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'sad dinosaur' game controller

Spring 2016 - engineering cornerstone course
Purpose

Design, build, improve, and test a functional one-handed video game controller through 2 iteration cycles as part of project-based intro Engineering Cornerstone II Class.

design elements

  • Dinosaur theme (reflected in device & custom packaging)

  • Ideation process using clay to find ideal ergonomic shape

  • SolidWorks modelled & printed with Dimension Elite FDM

  • Laser cut acrylic base

  • Microswitches, X-box triggers

  • Base & thumb joysticks

  • Base comfortable on table or resting on leg

design narrative

Our group was given the task to create a one-handed video game controller with 2 analog inputs and 6 digital inputs. In our initial exploration of what form factor we wanted this to take, we sourced a bucket of clay, and each made our own controller to present to the group.

 

When I was considering objects that I knew were ergonomic and one handed, I thought immediately of the 'pistol' grip for fencing foils - a sport that I did all through high school (I fenced sabre but had tried my hand at foil a few times). I modeled my controller based off of this style of grip, and added surfaces for the buttons and joysticks I knew we needed. Nicknamed the 'sad dinosaur,' this concept made it out of the meeting as our choice of design. Once we decided on the form factor, we then set out to make a semi-functional prototype using foam as our building material.

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Clay Brainstorm Model
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Foam Semi-Functional Prototype

We then decided that while the clay model was a little too small to fit all our components, the foam model's dimensions were a little too large to be comfortable. We decided that the final housing of our device would have dimensions in the middle of the two, and modeled our final design as such. 

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Dimensions on Sketch
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Cross Section - Shell
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Shell - CAD

After modeling our housing, we 3D printed it in the library studio, assembled our electrical components into the housing, and uploaded our Arduino code. After some testing, we had a working product that could fully control the player's character in Minecraft! We also assembled some themed packaging for the device out of cardboard and foam (not pictured). The device was assembled onto an acrylic laser-cut base and was ready for use.

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Device Demo on Presentation Day
Assembly Drawing
personal contributions

  • Responsible for initial ideation of the shape of controller

  • Created first SolidWorks draft for final prototype

  • Took dimensions of clay model & foam model to adapt to SolidWorks

  • Laser-cut and assembled base out of acrylic & acrylic cement

  • Collaborated on packaging design of product

  • Assembled final product

  • Administered testing survey

conclusions & acknowledgements

This project was the first real electro-mechanical design project I had ever been a part of, and it was a fantastic introduction to engineering during my freshman year. I learned a lot from my teammates and at the end of it was impressed by what we made.

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Thanks to my group - Niki, Jay, David, and Chris for their camaraderie and Dr. Sivak for his guidance on the product development process.

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