Kee/Atari Tank controls to 4 way joystick...Advice needed
Nama
I am trying to convert the two joystick movement of Tank to a 4 way
Joystick.
Atari Tank movement is as follows:
move forward: push both sticks up
to stop: pull both sticks back
turn right: push left stick up pull right stick back
turn left: pull left stick back push right stick forward
So I thought that I could wire the tank PCB to a 4 way joystick as
follows:
4 way joystick up - connect to right up and left up
4 way joystick down - connects to right down and left down
4 way joystick left - connects to right up and left down
4 way joystick right - connects to left up and right down
(repeat for player 2)
The problem is that I forgot that if I wire it up this way then it
will short out other movement lines.
For example. If I push 'UP' on the 4 way joystick this grounds the
pcb's 'Right up' and 'Left up' which is good, but then that grounded
signal travels back down the connected 4 way 'Left' line (via the
pcb's 'Right up') which in turn is connected to the pcb's 'Left
down'...etc etc...everything just gets shorted at once. Silly me.
Can I solve this problem by using diodes on each line? I know diodes
let currents flow in only one direction, but will this work for
'earth' ???
Any advice most welcome.
P
John Robertson
Yes, you can indeed accomplish this with a diode matrix, you will need a
bunch (8 per joystick) of them. In each case the diode's band is
connected to the switch and the other side of the switch will go to
ground. So for the UP you want to use two diodes - one to the right up
and the other to left up. Next another pair of diodes for the RIGHT -
one to the right down, the other to the left up, and so on. A total of
eight diodes per joystick. Each wire will have two diodes on it with the
diode non-banded side connected to the wire.
Clear?
John :-#)#
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Nama
> On Apr 4, 9:15 am, Nama <forums6...@mac.com> wrote:
>
>
>
> > Ok..this is a follow up to a post I made a few weeks ago.
>
> > Atari Tank movement is as follows:
>
> > move forward: push both sticks up
> > to stop: pull both sticks back
> > turn right: push left stick up pull right stick back
> > turn left: pull left stick back push right stick forward
>
> > So I thought that I could wire the tank PCB to a 4 wayjoystickas
> > follows:
>
> > 4 wayjoystickdown - connects to right down and left down
> > 4 wayjoystickleft - connects to right up and left down
> > 4 wayjoystickright - connects to left up and right down
> > (repeat for player 2)
>
> > The problem is that I forgot that if I wire it up this way then it
> > will short out other movement lines.
> > pcb's 'Right up' and 'Left up' which is good, but then that grounded
> > signal travels back down the connected 4 way 'Left' line (via the
> > pcb's 'Right up') which in turn is connected to the pcb's 'Left
> > down'...etc etc...everything just gets shorted at once. Silly me.
>
> > Can I solve this problem by using diodes on each line? I know diodes
> > let currents flow in only one direction, but will this work for
> > 'earth' ???
>
> > Any advice most welcome.
>
> > P
>
>
> I'm sure some one could create some sort of interface board. Id use a
> wizard of wor joystick, two leaf switches per direction.
>
> Otherwise modify a joystick, such that it has two micro switches per
> direction. Just need to make sure both make contact at the same time.
Thanks for your help Hank. You were the only one to reply...I
appreciate it.
I did however eventually (after much trial and error) figure out how
to make it work using diodes.
See here:
http://web.mac.com/lord_philip/Arcade/1974_Kee_Tank.html#grid
Nama
Appologies John, I too stand corrected as I didn't see your post.
Looks like I found the exact same solution as you described.
Much thanks to you both.
P