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First Post, industrial design project


willbilly

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Hi all

 

So, this is my first post. I recently got my TI-99/4a from my dad, who recovered it from the attic over Christmas. It was my first computer, and even though I didn't really appreciate it then (be easy on me, I was 4), I'm falling in love with it now.

 

I've been lurking, reading all the really cool stuff that everyone's been doing, like Erik's FPGA, Jon's carts and such, and I decided that maybe I could do something with my skills as an industrial designer and machinist.

 

So I whipped up this in my CAD program and I've ordered two prototypes to be printed. Hopefully they'll snap right together. The printing's a bit on the expensive side, so it might not be a great candidate for large number of carts, but I have always been interested in mold making...;P

 

Enjoy,

Will B.

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If you get a moment, check out the Funware cartridge case. It has a slightly higher profile, which could be useful on future projects, or for stacking RAM IC chips when making Super Carts, etc.

 

Sometimes that 1/8 inch to 1/4 inch of head room is all that is needed to push a project over the top.

 

I also very much love the Navarone cartridge shell. It could also be potentially useful in the future, as it has a considerably longer footprint.

 

:)

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Cool! Thanks Opry, I'll check those out. Now that I've figured out the critical dimensions (well, I mean I have the first draft of them) I can iterate them fairly fast.

 

I actually didn't realize there were already so many options. For my next project I'll try to do more research to make sure what I do is a little more helpful for the community.

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What youve got there is superb. :)

 

I only suggested the others because they are scarce, and the TI-style ones are not so.

 

I hope you stick around and share your talents with us. With new hardware projects on the horizon, it is always good to have folks who deal in the *real* world (as in NOT software).

 

Thanks again for your efforts!

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Please do continue--any additional bit is very useful. @Opry99er is also right in that a slightly taller cartridge case has some advantages, especially if it has the footprint of the ROMOX (and early Navarone) cases. A ROMOX case that is as tall as a TI/Funware case all the way to the front of the case would be extremely useful for some expanded cartridge board designs.

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Welcome to the group! I like where this is going. There are some things I'd like to see created for the 99/4A that I just don't have the knowledge or talent to produce. I'm still dreaming of beige sidecar style cases for things that were never released as such, though the sidecars were made in a very small quantity. Perhaps if there are enough of us interested in such a thing we can all chip in for it. In any event, welcome! We are happy to have you here.

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Welcome to the group! I like where this is going. There are some things I'd like to see created for the 99/4A that I just don't have the knowledge or talent to produce. I'm still dreaming of beige sidecar style cases for things that were never released as such, though the sidecars were made in a very small quantity. Perhaps if there are enough of us interested in such a thing we can all chip in for it. In any event, welcome! We are happy to have you here.

 

One of the ideas I had reading these discussions was a sidecar made for super catridges like Miner 2049er.

 

Anyway, here's a quickie Ten-Gallon Cart design... 5/8" longer and 1/8" taller. I haven't messed with the internals to hold it the pcb correctly yet though.

 

I do like the Romox look. Very Blade Runner-esque. I'll probably incorporate some of that into a final Jumbo Cart design.

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WELCOME ABOARD! :)

 

If you want a future project, I'd recommend keeping a close eye on the TIPI project. I think a case will be in great demand and for more than just a few cases. In the current configuration, it looks like a case will need to enclose the 32K sidecar, the TIPI interface AND an Rpi Zero. Having some design style to go with it would be quite welcome.

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Hi guys,

 

Unfortunately, thanks to Presidents' Day, I won't be getting the prints until Tuesday.

 

So I was brainstorming during my drive to work, and I started thinking about standards. Is there a standard for the sizes of homebrew cartridges?

 

I have the dimensions from my TI cartridge. I haven't cracked open my Atari made cartridges, but since they're smaller, I don't see the point.

 

If there isn't a standard set of sizes, should we try defining one?

 

I had some rough ideas of how it might look...

 

1X = Fits a standard TI PCB (roughly 1 15/16" length and 4" width, not including connector)

1.5X = 1.5 times standard in length (so that'd be ~3" length and 4" width, since that dimension is maxed out)

2X = 4" x 4" in the same standard

 

And then a suffix could be added for alternate heights, maybe...

 

250 (1/4" above PCB...standard clearance)

500 (1/2" clearance)

750 (3/4")

 

So, I could design a case top that fits 2X750 PCBs, and you know exactly what you can jam in there.

 

So...whaddya think?

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hey folks, sorry for going dark. Got married last week. :)

 

Here's some renderings of a 2X bottom shell. One has the 2X PCB in it, the other the 1x.

 

It has optional stands for different length cart pcbs. You can see it in grey at the 1.5X position in the 1X PCB pic. I figure you can glue it in. Maybe I'll figure out a way to get it to snap together instead, just for added coolness.

 

 

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Hi all

 

So, this is my first post. I recently got my TI-99/4a from my dad, who recovered it from the attic over Christmas. It was my first computer, and even though I didn't really appreciate it then (be easy on me, I was 4), I'm falling in love with it now.

 

I've been lurking, reading all the really cool stuff that everyone's been doing, like Erik's FPGA, Jon's carts and such, and I decided that maybe I could do something with my skills as an industrial designer and machinist.

 

So I whipped up this in my CAD program and I've ordered two prototypes to be printed. Hopefully they'll snap right together. The printing's a bit on the expensive side, so it might not be a great candidate for large number of carts, but I have always been interested in mold making...;P

 

Enjoy,

Will B.

 

Awesome! This looks amazing!

 

I have the inventor files for my cartridge shell attached that I put up on Thingiverse if you want them as well. Feel free to do whatever you want with them, as long as there's attribution. Ksarul had some enhancements he wanted fixed on it (mostly thickness), but it also needs to be resaved in metric. I just need to see if my license for Inventor is still good or not; I don't have it installed on my new Thinkpad.

tishellv2.6.zip

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