I’ve always wanted an arcade machine. I had admired Spanner Spencer’s PIK3A project and those that followed it but I didn’t think I had the time to create anything as interesting. Then fate decided to give me a helping hand. A number of years ago we owned an IKEA kids “Gulliver” table which we eventually gave to a friend when our son out-grew it. Her kids got older and no longer needed it so I got it back.
It was just the right size to make a table style retro games machine based on the Raspberry Pi. It had a solid MDF top and would be perfect for modifying. All it would take is a bit of cutting and drilling. Plus a few bits and pieces to attach to the underside. The thing I wasn’t sure about was where to put it when finished but that was a problem I would worry about later on.
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Stop breadboarding and soldering – start making immediately! Adafruit’s Circuit Playground is jam-packed with LEDs, sensors, buttons, alligator clip pads and more. Build projects with Circuit Playground in a few minutes with the drag-and-drop MakeCode programming site, learn computer science using the CS Discoveries class on code.org, jump into CircuitPython to learn Python and hardware together, TinyGO, or even use the Arduino IDE. Circuit Playground Express is the newest and best Circuit Playground board, with support for CircuitPython, MakeCode, and Arduino. It has a powerful processor, 10 NeoPixels, mini speaker, InfraRed receive and transmit, two buttons, a switch, 14 alligator clip pads, and lots of sensors: capacitive touch, IR proximity, temperature, light, motion and sound. A whole wide world of electronics and coding is waiting for you, and it fits in the palm of your hand.
Have an amazing project to share? The Electronics Show and Tell is every Wednesday at 7pm ET! To join, head over to YouTube and check out the show’s live chat – we’ll post the link there.
