Wednesday, February 17, 2010
My Reflection- Areej Jahangir
Maddi's Reflection
What I learned from this project was to never underestimate the power of tiny screws. They are more of an obstacle than they look, and they can cause you to have no other choice but to drill holes as a substitute to taking it out. That aside, I learned what components in electronics look like up close (as opposed to printed in a textbook), such as a printed circuit board and resistors. I’ve also learned how to disassemble an electric device, and know which pieces are what. I also know what a circuit diagram is and how to identify the symbols on it, and by doing so, am now capable of drawing on my own. I think that the project as a whole was pretty interesting and easy to get involved in. It was a lot of fun, despite all the little challenges along the way.
Constraints
Types of constraints that the controller would be subjected to are very few. Since a controller and console would stay in the basement, you would not ever take it outside where it would be harmed by the elements. Generally, one does not bend or take apart a controller for the fun of it (we’re an exception), so resilience and elasticity wouldn’t really be needed, nor would it be a problem.
There are really only constraints that a controller could possibly be subjected to. One of them is the constant button-mashing, which the controller is made for anyway.
The second one is the uncalled for high-velocity trip across the room when a player loses the game and enters a fit of rage. The plastic that covers a controller is hard and makes it resistant to this kind of damage. The only damage that could ever come to a controller from impact on the floor, the wall, or even the ceiling, would not be on the plastic covering, but the components inside. Another possible threat to a controller would be if food or drink was spilled on it, but even then, the damage wouldn’t be on the plastic (unless you’re drinking acid, which is unlikely).
Materials
Apart from the components inside it, the controller is made out of plastic. Plastic would be the ideal material used in this kind of situation. The components underneath the plastic of the controller are made of metals and alloys, and they are well-protected by the plastic.
Sometimes, when people play video games and lose, they take it out on the controller by either bashing it the floor or flinging it across the room. Because it is made out of plastic and not, say, porcelain or glass, it survives the fall without breaking (though of course, just like anything else, if it is thrown enough, it will eventually stop working).
It’s unlikely that a controller will ever be subjected to corrosion because its environment (usually, both a game console and controller will perpetually reside in your basement) will probably not damage it over time. Unless said basement is flooded, in which case the controller may be damaged, it’s unlikely that you’ll need to worry about the corrosion of the plastic covering the controller.
Plastic is also a good choice of material for a controller because it is a poor conductor, both electrical and thermal. The reasons as to why this is a good thing should be fairly obvious: you don’t want to be zapped or burned while playing Okami or Kingdom Hearts. You really don’t.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Circuit Components
In our project:
The resistors limit the flow of current from the joystick to the PC when voltage is applied. Resistor symbol below.
Diode- Device that only lets current pass one way, and not back the other way
In our project:
The diodes only allows the current to flow in one direction therefore not allowing the current back to the joystick side. Diode symbol below:
Transistor- A device commonly used to amplify or switch electronic signals
In our project
Our joystick contains a PNP BJT Transistor, which if it has a voltage in its base (the leg on the side), it will pass the current from the collector (top leg) to the emitter (bottom leg). PNP Transistor Symbol Below.
How the Circuit Works
On the joystick side of the circuit, when the Extra Button [5] is pressed, it sends a signal to Button 2 [7] on the PC side. When Button [6] is pressed, a signal is sent to Button 1 [1]. The +5V on the joystick side goes to the two +5V on the PC end; these volts are used in order to maintain the transistors, resistors, and diodes between the more important components on the Joystick end (Forward [1], Backward [2], Left [3], Right [4]) and the PC end (+5V [1], Pot x [3], Pot y [6]). Ground on the Joystick side goes directly to Ground [4 and 5] on the PC side. Forward [1], Backward [2], Left [3], and Right [4] on the Joystick side go through the electrical components diodes, transistors, and resistors.
After going through these electrical components the signal is sent to +5V [1], Pot x [3], and Pot y [6] on the PC site. There are potentiometers as components in the actual circuits as well as on the PC site. The ones in the circuit can take between 0 and 150K ohms. Pot x and y are potentiometers on the PC side, which control the amount of power being used. This is used for joysticks because it is possible to move the stick forward but not all the way forward so that for example the object or person in the video game moves but does not go full speed ahead. For example in a race car video game, moving the stick half way forward would make the car go half as fast in a forward direction.
This relates to the game port where 7= but4, 6=but3, 5=but2, 4=but1, 3=stk4, 2=stk3, 1=stk2, 0=stk1. 3, 2, 1, and 0 are all sticks therefore they each have a hexadecimal value and range from 0- 255. For example, 255 would be full speed forward. This whole game port and potentiometers are on the side of the PC, which receives the signal from the joystick and makes the activities in the game work. Also on the side of the PC, there are buttons like I have stated above like in the game port. 7, 6, 5, and 4 are all buttons and that means that they can only be 0 or 1. 0 means low and nothing happening and 1 is high with things happening. However the state can only be at 1 during the time the button is pressed so therefore when the pressure is released off the button, it goes back to 0, the original state.
Going back to the circuit and the electrical components diode, transistor, and resistor. These do not play a big role in the processing of the signal to the PC, they act more to limit the current and protect the PC circuiting just like the +5V does. The diode only allows the current to flow in one direction therefore not allowing the current back to the joystick side, which would cause a problem if the current were allowed to flow back. So this allows the current to only go from the Joystick to the PC. The transistor in the diagram is a PNP BJT Transistor, which if there is voltage in the base, will pass current from the collector to the emitter. The resistor limits the flow of current when voltage is applied. Therefore these components are more for limiting the amount of current and protecting the PC circuiting.
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
5... 4... 3... 2... 1... Take off!!!
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Smooth Sailing
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
A few screws loose...
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
All Wired Up
Proposal for PS1 Controller
What product will you study?
We will study a PlayStation 1 Controller
What brand?
The brand is Sony.
What is your product designed to do?
The product is designed to control the actions of a character in a video game.
Why did you decide to choose it?
We chose it in order to see what parts allow the controller to make the characters function. Also, in order to see why Sony chose the parts they did in order for the controller to work.
What circuitry components do you think you will have to learn about to understand your product?
We will probably have to learn about transistors, diode, circuit board, controls, capacitor, conduction, protection, and insulation.
Upon doing research and finding pictured of the parts, we found a diagram of how the analog stick works. There is also both a circuit board and a printed circuit board. We also need to understand what makes the buttons pressure-sensitive, and we need to find out why the controllers are able to vibrate.
What materials is it made out of?
The controller is made out of mostly of plastic for the outside with some metals and alloys for the inner components such as the circuit board.