A little look at the controller I'm using

This is a conversation which has recently come up on the R2 Builders forum - What to use as a controller.

I figured I would post my response here too.

I'm using a PS2 controller. Having used the Spectrum and other RC gear before, there's no way I'd turn back! I honestly feel that the PS2 controller is a superior set up, but it could be down to personal preference.

But omg those Madcatz controllers are ugly and cheap

First things first, I'm not talking about using a Madcatz PS2 controller. I trialed using a couple of those and they were pretty horrible! I'm talking about his bad boy 

This is the set up that BigHappyDude came up with.

Ok, It looks neater than I thought. But is it practical?

It uses an Aduino Mega in the controller, with an Xbee and a screen. The screen gives real time feed back. 

My usual boot up in the droid enables the dome drive and leaves the feet drive off. As I have switched on the controller at my desk at work without the droid on, it gives feedback that both are off (as the arduino in the droid isn't telling it they're on).

Using a combination of L1 and start or select, you can toggle:

Two Stick mode (left and right thumb sticks control each feet - horrible, but was worth trying out)

Fast mode/Slow mode

Feet Drive On/Off

Dome Drive On/Off

All of the above show the current status of each option on the screen.

Alright that's pretty handy, but what about controlling the rest of the droid!

Now, controlling sounds is very simple too. Using L1 and any of the face buttons (Triangle, Circle, Square, X, Up, Down, Left & Right) will trigger a "happy" sound. The "sad" sounds are triggered by hold L2 and one of the face buttons. Only the exception here is the L2 & direction buttons combos which will either turn up the volume, mute him, Leia Message and cantina dance.

Again, L2 and L1 held at the same time will trigger various other sounds.

Then we have the same on the R1 and R2 triggers mixed with the face buttons for different dome servos, individual control of dome lights, servos etc.  There is a combination of 1, 2, 3 or four of the shoulder buttons pressed with a face button on coded in ready to go.

It leaves us with 179 different combinations to play with!

Well you get the picture. The list goes on. It is at the point where you have to think of something to assign a button to now, rather than "how on earth will I control that!"

On top of all this, driving is very easy. A small push forward on the left stick moves him slowly forward, or full push forward will be full throttle. 

The code also allows for a gradual acceleration and brake too. This is particularly helpful for the dome motor, as it doesn't suddenly stop and start stripping gears, it slows it down and stops it.

Wow I'm sold! 

Well hang on a minute there, we're not done yet!

All the body and dome Arduinos are talking via I2C too. So when you trigger the Short circuit sound, the dome lights blink out. When you trigger the Leai message, the lights scroll a message. All very neat and simple, but a great way to show off to the public 

Wait a minute, what about the range? I can barely sit 2ft away from the TV before my controller craps out and Lara Croft falls perilously to her spike induced death

Never fear. Remember, this is using an Xbee. They claim it's a mile line of sight. I've not found a mile stretch to test this out on yet, but at a recent event I was able to drive him along a very long stretch. As it was a pretty open space I was happy to push him past the comfort zone by about 3 fold.

Can you see him? No not the ugly all Aluminium one, that's BigHappyDudes.

I did manage to get him further than this, and still no trouble with signal. With him at full volume I could still hear that all the scripts were triggering properly too, though I couldn't see what was happening. Based on this, and about 6 months of eventing with ZERO issues at all. I would say this set up is more solid that Anakins Yodas resolve. 

Dude that is the most wicked-sick thing I've ever seen, but I'd never be able to afford that

Actually, you might  For the whole set up, including both the pad Xbee and body Xbee, Arduino Mega and Uno, Brand new PS2 pad etc, the total bill was around £250. It sounds like a lot of money for a PS2 controller, but compared to some of the higher end RC gear, the functionality of this set up blows my mind. This has more channels than we can figure out what to do with. 

And as mentioned before, this is a PS2 pad. There has been nothing more rewarding at an event than being able to let an 8 year old kid have a go at driving R2 and seeing them pic it up no problem. I'm not saying you should all trust a child with your expensive toy, but more just trying to highlight how easy to control R2 is with this set up.