Project: Desktop Arcade Joystick

OsiC · 18th January 2010, 8:23 PM

The Christmas Steam sales boosted my game collection a fair bit. One of the games I picked up was Street Fighter 4. So I'm building a arcade joystick / fighter stick to play sitting on my desk or lap.

I have done a painted case mod before and build my own sub box for my car, but nothing like this.

I have split the work-log into 3 posts
1 - Introduction, design & making the box
2 - Electronics
3 - Installing the buttons and finished product

Here is the initial design idea rendered in Cinema 4D

Click to view full size!

To design the button layout I placed my hands in a natural position on a piece of paper, then marked where my fingers liked to land when I tapped.

Revision 1:
I changed the size of the box smaller. I don't want it to be bigger then my keyboard (both for usage and storage). I have also moved the buttons closer together to hopefully make it easier to press the buttons.

Click to view full size!

After some (not so) careful designing and measuring I marked up the MDF

Click to view full size!

and started cutting with my cheapo jigsaw. Note that I am terrible at working with wood and probably did everything in the most inefficient and backwards way possible.

Click to view full size!

This is where I noticed that my careful measuring had been a little un-careful. The back piece is about 2cm too short. Luckily my piece of MDF was large enough to cut another piece (measure once, buy enough wood for when you stuff up).

Click to view full size!

After some rough sanding, drilling, gluing and splitting the wood because the drill holes were too small, the box is starting to look like a box, sort of. Its a a little rough around the edges.

Click to view full size!

Click to view full size!

Now for the filling and sanding bit. I used crack filler for plasterboard for the large gaps, mostly because I had some lying around. I then used spray putty (the pinkish stuff) and filler primer (the beige stuff)

Click to view full size!

i was originally going to have the sides come up above the the edges a little, but I decided to sand it down and (try) to get a flat finish.

Click to view full size!

After 1 coat of primer filler sanded back

Click to view full size!

2nd coat of primer

Click to view full size!

Sanded back. Its starting to look and feel smooth now. I had been using 100 and 200 grit sandpaper until now. This is with 400. It feels smooth except for a few of the joints where it is barely noticeable.

Click to view full size!

I was busy doing other things for about a week so I have only just gotten around to drilling the holes.

Click to view full size!

I used a 28mm spade drill and it was a lot easier then I expected. I did have an issue with the buttons being so close to the top, meaning they will hit the inside support of the back panel. I have tried chiseling it out and hopefully it will be OK.

Click to view full size!

I put another coat of primer on before starting with the painting. I used car touch up paint and applied 4 coats, waiting 30 mins in between each coat. I sanded back the 2nd and 4th coat with 1200 grit wet and dry, and cleaned of with wax and grease remover.

Click to view full size!

You can still faintly see the edges of the joints if you look for them but overall I am happy with the result

Click to view full size!

Because this will cop a fair amount of punishment I have done a couple of clear coats which will hopefully give it some protection. I did 2 coats then gave it a very light sand with wet 1200 grit and cleaned it again before applying the last coat.

Click to view full size!

I would describe the finish as satin. It looks almost matte from some angles but does give a blurry reflection to up close objects.

Click to view full size!

OsiC · 18th January 2010, 8:23 PM

The Electonics

Sorry for the pictures in this section. My phone isnt very good at indoor or close ups.

The controller I am using I have had for a couple of years now
http://www.leobodnar.com/products/BU0836/

It is a purpose built controller for custom built joysticks and game pads. It can handle 36 buttons and 8 analog inputs for things ranging from analog joysticks to throttles and trims for flight sims (what I was using it for)

Click to view full size!

I reused the wires I had already soldered the first time I used it, connecting them to a terminal strip. The controller can take up to 36 buttons, connecting each wire to another in a 6 by 6 array.

Click to view full size!

I don't have the buttons yet but I now what sort of connectors they use so I decided to do all the wiring now.

Click to view full size!

Because I'm using the controller in a 6x6 array, each ground needs to be separate and have a diode inline. This is different from most controllers, which runs a single daisy chained ground wire.

Click to view full size!

I soldered small push on connectors onto the ends and diodes onto the other end. I then used a small wire to run from the diode to the terminal strip.

Click to view full size!

You may notice that the red wires also have heat shrink towards the terminal strip end. This was because I cut the red wires as short as the black ones, even though they don't need diodes. (I also bought too many diodes, but at 50c for 4 I'm not too worried.)

Click to view full size!

I then labeled and tied up all buttons together, it should just be a matter of connecting them to the buttons and I'm ready to go. I have already tested to make sure each connection works.

Click to view full size!

OsiC · 18th January 2010, 8:24 PM

Installation and finished product

Currently I'm waiting on the parts to arrive, they should be here by the end of the week. Ill update when I get them.

UPDATE 21/1/10

The parts arrived today, thank you to Ozstick for the express delivery!

Installing everything was really easy, I just had to pop everything in and push on the connectors (which were tighter then I thought, they were a little too small, but they make a nice snug fit)

Click to view full size!

Click to view full size!

I ended up buying a USB plug thingy and made a hole for it. I think it gives a nice finish

Click to view full size!

Click to view full size!

Now for a bit of a gallery of the finished product

Click to view full size!

Click to view full size!
Handmade by these hands for these hands. hehe

Click to view full size!

fatrabbitbrain · 18th January 2010, 9:37 PM

Looking good. I ended up buying a FS3 stick when I was in Japan and swapped the buttons to Sanwa recently.

Hasn't improved me as a player though!

brayway · 18th January 2010, 10:36 PM

looks cool.
is the wiring and setup quite complicated? or is it like computers to noobs, looks really hard, but in reality is quite easy?

OsiC · 18th January 2010, 10:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by brayway

looks cool.
is the wiring and setup quite complicated? or is it like computers to noobs, looks really hard, but in reality is quite easy?

The way I have done it may make it look more complicated then it is. There are 12 pins in total - 6 rows and 6 columns.
connect row 1 to column 1 to press button 1.
row 1 column 2 to press 2.
This allows for 36 different combination, its just like a spreadsheet.

Most people use something like a keyboard encoder or recycled game pad, which have a single connector for each button, with a single common ground. To wire that up you just connect each button to the encoder and then daisy chain a single wire around to each button. It ends up looking half as complicated.

brayway · 18th January 2010, 10:54 PM

so is it pretty much plug n play? or do you have to program it?

OsiC · 18th January 2010, 11:01 PM

Its fully plug and play. Buttons 33-36 act as the hat switch, which is what I will be using for the joystick.

Click to view full size!

brayway · 18th January 2010, 11:11 PM

ah that's pretty cool, might consider making one of these some day!

aXis · 18th January 2010, 11:40 PM

Well done

I was looking at controller the other day for a flight sim joystick. You can get away without the diodes and with a single ground connection if you only need 12 buttons - i.e wire each of the 6 row/column pins as a seperate button.

You could also use the analog channels for regular joystick mode - wire the input with a resistor voltage divider at 2.5V, then pull the input up to 5V or down to 0V to give the two extremes.

Edit: On seconds thoughts, it would risk a short circuit if one switch fails closed. Best to have say the voltage divider using 2 x 10K resistors, and the pull up pull down using the switch and a 1K resistor. That would vary the voltage range between 10%, 50% and 90%. Calibration in Windows would then make this the full range.

OsiC · 20th January 2010, 11:05 AM

I'm still waiting on the buttons and joystick to arrive. While I'm waiting I noticed a bit of a stuff up.

I don't have a hole for the USB cord to go through! Any suggestions as to how I'm going to drill or cut a hole with minimal damage to the paintwork?

I have 2 choices, a small hole that will only just fit a USB cable through, or a bigger hole that with fit the USB plug through. Im not sure how easy it is to resolder a USB cable and it will make the cable non removable.

EDIT: I might be able to use somthing like this so it looks clean

aXis · 20th January 2010, 12:59 PM

you could use a gland or bezel to cover a few mm of paintwork around the hole. Could also help with strain relief.

This thread has a few good options. My personal favourite are the glands with strain relief tails

OsiC · 21st January 2010, 7:42 PM

I have finished the stick now, check post 3 for details.

Click to view full size!

AussieJester · 21st January 2010, 7:54 PM

Very well executed fantastic pro-looking finish, i would
pay money for that if i was into games that need such a controller...top job
and well documented too

KiM

hotsuma · 27th January 2010, 7:43 PM

very nice

i made one very similar a few years back, only difference is i used a ps2 keyboard board for the interface. Im going to re wire it as the ps2 cable is only like 2 feet long.

i very much like the usb jack you put in yours and the quality of the wireing , very clean.

if i had a camera atm i would take a shot of it , god i hope that 19gb mame download i have going finishes soon. lol

so you know its actually what i played the last need for speed game on so it is good for stuff other than mame.

18th January 2010, 8:23 PM	#1
OsiC Member Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Central Coast Posts: 506	Project: Desktop Arcade Joystick The Christmas Steam sales boosted my game collection a fair bit. One of the games I picked up was Street Fighter 4. So I'm building a arcade joystick / fighter stick to play sitting on my desk or lap. I have done a painted case mod before and build my own sub box for my car, but nothing like this. I have split the work-log into 3 posts 1 - Introduction, design & making the box 2 - Electronics 3 - Installing the buttons and finished product Here is the initial design idea rendered in Cinema 4D Click to view full size! To design the button layout I placed my hands in a natural position on a piece of paper, then marked where my fingers liked to land when I tapped. Revision 1: I changed the size of the box smaller. I don't want it to be bigger then my keyboard (both for usage and storage). I have also moved the buttons closer together to hopefully make it easier to press the buttons. Click to view full size! After some (not so) careful designing and measuring I marked up the MDF Click to view full size! and started cutting with my cheapo jigsaw. Note that I am terrible at working with wood and probably did everything in the most inefficient and backwards way possible. Click to view full size! This is where I noticed that my careful measuring had been a little un-careful. The back piece is about 2cm too short. Luckily my piece of MDF was large enough to cut another piece (measure once, buy enough wood for when you stuff up). Click to view full size! After some rough sanding, drilling, gluing and splitting the wood because the drill holes were too small, the box is starting to look like a box, sort of. Its a a little rough around the edges. Click to view full size! Click to view full size! Now for the filling and sanding bit. I used crack filler for plasterboard for the large gaps, mostly because I had some lying around. I then used spray putty (the pinkish stuff) and filler primer (the beige stuff) Click to view full size! i was originally going to have the sides come up above the the edges a little, but I decided to sand it down and (try) to get a flat finish. Click to view full size! After 1 coat of primer filler sanded back Click to view full size! 2nd coat of primer Click to view full size! Sanded back. Its starting to look and feel smooth now. I had been using 100 and 200 grit sandpaper until now. This is with 400. It feels smooth except for a few of the joints where it is barely noticeable. Click to view full size! I was busy doing other things for about a week so I have only just gotten around to drilling the holes. Click to view full size! I used a 28mm spade drill and it was a lot easier then I expected. I did have an issue with the buttons being so close to the top, meaning they will hit the inside support of the back panel. I have tried chiseling it out and hopefully it will be OK. Click to view full size! I put another coat of primer on before starting with the painting. I used car touch up paint and applied 4 coats, waiting 30 mins in between each coat. I sanded back the 2nd and 4th coat with 1200 grit wet and dry, and cleaned of with wax and grease remover. Click to view full size! You can still faintly see the edges of the joints if you look for them but overall I am happy with the result Click to view full size! Because this will cop a fair amount of punishment I have done a couple of clear coats which will hopefully give it some protection. I did 2 coats then gave it a very light sand with wet 1200 grit and cleaned it again before applying the last coat. Click to view full size! I would describe the finish as satin. It looks almost matte from some angles but does give a blurry reflection to up close objects. Click to view full size! Click to view full size! __________________ Project: Desktop fighterstick Last edited by OsiC; 18th January 2010 at 8:52 PM.

18th January 2010, 8:23 PM	#2
OsiC Member Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Central Coast Posts: 506	The Electronics The Electonics Sorry for the pictures in this section. My phone isnt very good at indoor or close ups. The controller I am using I have had for a couple of years now http://www.leobodnar.com/products/BU0836/ It is a purpose built controller for custom built joysticks and game pads. It can handle 36 buttons and 8 analog inputs for things ranging from analog joysticks to throttles and trims for flight sims (what I was using it for) Click to view full size! I reused the wires I had already soldered the first time I used it, connecting them to a terminal strip. The controller can take up to 36 buttons, connecting each wire to another in a 6 by 6 array. Click to view full size! I don't have the buttons yet but I now what sort of connectors they use so I decided to do all the wiring now. Click to view full size! Because I'm using the controller in a 6x6 array, each ground needs to be separate and have a diode inline. This is different from most controllers, which runs a single daisy chained ground wire. Click to view full size! I soldered small push on connectors onto the ends and diodes onto the other end. I then used a small wire to run from the diode to the terminal strip. Click to view full size! You may notice that the red wires also have heat shrink towards the terminal strip end. This was because I cut the red wires as short as the black ones, even though they don't need diodes. (I also bought too many diodes, but at 50c for 4 I'm not too worried.) Click to view full size! I then labeled and tied up all buttons together, it should just be a matter of connecting them to the buttons and I'm ready to go. I have already tested to make sure each connection works. Click to view full size! __________________ Project: Desktop fighterstick Last edited by OsiC; 18th January 2010 at 8:48 PM.

18th January 2010, 8:24 PM	#3
OsiC Member Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Central Coast Posts: 506	Installation and finished product Installation and finished product Currently I'm waiting on the parts to arrive, they should be here by the end of the week. Ill update when I get them. UPDATE 21/1/10 The parts arrived today, thank you to Ozstick for the express delivery! Installing everything was really easy, I just had to pop everything in and push on the connectors (which were tighter then I thought, they were a little too small, but they make a nice snug fit) Click to view full size! Click to view full size! I ended up buying a USB plug thingy and made a hole for it. I think it gives a nice finish Click to view full size! Click to view full size! Now for a bit of a gallery of the finished product Click to view full size! Click to view full size! Handmade by these hands for these hands. hehe Click to view full size! Click to view full size! __________________ Project: Desktop fighterstick Last edited by OsiC; 21st January 2010 at 7:41 PM.

18th January 2010, 11:01 PM	#8
OsiC Member Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Central Coast Posts: 506	Its fully plug and play. Buttons 33-36 act as the hat switch, which is what I will be using for the joystick. Click to view full size! __________________ Project: Desktop fighterstick

18th January 2010, 11:40 PM	#10
aXis Member Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: Kalgoorlie, WA Posts: 3,311	Well done I was looking at controller the other day for a flight sim joystick. You can get away without the diodes and with a single ground connection if you only need 12 buttons - i.e wire each of the 6 row/column pins as a seperate button. You could also use the analog channels for regular joystick mode - wire the input with a resistor voltage divider at 2.5V, then pull the input up to 5V or down to 0V to give the two extremes. Edit: On seconds thoughts, it would risk a short circuit if one switch fails closed. Best to have say the voltage divider using 2 x 10K resistors, and the pull up pull down using the switch and a 1K resistor. That would vary the voltage range between 10%, 50% and 90%. Calibration in Windows would then make this the full range. __________________ Former OCAU Extreme Cooling Club H2O Member Intel Core Duo E6600 Noctua NH-U12F Last edited by aXis; 18th January 2010 at 11:48 PM.

18th January 2010, 9:37 PM	#4
fatrabbitbrain Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Posts: 2	Looking good. I ended up buying a FS3 stick when I was in Japan and swapped the buttons to Sanwa recently. Hasn't improved me as a player though!

20th January 2010, 11:05 AM	#11
OsiC Member Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Central Coast Posts: 506	I'm still waiting on the buttons and joystick to arrive. While I'm waiting I noticed a bit of a stuff up. I don't have a hole for the USB cord to go through! Any suggestions as to how I'm going to drill or cut a hole with minimal damage to the paintwork? I have 2 choices, a small hole that will only just fit a USB cable through, or a bigger hole that with fit the USB plug through. Im not sure how easy it is to resolder a USB cable and it will make the cable non removable. EDIT: I might be able to use somthing like this so it looks clean __________________ Project: Desktop fighterstick Last edited by OsiC; 20th January 2010 at 11:15 AM.

20th January 2010, 12:59 PM	#12
aXis Member Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: Kalgoorlie, WA Posts: 3,311	you could use a gland or bezel to cover a few mm of paintwork around the hole. Could also help with strain relief. This thread has a few good options. My personal favourite are the glands with strain relief tails __________________ Former OCAU Extreme Cooling Club H2O Member Intel Core Duo E6600 Noctua NH-U12F

21st January 2010, 7:42 PM	#13
OsiC Member Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Central Coast Posts: 506	I have finished the stick now, check post 3 for details. Click to view full size! __________________ Project: Desktop fighterstick

21st January 2010, 7:54 PM	#14
AussieJester Member Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Perth Western Australia Posts: 2,552	Very well executed fantastic pro-looking finish, i would pay money for that if i was into games that need such a controller...top job and well documented too KiM __________________ Custom e-Cruiser hidef pics Custom RC Motor e-Cruiser Worklog Recumpence.com... Matt Shumaker Reduction Drives & Astro Motor Supplies TPPacks.com... GGoodrum Battery Management Systems for Lithium Polymer Packs

27th January 2010, 7:43 PM	#15
hotsuma Member Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Melb, CBD Posts: 935	very nice i made one very similar a few years back, only difference is i used a ps2 keyboard board for the interface. Im going to re wire it as the ps2 cable is only like 2 feet long. i very much like the usb jack you put in yours and the quality of the wireing , very clean. if i had a camera atm i would take a shot of it , god i hope that 19gb mame download i have going finishes soon. lol so you know its actually what i played the last need for speed game on so it is good for stuff other than mame. __________________ ..\...../\|... ...)...( ').. ..(.../ )... ...\(__)L... Feed me a stray cat