It is finally finished. My Bluetooth Media Remote!

With each module* working as it should, I set out to build it onto my breadboard. Just to make sure that it works together.

*See previous posts for each module and how they work.

The final Micro-controller I decided to use on the final product was a ATMEGA8. In the first post I used an ATMEGA8515. For several reasons I decided not to use this one in the final product. Firstly, it’s a 40 pin package. I do not need that many I/O lines. It draws more power. And finally, I need that one for my studies at uni. So an ATMEGA8 was used.

Here, I noticed a slight problem…
The buttons double press sometimes. Thus sending the data twice. I think this is a limitation of the tactile switches I am using. I’m not quite sure. Later on I might write some code to only allow the data to transmit after a certain amount of time has passed using a timer interrupt on the ATMEGA8. This is for future work though.

From here, I built it on a set of prototype boards. Modular of course. In hind sight this wasn’t a very good idea, because I still hadn’t decided what I was going to enclose it in, but I was excited to build it. And build it I did.

Ahh. Its working on the prototype boards..

Now, the problem that faces every hacker, what to build it in? It’s gotta be classy, something on hand, and easy to put together.

Thanks to a brilliant idea from my mate, Damo, I thought “Why not in one of my broken Xbox controllers?”

After pulling it apart and trying to jiggle the circuits into it, I decided it just wasn’t feasible.

Back to square one.

Then, like a ray of sunshine, I remember I had a broken N64 controller as well. Thus the decision was made. It’s classy, it’s on hand. Easy of assembly went out the window when I realised how awesome it would be to use nostalgia to control my music.

After rebuilding the circuits onto new prototype boards (about the 5th time I had built the same circuit), I attacked the controller with a jigsaw blade and the file on my pocket knife. Not the best tools, but what I had on hand.
And so the N64 Media Remote was born…

And a video just to prove it works…

For those interested. The source code for the remote. The polling of the buttons is not quite neat, but it works.

I might implement an external interrupt to activate the polling, but at the moment, it’s not needed. Even the interrupt polling double transmits.

And thus the project is complete. Any questions, don’t hesitate to ask!

Later on I might get a full circuit diagram. If someone requests it I’ll make it a priority, but until then it’s on the back burner. Uni work has suffered enough…

Onto my next project! A set of analogue panel meters to monitor my CPU and RAM usage with data logged to an SD card. Stay tuned!

EDIT: Debounced the buttons. Thanks for the idea Matthew Wiebe and BohemianHacks! Here’s the updated source code