Published March 13, 2022 © LGPL

Universal Esplora Game Controller

Create a game controller that is supported by nearly every joystick-controlled game, and that you can easily remap in the game's settings

IntermediateShowcase (no instructions)460

Things used in this project

Hardware components

Arduino Esplora

Software apps and online services

Arduino IDE

Any game with joystick support

For exmaple Farming Simulator 17, 19 or 22. It must support joysticks that are connected via usb, as the esplora is emulating a such device to report the button positions and other inputs to the game and control it

Gamepad Tester

For testing recognition and button transmission without a supported game or if there is a problem with the game to check if the virtual joystick is recognized by the OS

Hand tools and fabrication machines

Joystick Library

Install it as in the instructions on gthub.

Arduino Esplora

Story

I am playing Farming Simulator and wanted to have an additional, remappable controller for controlling cranes, telehandlers, cars or other precision-required tasks.I already had an arduino Esplora, so I decided to make this.

I first used a Keyboard emulation, but that didn't work well and was not precise enough for e.g steering trucks. Then I decided to emulate a Joystick, as the mapping here is decided by the game, and not by the sketch (I'm tired of recompiling and uploading every time I change a button!).

I took the commands from the Page on github and built it.

It has 2 modes:

"Green mode" - Keys are sent as "number of switch + 11", Joystick is sent as multiple key - one for each direction

"Red mode" - Keys are sent as the number of the switch directly, Joystick is sent as emulated Joystick (X-Axis, Y-Axis)

The modes are named after the colour of the RGB LED on the esplora,

and changed by pushing the slider to one of the two "areas".

UPDATE V1.1:

Changed the handling of the Joystick in green mode (Added a second emulated Joystick with RX and RY Axes) to make it more flexible.

UPDATE V1.4:

Skipped many versions beacuse of making and undoing bad changes, this is a stable release after many beta versions, removed the light sensor for performance reasons

JStest.ino

#include <Joystick.h>
#include <Esplora.h>
int lastButtonState[4] = {0, 0, 0, 0};
int currentButtonState, valJS, valJSprev, mode, Xprev, Yprev, Xval, Yval;
String chg;
boolean hasChanges = true;
Joystick_ Joystick(0x03, 0x04, 36, 0, true, true, true, true, true, true, false, false, false, false, false);;
void setup() {
  // put your setup code here, to run once:
  Joystick.begin(false);
  Serial.begin(9600);
  Esplora.tone(261);
  delay(200);
  Esplora.tone(65);
  delay(400);
  Esplora.tone(440);
  delay(200);
  Esplora.noTone();
}

void loop() {
  // put your main code here, to run repeatedly:
  Joystick.setXAxisRange(-512, 512);
  Joystick.setYAxisRange(-512, 512);
  Joystick.setRxAxisRange(-512, 512);
  Joystick.setRyAxisRange(-512, 512);
  Joystick.setRzAxisRange(-512, 512);
  Joystick.setZAxisRange(0, 5);
  Xprev = Xval;
  Yprev = Yval;
  Xval = Esplora.readJoystickX();
  Yval = Esplora.readJoystickY();
  mode = map(Esplora.readSlider(), 0, 1023, 1, 3);
  hasChanges = false;
  mode = map(Esplora.readSlider(), 0, 1023, 1, 3);
  if (round(Xval / 2) != round(Xprev / 2) || round(Yval / 2) != round(Yprev / 2))
  {
    if (mode == 1)
    {
      Joystick.setXAxis(Xval);
      Joystick.setYAxis(Yval);
      hasChanges = true;
      chg = "Joystick";
    }
    else
    {
      Joystick.setRxAxis(Xval);
      Joystick.setRyAxis(Yval);
      hasChanges = true;
      chg = "Joystick";
    }
  }
  for (int index = 0; index < 4; index++)
  {
    if (mode == 1)
    {
      currentButtonState = !Esplora.readButton(index + 1);
      if (currentButtonState != lastButtonState[index])
      {
        hasChanges = true;
        chg = "BTN";
        Joystick.setButton(index, currentButtonState);
        lastButtonState[index] = currentButtonState;
      }
    }
    if (mode != 1)
    {
      currentButtonState = !Esplora.readButton(index + 1);
      if (currentButtonState != lastButtonState[index])
      {
        hasChanges = true;
        chg = "BTN";
        Joystick.setButton(index + 11, currentButtonState);
        lastButtonState[index] = currentButtonState;
      }
    }
  }
  valJSprev = valJS;
  if (Esplora.readJoystickSwitch() == LOW)
  {

    valJS = 1;
  }
  else
  {
    valJS = 0;
  }
  if (mode == 1 && valJSprev != valJS)
  {
    Joystick.setButton(10, valJS);
    hasChanges = true;
    chg = "BTNJS";
  }
  else
  {
    if (mode != 1 && valJSprev != valJS)
    {
      Joystick.setButton(20, valJS);
      hasChanges = true;
      chg = "BTNJS";
    }
  }
  if (hasChanges)
  {
    Joystick.sendState();
    if(Serial)
    {
    Serial.println(chg);
    }
  }
  if (mode == 1)
  {
    Esplora.writeRGB(255, 0, 0);
  }
  else
  {
    Esplora.writeRGB(0, 255, 0);
  }
  delay(50);
}

Credits

aaron2008

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Universal Esplora Game Controller

Things used in this project

Hardware components

Software apps and online services

Hand tools and fabrication machines

Story

UPDATE V1.1:

UPDATE V1.4:

Code

JStest.ino

Credits

aaron2008

Comments

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Universal Esplora Game Controller

Universal Esplora Game Controller

Things used in this project

Hardware components

Software apps and online services

Hand tools and fabrication machines

Story

UPDATE V1.1:

UPDATE V1.4:

Code

JStest.ino

Credits

aaron2008

Comments

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