Game Controllers
- First of all, you have to print the controller case, uploaded to Thingiverse.
- The chip, included in the controller, is a PCF8574 on a small circuit board from Amazon (8€): https://www.amazon.com/Expansion-Expander-Evaluation-Development-XYGStudy/dp/B00DUO17J6
- And the pushbuttons are from Ebay (1.2€): http://www.ebay.de/itm/10-Stück-DIP-4-Mini-Drucktaster-Printschalter/272861590169
- Additionally, you need a few wires for connecting the buttons to the PCF8574 chip and a 4-wire-cable with approx. 2 meter length to connect the controller to the raspberry pi.
- After printing all the parts, cut out two perfboard pieces with a dimension of 40x40 mm each. Check if they slide perfectly into the provided slots in the controller case.
- Solder 4 buttons on each perfboard and pay attention to the proper alignment (use the printed case as reference, the pushbuttons have to be centered under the individual printed buttons.)
- Connect one pin of each button to the I2C port extender. Connect the other pin of each button to GND on the port extender circuit board. If you want to use the controllers with with this control engine, you have to use a fixed order or otherwise, the buttons behave differently. Have a look at the picture below.
- Slide the two prefboards into their rails and use hot glue to fixate them (check if they align with the corresponding button holes as good as possible.
- Use a longer cable to connect the I2C port of the port extender to the raspberry pi. If you use the same port extender, you may have to desolder the I2C connector on both sides of the chip to fit everything into the case.
- Fixate the port extender board with some hot glue in the center of the controller as shown in the picture below and close the case.
- To support multiple controllers, you have to use the jumper connectors to adjust the I2C address. Use a different jumper combination for each controller you use.
