|Build Log| - DIY midi gamepad controller
|Build Log| - DIY midi gamepad controller Posted on: 07.12.2010 by Jacqualine Arroyos hello all, (first of all, sorry for my bad english... i'm from portugal) i've started my controller project. will be based on: 2 gamepads 1 sound board 30 arcade buttons 2 sliders 8 knobs 1 line in 1 line out the box is an old plumber tool box that i've found in a Lisbon flea market since this project will have to be as low cost as possible, i've spend some time searching for the correct design (to prevent mistakes) and also good but not expensive components at this point i've encontered the first problem... keeping in mind that the only experience in electronics that i have is to turn on and off the power button of my pc... said that, please be patience, and please sorry for some of my stupid questions... so the problem are the LED... i've managed to connect the analog potentiometer to the PCB and to a LED, it works fine... but when i connect the button the LED light is not bright... here you can see what is appening what am i doing wrong? thanking you in advanced | |
| Jacqualine Arroyos 04.03.2011 | hello, here is the layout i've 2 problems to solve, 1 |
| Jacqualine Arroyos 04.03.2011 | 4?? :| why not just 1 with 4 connections? |
| Margo Gilb 04.03.2011 | I also had to put 4 small buttons on the backside of my controller for changing from digital to analog |
| Jacqualine Arroyos 04.03.2011 | this was my first idea, but it seems that the buttons needs to be pressed each time when turned the gamepad on... i really didn't want to hide a button or use a button space on the front... :-( |
| Joan Kollmorgen 03.03.2011 | I believe all game pad's differ in this respect. The last controller I built using a game pad all I did was bridge the wire's on the analog button and all was good. Like this The one I built before that was different though. The previous method didn't work and I ended up sending the wires to a small button hidden at the back of the unit which had to be pressed to activate analog. |
| Jacqualine Arroyos 03.03.2011 | i will only use analog so i don't really need the extra switch in the panel, i'ff you find any sollution please let me know... thanks |
| Shay Wyche 03.03.2011 | I will be looking in to doing the same thing shortly. At the moment I can only believe of extending some wire from the switch and led to front panel, so you don't have to go in to the enclosure each time you want to turn the analogue on. This will give you a switch and a visual indicator of what's happening inside. I don't believe shorting the switch out will help because if you plug the usb in, with your finger on the analogue button, it doesn't automatically turn the analogue signal on (At least, that's how mines works). If I get round to doing mine before you finish, I'll let you know. |
| Jacqualine Arroyos 03.03.2011 | hello, does anyone know iff it's possible to bypass the analog switch of a gamepad, every time that i connect the gamepad, i have to press the analog, i would like to have it allways in analog mode. thanks |
| Carlena Dechand 01.03.2011 | Ribbon cables are the way forward! Looking forward to more updates |
| Jacqualine Arroyos 01.03.2011 | no no..... hehehhe mine is well organised heheheh, i'm using band wire (like hard drive wiring) |
| Jacqualine Arroyos 01.03.2011 | hi, there are two gamepad pcb connected to a usb hub, there is also a usb sound card, and 3 or 4 extra usb slots for aditional exterior connections |
| Margo Gilb 01.03.2011 | I believe it will look like this: That was mine with 32 Buttons and 16 Faders/Knobs |
| Fannie Lafranca 01.03.2011 | This looks awesome! Is the PCB from the game controllers? How will (or did) you tie it all together to connect via USB? |
| Jacqualine Arroyos 28.02.2011 |
Originally Posted by ToOntown
the acrylic is 3mm thick... the rest of the question, i didn't quite understand what you're asking, the buttons will be as they are in the picture, the top has about 2cm space avaiable... |
| Babara Guyll 27.02.2011 | ya im definitely gonna watch the progress of this one! sweet lookin' controller bro can't wait to see the finished product!! |
| Brunilda Kora 25.02.2011 | Nice work - very clever! |
| Shonda Soulier 25.02.2011 | what thickness is the acrylic? did you intend to leave the buttons raised or will you be pushing them flush with the top? just curious. excellent work! |
| Stephan Denigris 23.02.2011 | this is sickkkk |
| Jacqualine Arroyos 23.02.2011 | i got the acrylic cut from a local store, here in portugal, it's very easy to get... by my experience (i'm an architect and work with different materials in models) is that you can get lower prices from not specialised stores, iff you know what you want and have time to spend... iff i got the acrylic cut from a advertisement store or something, laser cut, hi tech etc... i would have paid x5 times for the same piece cut from a local acrylic store that makes furniture, cd stands, etc.etc. |
| Arcelia Siebeneck 22.02.2011 | brilliant! looking really good so far where did u get the acrylic cut? |
| Jacqualine Arroyos 22.02.2011 | hello people, i was away for a long time, but now i'm back in business... iv'e made some progresses on my project, the top is done, let me tell you the story... this are the tools of the trade i've had the acrilic allready cut, and it will be covered with 3 vinil aplications first i used a black opaque acrilic that will be used as a mask for the LEDs this is the template that is going to be used to make the cuts every cut carefully made this was the most difficult part of the cutting this is the finall product of the vinil that will be used as a mask this is a translucent red vinil glued on top of the opaque black mask and then the third and last vinil aplication, a translucent black vinil glued on top of the translucent red glued on top of the opaque black mask... confusing? you will see the result in a few seconds... then i cut off the holes for the buttons top completed top temporarily on box with buttons now the reason for all of this trouble... i wanted the LEDs to stay completely hidden, when i'm not pressing the buttons i will get just a black surface like the picture above when i press the buttons the LEDs, the light will come out from the black surface like the picture above button off button on the final result is not perfect, it was made by someone who has no qualifications, me... ideally this should have been made by a professional, but the price was just too expensive, i searched on a couple of stores and they were asking for about 100$... what i've made cost me 15$ but i like it not to be perfect, it has "soul" and it will age naturally :-) what do you believe? |
| Chau Honrado 18.01.2011 | nice logo! |
| Marva Cupid 11.01.2011 | thats nice i am loving this controller. i want one !! lol i believe im gonna build one of my own . |
| Jacqualine Arroyos 11.01.2011 | hi there, finaly i've found a place that could have the vinil film... let's see... in the mean time here you can have a look at the logo of the controller... it's going to be called "SIF |
| Marva Cupid 10.01.2011 | This is awesome. Lovin the box |
| Jacqualine Arroyos 09.01.2011 | I never imagined that finding decent vinyl film was so difficult... the project is on hold just because of this... |
| Jannette Zagame 06.01.2011 | Cant wait to see the progress! |
| Jacqualine Arroyos 04.01.2011 | pictures soon.... soon.... now i'm looking for a place to make the vinil template... |
| Chau Honrado 04.01.2011 | awesome! glad to hear it, hows it looking? any more pics yet |
| Jacqualine Arroyos 03.01.2011 | good news... the LDR photocell is working.... i've tried a different aproach... i replaced the resistor by a pot connected has a variable resistor and it works great... i've decided to keep this pot because i can now control the sensitivity of the LDR according with the environment. i will also connect the LDR to a simple pot with a switch, like this i can toggle between pot control or LDR control... i'm happy |
| Chau Honrado 01.01.2011 | it needs to be in series to act as a pull up or pull down resistor, otherwise youll get random value because the input will be floating |
| Eldon Martindelcampo 30.12.2010 | It depends on the resistance that you need. Series obviously gives you an overall higher resistance because it when resistors are in series they just add up. Resistors in parallel will be the resistances multiplied by each other divided by the resistances added to each other. |
| Chau Honrado 30.12.2010 | ok, a variable resitor would provide easier flexibility so you could fine tune, and in series and
If R1 is the photoresistor, the voltage will increase with increasing light intensity. If R2 is the photoresistor, the voltage will decrease with increasing light intensity.
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| Jacqualine Arroyos 29.12.2010 | hi there, the project is going well, but i'm believeing of puting the ldr aside ... let's see if i can make it to work ... because these random numbers are impractical ... i will try with different resistors to see how it goes, just a quick question, iff i had resistors, to confirm how it works, step by step, should be connected in paralel or serial? (i now it's a stupid question...) |
| Chau Honrado 28.12.2010 | hi, hows it going? im not that well versed with LDR but i believe for one you should make the resistor an adjustable one, because it sounds like the circuit is currently too sensitive, so its experiencing random values with positive light levels and is still sensitive even when covered, at the very least use a large valued resistor till you get something variable! |
| Jacqualine Arroyos 26.12.2010 | hi you guys, lide pot problem solved, i have a new slide pot (not stereo) and everything works... remember the photocell idea... it's not really workin... i've made the following wiring scheme and i can't make it to work, when in light the values are random and only go to zero when hi completly cover the cell and touch it with my finger... does anyone have experience connecting this things? the goal is to convert a analog input to a "theremin-like" sensor... thanks |
| Omer Defillipo 27.12.2010 | whoooa that is super clean! |
| Chau Honrado 23.12.2010 | nice man! and gonna look so epic in that wooden case |
| Dannie Naranjo 23.12.2010 | whoa, looks pretty badass! love it! |
| Jacqualine Arroyos 23.12.2010 | finally the acrylic has arrived... now i can take my project forward. don't be affraid, i'm not planing to keep the transparent finish, it will be black. initially it was supposed to be covered with black matte adhesive film, with holes for the led, but i got this beautifull black fake leather adhesive film (finish similar to the cars dashboard) so i'm believeing of going with it... i will post some photos in a couple of days showing the holes, led, and the finish |
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