Introduction: Retro Arcade Machine

For our Engineering course me and 3 other students had to design and make a Retro Arcade machine, we got a few demands and wishes from our teacher and they are the following.

Demands

  • At least a 10-inch TFT screen, preferably a colour screen.
  • Maximum mass is 15 kg.
  • Stable mountable on a table, so that children can’t push it over (think about safety!)
  • Parts must be made with a laser cutter so that parts fit according to professional standards (with a small tolerance).
  • Max. volume 50 x 50 x 50 cm.
  • The whole project has to be documented and placed on: https://www.instructables.com/
  • You use a Raspberry Pie (school provides this).
  • You need to write a log file, which you need to support your learning process and which you need to live up to all the Assessment Criteria (Proof Of Competency Assessment Form).
  • You work in a (unique) team of four students.
  • You use Self-assessment for which you’ll use the non-crossed out Assessment Criteria, which you’ll find in chapter 3 the Proof of Competence Assessment Form.
  • Within 150, - budget

Wishes

  • The volume of 45 x 45 x 45 cm or smaller.

Supplies

For this project, you will need a couple of things.

Tools:

  • Laser Cutter (a jigsaw also works but it will look less nice)
  • 3D Printer
  • Laptop/PC (with Raspberry Pi imager installed)
  • Soldering iron
  • Wood Glue
  • Sanding Paper

Parts/Supplies:

  • 2x MDF Wood 122x61cm
  • 2x Plexiglass 36x14cm
  • 1x Raspberry Pi (Preferably a Pi 4 but the Pi 3 will work fine)
  • 8x Arcade Buttons 28mm
  • 1x Joystick
  • 1x USB Controller
  • 1x LED strip 5050 3m
  • 1x LED strip controller
  • 1x OLD 17inch Monitor

Step 1: Cut Materials

The first step is to cut out the MDF with a laser cutter or jigsaw, bellow we included the DXF files needed for the laser cutter. Then cut the plexiglass plates to 36x14cm

Attachments

Step 2: Assemble Arcade

In this step we are going to assemble the arcade.


Grab all the MDF panels and glue them together with wood glue.

Then Hot glue the Plexiglass to the sides of were the honeycomb pattern was cut out.

Put in the monitor and screw it in on the sides ( NOTE: Not all monitors will fit due to different mounting holes or size.


We unfortunately, forgot to take pictures of this step as we were already in the last weeks of the project.

Step 3: Electronics Parts

In this last step, you have to connect all the Buttons to the USB Controller, then Plug in the LED Strip to the LED strip controller, and plug in your monitor.


After that you need to follow the RetroPIE guide on how to install the software on the Raspberry PI

https://retropie.org.uk/