I built a zen-xy (v1) mechanism years ago and ran it “raw” for a little while.
It was amazing, but due to various constraints I disassembled it and have been dreaming of a time and space to do it up right.
I am starting to see some project time on my horizon and thinking about embarking. The biggest obstacle is the fact that my wife would love a “Gaming Table”
Having space for only one, I leaped to imaging an integrated design.
Also recognizing that a unique feature of a gaming table she would appreciate would be to have multiple “layers” so we could leave a “legacy” game on the bottom and have a shorter duration “layer” stacked on top.
While this could be accomplished using a tiered system, the bottom layer could end up pretty deep in the well of the table.
Consequently I starting dreaming a table where the bottom layer is on a lift to bring it to the surface when playing, and drop it down when you need a flat top or want to add a layer.
Making the bottom layer a Zen-XY means I’d have power, lights and a controller already
Probably crazy and will likely never happen, but I’ve been poking around for lift mechanisms - standing desks, scissor lifts, ball screws, etc. It wouldn’t actually “have” to be automated / electrically operated, but why not
Anyhow, I always appreciate the feedback and suggestions of this forum. I also very much appreciate candor, so if this is dumb or I’ve missed something obvious, please let me have it.
This is really good creativity juice. A lot of those tables are really nice and very pricey. So a new design would make that more available or it could be a potential way to make a side project into a small business.
If the ZenXY is on the bottom, are you talking about three layers? Four?
If you took the table in the image and made the bottom surface a ZXY, then it would be covered by your legacy game. You can do shorter games on the wooden top. So then you just also want a leadscrew mechanism to lift the legacy/ZXY part up. You could do that with one big belt loop connecting several leadscrews, or 4 motors moving in sync.
Or are there more layers, and the legacy game somehow lifts up and out of the way to reveal the ZXY?
I’m assuming the zen-xy would have to be on the bottom - which means it will rarely be visible, but fun nonetheless. Could even draw a map or something.
Additional layers would just be a perimeter frame and an extra set of top planks.
I like the idea of synchronized screws. I’m not sure how much motor torque I will need; it is starting to look heavy, but can be geared down - speed doesn’t matter too much. Would running a belt and multiple motors be a bad idea?
I think you’d need to actually do the calculations. Start with the max torque of the motors, and the pitch of the leadscrews should let you convert that to a linear force. Assume a lot of loss to not maxing your motors and friction in the leadscrews. The load should be a fully loaded table top. Then I would want some kind of super strong lock to keep it in each position. The bottom could be a lip. The top could be some pins you slide in at each position. That way you could lean on the table in the locked position, but your motors don’t have to be built to overcome a 200lb dude who is leaning on them.
My guess is that if you just did a single big belt and 4 leadscrews, you could drive it with one motor. At stepper would be precise (so you could potentially push a button to go exactly a set number of rotations). But a regular DC motor could be wired to an up or down button. Many of them have gear boxes attached. Two DC motors might be hard to drive at the same torque.
Are you wanting the hideaway for storage or because some games go unfinished?
I would build a table with the Zenxy on top and build game storage underneath so all you do is pull it out. Now if its on the basis of unfinished games that wouldn’t work.
If she’s wanting something that you can have like a special surface for (like the poker felt in the picture all you’d need to do is create a false top. Like a glass top over the zenxy and a acrylic surface on top of the glass. then when the gaming surface is needed you pull out the acrylic and replace it with the felt. Could allow for some cool designs where you could cut holes in the felt to peer into the zenxy in non used surfaces.
My three sons are all teenagers. We are starting to see them less and less, but when we do epic gaming battles rage on occasion. We can usually get to a decent stopping point but rarely finish the full campaign and it is nice to leave it up for extended periods, but needs to get tucked away.
This does mean a Zen on the bottom would rarely see daylight, but you now have me thinking about how I might be able to stash a “layer” with a game session-ready, but not necessarily fully setup/mid-play. Retrieve a game layer from underneath, drop zen-xy down and place game layer on top. A card felt pad that could go over the whole thing would be ideal.
