Project Logs

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• Video Assembly Instructions

  deʃhipu • 04/09/2020 at 10:11 • 0 comments

  I should have recorded instructions on how to assemble (and also on how to use, but that's a deeper subject) the PewPew M4 a long time ago, but I never found the motivation to setup everything properly and record it. That's why I am very happy to see that @Makerfabs went and did the work for me instead! Not only the video is much better quality than I would ever manage to make, but it also features an awesome tattoo!

• On Sale

  deʃhipu • 03/10/2020 at 09:35 • 0 comments

  Due to unexpected circumstances it took longer than anticipated, but it's finally there: you can buy the PewPew M4 from Makerfabs here: https://makerfabs.com/circuitpython-pewpew-m4.html

  It comes all soldered up and programmed, you only need to remove the protective foil from the plastic parts and screw together the case. And put in two AAA 1.5V batteries, which are not included.
  

  It comes with CircuitPython 5.0.0 pre-programmed, and several example games. It will run both µGame and Pew Pew games.

  From what I can see in the photos (I didn't get one from this batch yet), the only difference from the test units is the black silkscreen and v-cut PCBs — so you might need to use a file or sandpaper to get rid of some uneven edges on the PCB.

• OSHWA Certification

  deʃhipu • 01/03/2020 at 21:33 • 0 comments

  That was easier than I anticipated. I just filled the form, and a few days later there it is:

  Apparently there are 5 other open source hardware devices in Switzerland.

• Bootloader, OSHWA and Production

  deʃhipu • 12/31/2019 at 22:20 • 0 comments

  I decided to do a bit of paperwork around this project.

  The pull request adding the bootloader configuration to the uf2-samdx1 repository has just been merged: https://github.com/microsoft/uf2-samdx1/pull/84

  The request for OSHWA certification is being reviewed, I expect they have holidays and will come back to me next year.

  Similarily, the request to Microsoft to add this board to MakeCode Arcade website is pending.

  Finally, the fabrication of the first 20 units has been successful, and I received a photo of one of the boards:

  I expect they will arrive in the first half of January, just before the Spring Festival.

• Microsoft MakeCode Arcade

  deʃhipu • 12/26/2019 at 20:20 • 2 comments

  While designing this, I kept my eye on the MakeCode Arcade specifications to make sure the device could also be used with that platform. But I never really took the time to test it. Today I finally decided to see if it will work.

  I updated the bootloader configuration to include information about all the buttons on the device, and I picked one of the examples to run. And lo and behold, it works:

  After such a meticulous and throughout test, I decided it's time to add it officially, so I made a pull request to the uf2-samdx1 repository to add the bootloader configuration there (and had to sign a CLA, thank you Microsoft), and also I dropped the Arcade staff an e-mail asking for adding it to the website. We will see what they think about it.

• Menu Program

  deʃhipu • 12/25/2019 at 23:14 • 0 comments

  The holidays came, so I finally have some time to work on the software for this device. For now I only did some simple housekeeping: included the pew library in the default firmware, together with the graphics for the PewPew emulation and for the menu. I also wrote a very simple program selection menu — for now without pagination:

  Including all that in the firmware required some changes in the board definition. The pull request for that will probably get merged after the holidays, but it should be included in CircuitPython 5.0.0.

• Assembly Documentation

  deʃhipu • 12/08/2019 at 23:23 • 0 comments

  I have just published the repository with all of the design files and the assembly documentation for PewPew M4. You can find the documentation and the link to the repository here: https://pewpew.readthedocs.io/en/latest/pewpew-m4/assembly.html

• HeroFest

  deʃhipu • 11/21/2019 at 22:36 • 0 comments

  @Christian Walther and me are going to have a table tomorrow (2019-11-22) in Bern (Switzerland) at the HeroFest event, as a part of the Training Grounds there. I will have a whole bag of different PewPews and various prototypes, so if you are around and want to see how they look like, and maybe chat a bit about them, then you should come.

  I'm hoping that I can get some game developers and future game developers interested in this.

• More Button Experiments

  deʃhipu • 11/13/2019 at 17:59 • 0 comments

  As I pronounced two logs ago, the current design is the best I can come up with the laser-cut d-pad and those 6x6 buttons. However, there is one more way, and that is using plastic d-pad and buttons from an existing console. To do that, I needed a new PCB that would accommodate smaller buttons that could fit under the plastic d-pad. That PCB arrived today, so I could try a series of new solutions.

  First I tried new 6x6 buttons that I ordered from Mouser, ones with 100gf actuation force. They do much less noise, and are easier to press. However, there is one small problem: because they are of better quality than the cheap switches I used before, and because their stems are held by the d-pad, which angles them when it is pressed, the d-pad has to be very carefully positioned at equal height on each of the button stems for the whole contraption to work properly — otherwise it becomes impossible to press some directions, or pressing one directions also presses other buttons. This is very annoying, so I decided to keep looking for better solutions.

  The first one is to use the buttons from a Nintendo DS Lite:

  This works pretty well, after a little bit of dremeling on the middle layer, to make room for the button's collar that keeps it in place. Unfortunately, once I tightened the screws, it became impossible to press the left direction button — turns out the dimensions of the buttons are not precise, and it's a little bit more than the promised 2.5mm of height. Loosening the screw makes it work again. (There is also the problem of the wrong markings on the buttons, but that could be probably solved by removing them.)

  But this gave me an idea. You see, I could use a laser-cut d-pad and caps with those small buttons, if only there was some way of keeping them in place, preventing them from falling out. The plastic ones rely on that collar thing. I could perhaps make a two-layer d-pad and caps with a similar collar, but that would require at least 2 different kinds of acrylic — with different thickness. Plus, gluing them together would make them look bad, as the glue tends to make the transparent acrylic look misty. But I could hold them in place in a different way? How about two-sided tape?

  So I put a piece of two-sided tape between the layers of acrylic, and stuck the d-pad cross and the button caps to that. And it works beautifully, even if it doesn't look so great. But that can be fixed. Encouraged with this, I assembled the whole device, and this time instead of using double-sided tape, I used regular tape, applying to the underside of the top layer only over the button holes. The result of that looks much better:

  And it still works perfectly fine. I imagine I could order some die-cut stickers in the right shape for the mass production. Of course the holes in the d-pad and caps become unneeded — I used ones with holes, because I already had them.

  There is one small complication with this approach: it works best when the d-pad and caps are cut from acrylic thicker than the front plate. That means I will probably need to go back to two sheets of acrylic, one 2.5mm (or even 3mm, to leave some leeway for variations in dimensions of the parts) for the middle layer and the d-pad and caps, and one 2mm, for the top layer. This shouldn't be much of a problem when producing more than 5 units, though, as we can fit multiple copies on both sheets then.

  Finally, I discovered one more thing: those tiny buttons come in two versions: with regular actuation force, and with lower one. I think I have the regular version now, so I ordered the ones with lower to see if they will feel even better.

• Schematic

  deʃhipu • 11/12/2019 at 12:08 • 0 comments

  Documentation is the hard part, not only because it's difficult to clearly describe everything, but also because it's hard to find the motivation. For instance, I never really needed a schematic for this device, since most connections are really straightforward, and obvious to me — but probably not to other people. So I have finally cleaned up the schematic view.

  There isn't much in it, but it might help when you are trying to figure out what is connected where.

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