How to Crimp Wires From a Raspberry Pie to a Joystick and Buttons

Here are some handy definitions to help you understand what everything in the guide means.

6 Inch Male to Female Jumper Wires – Thin wires with one end that connects to a raspberry pie and another that can be used to connect to other wires or be crimped to a quick connect or disconnect.

Female Quick Disconnect (Partially Insulated) - An object that can be crimped so that wires attached to it will not fall out and can be easily connected to a male quick connect.

Crimping Tool – A multi tool consisting of Wire crimpers, Strippers, and Cutters.

Wire Crimpers – Tool used to bend the barrel of quick connects and disconnects so that wires fit snugly inside and do not fall out.

Male Quick Connect (Partially Insulated) – An object that is used to attack to a female quick disconnect and is in this case attacked to the joystick.

Wire Strippers – Small tool used to pull insulation off of insulated wire and expose metal. Wire Cutters – Tool similar to pliers with blades for cutting rather than gripping.

Insulation – Plastic that covers the metal wire.

Solid core wire – Wire that is composed of a single metal piece.

Braided wire – Wire that is composed of multiple small pieces of metal braided together to form an easily bendable wire.

Wire Gauge – Refers to the size of wire or size of the quick disconnect, quick connects and disconnects can come in 3 colors: Red, Blue, and Yellow from smallest to biggest respectively.

Barrel – The part of the quick connect or disconnect that is under the colored plastic, it is the part that is crimped.

Step 1: Materials

To start you're going to need some basic materials. These can be easily obtained at a hardware store so you shouldn't need to worry.

- A crimping tool

- Semi insulated female quick disconnects

- 6 Inch male to female jumper wires (Braided core)

- Wire strippers

- Solid core wire

- A Raspberry Pie microcomputer

- A joystick and buttons with male quick connects

Step 2: Stripping Wires

To begin you'll want to take roughly 6 inches of solid core wire and cut it from your spool, then strip about 1 inch off the end, precision doesn't really matter so take a bit more than you need, remember you can always make the wire shorter, but you can't make it longer. After you're done with the solid core wire, take one of the male to female jumper wires and carefully remove the male end (the end with the wire coming out of it) and carefully pull it off. Be aware that since this wire is braided core it can be easily snapped or ripped.

Step 3: Using the Female Quick Connect to Crimp the Wires Together

You'll want to insert the stripped end of the solid core wire into the barrel of the quick disconnect then do the same with the exposed end of the jumper wire, you can twirl the exposed braided core wire around the exposed solid core wire to ensure they are connected when you insert them into the barrel. Once you've inserted them into the barrel make sure they aren't protruding from the exposed end of the quick disconnect. Once you've done this, find the colored crimper on the crimping tool that matches the color of the insulation on your quick disconnect, then crimp it 2 to 3 times to ensure it doesn't fall out. Then strip 1 inch off the other end of the solid core wire and insert it into the barrel of another female quick disconnect and crimp it 2 to 3 times.

Step 4: Connecting the Raspberry Pie to the Joystick or Buttons

Once you've crimped the wires together, take the female end of the jumper wires and plug it in to the GPIO board on the Raspberry Pie (The part with the male connectors) and take the second quick disconnect and plug it into the male quick connect on your Joystick or Button. Congratulations, you have successfully connected a Raspberry Pie and a Joystick or Button together.