Guitar Hero Driven Robot- Without USB Dongle

[Tach'ko]

Well, the electricians had some free time on our hands, so we decided to do some... Unnecessary things. Like make a HUD, or drive the robot in hybridmode with the PSP.

Well, one of our members had a bad GH controller, so we decided to have some fun with it. Considering I'm short about $119.50 for a USB dongle, that idea was out of the question. So, we opened it up, and rewired the innards to one of free digital inputs (On the Operator Interface, of course).

As soon as CID FINISHES OUR DRIVETRAIN INSTEAD OF BROWSING THE INTERNET, we'll be able to have it drive the robot.

Pics... Eventually. If you want. Whatever. Bye Anansi. Stop reading over my shoulder. Awesome.

I'm not crazy I swear. Also, this is not a joke. Seriously.

[NazoXIII]

cool that robot must be cool but i wanna see a pic if possible sounds like a good idea

[The Lucas]

1261 rewired a GH controller for their OI last year. They used buttons it to move their arm to preset positions and used the pick to control their grabber.

[GGCO]

That sounds amazing. We were thinking about using a Wii-mote to control our robot in hybrid mode, but the wii-mote uses bluetooth along with IR.

[Tach'ko]

Just be careful with the Wii-mote, because it can't EMIT IR, only receive it. As for the Bluetooth, hey if you can do it, do it.

After a bit more work, we wired up the Whammy bar to control speed, and the green and red buttons as forward and reverse respectively for one motor, and blue and orange for forward and reverse on the other. Yellow is ignored.

So this chord drives it forward:
10010

Reverse:
01001

Clockwise rotation is:
01010

Counter-Clockwise:
10001

The whammy bar returns an analog input between about 100 and 220, and we first divide it by ten, then multiply it by ten to remove the jitters. After that, we use some math functions to assign the Victors the speed based on the input from the whammy bar.

Honestly, I love it. In all honesty, if I end up driving the robot, I'm using this control system. The Whammy bar is in such a great spot, and all you have to do is push on it to ramp up the speed. The direction is so simple, and easy to switch from one direction to another. It's less motion than the regular joysticks, and you can easily drive it around for ages without tire. As long as you're GOOD at Guitar Hero, you should be fine.

Three pics are of the box we use as a hub for the port 3 devices we have, the HUD and the guitar, as well as the kill switch and the hybrid/user switch.

If anybody can recommend a good place to upload video, I've got some of out proto-bot in action. nothing but a drive train, so no big secrets getting leaked (Like our Fuel Cell...).

[jtdowney]

Originally Posted by Tach'ko

Just be careful with the Wii-mote, because it can't EMIT IR, only receive it. As for the Bluetooth, hey if you can do it, do it.

That is true about the Wiimote, it receives IR from that bar you put on top of your TV. As for Bluetooth, that is illegal (as is any wireless communication) to use on the competition floor (per R64).

[EricRobodox]

Originally Posted by jtdowney

That is true about the Wiimote, it receives IR from that bar you put on top of your TV. As for Bluetooth, that is illegal (as is any wireless communication) to use on the competition floor (per R64).

Your correct and wrong at the same time. Bluetooth is not allowed because its a form of wireless communication in the form of radio frequency. You are allowed to use communication TO the robot with IR, visible light, and sound. Bluetooth is a form of radio communication, not in the categories allowed, making it illegal to use.

[jtdowney]

Originally Posted by EricRobodox

Your correct and wrong at the same time. Bluetooth is not allowed because its a form of wireless communication in the form of radio frequency. You are allowed to use communication TO the robot with IR, visible light, and sound. Bluetooth is a form of radio communication, not in the categories allowed, making it illegal to use.

I think you misread my post. I never said IR was banned, only Bluetooth.