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[Released] Open Source Neo Geo MVS Marquee Driver

xodaraP

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Hello fellow A-P members. I have just ordered what I believe will be the final prototypes for a project I have been working on

I recently bought an LAI (Australian manufactured) 4 slot MVS lowboy cab and discovered that these do not have the individual marquee lights, just a fluro to light up the marquee area. I also discovered many other multi slot cabs have a similar setup

There is a UK seller who makes LED reproductions, but I believe they are winding down and these may soon not be an option (until then these are a great option if you are in the UK/Europe!)

I decided to see how difficult it would be to make my own, and how much more difficult it would be to use EL panels

Introducing the Neo Geo Marquee Driver (will likely get a name change before being released)

This is available in 2 forms, depending on what panels users want to attach. A 12 pin 2.54mm connector or 6x USB-A connectors. Logic is all on an Arduino Uno which turn panels on/off using MOSFETs

The best part? This project is going to be released as 100% open source. You can get your own PCBs made up, modify the design to suit your own requirements or I will also be selling these pre-built. The total build cost for the PCB is less than $20 for the 12 pin version or under $30 for the USB version. A bill of materials is available on the GitHub

Features:
- 8 pin JST/Molex style connector matching the MVS board header for easy connection
- USB connectors for EL panel connection
- Powered by Arduino Nano
- [Optional] LED indicators for active panel (for testing/diagnosis of non working panels)
- Code can be easily reconfigured to allow whichever combination of USB ports you want to use to be active
- [Optional] Self test mode at power on to identify any issues
- [Optional] Attract mode with adjustable delay (cycles through marquees if you wanted to have a panel but do not have a multi-slot board)
- [Optional] Manual mode with button and button header to manually cycle through marquees (similar to attract mode but with manual change)
- Mounting holes in both M2 and M3 size options

Pictures:

1742619452481.png


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The USB version is suitable for running EL and LED panels commonly sold on Aliexpress and these have been tested (videos to come)

As indicated above I will be selling kits with a fully built and tested board and a set of 2/4/6 EL panels. Pricing will be finalised once testing has been completed

Edit: PCB files and Gerbers are ready for release!

All files can be found on the GitHub project here:

https://github.com/xodarap-ap/ngmd

Please note: This is a project I made for my own cabinet and has not been tested on anything other than my own hardware. If you build this project it is at your own risk
 
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The boards for the latest prototype revision arrived today - I am hoping this will be the final test version before production. This is the USB version designed for use with EL panels commonly found on Aliexpress

All parts on the board are through hole and very easily available from Digikey and similar distributors (also Jaycar for those in Australia) with a parts cost of around $20-30AUD ($15-25USD)
 

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Several people have requested the ability to run a panel in a cab where there may only be a single slot board due to failure of the 2/4/6 slot board. I have added 2 options for this

Attract Mode
Marquees will cycle through automatically on a 1 second delay

Manual Mode
Marquees can be changed with a button located on the PCB itself, or by wiring up an external button (eg. the Select Game button on a multi-slot cab that is now no longer in use) to cycle through the marquees

Another round of prototype boards has been ordered for testing

I have now decided to call the current revision v1.0 because it does everything I need it to do for an original marquee. Additional features can be added from here but we officially have a production model
 
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The latest revision v1.01 boards arrived today and I put one together ready to install in its new home in my 4 slot cab

IMG_8650.jpeg

I reworked the code to use only the bottom 4 connections and had some fun with the test LED colours

Next step: installing in the cab
 
Kudos for this much needed solution @xodaraP. I can’t wait to get mine up and running on the 4-slot. The ability to get the marquees to light up for the correct game is such a QOL improvement.

Also great is the ability to source replacement panels that will have much more longevity and much cheaper than originals.

Would be a cool thing for home users to have also, make a 3D printed marquee holder to pop on top of their PVM while playing on a supergun anyone?!
 
Revision 1.1 is unfortunately not working having received and built the PCBs - please ignore this build for now, I will also remove it from the Github
 
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