[Tech] Smallest Controller Yet!

I started and finished in one day... Well, almost. It was the plan,
but it took another day because I put it off halfway through to complete a different project.

So yeah, the orange stick was a compact stick made for the purpose of portability and for
plug & play on my computer. So why did I make yet another tiny stick? It was a novel idea
I wanted to try a while ago. The plan was to make a mini controller, one so small it could
be worn it on a lanyard. It would be so portable it could be stored underneath my computer
desk and have easy access to it should I want to play a few NES games during break time.
That was the original idea, and here's where it arrived.



I wanted to build what is more like a scale model of a full-size joystick you'd find on the market.
Length-width ratio of the standard sized controller would be maintained, meaning the joystick
and buttons would also have to be tinier too.That proved to be difficult as physically smaller
joysticks weren't available. Even those little game units you plug into the TV to play a retro
game had large joysticks. So I thought of manipulating the framework of the case so that
the Sanwa JLF will have a shorter shaft. Finding buttons wasn't a problem though.



It totally looks like it's set up for fighting games, but it's really just for light use mainly on OpenEmu (NES/SNES) and PCSX.
I also sought the opportunity to finally give bat tops and the Neutrik adaptor a try.



It's a small one. Like with the Terumi stick, this one was also made from an artist's panel, 6" x 12".
I could've went with a 6" x 8", but I wanted the extra room for a carrying handle.



This time, I went with mixed colours on the buttons. I wanted to do this for a long time. Those 4 buttons were selected and arranged
to match the face buttons of a Playstation controller. It would've been an 8-button joystick, but unfortunately the Dualshock 3 PCB I
had leftover was only wired up for 6 buttons, and I was not about to plug in 22-gauge wire into a tiny 20-pin slot a second time.
Thank goodness it didn't become an 8-button layout, because with the space for the handle slot, there was practically no room left!



This would be the first stick where I didn't have the all the extra space to be carefree with wiring.



Here's that handle I spoke of. The bottom panel had been cut short so I could do this:



I did it last time on the Kemonojo:



It was such a success I had to do it again. Unlike it though, I did not conceal the interior, meaning whenever I activate any
microswitch on the joystick, the audible "clicks" come straight out of that opening. Fun times are to be had.


Did I meet my goals? Let's review.
The case is super tiny. Check.
It can play on the console and computer. Check.
I can hang it up instead of leaving it on the floor. Check.

Everything works. Thankfully I did not need to pair it up via Bluetooth, because with no battery pack, it's impossible to do.
Now all I have to do is figure out how to get it to connect reliably with OpenEmu. These two don't seem to get along very well.

[Tech] Back On The Stick - Yuki Terumi Theme

When I first introduced my friend to fighting games, I convinced him after some time to invest into a joystick controller. I never realized how much I pressured him into it simply because I wanted an excuse to build another one. That was several years ago when Blazblue Continuum Shift was released on the Playstation 3. I helped him do the internal work, while I left the construction of the controller case to his father. The design of it had so many things wrong with it, the product designer in me couldn't let that sit.

It was considerably heavy, because they used two-by-fours to construct the frame.

It was unnecessarily large, because they used two-by-fours to construct the frame.

It was also difficult to pick up with one hand, something most joystick users are accustomed to now, because they used two-by-fours to construct the frame.



So I bugged him about this over the course of a year or two, and he finally gave in. And just like last time, I let him decide on the size, except I was giving him less than a handful of options that made more sense to me than a case built with two-by-fours.




Here's the raw of it. Drastically smaller than the big box he's had before. The case is an 11x14" artist panel. Using one of these saves me the trouble of having to build one from scratch and it costs less too! As always, each stick I build features a new procedure, new material, technique or idea. This time, creating glossy sides and a bottom panel that doesn't use feet.



The top sheet of plexiglas and bottom masonite were taken from the previous controller and resized. The theme of the stick as as the post title says is created after Yuki Terumi's colour palette. Yuki is a Blazblue character playable in the recently released Blazblue Chronophantasma.





For this stick, I've used the Zero Delay Rematch PCB. Low price, solderless, wires already included, super tiny board, works on the Playstation 1, 2 and 3, as well as the PC and Mac being detected as a Playstation Sixaxis controller. For $20, I can't argue with the price. Only downside is the cable to hook up the Sanwa JLF's pcb is way too short.



The side was routed so that the 24mm buttons would be flush with the side wall.



I've kept the edge transparency like the red acrylic stick. Makes it visually stimulating.



I did away with the 4 feet this time and covered up the masonite with a sheet of foam instead.



Here I end off showing how bright that fluorescent green lights up when light hits it a certain way. Mmm-hmm!

[Tech] Creamsicle-Themed Ministick

Despite the same conventional method of building yet another joystick, I always aim to overcome a new challenge. Previously, I've been carrying a large bag to transport the Kokuju controller to a local scene. It has worked just fine, and no large problems have ever risen. Then it got me thinking "wouldn't it simply be better if the joystick was more portable? More smaller? A joystick controller doesn't need to be as big as it is." That is true. I have seen pretty of smaller custom controllers before and decided this would also be a great excuse to finally try out a MC-Cthulhu circuit board. This PCB has been developed by a member of the fighting game community for modders such as myself. It's small, can be used on multiple consoles without the need for adaptors and drivers, and it doesn't require any soldering. It's extremely user-friendly and it's modular and expandable for those who want to do more than just the basics.







At first I planned on vacuum-forming a sheet of white styrene over an 8x10 inch artist's panel, followed by vacuum-forming a thicker sheet of acrylic on top. The ideal image was a clear-coated orange and white case all shiny like an orange creamsicle in a bubble. The vacuum-forming didn't work out as I thought it would, so I went to making walls, a top and a bottom panel to wrap around the panel. I've made the acrylic stick using the exact same method, and like it, its structure is frail. I've accidentally broken the case numerous times during construction because epoxy can only do so much for you. This wouldn't be the case had it been an opaque material as I wouldn't have to be concerned about maintaining defection-free transparency. I've also overestimated the buffing wheel. I believed it would be able to take out scratches made throughout building, and it seems that it has barely done so. The results were not as spotless as I wanted, but many lessons were learned.

[Tech] The Beast has been Unleashed. Kemonojo

(previous WIP post can be found here)

Not anywhere near perfection, but I'm proud to say it is the most amount of time and sweat I've ever put into making a joystick case! Picking up where I left off, the white stripe has been done, and the wiring took little to no time.

The inner dimensions are smaller than the acrylic case, but it's not like the latter was completely stuffed:

Interior or the acrylic case. The project box in the top right was previously used to contain a Playstation 1 controller's PCB (printed circuit board). While the new case was in the works, I had temporarily installed the Playstation 3 controller's PCB (seen in photo above) to test proper connections.

Organizing the wires is nice to do, though it's going to be concealed with the bottom panel so it's not important to me.

Kemonojo

"Beast Joystick"

Felt a name was necessary rather than just naming it by its colour or material. I chose Japanese to follow up on my colour inspiration that was the car tuning company Nismo, stylistically short for "Nissan Motorsport".

Parts Used:

• Sanwa JLF Joystick + Sanwa Ball Top, with Square Restrictor Gate
• 6 Sanwa OBSF-30 (snap-on) Push Buttons
• 3 Seimitsu PS-14-GN (screw-on) Push Buttons
• 3rd-Party Playstation 3 Wired Controller
• 22 AWG wire and leaded solder. 

A challenge to making this case is to find a way to conceal the mounting screws. Most joystick builders like to put a graphic print on top followed by a sheet of acrylic (such as plexiglas). I'm using the circular signal nibs that are used to connect signal points when pushing buttons on a game controller d-pad.

Settled on two instead of one red button.

Flush side buttons. These are wired to non-playing buttons like Start, Select and the PS button.

Flush Handle. Keeping with the theme, this style allows for an easy grasp, yet there is no external piece protruding from the surface of the side wall.

Here's a great shot of how the glitter clear paint shows. I wasn't able to capture it as well on the top panel since I didn't use as much on it.

The stunning continuous stripe. Tamiya's masking tape is simply amazing.

Not sure why a product demonstration photo needs this sort of atmosphere to convey the message, but here it is anyway.

 

What's great about having a handle like this is that this entire case can be picked up with a single finger. If there's an organized event and I need to carry multiple items, this feature will definite be handy.

Bottom & Top Panel

This was a great project. I got a taste of the legendary Bondo Filler, the smoothness of using high-grit sandpaper, the excellent results of Tamiya masking tape, sparkling paint and soon will be the renown unmatched reputation of Sanwa push buttons.

[WIP] Recycled Joystick: Base Paint is Complete.

(Previous WIP post to this project can be found here)

Too many hours spent body-making and sanding. Too many.


The bottom panel is done. The wall filler used previously did not work out. It held its shape, but it separated from the wood too easily. Any experience filler users would've known that. This time I used Bondo Putty by 3M. Stuff works great. Haven't had as much trouble as Poly-Filla, but it too struggled with small chips here and there. The Grazing & Spot Putty by 3M was recommended but I didn't bring enough money to Canadian Tire.

After the second afternoon, I finally decided to stop because I could've been reworking the edges until I literally had no putty left. I have a perfectionist in me that does nothing but eat up five extra work hours than expected on any project, and with other things I need and want to do, I could not afford any more time spent on crafting perfectly smooth edges. Fortunately the dark gray paint can hide most of the surface changes from an untrained eye.

Next step is to masking off the surface for the white stripe, just like the orange stick:

Now comes the next dilemma: One red button or two?

It was never mentioned, but the colour arrangement between the white and red buttons came solely from Nismo, a car tuning company:

 

That said, having two red buttons sports a consistent look, whereas a single red button puts a great deal of emphasis on the button alone, but almost feels overpowered by the white buttons. I think 2 buttons may having the longer lasting appeal, though a single gives off one hell of a rebellious statement. The buttons by the way are Sanwa Denshi OBSF-30. I took a long bus-ride along with biking in the rain to arrive at the store I've been told that sells these. I would've liked OBSN-30 parts because those are screw-on chambers rather than snap-on. The latter is quick and less of a hassle, but more troublesome if the panel it's being installed in isn't thin like sheet metal. Prior to painting, the buttons can stay put in the 1/8" thick MDF. It's just that if someone wanted to they could simply pry it out, but who would do that when the controller's on my lap?


To sidetrack a bit, in between waiting time for paint to dry, I tried out a spray bottle of Turtle Wax I found in the garage. Needless to say, it leaves one immaculate shine compared to the two other polishing paste and compound I bought two weeks ago:

 From left to right: Turtle Wax Polishing Compound (and scratch remover), Meguiar's Ultimate Polish, Turtle Wax Protectant.

I sampled this on the side of plastic tire wedges.

Left: Turtle Wax Compound. Right: Turtle Wax Spray.

Left: Meguiar's Polish. Right: Turtle Wax Spray.

Here's a short video to help you visualize the amount of gloss on the spray.

The Turtle Wax spray definitely gives the surface a clean shine. I can see myself using this for photos. Will certainly apply some onto the case before presentation photos. I'm sure I'm not using the compound and polish correctly, or maybe I'm expecting something it's not capable of doing. Will need to do research.


More progress/content to come soon, 4 or 5 layers of clear coat later that is.

[WIP] Recycling: Joystick Case

Instead of building a new one from scratch, since I don't have access to fresh materials and power tools, I'm reusing an old case; Orange Stick (which you can find photos of here. Because it's smaller, lighter, sturdier than the Acrylic, it's more portable. With the refreshed interest in joystick usage, this may be the first controller I'll carry to local gatherings in the near future. A name for this would be neat, but that needs time to be developed. Here's progress photos:

Rebuilt the edge so the top panel is flush with the sides.

Filler used to fill in the openings. Edges are curved.

Renewed bottom panel with 3/16" masonite.

Recessed opening to serve as a handle.

Easy to grab; easy to transport.

No additional parts needed makes transporting seamless.

It's absolutely intuitive.

Poly Filla's the product of choice along with a scraper.

Filler won't seal the bottom panel, but create a sort of bezel.

Next steps would to be to finish with the bezel, install the 4 feet, close up the opening to prevent the chance of interfering with the wiring (that's soon to come), prime, paint, and install all parts.