I, Robot #158 Restoration

[64B1T]

Thanks to @bakerhillpins a nice new box arrived that I can store my I Robot PCB in for the time being until it's ready to go into the cabinet... And then I went ahead and wrapped that in Anti Static Bags and bubble wrap because I'm paranoid AF.



At least this will help alleviate any ongoing warping. For anyone wondering, the PCB cage and EMI filter for I Robot are the exact same part numbers as Pole Position.



Also went ahead and touched up the ears that I'm going to use for I Robot. This was when the first coat was almost dry.
Did a second complete coat after. Hoping it looks good, come tomorrow morning...

 

[64B1T]

Reinstalling those ears SUCKED. But progress is being made. I'm running low on things I can actually do before I'm wholly blocked by lack of power supply and control panel.

Things left to do that I don't have blockers on:

• Reinstall coin door and utility panel
• Fix wiring harness
• Cap monitor
• Install new Bezel.

After that it'll just be a waiting game until those parts turn up.

Anyone got a spare of either?

 

[64B1T]

Thanks to @DLP, I've successfully refurbished the original harness that was in the game when I got it.

I undid all the hacks from GALLAG, added new wire and connectors of the correct gauge and type where need be, and made sure everything matches the schematics. Overall, I'm pretty happy with it!

This is of course only the LV Harness though. The HV harness was completely missing from my game, so I'll make that tomorrow, weather permitting.

Anyone got a power supply board I can use with this??

 

[64B1T]

Exact AC Harness done! My garage is freakin' freezing
All stock I Robot harnessing is done though!

 

[64B1T]

I thought this would be fun, and it got a little outta hand.

I have never used KiCAD before this, or any PCB design software before, so I know it's a bit of a rats nest... I tried my hand at coming up with a replacement for the switching power supply for I Robot if I can't find an original one.

This would use 2x ARII and a raster power brick, but in theory would output all the proper voltages and functionalities (except the 145VDC for the monitor, which I don't have anyway).

 

[VectorCollector]

For my I,Robot, I took a slightly different approach taking the FireFox dual ARII power topology as inspiration and also adding an extra BigBlue (ie. in addition to the one on the Power Brick). The distribution board uses the same connector definitions as the original power supply.

Then I added one of my remote voltage monitor boards. LOL - those were the days.

KICAD IS FUN!!!!

 

[64B1T]

For my I,Robot, I took a slightly different approach taking the FireFox dual ARII power topology as inspiration and also adding an extra BigBlue (ie. in addition to the one on the Power Brick). The distribution board uses the same connector definitions as the original power supply.

This is how mine started out... Just directly routing all the connections from the dual ARs while matching the footprint of the original.

But then I started thinking "Well what if I just add this regulator, then I can match the spec of the switcher..." and it spiraled from there.

What did you do for the I Robot power on reset?

 

[Jamesv833]

I'm curious why there needs to be two ARII boards?
My I, Robot had issues with the power supply despite it being rebuilt so I decided to put a raster brick and single ARII in there(without hacking the harness) and it runs great.
I'm also using one of these and it's able to save without issues.

FS Parts: - x2212 replacement daughterboard for Atari pcbs

As some of you may know some Atari games such as Crystal Castle, Food Fight, Star Wars, Empire Strikes Back, I-Robot and Firefox use a very particular hybrid chip which acts as sram and eeprom to save settings, hiscores and accounting. After so many years these chips are often defective or are...

forums.arcade-museum.com

 

[VectorCollector]

For FireFox the total +5V load exceeds the recommended ARII amperage for the entire boardset.
For I,Robot, the total load is not as high but it seemed like a reasonable thermal strategy to dedicate individual+5V to the CPU and VID PCBs.
I believe, FF and I,R shared some engineering similarities - not just the AC/DC power supply and Disco monitor and evolved as one power solution became more problematic.

RESET was a 200msec 555 circuit likely copied from the power boards schematic.
The RESET function, however, was incorporated on my "jamma/OG" board and not on the power distribution board.
As it turned out, I did not need the reset nor the jamma board. My I,Robot has repro OG wiring. LOL

 

[64B1T]

I recapped the Disco



Seems to work much better now, though the image is jumpy. I wonder what that's all about.

 

[VectorCollector]

Jumpy is usually a bad connection (or noisy power). Start simple.
Did you reflow the headers?

 

[64B1T]

All better.

Just went through and deoxited all the pots and twisted them each like 20 times, and also replaced the input headers, since they looked pretty cruddy. Picture looks fantastic now.

 

[64B1T]

Took I Robot outside today because it was nice and warm and touched up the paint a little. It's never gonna be perfect, but at least it's not terrible now.




I also started putting in the wiring harness. Even though I have a Disco monitor, it's the version of the Disco that requires 120VAC, not the I Robot Disco, so I put an extra power block in the base of the cabinet, with leads to connect to the original harness where appropriate.



One problem... Now that the cabinet has power flowing through it... I suspect that the ballast might be blown on the light. That is going to be an absolute BITCH to remove, as I really don't want to remove the ears. They took me hours to install last time they were off, and that SUCKED.

 

[dutchman]

The ears are not so bad. I found the trick was getting the end around the wood near the top, then slide it to the top, straighten it out, then slide it down. I know that's a horrible thing to describe. Maybe some day I'll tear mine apart and record a small video of the process.

 

[64B1T]

The ears are not so bad. I found the trick was getting the end around the wood near the top, then slide it to the top, straighten it out, then slide it down. I know that's a horrible thing to describe. Maybe some day I'll tear mine apart and record a small video of the process.

I think the problem here is that the wood had expanded ever so slightly.

To get these on, I had to slide them down from the top... But I had to use a hammer to do so. And I wasn't lightly tapping either. It took some brute force.

 

[VectorCollector]

My I,Robot ears are the same. Maybe not to the extreme you describe, but they are tight.
I find for my cabinet, the key is to align them as best you can and then start to push them onto the wood edge.
I start at the top edge, angled and then push. I don't slide them down from the top.

 

[dutchman]

I have to slide the MH ears from the top on one of my cabs. I thought it wasn't possible to put them on at first until I found my trick. If I try starting from the very top it starts to dig into the wood, but if I start near the top like I described above then I can get them on. I have to pull them hard to slide them down but they do go without any damage. I'm sure the metal is stressed though.

 

[64B1T]

I was able to remove the ballast and shield without removing the ears or breaking anything. That was the easy part, I imagine. Reinstalling the new one when I get it will probably be much harder...

 

[Charles Kline]

I was able to remove the ballast and shield without removing the ears or breaking anything. That was the easy part, I imagine. Reinstalling the new one when I get it will probably be much harder...

ace hardware has those magnetic ballasts, no need to wait for shipping.

 

[64B1T]

I ended up managing to replace that ballast WITHOUT removing the ears or the tray. It just took some time and finagling.



The lights are on but nobody's home...