Project Announcement E-Limitator

Tech Talk
1

I’m so glad to present you the finalization of the E-Limitator PCB. It’s not purely dedicated to bemu games, but since some guys here into arcade cabs, too, I think this project is worth to mention.

You all might know the problems that occur when you use an 8-Way-Stick for 4-Way-Games. If you don’t push the stick exactly in one direction and two microswitches (or leafs) are pushed the same time, the game character might stay where it is instead of climbing up a ladder (Donkey Kong) or go down (Pac Man and other maze games). The switching mechanism is often not that easy to use…most of them have to be switched from under the panel.

The mode can be switched with a button and a RGB-LED shows the current setting.

There are the following modes available: 2-way vertical, 2-way horizontal, 4-way and 8-way.

The motion filter E-Limitator analyzes and filters the users intended movement of the game figure. This way the ease of play of 2- and 4-way games with an 8-way joystick improves noticeable.

The PCB kit (just the pcb with parts…not assembled!!!) can exclusively be ordered at

www.arcadeshop.de

LINK

Assembly instructions: http://www.arcadeshop.de/images/specs/elimitator_install_en.pdf

Beside the RGB Display we applied an 7 segment display to show the current mode.

Hope you like it :wink:

2

Congrats on another awesome mod!

This will help MAME players tremendously as you know using 8 way joysticks on 2 and 4 way games can be outright ass.
We all love mame but want the joystick flexibility to play 8-4-2 way games and this is the perfect solution without having to swap joystick gates!

3

Talked yesterday to Jan from arcadeshop.de

He is willing to give a free E-Limitator for a test report. Send me a pm ;))

I forget to say that a quantitiy discount is available. Get in touch with him if your’re interested.

4

Some additions:

  • the E-Limitator is a kind of electronic restrictor plate
  • the E-Limitator serves 2 joysticks at the same time
  • single price is: 23.95 Euro incl. VAT and 20.13 Euro excl. VAT + shipping
  • bulk order available: 10 pcs for only 210.04 Euro incl. VAT and 176.50 Euro excl. VAT (please ask for larger bulks) + shipping
5

First Reviews about E-Limitator, of course positive ;))

Link

6

You should contact lizardlick to see if they are interested in carrying it :smiley:

7

Hmm, good idea. Another nice reviews in jammaplusand arcade otaku

8

:open_mouth: The Jammaplus link doesn’t work… you should just copy and paste the article here…

9

E-Limitator Build, Review & Test (In Progress)

John Bud has been forwarded the new E-Limitator interface to build and review (from Luigi). However, to avoid confusion, John has asked me to do this on his behalf to which I have happily agreed.

PLEASE NOTE: Anyone is welcome to post here, I will be edited this post with any progress.
The actual build, install and test will be carried out in the course of the next couple of weeks. I will add more as I progress.
The package came with the following components;
1 x E-Limitator PCB (Decent construction and labeled)
1 x 28 pin ATMEL ATMEGA8-16PU Microcontroller pre-flashed
1 x 28 IC Socket for ATMEL ATMEGA8-16PU Microcontroller
1 x 4 pin RGB LED
1 x Electrolytic Capacitor (25v 47uf)
2 x Wire Terminals (For joystick in/out)
2 x 100 Ohm Resistor
1 x 150 Ohm Resistor
1 x Capacitor (100nF)
PCB (Component size)

PCB (Solder side)

Atmel Microcontroller & Socket

Components

Other things not included in the kit but required is a switch/button to cycle through the four different Joystick modes the E-Limitator has to offer, these are;
8-Way (Purple LED)
4-Way (Blue LED)
2-Way Vertical (Turquoise LED)
2-Way Horizontal (Green LED)
Immediately, I noticed that the E-Limitator interface requires a +5V feed to power it, this would of course come from the PSU used to power any Arcade PCBs.
The interface will be installed into an Electrocoin Spectrum JAMMA cabinet.

Ideally, for me, I would want to install this interface without having to hack any JAMMA joystick interface to accomodate it. After giving it some thought, I decided the best way to implement the installation of the interface was to have it literally plug into the 9 pin Mate-N-Lok Joystick harness of a JAMMA cab. It would make for a neat install and would allow easy removal of the interface.

This interface, if it works as well as it is claimed would solve a problem for which I have been trying to solve easily. It would allow me to play Pac-Man without having to swap out my Electrocoin Joysticks of which I am fond of. It also means I can switch from 8-Way to 4-Way at the press of a button, which is handy for a 60-In-1 PCB or MAME install.

I will need to order a 9 pin Mate-N-Lok plug and socket from Swallow Amusements to complete the build, other things to consider are where the Joystick Mode button will be sited and where to place the RGB LED where it can be seen (essential to determine what mode interface is currently in).

The install manual for the E-Limitator is available here;

http://www.arcadeshop.de/images/specs/elimitator_install_en.pdf

I should also add that you should be fairly good with a soldering iron to complete this build and able to follow fairly basic instructions. I would say that some basic electronics knowledge would go a long way for the build.

10

first part of review

11

Hehe you just had to put made in germany on it? or is that by law?

12

of course ;)) Tought together with Jan from arcadeshop.de about it. Was one of the first things we was sure about to put on it :wink: weve here so many constraints and laws about publishing electronic devices: WEEE, Elektro-G and so on and on. This is the reason to deliver only kits in EU. It should be possible to deliver assembled ones oversea, but currently this is to dangerous. Im wondering how other people from europe handle this…

13

Honestly? After we teached the world twice how to start and how to lose a world war, it’s time to show there are also good things from Germany :wink: