New Neogeo Wireless Joystick Controller

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Jasen Hicks

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Dude... loving the progress. I wonder how hard it would be to put a rechargeable battery in the circuit. Do something like a USB input so it charges of +5V. That would awesome. no batteries needed and the USB port on the front of the stick would literally be for power only... confuse the crap out of onlookers!
 
purple

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i used something similar to this one to charge 2 batteries powering ps2 wireless padhacks, gamepads were working fine with 2 regular aa batteries, i replaced them with ps3 replacement batteries which are 3.7v, finally i made connections with mini usb chasis mount connector. That way you can charge it from any usb source.
 
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mikew

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Jasen Hicks said:
Dude... loving the progress. I wonder how hard it would be to put a rechargeable battery in the circuit. Do something like a USB input so it charges of +5V. That would awesome. no batteries needed and the USB port on the front of the stick would literally be for power only... confuse the crap out of onlookers!
Click to expand...


One of the reasons I'm testing the low power design is to verify this is possible. There's a few DC to DC + USB charging circuits I'm evaluating which I'll either incorporate into a final design or at the very least provide details on how to wire that in to the existing power input where you would otherwise have a AA battery back.
 
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I'd be interested in a couple.
 
mikew

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Here's a small update on my progress regarding wireless joystick development.

The last two proto boards I sent for fabrication to Shenzhen have finally been shipped and should be back to me in a week or less. I built a simple aluminum joystick to test RF response when enclosed in metal and everything continues to work well. I test about 15' away from the console and didn't notice any loss of connectivity or dropped data packets. I used a 3.7v lithium ion battery to power the unit which charges via USB and has its voltage boosted to 5v using a small DC/DC converter.
 

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purple

purple

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thats beautiful, im glad you figure out. i think from now on we will see your controller everywhere. how about gamepad wireless modding? do you have plans about it?
 
mikew

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purple said:
thats beautiful, im glad you figure out. i think from now on we will see your controller everywhere. how about gamepad wireless modding? do you have plans about it?
Click to expand...

Thanks purple. By gamepad modding, do you mean internal to the pad itself? If that's the case one of the boards I made might work, it's 5cmx5cm and perhaps 1cm high if I don't use the risers for the RF portion. It still would require a battery though which in this case is larger than the wireless board. In terms of using a Neo joypad, like the NGCD pad, this works well when connected externally via the DB15 plug. Those have active circuitry within them and the transmitter board powers it and activates the correct lines so it functions properly. Standard Neo Joysticks and custom jamma joysticks also work and no special care is required there.
 
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Jasen Hicks

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I feel like you need a Panzer Fight Stick to put this in. When these go into production I'll be first in line. This has 100x win all over it. In fact, when they are ready for final production I will be putting stand offs in the PFS to support a direct connection.

Think of this.... Wireless joystick + (PS360+ & Receiver). Done. Instant Setup that works everywhere on old to new. Dreamcast, PSX, PS3, XBOX360, PC, NEO-GEO, SuperGuns. Clearly a no-brainer for non-competition players.
 
purple

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i found this battery which is 30x27mm, it would be very nice to fit them inside the gamepad. i dont have neo geo gamepads but it worth trying on others if there is enough space inside the gamepads. I imagine wireless saturn gamepads for my supergun :)
 
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Jasen Hicks said:
I feel like you need a Panzer Fight Stick to put this in. When these go into production I'll be first in line. This has 100x win all over it. In fact, when they are ready for final production I will be putting stand offs in the PFS to support a direct connection.

Hi Jasen,

Do you sell those joystick enclosures pre-painted, if so is it extra to do so? I really like the green/white example. Looking at the Panzer dimensions its very similar to the test stick I just made only a couple inches wider and a 1/2" lower. One question, does it really weight 8lbs?
Click to expand...
 
mikew

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purple said:
i found this battery which is 30x27mm, it would be very nice to fit them inside the gamepad. i dont have neo geo gamepads but it worth trying on others if there is enough space inside the gamepads. I imagine wireless saturn gamepads for my supergun :)
Click to expand...

That's pretty small but it's rated at 1/3 the current I'm shooting for unfortunately. Voltage looks good however.
 
purple

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1200mAh? i'm not sure but isn't it too much? nokia cellphones are working at that rate.
 
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purple said:
1200mAh? i'm not sure but isn't it too much? nokia cellphones are working at that rate.
Click to expand...

Nokia, or mobile phone developers in general spend millions testing and improving low power techniques to ensure their products can regulate and respond to low power modes used in their RF products. I'm concentrating on long battery life with off-the-shelf, readily available batteries and charging IC's. So no, I don't think 1200mAh is too much if it means I can use readily available IC's and batteries. Initially I was using 4x1400mAh AA rechargeable batteries, they lasted quite a long time. I'm shooting for the same battery life in one 3.7v Lithium Ion or LiPo in the normal 12-1500ma form factor found in cell phones.
 
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Jasen Hicks

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mikew said:
Jasen Hicks said:
I feel like you need a Panzer Fight Stick to put this in. When these go into production I'll be first in line. This has 100x win all over it. In fact, when they are ready for final production I will be putting stand offs in the PFS to support a direct connection.

Hi Jasen,

Do you sell those joystick enclosures pre-painted, if so is it extra to do so? I really like the green/white example. Looking at the Panzer dimensions its very similar to the test stick I just made only a couple inches wider and a 1/2" lower. One question, does it really weight 8lbs?
Click to expand...

Mike,

Everything shows up exactly as you order it with Powder Coat (not paint) in tact. So you can get the top color different than the bottom, etc. It does weight a bit... 8 lbs is shipping weight. I can get you something closer to actual, but I think its pretty close to 6-7. It's beefy... a real man's controller.

Jasen
Click to expand...
 
mikew

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Jasen Hicks said:
mikew said:
Mike,

Everything shows up exactly as you order it with Powder Coat (not paint) in tact. So you can get the top color different than the bottom, etc. It does weight a bit... 8 lbs is shipping weight. I can get you something closer to actual, but I think its pretty close to 6-7. It's beefy... a real man's controller.

Jasen
Click to expand...

Hi Jasen,

Thanks for the clarification. I think your sticks are a great value, especially considering the time it takes to powder coat. 6-7lbs is not an issue either, nor is 8 for that matter :)

Mike
Click to expand...
 
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Jasen Hicks

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Thanks Mike. So far a lot of people are very happy with their Panzers :-D I cant wait to put one of your boards in one!
 
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Yesterday I received my second set of proto boards from the PCB fab. I've only tested one of the designs which is a low power version of what I plan to use for the dongle style transmitter. This design runs from standard 3.7v lithium ion batteries. It's 5cmx5cm which is about 1/2 the size of the original boards which used pre-fab modules. It's clocked 1/2 as fast but the way I laid out the lines allows for much faster reads of the joystick input. I've only had an hour to test but it seems to perform as well as the original version. I still have to make some code optimizations to take better advantage of the new layout and if all goes well I'll be submitting a final design which incorporates the charging circuitry on the same board.

wireless-tx-low-power1-small.png

Here's what's under the RF module:

wireless-tx-low-power2-small.png
 
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Jasen Hicks

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Love. Have you considered using TERMINALS to connect buttons to it? For larger sticks, it may make it easier to have screw terminals to connect buttons to which would allow this to be mounted internally... keeping it easy to wire. Just a thought to minimize parts inside the stick.
 
mikew

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Jasen Hicks said:
Love. Have you considered using TERMINALS to connect buttons to it?
Click to expand...

Hi Jasen,

Yes, there are two versions of the design. I call the one posted above the "dongle" version as its intended to be installed in a standalone enclosure for use with existing NEO wired DB15 joysticks. There's another slightly longer model which is lined with screw terminals for internal wiring. That version also has terminals for 3 extra lines to support kick harnesses. It was actually designed before this version and has been the model I've been testing the last couple of months. I don't have a low power version of that form factor yet but now that I've proved that design works in dongle form I will be submitting a final design which incorporates USB charging and JST battery connectors for both the dongle and internal version.
 
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