DTVii: C64 Wireless Tilt Accelerometer Joystick


[Doug] sent in his DTVii project. (It’s on earthlink, so here’s the coralcache) You can also find updates in his forum posts. He modded the ever popular DTV C64 with an expansion bay for this, keyboard input and future mods. Then he built a RF joystick complete with accelerometer joystick emulation mode.

You can hit the user demo video is after the break.

21 thoughts on “DTVii: C64 Wireless Tilt Accelerometer Joystick

  1. Nice Hack!
    I’m wonderingis that an accelerometer or an inclinometer (angle messuring)
    he’s not moving the controller while he tilts it, so i guess it’s an inclinometer being used..

    Thijs

  2. #2, gravity is known to phyists as a static accelleration. That is why accelleration is mearsured in g’s (g = gravity). therefore, accelleration and incline are linked; meaning that any accelormeter will be affected by tilt, and any inclinometer will be affected by acceleration.

  3. The ADXL330 is a 3d accelerometer. It also works as a tilt sensor, ’cause it senses gravity continuously.

    More sophisticated firmware is certainly possible, but currently it needs to integrate with the existing games, which are digital JS only (up-down-right-left-fire.) One possible mod is to integrate PWM on the output bits proportional to the tilt angle…

  4. Alright well this dude has a point, if we have a ps 3 why would we need this trash? but ill go one up, ill say since we have the xbox 360, why do we need some playstation? i mean no only is it cheaper, but the ps 3 is nothing but a dissapointment to everybody. it came out late. it sucks balls. it has no games. THE WORLD IS GOIN THE WAY OF THE XBOX! EITHER GET WITH IT OR GET GONE!

  5. Youre right steve….its obsolete crap. and we DO have play station 3s now…..but nontheless its still a good hack. you dont like C64? so dont build it. you dont hack obsolete crap? i suppose youd rather tear up your ps3 first time out of the gate on your “proof of concept” as opposed to making an old obsolete system better? in 5 years when the play station 6 comes out—we will still be refering to THIS hack as “proof of concept” and using the general ideas behind hacking a c64 to hack our playstation 3s, 4s, and 5,s! after all….the switch that actually TURNS ON the c-64 isnt much different than the switch that TURNS ON your ps3….just like the DIRECTIONAL PAD on the c-64 (4 switches) is basically the same 4-switch directional pad on your new playstation controller.

    Der…..Duh…..if you can figure out how to build a wireless tilt accelerometer joystick for your c-64….building one for your PS3 shouldnt be that much more of a chore.

    whine all you like about it being obsolete. Its STILL a very good and well built, well written hack which has the capacity to be universal on any gaming platform with minor adjustments and modifications. this hack gets 9 out of 10 stars…..despite what you think.

    :P

  6. Thank you guys for trolling. The site is hackaday, take your console wars somewhere else — and the C64 is a historical console, anyway, while the PS3 is just more of the same. The spirit of this site is the hacks, not the graphics you’re playing with.

    Anyway, now that I’ve got that out of my system, great hack. I’ve been looking to integrate an accelerometer into some of my robotics projects, so I end up using this as a reference.

    (See how I had a constructive comment? Yeah, strive for that next time. Good luck :D)

  7. Anyone who questions the value of a C64 mod obviously never owned a C64.

    Having never owned the C64 in your youth is a bit like never having seen Star Wars as a kid… you’re never going to get it.

    The C64 rules. I certainly had more fun with it than I’ve had with any recent console. Only thing that comes close is the DS

  8. @butch cassidy :

    Don’t rant because it’s not on your preferred platform. Keep an open mind, there’s no ‘right’ way. This hack just shows that. I mean, it shows another way to implement tilt. And, as the components are industry-standard and cheap, possibly (the successors to) ‘your’ 360 ( i assume you own one ) can also gain from this guy’s efforts.

    Many manufacturers just love cheap parts, and as you opened the door: you would only have to look at the 360’s drives and failure rates…

    (keep in mind, i’m a 360 owner myself, so there’s no need to bash)

  9. @ werejag –some Radio Shacks still have these, cut to $9.95; call store first ’cause they’re disappearing. The dtvhacking forum has a link to Toy:Lobster, but those units are PAL, not so good for US market.

    Honest, I thought this hack was more interesting for the RF info than the C64/DTV stuff (of which I AM a fan. Obviously.) The RF hardware/firmware can be retargeted without much trouble…

  10. …Is that clear case from one of those metal-studd toy thing’s? The one where you put your hand on the studd’s, making the impression and tilting it sideway’s to hold the impression?

  11. This has already been built, or at least, the equivalent of this was built back in the day. It was called ‘Le Stick’, and users could move a standard Atari style joystick just by tilting a handheld stick controller.

  12. “This has already been built, or at least, the equivalent of this was built back in the day.”

    Funny. I don’t see any claim on the project page about this being the FIRST wireless controller–on any platform. Or the first to use an analog joystick, or accelerometer…(which ‘le stick’ doesn’t.)

  13. Does anyone happen to know where to get any ADXL or other kinds of useable accelerometer elements in Germany?
    Reichelt fails me, haven’t tried Conrad, but there’s not too much hope…

  14. @exine–

    Good call. Yeah, it’s one of the smaller pin-impression toys. This one had florescent plastic pins, and was sold in the U.S. as an Xmas stocking-stuffer (by ‘target’)…

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