Difference between revisions of "Multi-Control"

Revision as of 09:48, 25 April 2017

Introduction

SunFounder Multi-Control is a multi-function controller based on the Atmel ATmega32U4. With a mini USB port, it can be connected to the PC or Raspberry Pi directly.
After powering, the PWR (power) LED keeps constant lighting. Press any key and the TX LED will blink, which indicates the key data has been sent.
There are 6 silica gel buttons and a joystick to simulate a gamepad, a reset switch, and a mode toggle switch (for touch terminals) on the controller. Besides the buttons, there are 4 GND ports and another 10 analog touch input ports for simulating the midi devices .
On the back of the board, there are 2 groups of pin headers including one group of GND, and the other corresponding to the input of the 10 keys. They are reserved for extending more control functions.
There is an ICSP 6-pin header to write bootload to the chip and a mini USB port to upload the control program.
Functions:
The SunFounder Multi-Control can simulate the gamepad, midi input device, and PC keyboard.
In the gamepad mode, the operation is the same as using a general gamepad and quite suitable for the RetroPi games.
In the midi mode, it is used with alligator clip cables. One clip at a cable end bites the GND hole on the board and one at the other to the user. More clips connect the holes to conductors and the user inputs midi signals by touching the conductor (s). The operation and principle are quite similar with the Fruitkey developed by SunFounder.
In the keyboard mode, the joystick acts the same as the up, down, left, and right arrow keys on the keyboard. Each button maps with a key. By default, A to left Ctrl, B to left Alt, X to Z, Y to X, SELECT to Space, and START to Enter. You can self-define the key mapping by modifying the key value in the header file.
Mapping between key IOs in the board and Arduino IOs:

Features

1.Small size: 120 x 50 x 32 mm
2.Fixing Hole: M3, sizing 113mm (H) x 31mm (V)
3.Communication with the master via mini USB
4.Supply Voltage: 5V (powered by USB)
5.With 6 buttons, 1 joystick, 10 touch contacts, 10 pin headers (6 share the same IO ports with the buttons)
6.Contains 1 ICSP pin header, 1 Reset switch, and 1 Mode toggle switch.