If anybody needs smaller than 10mil, ezpcb.com seems ok. We will probably use them for our project since they offer one free assembled prototype of the produced pcbs.
Anyways, happy new year Bencao. I hope you have received my stick in one piece.
On a different note I have a question:
We will implement LED support on our new pcb. What do you guys think will be best, 8 single leds or 8 rgb leds (3 pins+ground each) for the buttons? We would love rgb, but we are worried there will be too many outs on the pcb. People might get frustrated?
yep, Case arrived in one piece happy new year to you and all others!
Thanks for the manufactorer tip! I was thinking about a led controller system, too. For the interface I would recommend one dedicated plug for each button. It should be open for the enduser if wants to assemble one or rgb leds.
Possible interface for one button is then:
red pin
blue pin
green pin
common pin (anode or cathode)
signal to game controller PCB
GND
What about a 6 pin ribbon connector for each button?
usps finally updated tracking info on the prototype pcb. I should be receiving it tomorrow. Can’t wait to build the circuit and get to finally play with the code!
Yesterday was a big pain in the butt. First off, when they shipped me the prototype board, they didn’t put down my corrected address. So I had to go hunt down my package at the usps. Luckily I found it at the second location. Didn’t have much hassle constructing the circuit or programming the chip. I did mess up big time by fiddling around with the fuse settings and ended up locking myself out of the chip. Couldn’t read or write to it. After removing it, I used another atmega8 chip, programmed it, and set the correct fuse values that Ben just gave me today. Finally it works! Here’s a picture of the prototype board running Ben’s version 1 of the Dual Strike code.
yep yep, I finished adding the code for system switching with the 4066 chip.
I have two options that I could do for the switching:
A) Have it like the Imp where you can pick any one button to be used for system switching
or
B) Have it be if any punch,kick, or joystick movement be used to switch system.
I like option B because it saves a pin from being used by the atmega8 chip and it makes it hard to forget which button you need to hold to switch.
I think I’ll make it just holding the joystick any direction will do the system switching because I might have to leave some other button free to do other things like bootloading.
-pcb size: 1.5 by 0.9 inches
-hold down any punch, kick, or joystick direction to switch to xbox
-holding down start and select will press home
-firmware can be updated through USB on a computer
-capable of left and right trigger inverting
I think to interest more people into the contest, I could offer one free pcb (per person) when they order any of the boards. That way, anyone can buy the dual strike smd board for their own stick, and then they will have a free extra one that they can use to enter the contest.
I’ll need to work on a judging system and think of what I could give as a prize. I’ll have to create a new thread for this contest eventually.
happy new year to you and all others!
