Introduction
Making your own USB computer input is easy with the Crazy Circuits Touch Board. In this guide we'll show how to create a hand held USB controller in the classic NES style. The designs and code we present in this project can easily be applied to other projects. We did just that in our Giant LEGO NES Controller project guide.
Use your own custom controller with:
- Any Mac or PC
- A Raspberry Pi system
- Anything that can use a USB Keyboard as an input
Tools
Video Overview
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Lay your parts out as shown in the diagram.
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When in doubt, count in the number of studs.
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All buttons must be connected to both Ground (White hole) and to a numbered pin.
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Lay out the start of your Common Ground starting at the right most Ground hole on the Touch Board.
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End at the "Right" Pushbutton.
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Cut a longer than expected piece of tape.
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Fold over the end of the tape.
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Use a second piece of tape to tape it down to the Common Ground.
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Following the diagram, connect "A & B" buttons to the Touch Board.
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When you're finished, attach your Pushbutton Chips.
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Connect the other side of your "Right" pushbutton to Pin 18 on the Touch Board.
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Connect "Left" and "Down".
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When finished, put your buttons on the board.
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Put down an extra long line of tape from the "Up" button to the "Down" button.
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Fold over the edge. Same process that was used for the A & B buttons to bridge.
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Take a long piece of tape and fold it in half so that there is no sticky side. Place it so that it touches the "Right" and "Down" buttons.
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Take a long piece of tape. Start at the "Left" button and go past the "Right" button. This will hold everything down.
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If you've never uploaded code to the Touch Board before, please read our Touch Board Guide. It'll show you where to download the right software and has example projects to practice with.
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Plug in your Touch Board. Open up your Arduino software. Open a new project window.
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Copy and Paste this code into the new project window.
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Upload your code.
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Look at line 111 in the code. Change (KEY_A) to (KEY_D). Upload your code again. Now that button is typing the letter D when pressed.
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Use the three screws to assemble the wooden box.
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Paint the faceplate if you'd like. If you have access to a laser cutter or CNC machine, you can make your own face plates.
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Slide in the green board.
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Use this link to play Super Mario Bros in your web browser.
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Notice how this website requires you to use the Z and X keyboard keys to control Mario. You'll need to slightly modify the code and re upload.
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