Created November 5, 2022 © CC BY-NC

Gaming Pirate Wheel

A 3D printed pirate ship wheel to play your favorite pirate games in style.

BeginnerWork in progress2 hours650

Things used in this project

Hardware components

Raspberry Pi Pico

Rotary Encoder with Push-Button

Any rotary encoder with the same dimensions works.

Software apps and online services

Mu Editor

Any supported code editor

Hand tools and fabrication machines

3D Printer (generic)

Story

Pirate wheel for your favorite pirate games.

As an experiment, I wanted to see if it was possible to build a pirate wheel to control a ship sailing game. See Reddit for the final result. Before you build this, keep in mind that it's built as a fun experiment, not to actually play a full game.

Build

Download the files at Printables and print them out at the preferred resolution and material. glue the flat base to the bottom of the stand so it sits flush with the back and extends out the front.

Screw the rotary encoder onto the hole of the stand and fit the wheel on the encoder.

Connect the encoder to the Raspberry Pi Pico, you only need to connect the pins of the encoder since the button is not in use. Connect them to the pins defined in the code or change the code.

For extra stability add double-sided tape to the bottom of the wheel or weigh it down.

Software

Install Circuitpython 7 to the Raspberry Pi Pico and upload the adafruit_hid libraries. If you have no experience with the Pi Pico or Circuitpython, check out this guide from Adafruit.

Testing

The Pi Pico is seen as a keyboard to the computer, so make sure to connect it only when the game is running or just don't turn the wheel. Otherwise, your computer will think you're pressing a lot of buttons.

This was coded to test with Sea of Thieves. If you want to use it with a game that doesn't use the A and D keys for turning, change the keycodes in the Python code.

Hope you enjoy it and please let me know if you build it!

Python code

#### Created by Jaimy van Schelven - 2022 ####
#### Uses Adafruit Circuitpython 7 ####

import time
import rotaryio
import board
import usb_hid
from adafruit_hid.mouse import Mouse
from adafruit_hid.keyboard import Keyboard
from adafruit_hid.keyboard_layout_us import KeyboardLayoutUS
from adafruit_hid.keycode import Keycode

last_position = None
last_time = None
current_time = None
diff = 1

encoder = rotaryio.IncrementalEncoder(board.GP12, board.GP13) # Change these if you connected the encoder to different pins.
keyboard = Keyboard(usb_hid.devices)
keyboard_layout = KeyboardLayoutUS(keyboard)

while True:
    current_time = time.monotonic()
    position = encoder.position
    if last_position != None:
        if last_position < position: #Wheel rotates left
            keyboard.press(Keycode.A) #Change this if your game expects another key for turning left.
            time.sleep(0.1)
            last_time = current_time
        elif last_position > position: #Wheel rotates right
            keyboard.press(Keycode.D) #Change this if your game expects another key for turning right.
            time.sleep(0.1)
            last_time = current_time
        elif last_position == position: #Wheel is still
            if last_time != None:
                if current_time - last_time < diff:
                    keyboard.release_all()
    last_position = position

Credits

JaimyvS

1 project • 0 followers

Gaming Pirate Wheel

Things used in this project

Hardware components

Software apps and online services

Hand tools and fabrication machines

Story

Pirate wheel for your favorite pirate games.

Build

Software

Testing

Code

Python code

Credits

JaimyvS

Comments

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Gaming Pirate Wheel

Gaming Pirate Wheel

Things used in this project

Hardware components

Software apps and online services

Hand tools and fabrication machines

Story

Pirate wheel for your favorite pirate games.

Build

Software

Testing

Code

Python code

Credits

JaimyvS

Comments