Flash Cart Shells
Posted: December 4th, 2018, 04:58
Heya, guys!
I'm super excited for the new version of the Flash Cards and am designing a case to hold the console and carts; I want to have a separate cart for Breeder and development, so my husband whipped up a couple of prototypes for custom shells, that way we won't have to cannibalize any OEM carts' shells.
He took measurements last night of all the critical dimensions of the model MIN-002 for this initial draft as a test fit, and I'm happy to say that it fits perfectly and even engages the lock latch!
The inside is solid for now because we need a 3D model of the new board (hopefully in .STEP or .IGES, though we can make do with good head-on photos of the top/back/side with a ruler for scale), or we'll sit tight and wait for a physical copy.
Anyway, the idea with this prototype was to have a live hinge on the crown so it could be cast in one piece, then folded over with the card sandwiched inside. There aren't any spaces for the screws, nor the data cable, as of yet.
Neat stuff we found:
We discovered that the plastic shelf on the MIN-002 wasn't actually necessary; we suspect it was primarily meant to give a flat space for the label, and/or covering the pins because this was likely marketed at a demographic younger than that of the gameboy. Kid grime, amirite?
That said, we're trying a design which exposes the contacts, just like the DS family of carts does, which is extra appealing because it allows ease of access for cleaning said contacts.
The MIN-002 carts have a surprisingly complex interlocking structure that that is prohibitive for casting in the small homebrew quantities we're doing, albeit incredibly clever. We also suspect that, while being manufactured in Japan, the design may have been developed in Redmond because all of the critical measurements are in imperial rather than metric.
What's next:
Tonight he's developing a version that is made in two parts to test that out:
I'm super excited for the new version of the Flash Cards and am designing a case to hold the console and carts; I want to have a separate cart for Breeder and development, so my husband whipped up a couple of prototypes for custom shells, that way we won't have to cannibalize any OEM carts' shells.
He took measurements last night of all the critical dimensions of the model MIN-002 for this initial draft as a test fit, and I'm happy to say that it fits perfectly and even engages the lock latch!
The inside is solid for now because we need a 3D model of the new board (hopefully in .STEP or .IGES, though we can make do with good head-on photos of the top/back/side with a ruler for scale), or we'll sit tight and wait for a physical copy.
Anyway, the idea with this prototype was to have a live hinge on the crown so it could be cast in one piece, then folded over with the card sandwiched inside. There aren't any spaces for the screws, nor the data cable, as of yet.
Neat stuff we found:
We discovered that the plastic shelf on the MIN-002 wasn't actually necessary; we suspect it was primarily meant to give a flat space for the label, and/or covering the pins because this was likely marketed at a demographic younger than that of the gameboy. Kid grime, amirite?
That said, we're trying a design which exposes the contacts, just like the DS family of carts does, which is extra appealing because it allows ease of access for cleaning said contacts.
The MIN-002 carts have a surprisingly complex interlocking structure that that is prohibitive for casting in the small homebrew quantities we're doing, albeit incredibly clever. We also suspect that, while being manufactured in Japan, the design may have been developed in Redmond because all of the critical measurements are in imperial rather than metric.
What's next:
Tonight he's developing a version that is made in two parts to test that out: