Need a Hand with some Electronics Stuff.

[MaxuS the 2nd]

Hey everyone,

If someone could help me with how to use an Xbox Wireless Controller to control a motor and servo controllers via RF or IR or whatever the Xbox controller uses.
I'm new to wireless so I'd be very grateful if someone could help me.
I've looked over Makezine and HackADay and couldn't find anything particularly useful on there.

Thankyou in advance.

[paaiyan]

Hmm, well it won't be using IR, most likely RF. I know that the thing is set up to use a code to communicate with just one Xbox at a time, and I think that might hamper your ability to use it as a remote for something else.

I'll do some searching later and see if I can't pull anything up.

[MaxuS the 2nd]

Ok, thankyou very much.

[iisthemuffin]

Well i know you said you wanted to use a 360 controller but a regular xbox controller, wireless of course, has a little box that you plug into the actually xbox. You could hook that up to whatever your contolling to fix the reception issue.

[TurboSuper]

Hrm, that's a pretty big undertaking. You would have to get a wireless receiver to match the frequency of the controller and see what kind of data it sends out, then decode it accordingly.

I guess you should start by finding out what frequency it broadcasts on. If the Xbox has a detatchable receiver module, then that would make it considerably simpler. It would just be a matter of learning how its outputs respond.

[MaxuS the 2nd]

Hrm, that's a pretty big undertaking. You would have to get a wireless receiver to match the frequency of the controller and see what kind of data it sends out, then decode it accordingly.

I guess you should start by finding out what frequency it broadcasts on. If the Xbox has a detatchable receiver module, then that would make it considerably simpler. It would just be a matter of learning how its outputs respond.

This is what i had thought of doing. Recording the frequencies emitted when each button is pressed and then calibrating a servo/motor controller to accept each of these frequencies for a particular action.

[TurboSuper]

I don't think the frequency will change. The controller sends serial data via FM, not by adjusting the frequency for each button. Not to mention building a receiver to operate at those frequencies is a challenge in itself. Like i said, it gets complicated

[MaxuS the 2nd]

It would seem i have alot to learn..
This really isn't going to be as easy as I had hoped. Hmm.

[dudeman508]

ensted of using a regular(not wirless) controller and hooking it up to watever you are controlling why dont you hook up a regular controller to yor own transmitter

[paaiyan]

I think you might be better off having someone help you program a new board and fit it into a 360 controller case.

[MaxuS the 2nd]

Yeah, that would probably be easier. I know where to find the case shells too.

[psycix]

You may be better off using a board out of a RC car toy. You could fit it into a xbox controller if you want to.

[jimmy101]

Psycix is probably correct. Receiving, amplifying and decoding the wireless signal is going to be very complicated. If you have to ask how to do it it is probably to complex for you to get it to work.

How many channels do you need? A generic RC controller + reciever(s) is probably going to be a heck of a lot easier to get to work. You could salvage one from a cheap RC car or build an RC system from standard RC components,

This $30 unit might work though you still need a microcontroller to do some of the signal processing;
http://www.allelectronics.com/make-a-st ... R/-/1.html

This one is a pretty cheap ($19) single channel (on/off) controller;
http://www.allelectronics.com/make-a-st ... P/-/1.html

The next one is a $38 four channel on-off controller;
http://www.allelectronics.com/make-a-st ... ROL/1.html

[MaxuS the 2nd]

I would only need 4 channels or so, so it looks like the first one is a candidate.

Thanks,