usb to db15

[Al Skierkiewicz]

I would like to remind everyone that USB requires two way communication. The device needs to exhibit a serial name in addition to the serial data so it can be identified by the host and know when it is sending (or ready to send) data. There is also a requirement to have some interpretor in the host device that will issue and receive data packets from the USB device. That is a lot of work just to use a USB joystick. I know that Innonvation First is working on the problem of fewer gameport joysticks being available but when we first asked the question, they thought that the USB took too much to implement. They were continuing to watch the problem

[Mark McLeod]

I suppose the easiest (cheapest) implementation might be a variation of Mike's solution above. Use that USB-to-serial converter more and more team have to buy for their new laptops, and couple it to the serial port on an old EDU controller (or for example a PIC) with a program to interpret the XBox control commands and output via the analog and digital outputs on the EDU to the db15 gameport on the OI.

The use of a microprocessor driving the gameport will probably be against the rules though, but it would open up a lot of interesting control possibilities!

[Dave Flowerday]

Originally Posted by Mark McLeod

Use that USB-to-serial converter more and more team have to buy for their new laptops, and couple it to the serial port on an old EDU controller (or for example a PIC) with a program to interpret the XBox control commands and output via the analog and digital outputs on the EDU to the db15 gameport on the OI.

Unfortunately even that won't work. USB devices (such as USB-to-serial converter as well as the Xbox controller) need a USB host to communicate with - it is not possible for two USB client devices to communicate directly with each other. You'd need a microprocessor of some kind (one capable of acting as a host, which most smaller microcontrollers aren't) sitting in between the USB-to-serial and the Xbox controller.

[Mark McLeod]

Originally Posted by Dave Flowerday

Unfortunately even that won't work. USB devices (such as USB-to-serial converter as well as the Xbox controller) need a USB host to communicate with ...

So it sounds like a laptop has to get thrown into that mix anyway.