Controller Project

Brief

Project Title

For this project, I will be creating a game controller using circuit components.

Project Goals

This image lists various strategies you need to utilize in order to make a good and functioning controller.

Project Constraints

These are the rules/requirements that I have to closely follow when creating my controller.

Research

The controller that inspired my design was the the super Nintendo controller. I really liked the unique oval-ish shape design and how it flowed. I decided to make a controller with the same frame/body, but with different button placement, even removing some of the buttons.

Idea Development and Brainstorming

Four Controller Ideas

Here are my my four controller ideas, and I chose to go with the oval shaped one, mainly because of it's simple design and the potential it has. However, I am incorporating some elements of the other controllers into the oval design, such as using back triggers as left and right keys.

First Draft Drawing

This draft is a brief overview of what my controller will look like, but in my prototype I will tweak a couple of things, such as moving the button placement or enlarging the design. I am enlarging it because I received some feedback from peers noting that it was a bit too small, it wouldn't be comfortable to hold unless I made it a bit bigger.

Final Draft Drawing

This is my final draft drawing, and the measurements of the controller are 7 inches long, 2 inches wide, and half an inch tall. I encountered some difficulties when doing 2 3D cylinders next to a rectangular prism in 2 point perspective, but I tried my best. I also aimed to make the controller as comfortable-looking as possible, adjusting the size of the buttons, the cylinders, and widening the middle a bit.

Prototype

First Prototype View

( This prototype is my first draft and final draft)

Second Prototype View

These two images are two angles of my first draft model prototype, and I'm probably going to use this as my final prototype, because I liked the way it came out in terms of comfortability, size, and functionality. However, I did encounter some difficulty when I was figuring out whether or not to add more buttons onto it, but I decided not to for the sake of simplicity. I will probably make a couple of changes to reinforce the design, but other than that, I like how my first prototype came out.

Here is the video of my controller working, but I had a lot of issues with button placement, because in order to have all of the buttons in the places I wanted, I would've needed 4 bread boards, because the buttons on my controller are so spread out. I also had some issues with the legs of the buttons, because they would bend and they weren't very durable, but I figured it out in the end. I decided to play the snake game on google, using my buttons as arrow keys on my "controller". I figured this would be the perfect game because its fun, simple, and it only requires 3 buttons.

Testing

Self Assessment #1

The design of my controller has a unique oval shape, with the button placement differing from other controllers. Since we don’t have access to joysticks, there will be two buttons place of them, which will be the right and left arrow. The other two buttons will be where the bumpers would be on an Xbox controller, so in total I have four buttons. Now that I have made the controller bigger than it is on the blueprint, its a lot more comfortable and easier to hold. If I had 4 bread boards because my button placement is so spread out, I could actually be able to place the electronics inside of my controller, but unfortunately, I was not able to do that. Going off of that aspect of the controller, a slight regret I have would be that the buttons are so far apart from each other. However, to solve that issue, I may buy some bread boards and try to continue this over the summer.

Self Assessment #2

Overall, this project was very fun but also very difficult to say the least. I gained a lot of knowledge about electronics and design, and I’m super glad I did because I really enjoyed it. At the beginning of the project, I was really dreading the electronics part of the controller because my arduino was not cooperating, but eventually I got it to work. At first, my design was super small and I didn’t realize how it would feel in hand until a couple of my peers pointed it out, so then I enlarged it. My design was really influenced by my desire to have unique button placement, but unfortunately I was not actually able to place my electronics inside my model because of that. I wish I could’ve had a few more bread boards in order to place one where each button would be, but it’s ok because my electronics ended up working, so at least I had the functionality part down. In summation, this project was pretty fun.

Evaluation

(We will be going over this the day of the presentation.)

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