Arrow keys to use signal tester, click "MUTE" to mute/unmute the background music. 8-direction joystick Short Description: This project can be used to create multiple 8-directional joysticks for individuals ready to use (one MK per controller), or for groups and individuals to follow a step-by-step assembly process. Step-by-Step Guide: 1. First, take your cardboard tube and wrap the outside tightly with aluminum foil. You may want to give it a few wraps if your foil is very thin or low quality as it may tear during play. 2. Next, we need to secure the tube to the bottom of the inside of the box. It may be best to carefully dismantle and flatten the box first, taking care to leave it one piece. Also, note the position of the tube and how difficult or easy it will be to pull the top face of the box over the tube using the hole in the top face. You may need to make adjustments to compensate (or be prepared to wrestle with the final assembly). Secure the support tabs to the inside of the bottom of the tube, facing out in four directions like cardinal rhumbs on a compass. This should be done in a way that can endure some wear and tear. A glue stick may not hold out too long, but staples probably will. Seat the four tabs (now attached to tube bottom) to the bottom inside face of the box. Make sure the tab bottoms are flat against the inside bottom of the box, and make sure that all the tabs are pushed slightly towards the center of the tube (this is why each tab needs a flexible crease). You may have to trim tabs to get them to push inward before affixing them to the inside bottom of the box. You may have to play around a little to achieve best results, but what we are looking for is a tube that pretty much stands up mostly straight but can bend with light pressure. 3. Now we need to reassemble the box and cut the hole in the top of the box. This might be tricky, but be patient and don't be afraid to experiment. To figure out the best hole size for your box and tube, try an estimated hole size in a piece of paper first. Slip the paper over the tube and hold the paper at the approximate height of the box. At rest, can the tube stay equal lengths from the edge of the hole? Can the tube be pushed to touch the edge of the hole in 360 degrees with little effort and harm to the support tabs? If not, try again. Once you have your hole size, simply cut a more permanent one in the top of the box, and try fitting the box together with the tube going through the hole in the top of the box. If it seems you've got it, congratulations! But hold off on sealing the box up. 4. Wire that puppy! Start by marking your four main directions (up/down/left/right). Now mark the four ordinal directions (up and right, up and left, etc). You need enough of a contact on the lip and edge of the hole to make a good connection when the tube touches it, but there needs to be a good amount of space between each contact, too. Again, make sure the joystick will be free from touching ANY contact when it is left alone. Also, when the tube is touching the cardinal right, it needs to only be touching cardinal right and not its neighboring ordinal directions (up/right and down/right). Now you need to decide what the contacts will be made. You can use conductive adhesive copper tape, thin small strips of foil, or whatever you fancy and can make do with. Thin strips may work best. Just keep in mind that you need to have space between each "rhumb," each rhumb needs to be bulky and smooth enough to make consistent and reliable contact with the foil tube, and ordinal rhumbs need to consistently actuate both of their cardinal parent rhumbs at the same time by the foil tube. Make one for each cardinal direction and attach it to the lip and edge. After you get this far, go ahead and wire the directions to their respective connections on the MaKey MaKey, wire the ground to the MaKey, put the tube through the hole again, and test it out. Assuming things are going well, try tackling the ordinal directions next. For up/right, simply put two contacts right next to each other. Make sure they are NOT touching for best results, but the space between them needs to be very small. Test this out to make sure you got it. You can do this by splicing into the cardinal controls. When it works, the tube will act as ground for both up and right at the same time when you touch the up/right position ordinal contacts with it. Assuming you've gotten this far, finish the other three ordinal directions in the same way. 5. Assemble the box! Make sure you leave room for the USB cord to get out of the box and to a computer. 6. Test your homebrew 8-direction controller here: http://bit.ly/11aexuJ 7. Enjoy! Try seeking out free Flash games that use 8 direction controls. Note: Once you get it working, decorations and covers can make the controller easier to enjoy and use. Materials: To construct this controller or a variation you will need: a small cardboard box or cardboard suitable for building a small box; scrap cardboard to make four flexible support tabs (see image); a toilet paper roll, a halved paper towel roll, or a strip of cardboard rolled into a small tube; 13 small lengths of wire; aluminum foil; and a MaKey MaKey. Price: With MaKey MaKey(s) already supplied: ~$0.25 USD per controller to ~$2-3+ USD per controller[/b] -cardboard (free, to premium stock and higher quality enclosure materials) -foil (free but clean and repurposed, to premium) -wires (free and repurposed, to premium MK-compatible wire) -any add-ons (conductive adhesive copper tape, markers, crayons, staples, glue, LEDs, etc.) Time: Learners without technical or electronic experience: This may take a very extended time for a solo learner, but a guided learner especially one in a group may have a much quicker time. Learners with basic technical and/or electronic experience: A guided class with ample preparation can take anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour and sometimes longer, more to cover sub-topics of the project in greater detail. Learners with strong technical and/or electronic experience: A guided class with ample preparation can take as little as 30 minutes or less, more to cover sub-topics of the project in greater detail. Note: Ahoy! Did you know you can use this controller to teach about the ordinal and cardinal directions as well as the rhumbs of a compass? If this project is too advanced or involved for your group, try assembling one yourself and integrating the controller into an interactive lesson about directions. Try using decorations that identify controller directions by compass directions (such as the word "North" for cardinal up). Software: I created a set of DIY instructions with visuals and a signal tester for this project using Scratch. I made all the sprites myself, and coded the signal tester to indicate which cardinal or ordinal direction is actuated. You can remix my signal tester to create your own interactive lesson for use with the controller here: http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/10809793/ The programming concept is very simple. For the graphic arrow pointing up, I set it to show as red on default. I then set it to only change to yellow when up and only up is pressed (from a possible combination of up/down/left/right). For the graphic arrow pointing up and to the right, I set it to show as red on default and as yellow on when both up and right arrow keys are pressed. You can use my code and turn it into navigational code for a sprite or any number of things in Scratch. You can also see all the remixes of my project that have been published at the project page's tree view here: http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/10809793/remixtree/. Extra Stuff: -Try using your controller with any educational video game that uses the arrow keys on the keyboard in 8 directions (such as up and left for up/left ordinal). Two examples are Simple Coin Math and Cylinder Volume Estimation Game (also public projects I have posted). -Try decorating your controller! -Is it acting up? Make sure no contacts are touching each other. -Try adding components like LEDs, motors that turn cardboard parts, or anything else you can get to work! -Try threading a rubber band through the bottom of the box in the center of where the top of the tube should rest and attaching both ends to the top of the tube. With a taut rubber band that still has some flex room when pressure is applied, this should ensure the joystick stands straight up at rest and will preserve the spring-action that the four support tabs may provide at first. -Most importantly, try out any unique ideas about this that YOU have!
http://www.morguefile.com/archive/display/26559 - aluminum foil photo "Random beats" by smalltortoise, CC-BY 4.0 except for Scratch elements, using original loop and Gross Beats in FL Studio. Features a continuous and seamlessly randomized stream of loops from a loop bank of 35 different glitched out loops. Feel free to use or remix them! This is one way to make a homebrew 8-direction controller, for use with the MaKey MaKey. This includes a troubleshooting tool that allows you to test the controls with a homebrew 8-direction controller (or keyboard). List of Scratch games that work well with this controller: -Simple Coin Math (http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/3203844) -Cylinder Volume Estimation Game (http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/3203885) -Help me find more in the comments section and I'll add them here!
