Our team is working on constructing a rotary arm for the competition season this year. Earlier today, I raised the idea to our programmers about using a Guitar Hero controller to control the arm functions (using strum bar to open/close a claw, perhaps), and they were willing to give it a try.
The controller(s) that we would be using are straight from the XBOX 360 Guitar Hero II kit as well as a Gibson version.
What’s the best way to make these bad boys work? I’m mostly looking for some way to wire them to our coding computer (since they are wireless) and mostly confirmation on wether or not they will even work since it’s not 2008 anymore.
If you want something wired, look into the Wii Guitar Hero controllers. There’s a lot of guides online to get those working with a PC using an adapter. The only drawback is that since they’re used by enthusiasts, they tend to be hard to find unless you stumble across one in Goodwill or something.
As far as I know there are adapters for it, i just can’t find any nor know which port to plug them into since there are 2 on the controllers themselves
I really wish I could point you in the right direction on how to do this, or even tell you what team this was (because I absolutely don’t remember) but I saw this this at 2022 Houston Champs, so just know it can be done
I don’t know anything about robotics or coding this stuff but I still play guitar and can help find guitars.
probably the easiest one to connect and get working would be the wired XPlorer guitar for the Xbox 360 but those can be pretty expensive (around $90-$120 usually). any 360 guitar will work just like a normal Xbox 360 controller when connected to a Windows PC and is natively supported so it’s easy.
if you want a cheap guitar then you should look for a Wii guitar and get the Raphnet Wii to USB adapter. the guitar itself will be $15-$45 and the adapter another $25-$30 I think.
the only guitars I would suggest you avoid are any of the guitar hero live guitars, rock band specific guitars, anything for a playstation system since there aren’t many adapters for them, and any third party controllers because they usually don’t work well if at all.
the wireless controllers for the Xbox 360 could work too but you’ll need an Xbox 360 adapter and the connection can be a bit weird at times.
the apps/sites I use when looking for guitars are ebay, Mercari, and OfferUp since you can sometimes find good deals. most retro game stores I’ve been to price them way too high so I suggest sticking to looking online or Goodwill stores/auction site.
Good comedy value!