New Neogeo Wireless Joystick Controller

mikew

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Here's a video of a wireless joystick adapter I've been working on. Special attention was paid to avoiding latency and there is no noticeable delay.

Many thanks to Raz for writing a custom timing application to clock transmission speed as seen by the Neogeo joystick circuitry. It was found that the unit can send/receive well over 250 presses/second when connected to a function generator. Manually pressing buttons I was able to fire off about 15 presses/second so there is a large amount of headroom here.

Since most games detect joystick presses during VBLANK and it requires at least 2 VBLANKs to register a button turning on/off I can say this unit is at least 8 times faster than any game could read it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmuqyamAXH8

If there's enough interest I'm considering doing a run of these boards and posting them for sale on the forum. It would only be the transmitter/receiver PCB's which can use any joystick that uses a switch to ground.
 
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Yodd

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Fucking-A nice!

I'm in for a couple boards.
 

Pope Sazae

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This is really cool. Could something like this work in an old style stick? Also could the receiver be made as a simple plug that can be hooked into an AES or a CMVS? In the video it says that the transmitter needs +5v, do you think that some sort of battery hookup system could be made so that a regular controller/stick could be setup to use this?

I liked what was shown off in the video and it would be really cool to have another option for wireless than the current style of a hacked wireless ps2 pad and ps->neo converters.
 

mikew

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This is really cool. Could something like this work in an old style stick? Also could the receiver be made as a simple plug that can be hooked into an AES or a CMVS? In the video it says that the transmitter needs +5v, do you think that some sort of battery hookup system could be made so that a regular controller/stick could be setup to use this?

I liked what was shown off in the video and it would be really cool to have another option for wireless than the current style of a hacked wireless ps2 pad and ps->neo converters.

Currently the prototype's connector is wired for Neogeo controllers, i just don't have a legit one to show but the cabling is the same. Regarding power, I'm considering a 3.3v design which can use standard lithium ion or lithium polymer 3.7v cells for the transmitter board. It will charge via a usb connector. Parts are coming in shortly to test this.
 

sparksterz

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Wow, I wish other wireless controllers paid this close attention to detail on delay...I've used some pretty horrible ones. This however looks awesome and very promising.
 

Jibbajaba

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Man, if you put the transmitter and receiver PCBs in little project boxes with 15-pin sockets on them, you'd have yourself a real money-spinner, there. What are you powering the joystick with? Could you just run it off of some AA batteries?
 

mikew

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Man, if you put the transmitter and receiver PCBs in little project boxes with 15-pin sockets on them, you'd have yourself a real money-spinner, there. What are you powering the joystick with? Could you just run it off of some AA batteries?

I considered just putting those little proto boards in box with panel mount DB15's but at the same time I wanted to show I didn't just hack up some other wireless device and posted a video:) Right now it's being powered from a simple 5v 7805 linear regulator. It will run from 4 AA alkaline or rechargeable batteries as well.
 

Jibbajaba

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I considered just putting those little proto boards in box with panel mount DB15's but at the same time I wanted to show I didn't just hack up some other wireless device and posted a video:)

Makes sense. I was just saying that if you end up making a consumer-friendly version of that, a lot of us are going to get in line to place orders!

Right now it's being powered from a simple 5v 7805 linear regulator. It will run from 4 AA alkaline or rechargeable batteries as well.

Awesome. The PCB looks pretty small, so there should be more than enough room to install it and a 4 AA battery holder inside of an AES stick and ditch the cord...
 

Xian Xi

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Finally!!!

Very nice, I'd definitely be down for same as well.

I think having it as a "dongle" type is best as it would appeal to those who can't solder at all and just prefer a plug and play solution. That's always how I wanted these things to be. 2 dongles, one plugs into the system and the other has a male DB15 that the user can plug their stick into that also has a battery pack built in. A lot of people have custom Neo Geo controllers that just have a female DB15 socket on the back of them, just plug it on and it's wireless.
 

mikew

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Makes sense. I was just saying that if you end up making a consumer-friendly version of that, a lot of us are going to get in line to place orders!



Awesome. The PCB looks pretty small, so there should be more than enough room to install it and a 4 AA battery holder inside of an AES stick and ditch the cord...

The final design will be even smaller and will have either pcb mounted DB15's connectors or perhaps ribbon cable mounted DB15's to allow more flexibility on how they get mounted. This all came about after an email exchange with Neoturfmasta and he mentioned something like this would be well received in the community. I just went ahead and took a crack at it not really thinking about what the final product would look like.
 

NeoTurfMasta

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Mike is the man. Hopefully I'll be able to stop by next week and get my hands on it.
 

mikew

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Finally!!!

Very nice, I'd definitely be down for same as well.

I think having it as a "dongle" type is best as it would appeal to those who can't solder at all and just prefer a plug and play solution. That's always how I wanted these things to be. 2 dongles, one plugs into the system and the other has a male DB15 that the user can plug their stick into that also has a battery pack built in. A lot of people have custom Neo Geo controllers that just have a female DB15 socket on the back of them, just plug it on and it's wireless.

That's basically how it is right now. I wasn't sure if that would be more desirable then a small pcb which could be mounted within the joystick. I just today received an order of Sanwa buttons and a JLF-TP-8YT Joystick to make a custom stick and ditch this lopped off SF2 panel :) I plan on sticking the transmitter in the controller along with a rechargeable Lithium Polymer pack along with a Neutrik panel mount USB connector and charging circuit. I'm not sure if I will make a rechargeable battery circuit + battery pack for public consumption as I understand they run the risk of exploding if they overheat. On the other hand, that would be one hell of a rumble pack.
 

mikew

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Mike is the man. Hopefully I'll be able to stop by next week and get my hands on it.


I look forward to it :) BTW, there's a new PC2NEO firmware and PC client you can test. You'll be getting an email shortly with that info.
 

Xian Xi

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That's basically how it is right now. I wasn't sure if that would be more desirable then a small pcb which could be mounted within the joystick. I just today received an order of Sanwa buttons and a JLF-TP-8YT Joystick to make a custom stick and ditch this lopped off SF2 panel :) I plan on sticking the transmitter in the controller along with a rechargeable Lithium Polymer pack along with a Neutrik panel mount USB connector and charging circuit. I'm not sure if I will make a rechargeable battery circuit + battery pack for public consumption as I understand they run the risk of exploding if they overheat. On the other hand, that would be one hell of a rumble pack.

You should offer it both ways, bare or enclosed.
 

Pope Sazae

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You can just make it with a battery holder and let me buy my own rechargeable AA's so it's all on me. This is a great project you got going on and I really look forward to what you bring out as the consumer version.
 

city41

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So awesome. I've wanted a wireless Neo controller for ages now.

A lot of superguns also use DB15s with the Neo pinout. Problem is people pick whatever free pins they want for buttons 5 and 6. But, if you could accommodate that, you'd increase your market a bit without much more work.
 

420p

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Yeah, that would be so ultradope to have. I wanted that for ages, hope the price comes in relatively nice.
 

SNKorSWM

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Nice! At that speed just one of that can work on 4 player simultaneous mode.
 

Razoola

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As I mentioned to mike also, this in theory should make it quite easy to have 2 controllers to a single port making a 4player Kizuna without spaghetti leads all over the place.
 

kuze

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Fantastic work, I had been considering starting a project like this. I'll definitely be in for a couple boards as long as the price is right. Personally I like either bare board or dongle, as where an integrated solution into an aes stick would be sleeker, the dongle would preserve the stock functionality of the controller. I guess the bare board would be cheaper though right?
 
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Piwi

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WOW !! Very nice ! Would love to have this at home :)
I'm also in for some boards, if the price is OK :)
 
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