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Homemade Pad
Posted: Sun Feb 06, 2005 2:35 pm
by Hoody2006
Hi i am trying to build my own homemade pad i need help on the conections from the controller and ground wires, i am using the angelfire website so dont send me links to it. I need pictures or a better explanation of the whole controller process
Posted: Wed Feb 09, 2005 10:22 pm
by Hoody2006
aww no help oh well ill go with the trial and error method
Posted: Sat Feb 26, 2005 11:01 pm
by hascoolnickname
I guess you could try something like
this combined with
this
sorry I know that must not help much.
Posted: Thu Mar 03, 2005 7:23 pm
by MB
Well, for general controller thoery, I'd look here and here. Just think of the pads as big switches, just as are the buttons on the control pad. The control pad (specifically the input IC) is needed to encode the input data to PS specifications.
Posted: Thu Mar 03, 2005 8:29 pm
by MonMotha
Well, if you want to do this the fun way,
http://www.gamesx.com/controldata/psxcont/psxcont.htm is about all the technical docs you would need to build a PSX controller from scratch (save the protocol specs for some of the newer dualshock types).
If you want it, I have some 8051 code to bit-bang the protocol over a few I/O lines. I haven't gotten a chance to test it yet though since I haven't made the board that the μcontroller goes on.
Oh, and as far as sensors go, try looking at tape switches. They're very similar to what's actually used in a DDR machine.
Posted: Thu Mar 03, 2005 9:30 pm
by MB
ph34r! That would get a little steep, wouldn't it? When I made some control boxes for a friend's CF, I picked up a few PSX pads from Gamestop for $5 each. The info there is from 1998, when Sony was still gouging us for pads, and when emulation might have been more reasonable. If I could recommend, look for colored pads (red, white, sparkly black), as these have small solder points for every button line and even one for ground.
Posted: Thu Mar 03, 2005 10:26 pm
by MonMotha
Well, you obviously don't know the wonder of free samples :) I called up Atmel and they were happy to ship me a few 8051 microcontrollers to play with. Also, as a Rose student, I can make circuit boards for free basically (there's a group of us with a set of drill bits and I can afford to provide some copper clad stock). I will give you that making boards can get expensive, though you could wire wrap something up pretty cheap if you want to. 8051s are dirt cheap from most distributors (think like $2 or so).
It also so happens that the application I'm doing for one of these would need some sort of microcontroller to talk to the actual device anyway (it doesn't just give you nice little signals for each button), so I figured I'd just throw the PSX interface code on the microcontroller. Not to mention it looks nicer and lets you add a whole bunch of other neat features (like lights with fancy animation patterns) if you like. This also serves as a neat project for me (and anyone who knows me knows I'm likely to spend more to build it myself just to have fun with it).
I agree though that for what most people are likely to be doing, it's easier and probably cheaper to just use a PSX controller. Won't look as nice of course.