Last year, Microduino successfully launched their tiny Arduino board and shields via Kickstarter, and they are now back on Kickstarter with Microduino Joypad, an other Arduino compatible board that also happens to be a gamepad with a small OLED display. It can be used in standalone to control games on the tiny display, as a gamepad for PC or game console, a control interface for quadcopters and robots etc…
Microduino Joypad (main board) specifications:
- MCU – Atmel ATMega328p/1284p/644p or 32U4 via Microduino Core, Core+, CoreUSB boards. (Not part of board but included in all perks)
- Display I/F – TFT and OLED headers. Separate TFT display board included in all perks.
- Controls – Left and right joysticks, 4 buttons, and left and right switches.
- Audio – Microphone
- Sensors – Light sensor, temperature sensor
- USB – 2x micro USB ports: one for power and one for charging
- Expansions – 2x UPin27 headers for Microduino shields.
- Misc – Buzzer, vibrator, reset key, power switch, charging and power LEDs
- Power – 5V – 1x micro USB for power, 1x Micro USB for charging, battery header
There’s very little information about programming the Joypad, but since it’s based on Microduino board, you should be able to use the same Microduino interface, and documentation. Microduino is also open source hardware, and files are already available, and the company also intends to make the Joypad open source hardware once it ships.
Arduino has already made an Arduino gamepad called Esplora, and if you wonder what the difference are between Esplora and Microduino Joypad, the company listed the differences in the following table.
If you are interested you can checkout Microduino Joypad Kickstarter campaign, where you can still pledge $54 for an early bird Joypad with Microduino Core, USB2TLL board (required for programming), and a USB cable, after which the kit will be available for $60. They also have various perks including quadcopter and self-balancing robot kits going for $202 and $214 respectively. Shipping is free to the US, and $20 to the rest of the world, with delivery scheduled for October and November 2014.
Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011.
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