Thursday, June 1, 2017

Where are we now?

Two years is a long time for an update and we have a lot to talk about!
As some of you already know, finding an affordable yet large enough FPGA to hold the Pole Position design has always been a challenge.   External memory is always an option, but PP has so many clients in need to memory all the time (multiple CPUs, multiple layers of video hardware, etc) I would have to architect another whole layer of memory management hardware just to pull it off (believe me... I started going down that road).  Then Xilinx suddenly released it's 7 Series family of FPGAs and guess what... even their somewhat smallest solution seemed to have just enough to hold the PP design.  Success!! Well.. almost.

Xilinx decided to only release their 7 Series FPGAs in BGA packages.  Having never done a tight-pitch BGA based PCB design before, I proceeded cautiously.  I had the PCB design pretty much finalized but needed some layout guidance so I started working through my network of fellow engineers who might have some experience in this area and could give me some guidance.  One of which was Clay Cowgill... fellow arcade collector, embedded systems engineer, and all around basic hardware nut like myself.  While my days are spent designing hardware at the chip (semiconductor) level, Clay is working on hardware more at the systems level.  Not only that, but for most (if not all) of his company's projects he 'is' the PCB layout guy.  So what started as a few emails of "Hey how do you suggest I do this?", and "What types of things should I be concerned about here?" ended up as "Wow your system is pretty simple compared to the stuff I have to mess with... why don't I just lay this board out for you?"  This was pretty much a no-brainer for me.  My work schedule is pretty rigorous and Clay's work experience is filled with PCB design and manufacturing.

Things were off to a very rapid start when all of a sudden Clay got word that the city just approved his request for a Ground Kontrol expansion.  Good news for him... no so good news for me. :)  Time dragged on as most construction projects do and what started out as a 7 week venture ended up a 7 month venture.  But things finally wrapped up and Clay has able to finalize the prototype hardware.

So where are we now?  I just got word that Clay has prototype hardware in-hand and in starting assembly.  Once he has a few made up and is confident everything is as it should be he'll pass them my way and I'll be integrating the PP design into the FPGA.  I already have adapter cards made up (more on that later) and have also started working on the menu system.. Haven't finalized on the name just yet but Pole Position Multi has a nice look to it:


So my goal is to have a working prototype this month.  Does that mean production is just around the corner?  Not necessarily.  I'd like to get the proto into John's hands so he can bring it over to the Hangar and put some burn-in time on it. Get a sense of what features we may want to add... etc.

That's it for now... gotta get back to work but should I dare say that 2017 may just be the year we finalize this long overdue project?  Man I hope so!
:)

-Adam

27 comments:

Unknown said...

Great progress on the multi board Adam.
I know that there is a thread on KLOV for people to express an interest in purchasing one when the board is in production, but is there another way to do this if you are not a member of KLOV? I'm a member on an equivalent UK arcade forum called UKVAC, could we start a thread over there to express interest. or would it be better to e-mail you directly? Good luck with the rest of the project!

Unknown said...

Cant wait keep up the hard work

Unknown said...

so happy to read this! the thought that my long dead pole position might be lighting up again is exciting! thanks for all your hard work on this project, adam! i will be a day one order! -jason

Back to the Future DeLorean Time Machine Rental Guy said...

Hey @shundi12 I'll add you to the list on KLOV. I'm timerunner88 on there as well as on UKVAC.

Unknown said...

Thanks timerunner! Much appreciated :)

Unknown said...

Adam,

Thank you thank you for ALL your work here. Have you considered a kickstarter-like campaign to receive pre-orders? If not/too busy, can I help you put that together? It seems like about that time, (close to working prototype) and I for one am more than ready to micro-fund this project for my own selfish reasons. It is clear I am not alone in this readiness.

Cheers and thanks once again.

Edward Escandon
edward.escandon@gmail.com

Back to the Future DeLorean Time Machine Rental Guy said...

IMHO, I'm not sure if a Kickstarter is wise. There are nearly 300 boards wanted in the interest thread on KLOV. Also why draw undue attention to the project?

Unknown said...

I must have one of these as soon as they are ready! Amazing work! I am so excited for this to finally become a reality.

Unknown said...

I'm interested in getting one when they are available too!

Jason said...

I would buy 2 boards. Please keep me informed. Jason. jmacross@msn.com

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Mike G said...

Lot of spam in recent comments. I’m super interested as I just bought a ppII cabinet.

Chris said...

I own 2 Pole Position uprights as well as a Pole Position II. I've fried so many A/R II boards and have had so many board issues. I am anxiously awaiting the release of your fpga board. I'm definitely in for a few!

JP said...

My upright original PP recently quit. I would like to purchase when available!

ابو السيد said...



بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم نحن فى شركة الكمال نقوم بجميع خدمات نقل العفش والاساس بافض الطرق تحت اشراف

فريق كبير مدرب على اعلى مستوى من المستويات مع الفك والتركيب
شركة نقل اثاث بالطائف
شركة نقل اثاث بجازان
شركة نقل اثاث بحائل
شركة نقل اثاث ونقل عفش بحائل
والسلامة عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته



Unknown said...

I have a pole position ii upright that i can't find new boards for. I got your name from Jeff Waldron who told me you were working on the problem of getting the Pole Positions to work better...any new information??? The game holds a lot of sentimental value for me as it was my dads and now mine and he passed away 5 years ago this November.

tjr2d2 said...

Hope you are well Adam and hoping to hear some good news on the PP/PP2 clone real soon.

Unknown said...

This has been a very long month....

ChristOpher said...

Is there any updates on the pole position project? I would rather this then the pi position

Unknown said...

Hi, nice blog and can't wait for the final product. Can I throw some money your way for the pre-orders? Are you that far along? Last post have been a while. Let us know please:)

Unknown said...

Hi, nice blog and can't wait for the final product. Can I throw some money your way for the pre-orders? Are you that far along? Last post have been a while. Let us know please:)

Onji said...

We miss you Adam! Hope things are going ok.