Hello DIYers!
Today, I’m taking you on a little tour of the creative lair of Poulain Brothersthese DIY magicians who are a hit on YouTube. I had the chance to spend a few days in their workshop, and frankly, it’s as if I had just visited Ali Baba’s cave, a hack version!
During my visit, the brothers were working on a really cool project: renovating their very first arcade machine, the one that launched their YouTube channel. A great way to close the loop by modernizing this historic project with current technologies.
The transformation is impressive. Exit the Raspberry Pi, make way for one Compact PC with Intel N97 processor which offers significantly better performance for a similar price. Improvements include:
- An IPS screen offering better display quality
- A fixing system redesigned using 3D printing in PLA CF
- Optimized cabling with simplified power supply
- Performance to run modern games at 1080p
Obviously, they have attention to detail: The mounting brackets are printed in carbon fiber reinforced PLA for maximum durability and the hook-and-loop fastening system allows easy disassembly for maintenance. Even the wiring has been redesigned with a braid system to prevent accidental tearing.
Afterwards they implemented several tricks that you will see in their video, such as their configuration of the BIOS for automatic startup after a power outage or even lighting managed by programmable LEDs which react to different states of the system – for example, a different color during saves or loads.
For the future, they are considering a series of new arcade terminals, including a vertical version, their objective being to create a new terminal each year, each exploring different concepts.
Personally, I had a great time. They and their team are very kind and above all passionate people. We discussed tech/hacks and a lot of AI until late hours. It’s intellectually stimulating and I came back with lots of ideas and cool things to do at home, especially in home automation. In short, a great meeting from which a collab will emerge which will arrive in 1 or 2 months… so a little more patience.
Tech
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