Tilt Board v1 & Xbox 360 03 Jan 2007 07:39 pm
Xbox 360 Tilt Controller – Phase One
After wanting to play around with an accelerometer for a long time, I finally thought of an idea that would warrant me purchasing one, modifying an Xbox 360 controller to make one of the analog sticks controlled by the tilting motion of the Xbox controller.
The accelerometer works by outputting varying voltages for varying accelerations. I will use a 3-axis accelerometer so it will output 3 varying voltages. I will use an analog-to-digital converter to get the signals into a micro controller. The micro controller will do the processing that determines how the controller is tilted. It will then be output as an analog voltage to the controller in place of the on board potentiometers that are controlled by the analog stick.
It would be nice to have it user selectable so either the left or the right stick could be used but to make things simple I will start out doing just the left stick as that is the one I think would benefit from it the most. Keep in mind I’m not a huge gamer and currently mainly play Marble Blast Ultra and Full Auto.
The first step of this is of course taking apart the 360 controller and learning everything I can about it. I am going to use the wired controller first (cheaper) and if I am successful eventually make a wireless version.
Taking apart the wired 360 controller is pretty easy, it even uses standard Phillips head screws. The only thing slightly tricky is that one screw is hidden in the middle of the controller behind a white sticker. Pretty standard stuff for taking apart things that aren’t meant to be taken apart.
Analog sticks work by adjusting two potentiometers (pots). After I took the controller all apart and experimented I found the potentiometers had an upper voltage of 1.61 volts and a lower voltage of 0 volts. On the up/down pot all the way up is 1.61 volts and all the way down is 0 volts. On the left/right pot all the way right is 0 volts and all the way left is 1.61 volts.
Luckily the output voltage from each pot is easily accessible as they have included a test point. I need to simply solder into the test point and I can send my own voltages to the brains of the controller. The test point for the up/down pot is TP23. The test point for the left/right pot I will know as soon as I figure out how to take off the triggers without breaking them…
My next step will be to solder wires to the board at the points I need them and learn how to use an accelerometer as a tilt sensor. I also need to do some research to determine what to use for my digital to analog conversion. I usually use a PIC16F88 for my projects, but it does not have a DAC.
14 Responses to “Xbox 360 Tilt Controller – Phase One”
on 22 Jan 2007 at 4:00 am 1.Jacque said …
What a great project. I would definately purchase one. How do I go about it?
Thanks
on 22 Jan 2007 at 6:35 am 2.CantShoot said …
What a great project. It would make for a great add-on for my ‘360 cheaters controller’.
I would definately purchase a Kit. How do I go about gitting the kit? and about how much would the kit set me back? I know you can’t sell them and make a profit.
Aslo have the software preloaded into the Micro-Controller.
Thanks for the Great Hardware Info, but i need more.
Thanks
on 22 Jan 2007 at 1:43 pm 3.Gmanmtb said …
I’d be interested in a kit for one. Its a great idea, a homemade catch-up to the PS3 and Wii
on 22 Jan 2007 at 6:30 pm 4.gunner said …
Great project man, but how you can find a tiny accererometer to fit in an Xbox controller.
It could be a double size Xbox controller when it comeout.
By the way, don’t give up.
on 23 Jan 2007 at 2:40 am 5..:Bones:msjf:dreaD:. said …
Can anyone tell me if it is possible to do this same thing on the Xbox 1 controller and games? or is exclusively a Xbox 360 Mod?
bone.dogs@gmail.com
on 23 Jan 2007 at 5:10 am 6.hagisbasheruk said …
I am more interested in the ASM though i have no PIC programmer i have done some PIC ASM .Could you email me with commented code as this may get me back into it again.
[IMG]http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o72/hagisbasheruk/pic.jpg[/IMG]
on 23 Jan 2007 at 5:43 am 7.I am a Believer said …
A post about you on MaxConsole
http://forums.maxconsole.net/showthread.php?p=382156#post382156
on 23 Jan 2007 at 7:19 am 8.SickBoy said …
Clever B4stard
on 23 Jan 2007 at 8:15 am 9.Mayday45 said …
Sweet integration job. Maybe there’s a way to hide the board on the bottom of the controller with the shell of a battery pack… or something similar.
on 24 Jan 2007 at 6:37 am 10.CantShoot said …
.:Bones:msjf:dreaD:. i say you could MOD the Kit to work on the 1st Xbox,
All you would have to do is find-out what voltage the POTs are at on the controller ( 360 is 1.6Vdc?, Adam said) and you may have to do a few Op-Amps to get the right Voltage to the controller. This sould work.
AND it’s not only is good for the Xbox360 but it could be MODed to work with PS2, Xbox, nintendo, PC-controllers, It could ever be used as a Sensor, PC-Mouse, and more; Any thing with a Joy-Stick. Allthu in may need a few Op-Amps and/or OptoCuplers
on 25 Jan 2007 at 5:11 pm 11.pancake said …
Hi, very cool and nice mod,
i will do the same for my old xbox 1 controllers and try to fit all stuff inside the S controller and make a switch for turning on and off the motion control. Keep up the good stuff dude!
on 31 Jan 2007 at 9:16 am 12.Console News - The Latest PS3, Wii, Xbox 360, DS and PSP News » Blog Archive » Xbox 360 Tilt Controller Mod said …
[...] Story/Instructions: Phase1 | Phase2 | Phase2 video | Finished | Finished [...]
on 21 Dec 2008 at 8:23 pm 13.VoidKeeper said …
Hi, you mentioned the potentiometers, could you tell me the value in OMHs that those pots have?
on 09 Mar 2009 at 9:18 pm 14.joe said …
can i use a pelican trick controller for xbox on a xbox 360 .