Design
Category: MAME'd Millipede :: 2. Control Panel
The control panel is fashioned almost entirely out of 1/2" plywood. It is basically a shaped box that attaches to the machine in a modular fashion. As stated before, I had no intention of modifying the Millipede cabinet itself, so fitting the new CP to the existing cabinet was the goal. This presented the challenge of determining how to make it fit, not look utterly stupid (that's for you to decide, but I'm happy with it), and attach in a sturdy enough manner that it doesn't bounce up and down when you are hammering your brains out on the fire button.
We started the design of the control panel by (obviously) removing the original one from the machine. We then notched a sheet of foamcore so that it fit around the side panels and rested where we wanted the new control panel to sit.
The attached foamcore prior to being used to sketch a template.
(click to enlarge)
We trimmed back the depth of the foamcore and began sketching some proposed shapes of the final design. Early in the process we traced the outlines of the various mounting plates (joysticks, trackball) and their approximate locations. This allowed me to sample the ergonomics, mostly through dorky moments of pantomiming joystick wiggling and button mashing in thin air. I resisted the urge to make laser and explosion noises for added realism.
At this point the foamcore has a series of proposed outlines drawn on it.
(click to enlarge)
After making a decision on the precise shape of the control panel, we trimmed the foamcore along the chosen line. In order to better guarantee the symmetry (and simplify the process of making the template), we cut the trimmed template precisely in half and just flipped it as it was traced on the 1/2" plywood.
A decision has been made on the overall shape and the template has been cut in half.
(click to enlarge)
For some reason I didn't think to shoot any pictures of the CP being cut. You can use your imagination to conjure up a dramatic picture of two people on the front porch at night, squinting to see the traced lines and doing the usual noisy saber saw dance. It's action-packed and gripping, of course.
Here is a closeup of the cut control panel top slid into place to test the overall fit.
(click to enlarge)
With the top panel more or less done the next step was figuring out how to mount it to the cabinet in a sensible manner.
