charge it periodically... The toggle switch would be no problem and I can see how that would work as a 'bare bones' approach.

histo:
That video sounds like a stepper motor is turning the display.

Not yet but that is exactly the type of suggestion I need. I looked up stepper motors and found this:

A stepper motor (or step motor) is a brushless DC electric motor that divides a full rotation into a number of equal steps. The motor's position can then be commanded to move and hold at one of these steps without any feedback sensor (an open-loop controller), as long as the motor is carefully sized to the application."
That sounds perfect. The motor is set to stop at the horiz and again at the vert. positions. Great. Now, what size rig would I need (that would be 'carefully sized to the application)?

It goes on to state:
"Stepper motor performance is strongly dependent on the driver circuit. Torque curves may be extended to greater speeds if the stator poles can be reversed more quickly, the limiting factor being the winding inductance. To overcome the inductance and switch the windings quickly, one must increase the drive voltage. This leads further to the necessity of limiting the current that these high voltages may otherwise induce."

I assume this is where Arduino would come into play. If I were to obtain an Arduino Uno and a stepper motor of the proper size, would that be a good start? What would be a good size motor to consider?

Also, I would still like to know what a twin bearing servo is. The only 'servo' I've ever used was in a nicer, hobbyist RC car. The 'servo' was a small metal arm that rotated forward or backward with the F/B push of the remote control thus making contact and sending the car forward or backward accordingly. There was also one for the L/R steering. Am I on the right track here?

**I really don't care if I have to sink more coin into this project. It's a good thing I've been saving my quarters all these years to play endless amounts of Galaga because they've come in handy for funding this whole thing :slight_smile:
I've had my share of trial and error, both on the physical build part and on the technical computer part so I'm prepared for failure and...eventually success.

Thanks everyone!!

7

Ok, I'm getting the grasp of this. I found this link: https://www.sparkfun.com/products/9238 which was extremely helpful. The 17 min long video goes through the differences between servo, stepper, and other motors in detail.
To everyone, sorry I'm clueless. :astonished: Please, please bear with me...

I like the idea of the accuracy of a stepper motor and getting it to stop with the monitor exactly level. But, it sounds like I wouldn't be able to program it as easily or use Arduino with it. Yes?

The servo (as you initially suggested zoomkat) would be great because it would work with Arduino and it would be strong enough for the application. So let's say I opted for this route, would this servo: Radio Control Planes, Drones, Cars, FPV, Quadcopters and more - Hobbyking be a good option or should I go with a different one. I know, for the cost, it's a no brainer.

8

Bottom line you will need to build/buy a fixture to hold your monitor and allow it to rotate very easily. Do that first, then work on the other project parts.