controller

267 Articles

A Guide To Designing A Custom RC Controller

November 12, 2021 by 5 Comments

These days, there are tons of RC controllers out there of all shapes and sizes. However, if you want to build something with just the right amount of buttons and sticks for your application, you might want to design something yourself. That’s precisely what [Sebastian] did. 

The project actually began some time ago, with [Sebastian] sharing his process for building a custom ergonomic enclosure through the use of clay and photogrammetry, which we’ve covered before.

Inside that shapely housing, the build relies on a STM32 microcontroller, hooked up to a series of potentiometers, buttons, and a thumbstick (more potentiometers). A NRF24L01 module is used to handle the radio transmission side of things.

Overall, [Sebastian] has produced a great guide to designing a custom RC controller from the ground up, rather than simply instructing one how to replicate his own build. Armed with these skills, any maker should be able to whip up their own entirely bespoke controllers. Video after the break.

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Tracking Maximum Power Point For Solar Efficiency

September 19, 2021 by 45 Comments

In days of yore when solar panels weren’t dirt cheap, many people (and even large energy companies) used solar trackers to ensure their panels were always physically pointed at the sun to make sure they harvested every watt of energy possible. Since the price of panels has plummeted, though, it’s not economical to install complex machines to track the sun anymore. But all solar farms still track something else, called the Maximum Power Point (MPP), which ensures that even stationary panels are optimized for power production.

While small MPP trackers (MPPT) are available in solar charge controllers in the $200 range that are quite capable for small off-grid setups, [ASCAS] aka [TechBuilder] decided to roll out an open source version with a much lower price tag since most of the costs of these units are in R&D rather than in the actual components themselves. To that end, the methods that he uses for his MPPT are essentially the same as any commercial unit, known as synchronous buck conversion. This uses a specially configured switch-mode power supply (SMPS) in order to match the power output of the panels to the best power point for any given set of conditions extremely rapidly. It even works on many different battery configurations and chemistries, all configurable in software.

This build is incredibly extensive and goes deep into electrical theory and design choices. One design choice of note is the use of an ESP32 over an Arduino due to the higher resolution available when doing analog to digital conversion. There’s even a lengthy lecture on inductor core designs, and of course everything on this project is open source. We have also seen the ESP32 put to work with MPPT before, although in a slightly less refined but still intriguing way.

Thanks to [Sofia] for the tip!

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Thrashed, Damaged NES Controller Gets Brought Back To Life

August 11, 2021 by 6 Comments

Electronics might as well be a magical black box to some people. Where some would see a broken NES controller destined for the bin, [Taylor] saw the opportunity for a repair. Thus, the damaged hardware was brought back into useful service.

The controller was bought as part of a job lot, and was heavily damaged when it entered [Taylor]’s ownership. Nintendo built its hardware tough in those days, but the controller had nevertheless been smashed apart, with the case cracked and split and the PCB itself snapped in two.

For someone with basic electronics skills, though, repair was simple. The broken PCB was glued back together with epoxy. The broken traces had solder mask scraped back so that jumper wires could bridge the damaged area and return the circuit to functionality.

From there, it was a simple matter of 3D printing a new case, and the controller was back in service. The case in question was designed by [Alexander Myrman], and has a neat little inset Mario design that’s made visible by paint-filling the inlay.

While it was an easy fix, to the uninitiated in the electronic arts, it might as well be magic. It pays to remember that there are always new people joining the electronics hobby, and projects like these are a great way to learn. It’s also important to note that bringing back old retro hardware is often of great value, as in many cases, they’re not making any more! We see some great restorations around these parts, too. Video after the break.

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Understanding Custom Signal Protocols With Old Nintendos

July 2, 2021 by 5 Comments

For retro gaming, there’s really no substitute for original hardware. As it ages, though, a lot of us need to find something passable since antique hardware won’t last forever. If a console isn’t working properly an emulator can get us some of the way there, but using an original controller is still preferred even when using emulators. To that end, [All Parts Combined] shows us how to build custom interfaces between original Nintendo controllers and a PC.

The build starts by mapping out the controller behavior. Buttons on a SNES controller don’t correspond directly to pins, rather a clock latches all of the button presses at a particular moment all at once during each timing event and sends that information to the console. To implement this protocol an Adafruit Trinket is used, and a thorough explanation of the code is given in the video linked below. From there it was a simple matter of building the device itself, for which [All Parts Combined] scavenged controller ports from broken Super Nintendos and housed everything into a tidy box where it can be attached via USB to his PC.

While it might seem like a lot of work to get a custom Nintendo controller interface running just because he had lost his Mega Man cartridge, this build goes a long way to understanding a custom controller protocol. Plus, there’s a lot more utility here than just playing Mega Man; a method like this could easily be used to interface other controllers as well. We’ve even seen the reverse process where USB devices were made to work on a Nintendo 64.

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Adding In-Game Reset To Classic Playstations

June 1, 2021 by 6 Comments

The first Playstation is quickly approaching three decades since its release, and while this might make some of us who were around for that event feel a little aged, the hardware inside these machines isn’t getting any younger either. Plenty of people are replacing the optical drive in the original hardware with an optical drive emulator as they begin to fail, and with that comes the option for several other modifications to the hardware like this in-game reset mod.

In-game reset is a function that allows a console to be reset via a controller button combination rather than pressing the console’s reset button directly. Especially for devices modified with either the XStation or PSIO drive emulators, this can be a handy feature to have as this method can more easily take the user back to the emulator menu as well as physically reset the device. The modification is a small PCB which attaches to the controller port and, unlike previous versions, only requires a single pin to be soldered to the Playstation’s control board.

If you’re someone who enjoys playing games on original hardware rather than a patchwork of emulators, this could be an excellent addition to your PS1 that still allows most of the original feel and experience the PS1 offered. The drive emulator can greatly expand the range of the hardware as well, much like this NES cartridge which similarly expands the capabilities of that much older system.

Street-Legalize Your Ebike With A Magnet

March 1, 2021 by 98 Comments

Getting into e-biking is a great hobby. It can get people on bikes who might otherwise not be physically able to ride, it can speed up commute times, and it can even make hauling lots of stuff possible and easy, not to mention it’s also fun and rewarding. That being said, there are a wide array of conflicting laws around what your e-bike can and can’t do on the road and if you don’t want to run afoul of the rules you may need a programmable device that ensures your e-bike is restricted in the appropriate way.

This build is specifically for Bafang mid drives, which can be up to 1000 W and easily power a bike beyond the speed limit where [Tomblarom] lives. A small microcontroller is housed in a waterproof box on the bike and wired between the motor’s display and controller. A small hall effect sensor and magnet sit by this microcontroller, and if the magnet is removed then the microcontroller reprograms the bike’s controller to limit the speed and also to disable the throttle, another feature that is illegal in some jurisdictions but not others. As an added bonus, the microcontroller also handles brake lights, turn signals, and automatic headlights for the bike as well.

While the project page mentions removing the magnet while getting pulled over to avoid fines and other punishments, that’s on you. We imagine this could still be useful for someone who wants to comply with local laws when riding on the road, but still wants to remove the restrictions when riding on private property or off-road where the wattage and speed restrictions might not apply.

Automated Balcony Shade Uses NFC

January 20, 2021 by 3 Comments

[Udi] lives in an apartment with a pleasant balcony. He also has three kids who are home most of the time now, so he finds himself spending a little more time out on the balcony than he used to. To upgrade his experience, he installed a completely custom shade controller to automatically open and close his sunshade as the day progresses.

Automatic motors for blinds and other shades are available for purchase, but [Udi]’s shade is too big for any of these small motors to work. Finding a large servo with a 2:1 gear ration was the first step, as well as creating a custom mount for it to attach to the sunshade. Once the mechanical situation was solved, he programmed an ESP32 to control the servo. The ESP32 originally had control buttons wired to it, but [Udi] eventually transitioned to NFC for limit switch capabilities and also implemented voice control for the build as well.

While not the first shade controller we’ve ever seen, this build does make excellent use of appropriate hardware and its built-in features and although we suppose it’s possible this could have been done with a 555 timer, the project came together very well, especially for [Ubi]’s first Arduino-compatible build. If you decide to replicate this build, though, make sure that your shade controller is rental-friendly if it needs to be.

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