(Kupid 2.0 Announced) Keyboard for PS1 RPG Maker

[Thutmose]

Re: (Prototype Now Functional) Keyboard for PS1 RPG Maker

Updated above post.

Hopefully I'll be able to get those resistors I need soon. :P

[Thutmose]

Re: (Prototype Now Functional) Keyboard for PS1 RPG Maker

I just got the resistors. Need to go down to the campus and sign my new contract, and do a few other things first, but I'll get started on Kupid as soon as I can.

[Thutmose]

Re: (Prototype Now Functional) Keyboard for PS1 RPG Maker

Been working on Kupid all day. Here are some pics of my progress.

This is after I soldered the button wires:

This is after I got all the wires soldered:


I tested the connections, and they're all working.

I'm still working on Kupid tonight, so expect more updates shortly.

[Thutmose]

Re: (Prototype Now Functional) Keyboard for PS1 RPG Maker

I've been having some trouble trying to get the circuit I designed built for the final prototype, so I made the below circuit schematic to help me out. I'll be using that as a guide in making the final circuit.

[Thutmose]

Re: (Prototype Now Functional) Keyboard for PS1 RPG Maker

I've been working on Kupid for about 20 hours straight, now. Below is a pic of my progress.



I still have to solder in the programming jack, and the keyboard jack. I'm really struggling to get everything to fit inside the controller, but I'm going to keep going. You'll notice that one side is full of wires and whatnot, while the other side is nearly empty. One side houses the PICAXE & Darlington array, along with most of the wires (they're already in), while the other side houses the 5V step-up board (which you can just barely see in the above pic), the programming jack, and the keyboard jack (both of which are not in yet).

So far I haven't tested any of the connections, aside from the ones directly on the PCB. I won't be able to actually test it out until I get everything soldered in and completely finished. Hopefully I haven't made any mistakes, and all the connections are sound. Otherwise, it's going to be a real pain trying to figure out where in the bundle of wires the specific problem is.

The main problem I am trying to work around now is how to get the resistors in. They're really small, but still pose a big space problem. I have five that I need to include. It's going to be tough.

Like I said, I'll need to be creative to get this done.

This experience has made me think about the feasibility of selling these units. Even with everything I've learned, it would still take me an entire day or more to make just one. I need to think of a way to speed this up. If I weren't so limited by space constraints, then I could do it a lot faster.

An idea I'm considering is adding a small box onto the PS1 controller, which would house all the extra electronics. If I had even just a couple square inches of space, say an add-on smaller than a pack of cigarettes, then I could make my own PCBs. That would eliminate more than half of the wires, and making a Kupid unit would be a lot faster (just plugging the components into a PCB then soldering them in would probably save around 85% manufacturing time or more versus the way I'm doing it now).

I think that would be the best way to go. Of course, having a custom PCB would also eliminate a whole slew of potential problems like loose wires, bad solder connections, miswiring, etc.

Basically the PS1 controller would look just like a normal one, except for a jack of some kind on the bottom. You would plug in a special little box into the controller, and then plug your keyboard into this box. Man, that would be so much easier.

That would mean I'd have Kupid in development for a little while longer, and add a bit to the prices (maybe around $10 more per unit). Though for that extra money, you'd be getting a much higher quality and more reliable product. But it's either that, or no Kupid at all; 'cause there's no way I'd be able to make any more units entirely by hand after I finish this one. I may be an insomniac but I'm not a masochist.

Well, I'll worry about the future of Kupid after I actually finish this potentially not-so-final prototype.

[Thutmose]

Re: (Prototype Now Functional) Keyboard for PS1 RPG Maker

Just got the resistors soldered into place. I cut the leads real short on both, then on the one going from the keyboard data line I soldered very short wires to the stumps of both leads and solder those to the appropriate places directly on the PS\2 jack itself. The other 7.4K resistor was also soldered directly to the jack, but I wrapped the leads around the pins, soldered it in place, then clipped the leads to size.

The last step is to solder in the programming jack. That's going to be very difficult as I've pretty much entirely run out of space.

The programming jack is something that wouldn't be included in the for-sale units, but I'm putting it in this prototype unit to aid in the refinement of the PICAXE program.

Once I get the jack in, I'll be able to test out the unit and see if it works. If it doesn't work, it means that I made a mistake somewhere while I soldered everything together. If ever there would be a time in my life that I let the curse-words fly, it would be the moment that the PICAXE doesn't respond to my programming attempt.

Suffice to say, soldering all this stuff together and getting it all to fit in the PS1 controller case has not been easy or particularly pleasant, nor would I like to repeat it any time soon.

Below is a couple of pics of my latest progress:

This pic shows the Kupid prototype all cased up, sans buttons:


This is the underside of the inside of the prototype Kupid unit:

[Thutmose]

Re: (Prototype Now Functional) Keyboard for PS1 RPG Maker

Well, I finished soldering everything together. And I have some good news and some bad news.

Good news: I can connect to the PICAXE and program it. If I press a key on the keyboard, the cursor moves.

Bad news: The buttons (square, triangle, cross, circle) apparently don't work. And it appears as if there is some kind of bad-connection somewhere that affects the video signal of my PS2 at certain times.

So, I'm going to have to look at all the wires, follow my circuit schematic, and try to trace the problem(s). Right now I REALLY wish I could afford a logic analyzer.

Here is a pic of the nearly final circuit:

[Thutmose]

Re: (Prototype Now Functional) Keyboard for PS1 RPG Maker

I solved the problem. It turns out that I soldered the wires for the right-side buttons onto the pins of the PICAXE in reverse order. :P I did the same thing on the first prototype circuit. >_< It was a simple fix that took all of thirty seconds.

Now it works perfectly. Except that the circuit takes too much power which is causing some problems - for example: if I have two or more of the LED keyboard lights on (or all of them off), then it overloads and spazzes out. So, I programmed it to constantly have the caps-lock light on. Another problem I'm having is that if you press the delete key more than about twice in a row, it draws too much power and freaks out requiring you to disconnect the controller unit for a bit. Other than that, it works great. :P But it's not a problem I hadn't anticipated; in fact, I was expecting it.

A potential solution for this is to add a 5V power regulator to the circuit. I'm not going to bother doing that for this prototype unit as it would be a real pain to desolder then resolder it. I'm just going to spend a bit more time on it then call it finished.

I'll probably drill the hole for the PS\2 jack tomorrow, and then this prototype for the Kupid will be done.

Here is Kupid, all in the case:


What's the next step? Even though this prototype was supposed to be the "final" one, I'm not happy with it for various reasons (not the least of which is the power draw problem). So what I'm going to do is finish this imperfect model up, then start designing the next one.

The next prototype will hopefully be the final one. I'm planning to design & make a custom circuit board for it, and enclose the circuit board in a plastic box enclosure that will plug into the PS1 controller using a 10-pin ribbon cable. The enclosure, about the size of a pack of cigarettes, will contain all the electronics and the keyboard will plug into that. Doing this will give me lots of room for electronics, reduce the amount of time it takes to make a single unit by very significant amount (just plug components in, solder and rejoice), will make everything so much easier, and increase the quality of the final unit.

Now, as I said before, this will push back Kupid availability back a couple months. I need to design the circuit board, and order it, test it, take orders for Kupid, then order more, and then make the units. It takes time for the circuit board to be manufactured and shipped to me from China, too.

Kupid is very much alive and will be available for sale within the next several months. Most of that time will be spent waiting for the circuit boards to arrive. But I just don't feel that the current prototype is representative of my vision for Kupid and I don't believe that its level of quality would satisfy anyone who would buy it. So you're just going to have to wait a little while longer.

I'm very disappointed by this, Kupid is way overdo as it is. I want to make the best product possible, within reason, and the current model doesn't meet my standards.

[Thutmose]

Re: (Prototype Now Functional) Keyboard for PS1 RPG Maker

Now that I've had some time to think, I'll work a bit more on this prototype. Though, it will largely have to wait until I get paid; no telling when that will be thanks to the district screwing up, making my paycheck nearly a month over-do.

I'll try putting in the power-regulator (de-soldering and re-soldering *sigh*).

Will post updates later on.

EDIT: Updated my Project Page with the new photos.

[Valkysas]

Re: (Prototype Now Functional) Keyboard for PS1 RPG Maker

Bravo, sir!

[Sivart the Sloth Trencher]

Re: (Prototype Now Functional) Keyboard for PS1 RPG Maker

So how big is the keyboard likely to be?

[Valkysas]

Re: (Prototype Now Functional) Keyboard for PS1 RPG Maker

Kupid itself is a modified PS1 controller. you plug a PS\2 keyboard into it.

[Sivart the Sloth Trencher]

Re: (Prototype Now Functional) Keyboard for PS1 RPG Maker

I suppose I skipped a bit, since I remembered him mentioning a chiclet keyboard. I was too lazy to play catch up.

[Thutmose]

Re: (Prototype Now Functional) Keyboard for PS1 RPG Maker

I suppose I skipped a bit, since I remembered him mentioning a chiclet keyboard. I was too lazy to play catch up.

Yeah, that was my old idea. :P The project has changed quite a lot since my first post.

Any PS\2 keyboard should work, as long as its power draw isn't over 100 milliamps (I'll likely upgrade the 5V step-up board to handle upwards of 300 milliamps, depending on how the rest of my prototype work goes).

[Thutmose]

Re: (Prototype Now Functional) Keyboard for PS1 RPG Maker

I just got paid. I'm ordering some electronic stuff now. I'm getting myself a logic analyzer. ^_^

Once I get everything, I'll be able to really start work back up on the Kupid prototype.