Controls Panel

Time to build the controls panel. I started with a paper template of the joystick and buttons layout that I got from http://www.slagcoin.com/joystick/layout.html. From there I downloaded the panel I wanted and printed it.

I placed the printout on the controls panel wood plaque and secured it with a staples using a staple gun. After that I started drilling into the wood.

I also added two buttons on left upper corner and right upper corner of the panel for Player 1 Start and Credits button respectively.

I also added two buttons on the sides of the panel, one of the left and one on the right for Power On and Exit Game illuminated buttons. The Power On button color is green and the Exit Game button color is red. I then wired the buttons with the ground wire and power for the illumination.

For the power socket, I used an extender power cable which I cut of one of the sides and connected the Red wire (5V) and black (Ground) to the LED connectors of the illuminated buttons.

I had to test the illumination of the buttons before continuing so, here are the results

 All looks good.
Now for the rest of the wiring of the controls panel. I used CAT-5 cables colored red and green. I used two different colors so I will be able to connect them to the other end easily and find which wire goes to which connector on the I-PAC board.

You can also notice that I added two neon lights on the back of the LCD monitor. I'm sure I will keep them, I managed to find a rather neat led strip in HomeCenter that should do a fine job. I haven't decide what to do with it yet, but I'm sure it will handy later on in the project.

Next, I need to connect everything and fire up the machine and see how it looks.