Space Harrier /OutRun DX Motor OpenBoard Project

ColinD

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You could just fatten those spokes up a little and leave the thermal relief if concerned, you get the best of both worlds then. Bear in mind there are generally 4 short spokes per pad (including IC's) and at least 2 or 4 pads on the power input depending on the connector you use. As John points out its low current so should be fine. It should be reasonably easy to look up the current ratings for tracks / spokes if you don't want to lose any sleep.

ColinD2018-07-09 11:17:48
 

NaokiS

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Ultimately it's not going to be too hard to desolder even if it came to that since it's not a huge ground plane type of deal and if most or all of it is socketed, it'd be a long while before replacing them would be nessecary
 

iamjimmi

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It was a pleasure to meet John and Colin today at NERG.

And John brought along the untested pro-type:

MotorBoard.jpg


Looks absolutely fantastic... Good look with the testing guys....
 

John Bennett

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Great to meet you, Colin and Neil too, Jim
smiley1.gif
. Respect to the vinyl Space Harrier soundtrack background too!

As for testing - I'd say weeks rather than months hopefully. It's 100% ready now (just successfully programmed the 22V10 GAL tonight
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), so I'll start tomorrow. Got to take it slow as it's got different components to the original* and I've also got to make up (and document) stuff to test it as I go through it. Got a few other things on the go too, but I'm mindful you've got to keep momentum up on stuff like this (so it will get done).

*You can use original parts, but we're shipping with modern alternatives (set by jumpers), so the GAL code is new, the MOSFETs are new, the TRIAC circuit is new... (and it might not all work)John Bennett2018-07-16 21:40:05
 

NaokiS

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John Bennett said:
Great to meet you, Colin and Neil too, Jim
smiley1.gif
. Respect to the vinyl Space Harrier soundtrack background too!

As for testing - I'd say weeks rather than months hopefully. It's 100% ready now (just successfully programmed the 22V10 GAL tonight
smiley16.gif
), so I'll start tomorrow. Got to take it slow as it's got different components to the original* and I've also got to make up (and document) stuff to test it as I go through it. Got a few other things on the go too, but I'm mindful you've got to keep momentum up on stuff like this (so it will get done).

*You can use original parts, but we're shipping with modern alternatives (set by jumpers), so the GAL code is new, the MOSFETs are new, the TRIAC circuit is new... (and it might not all work)

Of course it will blady work*
smiley36.gif


*= not actually garrenteed to work
 

John Bennett

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Little update.
I managed to find an hour or so to start making a (crap looking) test harness (the LED display shows the binary dial output). I used a doorbell transformer to get the low-voltage AC into the unit.
IMG_2008.JPG


and...

so far, it works.
smiley1.gif


The unit syncs to the 50Hz mains and tries to put out a pulse at the correct phase to control the motor triac.

I didn't have a probe to get the mains properly, so what you see is a rectified mains (imagine every other hump is upside down), but you can see the pulse intended for the triac. It's phase/frequency locked as the synchronisation is working.

IMG_2011.JPG


By adjusting the binary pot, I can move the pulse phase to various places in the positive and negative mains cycles (which will vary the speed and direction when it's all hooked up)
IMG_2012.JPG


So a relief. This means the majority of the logic is working (we've copied it correctly) and that the GAL22V10 reworking of the original PAL is working (for the motor drive stage anyway).

A bit of a way to go though - need to test the (new) triac driver stage, the (new) clutch MOSFET and all the limit signal feebacks. But at least the complicated bit looks OK.

Once the GAL is tested 100%, it also means people could use it in the original PCBs if we make up a socket adaptor. If there's interest, we could do this as a little spin-off project?John Bennett2018-07-20 17:41:04
 

clarkey

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John Bennett said:
Once the GAL is tested 100%, it also means people could use it in the original PCBs if we make up a socket adaptor. If there's interest, we could do this as a little spin-off project?

Great to see it's going well, is this the PAL for Space Harrier or Outrun (or are they the same?)

Personally I would love to have a backup PAL to try keep the original board going as well.
 

John Bennett

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Yes, should be the same PAL for both positions in both games.

Like I say, won’t be pin compatible, so it’ll have to sit in a little adaptor PCB.John Bennett2018-07-20 18:52:20
 

clarkey

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John Bennett said:
Yes, should be the same PAL for both positions in both games.

Like I say, won’t be pin compatible, so it’ll have to sit in a little adaptor PCB.

Small price to pay to keep an old board going.
 

John Bennett

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Thanks
smiley1.gif
.
I’m still doing bits of testing while I can (which involves making up more of the test harness each step).
So far, 100.0% correct - as well as the mains sync and motor pulses; the I/O, limit switches, all work end-to-end and knock off the motor pulses when expected.
So the only bits left are to try the triac circuit on a motor and to load up the ‘clutch’ circuit. I need to populate all the bits to test it and hope the doorbell transformer can hack the current, but will hopefully be ready for testing in a cab soon.John Bennett2018-07-30 13:08:04
 

Darth Nuno

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Maybe I missed it in the previous posts/pages, but does this could be also useful for a GLOC DX?
I always thought SH / Out Run / Power Drift and GLOC shared the same parts regarding the motion section?
Darth Nuno2018-07-30 17:01:37
 

NaokiS

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Darth Nuno said:
Maybe I missed it in the previous posts/pages, but does this could be also useful for a GLOC DX?
I always thought SH / Out Run / Power Drift and GLOC shared the same parts regarding the motion section?

I think it's been discussed in the past but maybe not here but they aren't the same boards i don't believe

Edit: They're entirely differentNaokiS2018-07-30 18:31:43
 

John Bennett

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There’s pics of the GLOC board on page 8.

http://www.ukvac.com/forum/space-harrier-outrun-dx-motor-openboard-project_topic363717_page8.html

I shouldn’t overcommit to a dozen parallel projects, but after this is done and dusted, I’d be interested in tackling the GLOC board, if there’s demand.

I’ve also got some info on the Cycraft boards used in the large games from the 2000’s (thanks Spilmuseet), but while the motor power boards might be a possibility, the motion control board is ludicrously high-spec, so man-years of work and reverse engineering unfortunately.
 
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