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Making a game controller with fuse beads that looks like a fridge magnet made of fuse beads that looks like a Nintendo NES controller.
Vintage video-game aesthetics made a big come-back a few years ago. Fuse beads, with their "pixel" look, design flexibility and easiness of use (suited for 5-year-olds +), benefited from this trend and became increasingly popular as a craft and as a form of personal expression: from Super Mario coasters to plastic jewerly, Zelda-inspired street art , and fridge magnets representing tapes or old-fashioned video-game controllers such as the NES from Nintendo. Aesthetics of the digital world leaked onto the physical one (ref: Wojtowicz), all in a nice geeky old-school way.
This project pushes the whole geekiness of it even further by making an actual game controller that references fridge magnets that reference Nintendo game controllers. All using fuse beads (and Arduino). Although not yet compatible with Nintendo game consoles, the controller can send simple binary information through the serial port that can be read by regular softwares and be used in computer games, computer music or other types of real-time control of digital content.
For this project, you will need:
- fuse beads (often called Hama or Perler): a few red ones and lots of black and grey ones
- a pegboard
- an iron
- iron paper
- push buttons (three or more)
- an Arduino micro-controller (how to get started with Arduino will not be explained here)
- a tape roll
- wires, a soldering iron and other equipment for making electronic circuits
- hot glue
- a USB cable
- a computer with USB port
Vintage video-game aesthetics made a big come-back a few years ago. Fuse beads, with their "pixel" look, design flexibility and easiness of use (suited for 5-year-olds +), benefited from this trend and became increasingly popular as a craft and as a form of personal expression: from Super Mario coasters to plastic jewerly, Zelda-inspired street art , and fridge magnets representing tapes or old-fashioned video-game controllers such as the NES from Nintendo. Aesthetics of the digital world leaked onto the physical one (ref: Wojtowicz), all in a nice geeky old-school way.
This project pushes the whole geekiness of it even further by making an actual game controller that references fridge magnets that reference Nintendo game controllers. All using fuse beads (and Arduino). Although not yet compatible with Nintendo game consoles, the controller can send simple binary information through the serial port that can be read by regular softwares and be used in computer games, computer music or other types of real-time control of digital content.
For this project, you will need:
- fuse beads (often called Hama or Perler): a few red ones and lots of black and grey ones
- a pegboard
- an iron
- iron paper
- push buttons (three or more)
- an Arduino micro-controller (how to get started with Arduino will not be explained here)
- a tape roll
- wires, a soldering iron and other equipment for making electronic circuits
- hot glue
- a USB cable
- a computer with USB port
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Signing UpStep 1Front Panel
We start by making the front of the game controller, using fuse beads (also called Hama beads or Perler beads). This controller is not going to be an exact replica of a NES controller: only three buttons will be real, the red ones on the right, and the crosse on the left. Due to time and material constraints for preparing this instructable, the cross button will also be a simple push button.
The first step is to figure out the layout of the panel, then place the beads one by one on the pegboard.
- The pattern should resemble the appearence of a Nintendo NES controller (or of a fridge magnet imitation) as much as possible, only *inverted*.
- The size of front panel depends on the size of the buttons that fit in it. Make sure to test how much space you will need with the buttons you have available, before getting started with the arrangement.
- Leave empty space where the buttons are going to be and make button covers of the same size.
Once you are done arranging the beads, cover them with ironing paper, and iron them in order to fuse them together. The beads should melt just enough to hold together tight. Wait until the beads have cooled down before removing the paper.
The side that will be visible in the end is the one below that has not been ironed.
The first step is to figure out the layout of the panel, then place the beads one by one on the pegboard.
- The pattern should resemble the appearence of a Nintendo NES controller (or of a fridge magnet imitation) as much as possible, only *inverted*.
- The size of front panel depends on the size of the buttons that fit in it. Make sure to test how much space you will need with the buttons you have available, before getting started with the arrangement.
- Leave empty space where the buttons are going to be and make button covers of the same size.
Once you are done arranging the beads, cover them with ironing paper, and iron them in order to fuse them together. The beads should melt just enough to hold together tight. Wait until the beads have cooled down before removing the paper.
The side that will be visible in the end is the one below that has not been ironed.
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good luck!