GC- : a Miniature GameCube Controller
Introduction: GC- : a Miniature GameCube Controller
First I want to tell you guys about my motivation for completing this project. In the last couple of years i have been wanted to become an electrical engineer, and have since been taking classes at FIU (Florida International University) to pursue that dream. In my spare time I got sucked into the portabilizing world (you can find out about it on this website) Bitbuilt and ended up making a Wii laptop that I could play wherever I wanted. It also aligned with a lot of the practical engineering skills i was learning about in the classroom. I found however that even though I loved the feel of my OEM controller, it was super bulky, and I often would end up playing Gameboy games on my phone instead of packing all the stuff that I needed to play the Wii laptop. My original plan was to somehow embed the controller somewhere onto the laptop so it could be one unit, and then I could remove it when I was ready to play but that became too complex too fast. I then decided to try and just make the smallest GameCube controller I could that still had a form factor that was comfortable.
The Gameboy SP was my childhood Gameboy, so I thought it would be the perfect form factor for a mini controller. So with this general idea in mind I created the below goals that I wanted to meet with my controller:
1. To have a full featured GameCube controller minus rumble using a pic micro controller
2. 936
To use 3ds sliders as they are the flattest joysticks i could find
3. To utilize the DS Lite buttons, membranes, shoulder buttons, shoulder tact switches, springs, screws, and the trimmed motherboard to use as the contacts.
4. To simulate the analog triggers with a dual tactile switch system
5. To design the shell in a CAD program like Fusion 360 and to 3d print it.
6. To make the size in all dimensions as small as possible. (it ended up being 63mmx63mmx12mm)
7. Minimal amount of hot glue!
8. For it to look good. I like the all black look.
Lastly, this is a shout out for all the resources that made this project possible:
Bitbuilt - Has so much good information about portabilizing in general
GC+ - One of the modders in the community created a gamecube controller emulator and it is the heart of the whole project
Supplies
Getting the supplies to projects like these is probably the least glamorous part. Waiting on a part to be delivered can really throw a wrench in your momentum.
Below are links to some of the materials I used to build this controller successfully:
PARTS:
* Broken/Donor DS Lite (ebay is usually a good place to look)
* This will have all the screws, buttons, dpad, rubber membranes, tact switches, and trigger assembly
* 3DS Sliders https://www.ebay.com/itm/303941827293?hash=item46c4583add:g:GQoAAOSwl0BgZSOR
* 3DS Slider Caps https://www.ebay.com/itm/174445237892?hash=item289dbf1684:g:0FMAAOSwp6ZfaIRZ
* SMD Headphone Jack https://www.ebay.com/itm/172330866491?hash=item281fb8573b:g:LMYAAOSwrhhZ~Ycp
* Squishy Tact Switch https://www.ebay.com/itm/185200074340?hash=item2b1ec8de64:g:qzoAAOSwWdVgwJxF
* GameCube controller cable https://www.ebay.com/p/1100076456?iid=251355157572
* 3.5 Male TRS jack https://www.ebay.com/itm/<PHONE_NUMBER>
* PCB for Microcontroller https://oshpark. 996