Buddym
02-23-2010, 11:54 PM
I have finsihed testing on the MJoy16 joystick interface. It was easy to build and seems to work perfectly. It has the following capabilities:
8 axis, 10 bits resolution
64 button inputs
16 dual-input toggle switches
4 rotary encoders
1 8-way hat switch
It has NO outputs...but I am working on another solution for that....
I have tested all of the funtions and they work very well. Other featues of note are:
The rotary encoders have a unique feature where turning a knob slowly generates one input and turning it quickly generates a different input. This can mapped in a handy fashion to use fast-turning to adjust the whole part of a value (such as comm frequency) and slow-turning to adjust the decimal part. Very slick.
The analog axis have a auto-center feature than can be enabled/disabled with a jumper.
This interface cost me about $25 to build, so far I like it very much. It is comparable to the Bodnar board in my opinion. The inputs are responsice and the axis are quite smooth.
I may have some PC boards made for it, I am prototyping one now on my CNC machine.
This project is pretty stable, there have been some sharp people working on it a few years now... I just picked it up when I thought I would not be able to get the Bodnar boards or support for it anymore when Leo was MIA around Christmas. Not to slight Leo or his cards in anyway....I love my Bodnar card.
I would be happy to share any info to anyone wanting to build one, or help building one. If you don't have the skills, desire, or time to program the chip I would be happy to do it for you for the cost of the chip and postage, about $7.00 USD I estimate. If you really want one but don't want to wire it up yourself on perfboard The PC boards would be about $20 each from PCBexpress.com. (this was not included in my cost to build, since I assembled mine on a small prototyping board). By the time you get it built with a commercially made PC board, it will be about $45 USD I would say. Not bad for the number of inputs it provides. I love building electronics so it's win-win for me. I put screw terminals on the one I built but if I do a PC board it will use the press-type terminals similar to Leo's board.
It is an open-source project that has been around a while... There are many web pages out there that offer schematics, PCB layouts, and the hex file to load into your AVR chip to make the thing work. There are also quite a few retail boards out there that are based on this design, actually I think I counted over 14 of them. Here is the link that I found most helpful in building:
http://www.powernet.pl/~krzysiek/elektronika/mjoy16/mjoy16.htm
There is also a version (the original I think) that uses a smaller, cheaper chip, and has fewer inputs. This version is refered to as MJoy, not MJoy16
Cheers,
BuddyM
A320 builder
Tampa, FL USA
8 axis, 10 bits resolution
64 button inputs
16 dual-input toggle switches
4 rotary encoders
1 8-way hat switch
It has NO outputs...but I am working on another solution for that....
I have tested all of the funtions and they work very well. Other featues of note are:
The rotary encoders have a unique feature where turning a knob slowly generates one input and turning it quickly generates a different input. This can mapped in a handy fashion to use fast-turning to adjust the whole part of a value (such as comm frequency) and slow-turning to adjust the decimal part. Very slick.
The analog axis have a auto-center feature than can be enabled/disabled with a jumper.
This interface cost me about $25 to build, so far I like it very much. It is comparable to the Bodnar board in my opinion. The inputs are responsice and the axis are quite smooth.
I may have some PC boards made for it, I am prototyping one now on my CNC machine.
This project is pretty stable, there have been some sharp people working on it a few years now... I just picked it up when I thought I would not be able to get the Bodnar boards or support for it anymore when Leo was MIA around Christmas. Not to slight Leo or his cards in anyway....I love my Bodnar card.
I would be happy to share any info to anyone wanting to build one, or help building one. If you don't have the skills, desire, or time to program the chip I would be happy to do it for you for the cost of the chip and postage, about $7.00 USD I estimate. If you really want one but don't want to wire it up yourself on perfboard The PC boards would be about $20 each from PCBexpress.com. (this was not included in my cost to build, since I assembled mine on a small prototyping board). By the time you get it built with a commercially made PC board, it will be about $45 USD I would say. Not bad for the number of inputs it provides. I love building electronics so it's win-win for me. I put screw terminals on the one I built but if I do a PC board it will use the press-type terminals similar to Leo's board.
It is an open-source project that has been around a while... There are many web pages out there that offer schematics, PCB layouts, and the hex file to load into your AVR chip to make the thing work. There are also quite a few retail boards out there that are based on this design, actually I think I counted over 14 of them. Here is the link that I found most helpful in building:
http://www.powernet.pl/~krzysiek/elektronika/mjoy16/mjoy16.htm
There is also a version (the original I think) that uses a smaller, cheaper chip, and has fewer inputs. This version is refered to as MJoy, not MJoy16
Cheers,
BuddyM
A320 builder
Tampa, FL USA