Touch Pad Controller Mod
 

I got this great idea from my lil sister. Two weeks after she got her bit off of ebay, she came to me with tears in her eyes. She explained to me that the left turning button was screwed up. You know when you push it down, it clicks and activates the turning and the LED lights up? Well, her switch was a little loose, and you had to press it down harder than usual after it clicked to get it to work. Turning with the button like this was very annoying, because sometimes you didn't push the button hard enough and the car wouldn't turn. This gave me a great idea. I took apart the transmitter, looked on the green side of the chip, and messed around with a wire on the direction switches to see which contacts activated the car. I decided that it would be cool to run two wires from the switch(inside the controller) to the surface of the toggle buttons on the outside, and spiral the wires into a pad, and whenever you touched it, your finger completed the circuit and the car would move in the direction you touched. This is the same type of technology in those annoying little electronic chirping easter chicks with the two contacts on the bottom. Also, I'm going to wire it in such a way, that if the contacts don't work for some reason, or you're wearing gloves, you can still use the normal toggles. I'll try this and see how it works out. Srry for the crappy color. I had to change it to make the size smaller.:rolleyes:

Mannex17: You got the thread on the correct board the first time around, please don't double post.

sorry. my mistake

crap...
 

i soldered the wires onto the contacts, but for some reason the electricity won't go through my finger. Maybe the metal wire's too thin. hmm. I wonder why the electricity travels with the easter chicks and not the wires. Any suggestions?

If it were my sister's car I'd fix it like normal & try the mod on my own car. Wouldn't she cry even more if you permenentally screwed her controller?

What do you mean by "fix it like normal"?

Fix it back to how it was before the button problems. I heard you send in for a new MS controller if your old old broke like that.

I can't fix the broken button, and i've looked at radio shack, but they don't have it, and it's a bit char-G from japan, so I can't exactly send it back.

find an old vcr or stereo that has buttons. ill bet 3$ that you will find the same buttons inside.

controller parts
 

I am always modifying electronics and need weird parts so at least once a week I go to one of the local thrift stores here and look through their remotes and electronics stuff. You'ld be surprised how easy it is to use a simple gamepad to control other stuff with. Just a thought... of course this store also sold me a new Stillen front bumper cover 4 a civic for $8. I love that place. Those buttons you are looking for are almost standard in any keychain toy w/ button activation.