Mod Purist: Mod

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About a year ago I made a mod on one of my NES Controllers, I make it into a wireless USB controller.

For this project, I used the chip from an old wireless USB keyboard, an old Gameboy Advanced SP battery, and obviously a NES controller.

This mod was a "quick" and fun one, the hardest part was figuring out what combination of pins to use for different key inputs. I spent about an hour or so figuring out which combination it was for the UP key, after this, I realized that I could just set it in software on the computer, instead of spending another 7 hours (one per button) figuring out the rest.

The way it works is simple, I took this chip from a keyboard, and all that the keys on a keyboard are, are buttons with connections to this chip in different patterns to differentiate one key from another. So what I did, is I took the traces from the NES controller, and wired them to the board as if they were keys.

One thing you might notice, is that there is no way to charge the unit, I did that on purpose, the reason I felt that it was not necessary right now to add a charging adapter, is that before I had made this mod, the keyboard was turned on for about 2 years without changing the AAA batteries, and they were still running fairly strong. I later added a power switch to the unit to conserve power when not in use. I decided to use it without a charging adapter, and if needed later on, add one, or remove the battery and charge it. It still has not gone dead, and this was built a year ago.

Here is a video of it working.

I have built another GameBoy mod! This one is a DS Lite mod. Basically, I took off the top screen, I had to add a resistor to make the DS think that the top screen was still on. This mod is more of a nostalgic type mod; I really like GameBoy's. also, I want to add an r4 chip to allow it to play emulated games. I am planning to re-do the paint since it got messed up while it was drying, I just haven't had time for that yet.

This mod took one day to complete, it was fairly easy, and could be completed much quicker if done again.
I am sort of planning to do the same with a DSI XL and rely on emulation for game play, this would let you have a much larger screen to play with.

my next step in this is repainting it, I want to do either the same colour scheme, or I might consider painting it with a SFC colour scheme.

After a lot of working for about three days, at about three hours a day, I have a working fridge that looks like a Game Boy. This idea came to me when I saw something sort of similar online, just a decal for a fridge that looked like a Game Boy, and I looked over at my mini fridge and decided I could build one my self, that is also functional. I found all of the parts, and then decided to do it. The reasoning for the timing of this build; the middle of the 2015 BitFix GamBoy Classic Competition, when I already had the Game Boy Color Advance as an entry,is that I wouldn't be able to be finished in time, so I still wanted an entry, and have all the time I need to finish the other project.

The Fridge is a functional mini fridge, with a custom door that looks like a Game Boy, and functions. Powered by a Raspberry Pi, this Mini Fridge will be a conversation piece for my dorm room, and one day my man cave.

Here is a link to the work log

I created the buttons out of wood by cutting the basic shape on a band saw, then using a belt sander in a vise (Since my floor belt sander hasn't gotten its new belts, I ordered over 2 months ago; they said it would be 7 days) I shaped them. The wooden buttons actuate tact switches, and these are wired up to an old USB keyboard, they are their respective key, except Start is Enter, and Select, is BACKSPACE.

I created the screen section by cutting a large hole in the fridge, and mounting the front bezel of the screen into the hole, then mounting the screen its self.

All of the wires run down a channel in the insulation and out the bottom right beside the hinge, then run to the back of the fridge where the PI is held, I would have mounted the PI in the door had I not worried about both condensation, or wanting to change it for another computer some day. With this design, I can use any computer with a VGA output (The PI has an HDMI to VGA converter) and USB ports.

to keep the cold in, I used loose fiberglass insulation to pack behind the channels, and hoes in the insulation.

I got two of the paints from Home Hardware choosing paint colors and getting them to mix a sample paint can for me, the red I mixed my self and the black I have. If I ever paint on the decals (No real intention for that right now), then I will also have to mix a blue.

The Pi is loaded with a 16 GB Class 10 SD card, so its very fast, and it has RetroPie on it, which is an easy distro with emulation station. A future project might change this out for something new, but I'm keeping it more or less a secret for now.

As far as game play goes, it functions as a Game Boy, but is so large I found myself basically punching the buttons, they press well (other than the right key, its a bit stiff at the moment), but since they are so far apart it make game play a bit awkward, also, you have to sit on the floor to play it.

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