The arcade machine was built as an experiment with a Raspberry Pi running RetroPie and to explore a project idea that could potentially be used in a secondary Technology course. This one was built using spare wood and some reasonably inexpensive usb arcade controllers. The overall process ended up being documented in posters to show students the Design process in action. During my time at Burnside High School the arcade machine sat at the back of the room as both an example and a breakout space for students (and teachers).
The process:
- Initial research into existing arcade machines, settling on one of the early Atari cabinet designs
- Modelled the cabinet in CAD software to get drawings with dimensions and test the overall structure
- Created imagery and colour schemes
- Used Blender 3D to show the cabinet with graphics
- Build cabinet
- Create vinyl cut images and stencils
- Paint cabinet and apply stencils and details
- Add monitor, controls, raspberry pi and speakers
- Test
