Modular Gamepad: swappable controls, any console

I just had another idea (though I think it was somewhere in my mind a week or two ago). Users should be able to share their configurations via the Internet somehow. The shares should, I think, include the mapping of control inputs to signals sent to the game as well as a diagram of how to set up the hardware modules. Users who use shared configurations will, of course, be able to adjust them to their liking. The obvious ways are a central database of configurations, somewhat like what Thingiverse does for makeable things, and direct person-to-person or postable sharing via text (e.g. JSON) import/export. Thoughts?

This was the first video I made for one of my three two THP entries, and it’s definitely the nicest-looking one. I made it primarily with Keynote, and then added in the video clip at the beginning using iMovie. I used Keynote’s “Record Presentation” function to record the timings and voiceover, and then just exported the recorded presentation as a video to import into iMovie. This was my first time using iMovie in a few years, and it’s changed a lot. I had to look up how to do basic things because they weren’t where I was used to seeing them. Also, it seems that iMovie only allows one and a half video tracks. I guess this isn’t a reduction from how it was earlier, but I was expecting to be able to do multi-track editing for some reason. Apart from that it was pretty easy; it just took a while to find the photos, make the slides, set up animations, and edit the video. Enjoy!

I plan to start with a Cypress PSoC4 Pioneer Kit, because I think it’s a good fit for the project, and most importantly, I already have one. I may switch to a different platform later because I don’t like how the PSoC toolchain is very closed and Windows-only, or if I find I need capabilities the PSoC doesn’t have. I will probably look into STM32 or other ARM parts as the primary candidates for a new microcontroller at that point.

I intend to first get the PSoC4 to send PlayStation controller signals, which will be received by an older version of the Mindsensors PSP-Nx (a PlayStation 2 controller-to-NXT adapter), which will be connected by I2C to either an Arduino or my Mindstorms NXT Programmable Brick (if I can find it). Once I have that working, I will get it to read sensors typical of those in gamepads (probably taken from the one in the video or other ones lying around) and send signals appropriately. Of course, I must first look up the PlayStation controller protocol.

Patents relevant to this project are:

• Valve: US8241126 (gamepad with swappable analog sticks, trackballs, and trackpad)
• Act Labs: US6279906/CA2293347 A1 (game controller with swappable hardware interface modules to work with different consoles)

Luckily for me, I live in Canada and Valve only has a US patent, so I don't have to worry about that one. Theirs also has some limitations on placement of modules that I don't expect mine will have. The Act Labs patent is a bit more worrisome, but I think I can work around it because its claims are quite specific to the system architecture they chose. As long as I don't have an active adapter module between the controller base unit and the console that is connected to the controller using metal contacts, I should be fine. That rules out the middle option in the diagram, but the radio option should still be fine, and passive adapters with the protocol handled by the controller's processor should also be fine.

Years ago I had a Logitech PlayStation 2 controller that looked like this, though, of course, it was a PS2 controller, not a PC controller. It felt great and was really nice to play with. Unfortunately, its cord frayed and broke inside the plug. I thought I'd like to convert it to wireless, but at the time I had no idea how to do that. I also thought, if I ever did convert it to wireless, it would be nice to make it work with other consoles. Now, I'm less interested in making a wireless controller (though it would be nice) than I am in making a controller that works with any console and, more importantly, has reconfigurable control hardware.