Run-DMD - The most amazing clock ever released!

Hi everyone,

I've been a big fan of the Pinside community for quite a while, but have never post anything here until now.

Anyway, the reason I created this post is because a guy (Torbjörn) here in Sweden has produced a beautiful little PCB called Run-DMD. The Run-DMD is capable of displaying DMD animations from all kinds of pinball games (the unit ships without any software and the user needs to make their own image containing animations of stuff they own their right to), and it also serves as a clock.

Here's a video of the Run-DMD running together with two HUB08 DMD:s from china and a acrylic frame made by the famous FrancoB.

What do you guys think? Torbjörn is currently working on a new firmware with some extra stuff, so if you guys have any suggestions, please let me know, and I'll forward it to the man.

Right now it can switch between 12h/24h time, use different fonts on the clock, set the time between animations etc. The Run-DMD also has a "quick boot" option if you want to use a motion detector or something like that.

If you have any thoughts or question, please let me know and I'll be happy to answer.

Here's a few videos of the Run-DMD in action (hope I'm doing this right now)

First test when I got my unit:

Mounted on the wall with a FrancoB frame:

The current menu and settings:

#2 9 years ago

JAW

jawjaw

Pinside member

Humble, TX

9y 85,550 5,534 5

That is awesome! How hard is it to get the animations in it?

#3 9 years ago

LIM

Limpan

Pinside member

It's a two-three minute job to flash the SD card if you have an image file with animations ready. I'm not sure how copyrighted the animations are, and how Stern would react if the image file would be sold together with the Run-DMD. What do you guys think?

#4 9 years ago

epthegeek

Pinside member

This is great stuff. And with all the colordmd installs, a lot of people have spare DMDs to use

#5 9 years ago

LAW

dung

Pinside member

12y 86,050 5,580 6 30

Quoted from epthegeek:
This is great stuff. And with all the colordmd installs, a lot of people have spare DMDs to use

True, but probably much better to use an led dmd. A clock would cause some wicked image burn.

#6 9 years ago

epthegeek

Pinside member

OP
Quoted from Limpan:
It's a two-three minute job to flash the SD card if you have an image file with animations ready. I'm not sure how copyrighted the animations are, and how Stern would react if the image file would be sold together with the Run-DMD. What do you guys think?

Leaving the animations up to the users would limit the market some, but definitely be a lot safer on the legal front. Maybe make a few generic original animations to distribute with so that it does something animated (transitions/wipes/smiley faces/whatever) if not changed by the user.

Is the plan to sell it as a full kit? or a kit minus the DMD and you provide your own? Or even just the controller and let the user build the rest themselves?

#7 9 years ago

LIM

Limpan

Pinside member

The Run-DMD is also capable of running together with a regular 5V LED DMD:s from XPin.

#8 9 years ago

epthegeek

Pinside member

Quoted from dung:
True, but probably much better to use an led dmd. A clock would cause some wicked image burn.

Oh, right - hadn't thought about that. Drat.

#9 9 years ago

HLT

herg

ColorDMDs are starting to replace LED DMDs, too. I jumped the gun a little, but I have one in my Tron and Metallica.

#10 9 years ago

XXX

Gotpins

Pinside member

11y 91,800 987 1

Um, yes please! This thing is wicked cool! I'll take one!

#11 9 years ago

ASA

Asael

Pinside member

Hoppstädten-weiersbach

12y 87,800 1,230 7 46

I got one of these clocks a few days ago. Videos don't do it justice. It's awesome!!! It's a piece of art.

#12 9 years ago

HLT

herg

Is it running off battery when hung on the wall?
If so, what's the runtime?
What kind of price are we looking at?

Oh, and I forgot to mention... the name is awesome!

#13 9 years ago

j_m_

Pinside+ Frequent

11y 124K 7,590

pretty darn cool

and is it just me, or is the build quality of these dmd's actually better than the LED dmd's that stern puts in their machines? (notice that there appear to be no "gaps" in between the 8x8 blocks in relation to each other)

#14 9 years ago

HLT

herg

Quoted from herg:
What kind of price are we looking at?

Found it. Bow to my awesome detective skills!
http://run-dmd.com/

109 EUR for the controller board

#15 9 years ago

CDF

Collin

Pinside member

Columbus, OH

11y 116K 5,271 29 82

Very cool, and nice to see you on Pinside, Limpan!

FrancoB is a great guy, very highly regarded in the arcade community.

#16 9 years ago

j_m_

Pinside+ Frequent

11y 124K 7,590

run-dmd instructions
http://shmup.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Run-DMD-v1.24.pdf

I'm searching "HUB08C dmd", but I can't seem to find the 64x32 panel displays that this uses

edit:
nevermind: found them. although, shipping costs more than the panels themselves :/
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/P7-62-RG-Dual-Color-Indoor-LED-Display-Board-488x244mm-64x32-Pixel-Resolution-1-16-Scan/1317422821.html

#17 9 years ago

BOY

vid1900

Pinside member

Sana'a

12y 169K 40,229 18

That is cool.

-3

#18 9 years ago

???

JoeGrenuk

In Memoriam

Melbourne Beach, FL

11y 47,900 771 41

Geez, there must be a problem. The clock shows the time as 18:18. Twelve is as high as the hours go. WTF?

#19 9 years ago

CAT

DCFAN

Pinside+ Frequent

Chantilly, VA

12y 148K 12,776 34

Quoted from JoeGrenuk:
Geez, there must be a problem. The clock shows the time as 18:18. Twelve is as high as the hours go. WTF?

military time

#20 9 years ago

DAD

fiberdude120

Pinside member

10y 78,650 3,369 4

Gotta get me one of these.

#21 9 years ago

ABB

Aurich

http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Free-Shipping-New-AC-100-240V-to-DC-5V-3A-Switching-Power-Supply-Converter-Adapter-EU/1685118010.html

I have a spare Stern 5v DMD, I would totally run this. Curious about battery life too, seems like for practical use you'd probably want a wired power supply option.

Edit: Looks like it works with a standard power supply, this was linked:

#22 9 years ago

SMD

stevevt

The Pinball Co-op

South Burlington, VT

11y 137K 2,690 1

Quoted from JoeGrenuk:
Geez, there must be a problem. The clock shows the time as 18:18. Twelve is as high as the hours go. WTF?

Twelve is as high as the hours go *on Earth*.

#23 9 years ago

TWP

Beatnik-Filmstar

Pinside member

Saint Paul, MN

9y 70,150 1,318 7

Quoted from JoeGrenuk:
Geez, there must be a problem. The clock shows the time as 18:18. Twelve is as high as the hours go. WTF?

It's Nigel Tufnel's clock. Duh.

#24 9 years ago

LIM

Limpan

Pinside member

Hi everyone,

Wow, what a response. I'll try to answer all your questions within this post, send me a PM or write here if I missed something.

1. You can buy the Run-DMD from my newly opened webshop as someone mentioned above: http://run-dmd.com (nice detective skills). I'm still waiting for a batch from Torbjörn, so orders placed now would ship latest on monday (or earlier).

You will need to buy a PSU and two HUB08 DMD:s from Aliexpress (links are provided in the FAQ on the website). You would also need to build some kind of frame. The frame used in the videos above is made by FrancoB over at Arcade Otaku. He won't do any more group buys with them, but he will release the cad-files used to the public. So if anyone knows someone who can cut tinted acrylic, this would probably be the best way to go.

Shipping stuff from Sweden is a nightmare when it comes to prices, so shipping frames is a no go at the moment. The webshop will focus on selling only the Run-DMD at the moment!

Herg: No, it's not running from battery when hanged to the wall. I made a hole in the wall into the other room (used for storage) and put the PSU and cable there!

#25 9 years ago

F X

Coyote

Pinside member

9y 107K 8,987

Interesting! I'll likely be ordering one!

I see no info on what 'an animation file' is, though?

#26 9 years ago

ABC

Crash

Pinside member

12y 141K 14,135

How did you rip the DMD animations and install them onto the SD card?

#27 9 years ago

27dnast

Pinside+ Frequent

11y 140K 8,597

Very cool clock. I like it!

#28 9 years ago

ABB

Aurich

OP
Quoted from Limpan:
The frame used in the videos above is made by FrancoB over at Arcade Otaku. He won't do any more group buys with them, but he will release the cad-files used to the public. So if anyone knows someone who can cut tinted acrylic, this would probably be the best way to go.

If you can get me the CAD files I can talk to some US people about making the frames available.

#29 9 years ago

HLT

herg

This really seems like it needs to be a group buy of some sort.

Import a bunch of RunDMD boards.
Import a bunch of LED panels.
Import a bunch of power supplies.
Get someone to run a batch of frames.

All of this sounds quite a bit more expensive to do in single quantity.

#30 9 years ago

DWG

dgoett

Pinside member

Clark, MO

11y 95,650 2,418 14 26

me likey! very cool!!

#31 9 years ago

WIG

wiggy07

Pinside member

Monroe Township, NJ

11y 77,800 1,327 19

I just got the RUNDMD in the mail yesterday. I will be putting it together tonight and posting it on my blog with videos. It looks great.

#32 9 years ago

LSK

Insane

Pinside+ Frequent

Baroda, MI

10y 80,800 1,966 6 9

As far as burn in on the clock, couldn't you make it to where the clock slowly moves back and forth...Looks cool. I agree with epthegeek that it would be better if it came with some generic animations.

#33 9 years ago

ABB

Aurich

Burn in would only be an issue with plasma displays, this is obviously better suited to LED. Just from the power supply standpoint alone.

#34 9 years ago

SBC

castlesteve

CCA

Lexington, KY

11y 40,650 953 15 13

this is pretty darn cool. probably will get me one!

#35 9 years ago

KLB

kbliznick

Here you go
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Indoor-F3-75-P4-75-Single-Red-color-LED-dot-matrix-module-304-152mm-64-32/1721782103.html

Quoted from j_m_:
run-dmd instructions
http://shmup.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Run-DMD-v1.24.pdf
I'm searching "HUB08C dmd", but I can't seem to find the 64x32 panel displays that this uses
edit:
nevermind: found them. although, shipping costs more than the panels themselves :/
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/P7-62-RG-Dual-Color-Indoor-LED-Display-Board-488x244mm-64x32-Pixel-Resolution-1-16-Scan/1317422821.html

only $42 for a pair of them shipped. The link you have is for dual colored panels

#36 9 years ago

j_m_

Pinside+ Frequent

11y 124K 7,590

thanks ^^

if we can get someone to create and produce the frames, I would be in on a mass purchase to get these over to the states reasonably priced

#37 9 years ago

MJS

schudel5

Pinside member

20y 166K 6,394 27

Quoted from j_m_:
thanks ^^
if we can get someone to create and produce the frames, I would be in on a mass purchase to get these over to the states reasonably priced

I'd be all over one as well. Definitely would like to have some animations preloaded (if possible).

#38 9 years ago

ABB

Aurich

Quoted from j_m_:
thanks ^^
if we can get someone to create and produce the frames, I would be in on a mass purchase to get these over to the states reasonably priced

I'm looking into the frames thing.

#39 9 years ago

HLT

herg

Quoted from herg:
All of this sounds quite a bit more expensive to do in single quantity.

Well, I did a bit of research, and I'm not seeing any significant savings in "bulk" yet.

The power supplies are free shipping with no real bulk pricing, so it would end up costing more to re-ship them.

The LED panels would be about $8 less per kit (2 panels) in Q20 (40 panels), but after adding PayPal fees and re-shipping, it would pretty much be a wash.

Limpan, what about Run-DMD boards? Any quantity discount? Would it make shipping costs any better? Maybe I should PM him. Also, are there any issues with overseas shipping of a bunch of Lithium batteries? We could get the batteries and SD cards in the US. I also have equipment to program PIC MCUs if that's an option.

If Aurich is able to get info on frames, we will have a better idea of how that could work out

#40 9 years ago

MJA

Mitch

Pinside member

Wellesley, ON

10y 131K 5,030 18 38

I got a complete one with pcb, both displays and power cords from the original maker a couple months back thanks to the OP. Then bough the frame from the guy who makes them back when he was doing a group buy. shipping wasnt cheap. For everything with shipping im in 4 to 5 hundred.

#41 9 years ago

ABB

Aurich

Quoted from herg:
If Aurich is able to get info on frames, we will have a better idea of how that could work out

I've made an inquiry already, I'll report back when I get something.

#42 9 years ago

MJA

Mitch

Pinside member

Wellesley, ON

10y 131K 5,030 18 38

Original post
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/run-dmd-pinball-clock#post-2243140

#43 9 years ago

KLB

kbliznick

So I am assuming you can grab the Stern DMD animations from the Roms by using pinbrowser. How would I go about getting the animations from other manufacturers?

I wanted to do this with a standard LED DMD that was pulled from a newer Stern (as I have some spares) until I saw the video of the clock next to the pins. The HUB08 displays are huge! And at only $40 or so shipped.

Also buying the displays in bulk isn't saving too much the way they have the shipping on ALI express.

$22 shipped for one panel, $16.65 each shipped for 100 panels.

#44 9 years ago

epthegeek

Pinside member

Quoted from kbliznick:
So I am assuming you can grab the Stern DMD animations from the Roms by using pinbrowser. How would I go about getting the animations from other manufacturers?
I wanted to do this with a standard LED DMD that was pulled from a newer Stern (as I have some spares) until I saw the video of the clock next to the pins. The HUB08 displays are huge! And at only $40 or so shipped.
Also buying the displays in bulk isn't saving too much the way they have the shipping on ALI express.
$22 shipped for one panel, $16.65 each shipped for 100 panels.

There are tools for extracting WPC dmd data, but it's not as simple as using pinballbrowser and hitting save. heh.

#45 9 years ago

KLB

kbliznick

http://forum.arcadeotaku.com/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=29457&p=412467&hilit=animations#p412467
http://forum.arcadeotaku.com/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=29457&p=415725&hilit=animations#p415725

Just read through the thread and right now the animations are fixed in that only the one person has the custom software to add the animations to the clock but he hopes to eventually write a program to allow users to add the files.

#46 9 years ago

F X

Coyote

Pinside member

9y 107K 8,987

Again, why I'm curious to know what 'kinds' of files these 'animation files' are.

Quoted from kbliznick:
Just read through the thread and right now the animations are fixed in that only the one person has the custom software to add the animations but he hopes to write a program to allow it
http://forum.arcadeotaku.com/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=29457&p=412467&hilit=animations#p412467
http://forum.arcadeotaku.com/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=29457&p=415725&hilit=animations#p415725

Oh. Well, I'm out then..!

#47 9 years ago

KLB

kbliznick

Quoted from Mitch:
I got a complete one with pcb, both displays and power cords from the original maker a couple months back thanks to the OP. Then bough the frame from the guy who makes them back when he was doing a group buy. shipping wasnt cheap. For everything with shipping im in 4 to 5 hundred.

Ouch

Without the frame, the driver board ($128) displays ($42) and power supply ($14) adds up to $184 right now.

#48 9 years ago

KLB

kbliznick

Quoted from Aurich:
If you can get me the CAD files I can talk to some US people about making the frames available.

Pinbits is usually a great source for cutting acrylic (and for hardware)

#49 9 years ago

LIM

Limpan

Pinside member

Looking to answer some more questions later tonight, but I had to post something when I saw this.

Quoted from Mitch:
Original post
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/run-dmd-pinball-clock#post-2243140

What do you mean by "original post"? I don't know who posted that, I'm sure it's not Torbjörn who said he did not want it out in the public. Not sure when everything is deletd, but it could be that german ripoff as they call "Go-DMD". I don't think they are ready for taking orders yet though, since they still uses the Run-DMD in their advertisement!

#50 9 years ago

KLB

kbliznick