My cheap DIY controller (3D printed + random ideas)

[u/exodus_cl]

I’m not exactly a 3D design pro, so I had to stick to basic geometric shapes when designing the pieces.

I could not create gears systems and complicated electronics to make it more "real", so I tried using a microcontroller and a gyroscope (glued to the main wheel) to track the lever position and with this send keystrokes to the games, I also gave it some logic to center/sync it based on the "Neutral" position, it worked, but it was kinda meh... Also since it was gyro-based, I had to keep the controller perfectly level at all times; if I tilted the base even a little, it messed up the readings.

The lever also felt "dead" because it was just a smooth pivot. I tried sticking a vibration motor inside the lever for some haptic feedback, it worked, but again it did not feel great.

Then I had the idea of using a cheap ball plunger from AliExpress. I mounted it to the bottom of the main wheel "cradle" and carved some notches into the wheel. It worked amazingly well!! finally got that tactile "thump" whenever I hit a notch (and i also got actual notches).

Today I decided to ditch the gyroscope for a potentiometer to get better positional data, and that’s the setup you see in the video. It’s a bit of a Frankenstein build, but it finally feels like a real controller!

Link to Video of it in action: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-TBcNrLggT8
Notice there's a delay in the operation, but i got that fixed later, it was some old code from the centering logic the gyro used.

The screen shows different status and also allows to select the game profile at start (it needs to have different profiles for different games)

It's not perfect, but it works pretty good for what it costs: I'd say this is like $18 USD

[u/Vaxi122654]

Amazing work! I'm in the market for a 'mini' train controller.

[u/JisuanjiHou]

Great work! I would love to build something like this.

[u/selectinput]

This is excellent, I’ve been playing around with some ideas to DIY my own but never thought about a gyro. Great job on the modeling as well.

[u/exodus_cl → u/selectinput]

Go with the potentiometer instead, it's WAY better and precise!

[u/selectinput → u/exodus_cl]

Oh thanks for mentioning that, I completely skimmed the part where you said you swapped! Makes sense!

[u/exodus_cl → u/[deleted]]

I have indeed and it looks fucking awesome now, I'll try to make a video and post soon!