Converting DC Wheel to SNES

[XianXi]

Hey Guys,

I'm half way done with this mod but now I am lost on one thing which is, How do I wire the steering wheel pot?

Has anyone done this before? I am going to be using this mainly with Super Mario Kart.

Here's a pic:



The blue wire I know is ground but what are the other 2? Left and right?

This is the wheel I'm using:



Weird thing is in the base of the wheel where the wiring is there is no IC for the data, so am I to assume it is in the wheel itself?

Thanks for the help.

[NFG]

Does Mario Kart even support any kind of analogue controller?

WERE there any analogue controls for the SNES, besides the mouse?

[XianXi]

Does Mario Kart even support any kind of analogue controller?

WERE there any analogue controls for the SNES, besides the mouse?

Hmmm I only remember the mouse. Is there a way I can just wire up a left and right instead for the steering mech?

[kendrick]

X, you're probably already familiar with the way a potentiometer works. You get variable resistance depending on how far you've rotated the shaft, and typically no point along the axis of motion constitutes a fully-open or fully-closed electrical state. Those states are necessary for digital controls, like the SNES expects for the left and right directions on the D-pad. As such, you can't just wire up the contacts from the pot to the encoder input.

What you need at this point is some form of analog-to-digital convertor, a circuit between the pot and the digital encoder input. One way to use it is dividing the resistance of the pot in half, and telling the A-to-D circuit to close one switch if the resistance is zero-to-fifty percent, and close the other switch at fifty-to-one-hundred percent. In order to more fully simulate steering, you could also tell the convertor to close one switch if resistance is increasing, and then close the other switch if resistance is decreasing so you get real-time left and right response instead of having to swing the wheel around past center and creating an analog dead response zone.

However you decide to do it, keep in mind that you're adding circuitry and logic. In your place, I might have chosen to convert a steering wheel that already produces digital output (although I couldn't name one if I tried.)

-KKC, making breakfast plans.

[blackevilweredragon]

I got a PS1 wheel that looks EXACTLY like that, and it has a "digital" mode, where instead of analog, it translates it to a very rapid pulsing, to simulate a digital D-Pad..

you might be better with something like that..

[XianXi]

X, you're probably already familiar with the way a potentiometer works. You get variable resistance depending on how far you've rotated the shaft, and typically no point along the axis of motion constitutes a fully-open or fully-closed electrical state. Those states are necessary for digital controls, like the SNES expects for the left and right directions on the D-pad. As such, you can't just wire up the contacts from the pot to the encoder input.

What you need at this point is some form of analog-to-digital convertor, a circuit between the pot and the digital encoder input. One way to use it is dividing the resistance of the pot in half, and telling the A-to-D circuit to close one switch if the resistance is zero-to-fifty percent, and close the other switch at fifty-to-one-hundred percent. In order to more fully simulate steering, you could also tell the convertor to close one switch if resistance is increasing, and then close the other switch if resistance is decreasing so you get real-time left and right response instead of having to swing the wheel around past center and creating an analog dead response zone.

However you decide to do it, keep in mind that you're adding circuitry and logic. In your place, I might have chosen to convert a steering wheel that already produces digital output (although I couldn't name one if I tried.)

-KKC, making breakfast plans.

Hey Kendric,

Sorry for the late response, I never got any notification of a reply.

But anywho, if I use a PS1 steering controller with digital output how would I wire it up to an SNES pad? Sorry I am getting lost on this whole thing. Thanks for your help.



blackevilweredragon,

Have you tried anything like this before? Thanks for the heads up on the PS1 steering rig. I hope this works because it would be kick ass!!