Planning to make a portable Wii with built-in controller; need advice.

[ScorelessPine]

Over the summer, I want to start (and hopefully finish) making a portable Wii with a built-in controller and I want to know if it would be possible to configure the controls in such a way that it can act as 1 of 4 separate controller types depending on a rotary switch's position.

I want to make the controller act as either, A: sideways Wiimote, B: Gamecube controller, C: classic controller/pro, and D: Wiimote+Nunchuck. I'm planning on having A, B, X, Y, ZL, ZR, L (analog and digital presses like the gamecube ones), R (ditto), Start/Plus, Minus, Home, D-pad, Left analog stick, and Right analog stick. Obviously in certain modes, some buttons won't have any effect, like minus and home in gamecube mode or the sticks in sideways wiimote mode.

Would this be possible or am I just dreaming too big? What do you think could help me out?

Also if this isn't the right place to post, if you could direct me to where a better place might be, that'd be awesome. Thanks!

 

[ScorelessPine]

Bump because I still haven't found anything about this elsewhere

 

[Blargaman91]

Yes, this is basically what I did for my Wii SP portable, except I didn't include a nunchuck option. You have a couple of options with this.

1. Cut power AND ground off from whatever controllers aren't being used. It's important for the controllers to be as isolated as possible from each other. When I was testing this, just cutting off voltage from whatever controllers I wasn't using wasn't enough. I had to cut off ground as well so the selected controller would work properly. A DP4T switch should be able to achieve this. Still, with this set up, there might be unexpected side effects due to the controllers being connected to each other in ways they aren't supposed to be.

2. Cut off every single button from the controllers not being used. This is obviously the more complex route, as you have to have one switch for every single button to choose which controller it goes to. This isn't realistic with mechanical switches, so you would use a digital bus switch IC that contains something like 16 SPST switches in a single IC (the SN74CBT16245 is one example). But this route is better in my opinion because you can leave voltage and ground connected to each controller (no need for switches carrying power) and not have to worry about the strange side effects of connecting all these controllers' data lines together.

Whatever way you do it, be prepared for a LOT of wires, so many you probably won't be able to keep track. You really might need to considering creating a custom PCB to take care of all those interconnections without hours of painstaking soldering. This is what I did in the end, and it's allowed me to use the digital bus switch method, which works flawlessly.

 

[ScorelessPine]

Okay, thanks for the ideas. I think I would want to go the PCB way if possible. What did it cost you to print it? Also would you mind sharing the schematic you used? I feel like that would cut down the time it would take me to plan all of this a lot.

Also as a side note, that Wii SP of yours is nearly exactly what I was planning, with a few exceptions like having gamecube style buttons and the wiimote+nunchuck option.

And lastly, wow, reading into your worklog for that Wii SP, I am WAY underprepared for this project. I don't even know what my first step would be because I'm so unorganized a lot of the time. There is so much more that goes into every aspect of every piece that I didn't even think of.

 

[Blargaman91]

What did it cost you to print it?

I use OSHPark. When you order, you have to order a minimum of 3 of the same PCB. It's $5 per square inch (that's for all 3 PCBs, not just 1) and usually takes about 2 weeks to arrive.

Since the price is dependent upon size, it's totally up to you what it costs. Mine costs $60 for 3 PCBs because I have an LCD controller and some other stuff on the same board as the controllers, so it's a large board. I'll look and see if I have a schematic you can use, but it's most likely too messy to understand .

I'm sure you can handle it with some months of planning before you start building. Overall, it's important to consider how you will remove heat from the system, what peripherals you want to have, how you'll get video and audio out, and how everything actually fits together. 3D modeling software like Autodesk Inventor is especially helpful for that
last part. 3D printing is something you might want to consider too.

 

[ScorelessPine]

I use OSHPark. When you order, you have to order a minimum of 3 of the same PCB. It's $5 per square inch (that's for all 3 PCBs, not just 1) and usually takes about 2 weeks to arrive.

Since the price is dependent upon size, it's totally up to you what it costs. Mine costs $60 for 3 PCBs because I have an LCD controller and some other stuff on the same board as the controllers, so it's a large board. I'll look and see if I have a schematic you can use, but it's most likely too messy to understand .

I'm sure you can handle it with some months of planning before you start building. Overall, it's important to consider how you will remove heat from the system, what peripherals you want to have, how you'll get video and audio out, and how everything actually fits together. 3D modeling software like Autodesk Inventor is especially helpful for that
last part. 3D printing is something you might want to consider too.

I don't mean to revive a dead thread, but were you ever able to find a schematic for the button solution you gave me? I'm just having a hard time coming up with one on my own.

 

[Blargaman91]

I just PMd you the schematic I have. I hope it helps.

 

[Prog]

It's not a dead thread. You only violate the rule if you revive a really old thread

I know that you want to contribute, but that's not relevant to the discussion at hand and nobody asked you.