28-11-2012 :

Parts for the second prototype has been ordered

Just a short update on the progress.
Besides the development of the mainboard, which is in full progress. I did find me some time to order the newly adjusted plastic parts which will enable me to complete the second prototype.

01-10-2012 :

New pcb boards assembled/updated Orbit pictures

The components for the newly received pcb boards are assembled and all of them are placed inside the front of the housing. I've also added some new, higher quality pictures of the Orbit project.

Go see the Orbit project page for the newly and better pictures.

19-09-2012 :

The first three boards arrived

After waiting a couple of weeks I finally received the first three pcb boards. I will assemble those pcb very soon and fit them inside the front of the Orbit housing.

25-06-2012 :

First prototype painted and assembled

The additional work on that breaking machine is completed and with it, I managed to bent those sheet metal plates within the specified tolerances. After the metal work was finished, I went looking for an appropriate color which in the end became the metallic like color gun grey (satin finish) !
Overall I'm very pleased with the result of the first prototype.
I will now focus my attention on the electric side of the project, starting with those small PCB's that are going to be placed inside the front.

Go see the Orbit project page for some more pictures.

10-05-2012 :

Orbit progress update

As developing the Orbit projects isn't only related to developing electronics and firmware, becomes clear when you are building your own prototypes. I've ordered a metal breaking machine to be able to get nice, accurate and clean sheet metal bends. Unfortunately this wasn't proceeding as planned as the breaking machine was far from precise and important settings weren't adjustable at all. So away with the notebook and in to the overall, let's do some metalwork!
I've made all kind of changes to all of the hinging points as they had way too much slack in them. The bending surface wasn't straight at all, actually the metal got already bend while clamping it. To correct this, I flattened the bending surface with a milling machine.
The mechanical stops for the fingers wasn't straight at all, this put all of the fingers out of alignment, which wasn't workable at all.
I've straightened the surface of the mechanical stops with a milling machine, the stops and the bending surface are both ok now. At the moment I'm working on adding two precise adjustable mechanical stops, so I can make really accurate bends, but even better I can get the same bend over different work-peaces. I'm making those two mechanical stops out of two modified calipers, one of those modified calipers can be seen on the pictures below.

So, luckily I can fix all of the bending problems, but it has taking some additional time. Hopefully I will be able to bends those metal sheets parts somewhere during the following week.

19-04-2012 :

Receiving the sheet metal parts

After a lot of specifying and fitting, I received the laser cut sheet metal parts. Luckily someone helped me out here as it's very hard to order custom metal parts here in the Netherlands while being a enthusiastic hobbyist, and not a big company. Go see the Orbit project page for some bigger pictures.

15-03-2012 :

Receiving the first plastic Orbit parts

After a lot of modelling and waiting, I finally received the newly plastic parts for the Orbit project.
You can find some more pictures on the Orbit project page.

23-02-2012 :

Receiving the first Orbit components

A bit delayed but the first load of components finally arrived. With those components all 3D models will be verified, mechanical stuff can be ordered after the verification. Orbit project page will be up after the mechanical stuff has been ordered.

06-02-2012 :

History page

The first version of our history page has finally been filled !

24-01-2012 :

Start of a new project "Orbit"

During the last MSX meeting in Nijmegen, our new and challenging project was introduced for the first time. For those who weren't present at Nijmengen, click on the picture or PDF below to get a glimpse of the project, the official project page will follow shortly.



Orbit leaflet (PDF)

05-01-2012 :

New MIDI-PAC beta version

I've made a new version that has a much better anti modulation algorithm in it. It will sound a lot better during playback of mgsel files and T&E soft games. Please let me know if you find something that is going absolutely wrong using this beta version. You can find the new beta version in the download section.

02-01-2012 :

New MIDI-PAC sample files

During the last holiday i managed to record some MIDI-PAC sample songs.
To get an impression on how some msx musics can sound, listen to one of them in the MIDI-PAC project page !