DIY Controller for Paragliding Games

I've played a few different paragliding games and always found the problem of what controls you use. Mouse and Keyboard aren't great as paraglider flying is very analog. It's kind of similar to a flight simulatior or car racing game, you need a joystick or racing wheel to have a great experience playing.

So, I decided to design and make my own. I had various concepts but ended up going for sliding potentiometer because they are cheap, compact and readily available.

Step 1: Gather Components

I started by buying an old (faulty) sound mixing table and salvaged all the components.

It had a lot of sliders pots and toggles and these would later come really handle for this and other projects.

Step 2: Proto Board

Then I made a small test board with the arduino pro micro, a slider and a toggle. This allowed me to start working on the code and make sure all the components worked together before starting to design anything physical.

My little prototype board worked quite well so I layed out the various components in a way that I thought would be ergonomic and nice to use when playing the game.

Step 3: Designing the Case in CAD

Then I double checked my measurements by physically laying out the components on a to scale drawing. At this point it would be easy to scale up or down if it felt like it wasn't the right size or shape, or if some of the components were too tightly packed. Luckily it was just right.

Step 4: Soldering and Testing

Then I printed just a thin part of the top plate to save printing time and placed all the components. Having the open bottom also made it easier to assemble everything and make the wiring as there was more space to solder.

As everything was put together I hooked it up to the computer and wrote the arduino code.
Arduino Pro Micro code - https://github.com/Andre-Bandarra/analog-controller

Step 5: Final Assembly

Once it was all working it was time to print the real thing.

3D Printing files (STLs) - https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/12BRRW14gp...

It turned out amazing! I did a little finament swap trick to end up with black underneath the blue. The first couple of layers were blue, then a couple of black layers, then back to the blue fillament for the rest of the print. Turned out awesome.

It was now just a case of assembling it and screwing it all together!