Custom game controllers

Hey all,

For a uni project i was thinking of making a video gaming featuring 2-4 custom game controllers. These controllers will be fairly simple, most of them simply being a button button sensor with a cool case around it. Now since this will be my first arduino project i have some questions.

  • If possible i want all controllers to be attached to a single arduino. I assume i'll need a TinkerKit shield since the standard arduino doesn't have anough IO pins?
  • Is a single arduino powerful enough to handle 2-4 controllers at the same time?

I'll have some other questions later on but lets start with these :slight_smile:

Thanks,

Wilcov

These controllers will be fairly simple, most of them simply being a button button sensor with a cool case around it.

What's a "button button sensor"? What will the others be (those that are not button button sensors)?

I assume i'll need a TinkerKit shield since the standard arduino doesn't have anough IO pins?

Is this a statement or a question? Without more details about the things you want to connect to the Arduino, and which shield you are considering, all we can says is maybe.

Is a single arduino powerful enough to handle 2-4 controllers at the same time?

What does powerful mean? Superman is powerful. So is President Obama. But, they have completely different kinds of power.

I'll have some other questions later on but lets start with these

Please try to express them better.

PaulS:
What's a "button button sensor"? What will the others be (those that are not button button sensors)?

The TinkerKit PushButton module calls itself a button sensor on the arduine store (http://store.arduino.cc/eu/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=16_19&products_id=110) so i assumed this would be the term used on the forums as well.

I assume i'll need a TinkerKit shield since the standard arduino doesn't have anough IO pins?

Is this a statement or a question? Without more details about the things you want to connect to the Arduino, and which shield you are considering, all we can says is maybe.

It is ... er.. allow me to rephrase :blush:
I want to connect 2 - 4 controllers, lets say 4 for now. 3 of them will consist of just one TinkerKit Pushbutton. The fourth will resemble a gate that can open and close. I was thinking to either use multiple buttons that get pressed down by the gate when it opens. All of the 4 controllers i want connected to an arduino which in turn will communicate to a pc that runs the game.

Now i think i will need about 7 3pin input slots for that. As far as i know an arduino doesn't have that many, and i saw that the biggest TinkerKit shield allows for 10 input slots.
So my question would be, do i need to use a shield for that many input points or does the arduino house enough itself?

Is a single arduino powerful enough to handle 2-4 controllers at the same time?

What does powerful mean? Superman is powerful. So is President Obama. But, they have completely different kinds of power.

What i meant to ask was, is a single arduino capable of processing the 4 controllers at the same time?

Please try to express them better.

Part of the vagueness is because i want to decide if the arduino fits my project before i'm allowed to finalise the concept.

So, you want to have three devices that have just a single pushbutton switch. These three devices will connect to three different digital pins on the Arduino. You still have 9 digital pins available, since the serial pins (0 and 1) are needed to talk to the PC.

Now i think i will need about 7 3pin input slots for that.

Why? The device needs power, but that power does not need to come from a digital pin. That power goes to the switch, and back to, or not, the Arduino, depending on whether the switch is pressed, or not. That power goes to a digital (in) pin, so the Arduino can tell if the switch is pressed, or not.

The fourth will resemble a gate that can open and close. I was thinking to either use multiple buttons that get pressed down by the gate when it opens.

Or what? Connect the gate to a linear potentiometer, and you can tell how far it is opened. Use only one analog pin to read it.

Now, you are up to 6 pins (3 switches on digital pins, one analog pin, and the 2 serial pins). You still have 15 pins available.

What i meant to ask was, is a single arduino capable of processing the 4 controllers at the same time?

It will still spend 99.9% of its time doing nothing. So, yes, it is plenty capable.