Posted by Johnny the MAME'r on 11, 2001 at 11:25 PM:
In Reply to: Interchangeable control tops posted by Jonathan the Red on 11, 2001 at 7:37 PM:
Here's an idea I have. Why not have a metal section in the middle of a wooden control panel that could be changed out. This way you wouldn't need to build a whole new panel with additional sticks and buttons. I'm thinking about a drop in wheel, yoke, spinner/trackball, etc. Dual guns will take up too much room and will need a flat surface. I'll need a new panel for that. Make most (or all) of the controls USB for the plug-and-play. I'm planning on attempting this someday when I have lots of spare time (HA) and I'll just run a USB extension cable up to the control panel area.
: I asked this once before several months ago, but didn't really get an answer that I liked, so I thought I'd try it again :)
: I want to design my control box so the control top can be interchangeable. I'd like to be able to have a control top for general purposes, and another one with flight sticks, and another one with steering wheels, and so forth. I'm having trouble with the design and could use any advice anyone can offer.
: Obviously the most important hard-and-fast requirement is that a control top, when in place, is nice and solid. I don't want it to come loose when I'm thrashing a joystick.
: Other things that aren't requirements but would be nice to have are: relative ease of detachment, tool-less detachment, and minimal unsightliness of the detachment mechanism when the top is in place. (This means no big ugly knobs sticking out of the side of the box.)
: Any ideas?