Here we go again… After the last batch of AVR-based replacement boards were sold, I swore to myself that I wouldn’t make any more of these. The previous board was made to fit the existing edge connector that was sitting on top of the power supply. The intention at the time was to keep as much of the game internals as original as possible. Both electrical and mechanical. I had kept one replacement PCB for my machine.

Back in May, I decided that it was time to upgrade to a larger 3D printer. The two obvious candidates were the Voron and the RatRig. After some deliberation, I decided on getting a RatRig V-Core 3.1 400. After having built the printer, it was time to test it. I landed on Droid Division’s incredible Battle Droid I have been meddling with 3D printing since Makerbot launched the Thing-O-Matic back in 2010.

I have been selling off some spare arcade PCBs on eBay during the last few months. Up until now, I have sustained a 100% positive feedback score from 339 reviews. All items have been packaged and shipped within 2 business days and my seller level on eBay is well above standard. Happy days, right? Then this asshole comes along, buys a $99 board, and then claims that the fully functioning board isn’t working in his arcade cabinet (which I have no control over).

There have been a lot of oohs and aahs regarding chatGPT’s ability to generate code recently. The feeling I get is that there is something profound happening here. At the same time, the experience is a bit like trying to have a rational discussion inside a dream. Coherence is not guaranteed :) From time to time you will get compilation errors, but if you point out the error - ChatGPT will politely apologize and then suggest a way to correct the error.

Back in 2012, I designed and 3D printed a desktop modular coil gun. I made a video of the build at the time and published it on YouTube, so I could share it with friends. The coil gun ended up on my shelf and I moved on to the next project. Looking back, I see that this particular video has gotten quite a few views since then. I have received a few requests for design details since then, many of which I haven’t responded to yet (I guess 9 years latency is pushing it a bit, but hey, I’ve been busy!