Alpakka: A Creative Commons Game Controller
Input Labs’ mission is to produce open up-source hardware and application for generating gaming controllers that can be adapted to any person. Alpakka is their current choose on a generic controller, searching similar to a present day Xbox or PlayStation controller but with quite a few distinctions. The 3D printed casing has a very low-poly count, angular feel to it, but if you never like that you can tweak that in blender to just how you want it. Alpakka emulates a standard USB-attached keyboard, mouse, and Xinput gamepad in parallel so really should just do the job out for both equally Linux and Windows Computer platforms. The firmware contains some created-in recreation profiles, which can be picked on the controller.
The dual D-pads, augmented with an analog adhere, is not an unusual arrangement, but what is a little bit specific is the ingenious dual-gyro sensor arrangement –which when utilised in conjunction with a contact-sensitive pad — emulates a mouse enter. Rest your thumb on the proper-hand directional pad and the mouse moves, or else it stays preset, sort of like lifting a mouse off the pad to re-center it.
The wired-only controller is based all around a Raspberry Pi Pico, which has loads of assets for this kind of software offering a rapid 250 Hz update amount. But to tackle no less than nineteen button inputs, as well as a scroll wheel, directional change, and that analog adhere, the Pico doesn’t have sufficient I/O, needing a pair of NXP PCAL6416A I2C IO expanders to deal with it.
The PCB layout is accomplished with KiCAD, applying a very simple 3D printed stand to maintain the PCB flat and the via-hole parts in position whilst soldering. Other than a handful of QFN offers which may possibly be a dilemma for some people, there is very little difficult about hand-soldering this structure.
We’re been looking at personalized match controllers as long as we’ve been hacking, here’s an appealing choose on the mouse-integration theme. If you’re cozy rolling the components facet of things, but the firmware is a sticking level, then probably seem no additional than this neat RP2040 firmware challenge.
Many thanks to [aamott] for the suggestion!
