Worklog Bluetooth OG Gamecube controller

[RDNoob26]

Hello my people.

I have been working on a bluetooth control using the original GC controller and an ESP32.

This project is inspired in the article of the youtuber Yakara Colombia in which he presents the following pinout for the GC IC matched with the pins on the ESP32:

And the following are the components that will be used on this project:

- 1 original GC Controller.
- 1 ESP32.
- 1 battery charge module.
- 1 Small baterry.
- 1 Power switch.

Stay tuned!

 

[Darmandude]

Hello my people.

I have been working on a bluetooth control using the original GC controller and an ESP32.

This project is inspired in the article of the youtuber Yakara Colombia in which he presents the following pinout for the GC IC matched with the pins on the ESP32:

View attachment 29138

And the following are the components that will be used on this project:

- 1 original GC Controller.
- 1 ESP32.
- 1 battery charge module.
- 1 Small baterry.
- 1 Power switch.

View attachment 29139 View attachment 29140


Stay tuned!

this looks like a cool project

 

[RDNoob26]

So here is an update in the process of this project.

I removed all the components off the GC Controller board:

And also wired the power and programmed the ESP32 module, it has a 3.3v regulator and also the resistor between 3.3 and the EN pin:

Next step was to start soldering the wires, I started with the regular buttons to test they work once done:

After attaching power to the regulator, tested the inputs and they worked fine, though I didn't take picture of them.

For the next step I added the rest of the wires for the potentiometers, the long wires are the ones I am using to give power to the unit for testing.

So far the pots work and they are very good calibrated. Next step will be to work on the power and add everything back to the shell.

I plan to use a male/female JST connector to make it easier to troubleshoot in case I need to open it.

 

[RDNoob26]

Hello my people.

This project is now complete, here I have the board with all the wires soldered, and also added a JST female plug to power the ESP-32 board:

I added the usb charge module at the bottom of where the vivrator motor was, and a lipo battery as well. There is an small push switch to power on the circuit too:

This project worked great! It has the option to connect the controller to the Nintendo Switch and also to Blueretro or any bluetooth enable device and can be changed by using a button combination:

The controller works great in smash, no input lag and good battery duration.

This was a great success! The next step on this project would be to give the controller a paint job as I want to give some personality to it.

 

[juankamq]

Awesome work man, I like it!

 

[RDNoob26]

Hello guys, here is an update about how this amazing project ended up.

I made a paintjob on the controller to make it be our beloved spice orange.

We managed to make the color match almost exactly, painted one is a bit darker but I love the results of this.

This was an amazing project to make and I will be doing similar things in the future for my friends.

 

[DigitalKurtz]

Heya! Super impressed with how this project came out, especially the paint job, looks so freaking slick all oranged-up! Was curious where you sourced the battery and charge module, as they seem to fit damn near perfect for this application. Also wondering if you could post a photo of the back of the controller showing how you oriented the charge port and switch on that portion of the shell.

Thanks again for sharing this project, it has really inspired me to try some new things!
Cheers and happy modding!

 

[RDNoob26]

Heya! Super impressed with how this project came out, especially the paint job, looks so freaking slick all oranged-up! Was curious where you sourced the battery and charge module, as they seem to fit damn near perfect for this application. Also wondering if you could post a photo of the back of the controller showing how you oriented the charge port and switch on that portion of the shell.

Thanks again for sharing this project, it has really inspired me to try some new things!
Cheers and happy modding!

Yes of course man!

I got the charge module in Amazon:

Amazon.com

Then removed the USB port to only leave the USB-C input.

I recycled the battery from an old Chinese GoPro but any small lipo will work great as this doesn't use that much power.

The back is not too professional but it ended up being very nice

 

[gorgyrip]

Great project. The only downsize is that you have to cut the shell.

 

[RDNoob26]

Great project. The only downsize is that you have to cut the shell.

That is right!

There might be other ways to reduce what's needed to be cutoff for example if the USB port is somehow changed to an smaller 3.5mm female connector.

As for the switch, maybe an smaller button or switch or somehow make the esp32 go to sleep if buttons are not pressed after some time, I don't know how to do this but should not be too difficult to achieve.

 

[gorgyrip]

About a year ago, I talked with the person that created the software for esp32 and he said that a future version with sleep mode is planned.

 

[SirTwoRichards]

Hello. Is there any reason that all the components were removed? Am I assuming correctly that all but the main ic was resoldered on. I am attempting this project and figured all the components stayed but the main ic?
TwoRichards

 

[RDNoob26]

Hello. Is there any reason that all the components were removed? Am I assuming correctly that all but the main ic was resoldered on. I am attempting this project and figured all the components stayed but the main ic?
TwoRichards

Not really, I just followed the instructions as in the original video from Yakara.

But you might be able to just keep the components on the board.

 

[SirTwoRichards]

Ok cool. When using the hot air station I blew a couple components off. Ill just remove the rest. Ill have to watch that video.Thanks for the quick reply.
TwoRichards

 

[RDNoob26]

Ok cool. When using the hot air station I blew a couple components off. Ill just remove the rest. Ill have to watch that video.Thanks for the quick reply.
TwoRichards

Good luck and make sure to post some pictures here!

I still use this controller as my main one as of today.

 

[SirTwoRichards]

I will post some pictures. The esp32 and other components will be here in a couple hours.
TwoRichards

 

[LCandell]

Hello guys, here is an update about how this amazing project ended up.

I made a paintjob on the controller to make it be our beloved spice orange.

View attachment 30002

We managed to make the color match almost exactly, painted one is a bit darker but I love the results of this.

View attachment 30003

This was an amazing project to make and I will be doing similar things in the future for my friends.

How did you manage to paint the nintendo gamecube logo? If you don't mind me to ask...
I'm trying to build something similiar, but I want my controller in a generic clear blue shell

 

[RDNoob26]

How did you manage to paint the nintendo gamecube logo? If you don't mind me to ask...
I'm trying to build something similiar, but I want my controller in a generic clear blue shell

Hello and sorry for the delayed response, I have a friend that has a plotter printer, we cut the logo in adhesive vinyl and pasted the letters on the case.