I’m doing a Padhack as a school project and want to know how the whole grounding situation works. If i simply am just connecting the Sanwa buttons and joystick do I need to ground anything else if the usb connector already is grounded? For reference im using a PDP Nintendo switch gamecube controller.image|536x500
That’s all you need for your particular PCB.
Got a older system that didnt use UBS, the you want what ever cable it came with.
As for the ground, you want prefibily a multimeter and if nothing else some sort of continuity tester (like a LED and battery and some wire) to test out the ground points. You best bet is to have a PCB with common ground, all the inputs go to the same ground point.
Read up on slagcoin.com, it’s a bit dated but all the basics still hold true. The only thing you not find is info on your particular controller pcb.
I also would not remove the analog from the controller PCB, otherwise you have to neutralize the inputs with some resistors to give the same resistance the analog stick would have in a neutral position. Leave it floating, and watch as the input hits one of the diagonal corners.