Building an Arcade Stick with the Bambu H2D
In our article covering the new Bambu Lab H2D, we mentioned building an arcade stick, taking advantage of the H2D’s large print bed and dual nozzles.
Well, it’s now completed and fully functional, and on display in our Mississauga showroom. For those interested, we’ll take a deep dive into the design process and considerations. Hopefully, at the end of this article, not only will you be able to have a closer look at the arcade stick, but you’ll also gain a better understanding of what to keep in mind when designing something similar for yourself.
Let’s get into it.
Design
Design Considerations
In designing this arcade stick, we had three main considerations design-wise:
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Ergonomics – The stick and buttons needed enough space so that you’re hands aren’t crammed when using it. The overall size also had to be large enough that your hands rest comfortably on the top panel.
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Modularity – The design had to be modular so that if we wanted to change the stick to a leverless design (which uses 4 more buttons instead of the joystick), we had the flexibility to do so without hassle.
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Tool-less access – Anyone who has designed and built arcade sticks before knows that something could go wrong at any point (hopefully not when you’re in the middle of a fight!) It was therefore important to us to be able to access the electronics easily, without any special tools when needed.
Ergonomics
Designing for ergonomics was very easy, thanks to the larger print bed of the H2D. One thing we needed to consider was the overall size of the controller. Since the lip that the arcade stick’s top panel rests on will need support, the print will use both of the H2D’s heads. This, in turn, means that we’re limited in terms of length on the x-axis, going from a maximum of 350mm down to 300mm.
To maximize length, we decided to take advantage of the H2D’s 320mm Y-axis. This gives us enough room for a decent gap between the stick and buttons. In addition, the buttons have a more natural curve compared to what you’d find on most arcade cabinets from the 90s, and there’s enough room below them for your palms to rest comfortably.
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Images 3-4: Line type (left) and filament type (right) of the slicing preview, showing how the main body is being supported
The print area is smaller than the print bed when using both nozzles, as can be seen with the main arcade stick body
Modularity
Modularity was easily achieved since the top panel could easily be printed as one piece thanks to the large print bed, By just removing the 5 screws (which are held in place using friction-fit nuts fitted to the main body), and disconnecting some wires, you’d be able to swap the more traditional joystick + button setup for an all button, leverless one, a design which has been becoming more and more popular.
Traditional (left) and leverless (right) top panels, printed upside-down.
Tool-less Access
For tool-less access, the bottom of the arcade stick was designed as a sliding dovetail lid. The lips that sandwich the bottom were printed at 45-degree angles, and oriented in such a way that these sections (and the bottom itself) do not require any supports. To ensure the bottom doesn’t slide out unintentionally, it’s held in place with detents that are printed into the main body of the arcade stick. It took a bit of trial and error (or “rapid iteration” to use the technical term) to get the clearances correct, but the result is that the flex of the plastic was enough to hold the bottom in place, while still allowing the panel to be removed if enough force is applied. This same mechanism is used to hold the RP2040-Zero microcontroller in place (the brains of the arcade stick), since its small size doesn’t leave much room for including a mounting solution.
Cross-section of the near corner of the arcade stick showing the detents
3D Printing
After the design was perfected, the file was exported and plugged into the H2D for seamless printing.
In addition to everything mentioned, the housing, retaining nuts, and caps for the buttons were 3D printed, but were designed to match the dimensions of Sanwa OBSN-30 and OBSN-24 buttons, so authentic joystick parts can be used as well.
We even printed the joystick’s dust cover, since white fit the look better than the black dust cover that came with the joystick.
Original dust cover (right) and printed cover (left)
3D printed buttons
Hopefully, this has given you some insight into the design process of the arcade stick and potentially given you some inspiration.
If you like the design, both the arcade stick and the buttons are available on MakerWorld at these links:
Buttons: 30mm, and 24mm.
Arcade stick: https://makerworld.com/en/models/1542239-customizable-arcade-stick#profileId-1618790
Of course, we’d always be happy if you wanted to come visit our Mississauga showroom and see the arcade stick in person yourself!
Arcade stick designed and 3D printed by: Michael, B2B Sales Assistant at Shop3D.
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