Emulate an XBOX Controller With Your Laptop!

The best way to currently emulate an XBOX controller to a windows machine is from your phone, from various applications, Monect server for an example. But let's face it, it's really really bad. lack of tactile feedback nor any physical structures to develop muscle memory. But keyboards are just great to play games, and i sure have one... :]

hence using the XInput library from D.Madison on Github, we create the software-hardware suite - CompConX

Supplies

HARDWARE

1x Standalone-USB capable Arduino (Leonardo used here)

1x Regular Arduino board (i had 2, so...Leonardo used here again, may not be necessary..... :/ )

2x High speed, USB data cable

2x laptop/PC (machine 1 for running the game, machine 2 for recording keyboard inputs)

SOFTWARE

Processing IDE

Arduino IDE with XInput configured accordingly

Step 1: The Setup

It's pretty simple on the hardware side, just two Arduino boards (one standalone-USB capable), connected via I2C. For testing purposes, one laptop is enough, running the processing sketch and using a testing web-application like,

https://hardwaretester.com/gamepad

if you are using a single laptop/PC, make sure to select the ports properly.

Step 2: Processing

Processing is responsible to record the key board inputs from laptop2, and to display the mapped inputs at laptop2's side. It then sends the inputs as a concatenated string to the slave Arduino.

The program contains multiple files, hence zip is uploaded.

https://github.com/LucifrBrkr/CompConX

Step 3: Arduino (slave)

The slave Arduino is responsible for the receiving of data from Processing in laptop2 and send it to the emulating Arduino (master). it's not necessary to use a Standalone-USB capable Arduino here.

/*

MIT License

Copyright (c) 2024 Prashaanth

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights
to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell
copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is
furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all
copies or substantial portions of the Software.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM,
OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE
SOFTWARE.

##################################################

Writer - LucifrBrkr @ Prashaanth
last Modified - 08 Jun 2024
**Part of CompConX**

https://github.com/LucifrBrkr/CompConX

Description - this code is uploaded to the arduino board between Laptop2 and the controller emulating arduino.
             recieves the keyValues through Serial from Processing and sends it to the emulating arduino through I2C.
             Standalone-USB capable arduino NOT NECESSARY for this part.
*/

#include <Wire.h>
char instr[] = "0000111100000000000";
int ii = 0;

void setup()
{
 // initializing Wire as Slave
 Wire.begin(9);
 Wire.onRequest(requestEvent);

 Serial.begin(9600);
}

void loop()
{
 //to collect keyValues from Processing...

 while(Serial.available())
 {
   char b = Serial.read();
   if(ii<19)
     {
       instr[ii] = b;
       ii++;
     }
 }
 ii=0;

}


void requestEvent()
{
 //to send collected values to emulator arduino through I2C,

 // Setup byte variable in the correct size
 byte response[19];

 // Format answer as array
 for (byte i=0 ; i<19 ; i++)
 {
   response[i] = (byte)instr[i];
 }
 // Send response back to Master
 Wire.write(response,sizeof(response));

}

joyXslave.ino
Download

Step 4: Arduino (Master)

This is the Arduino that's gonna emulate an XBOX controller, connected to the slave Arduino via I2C and to the computer, recognized as a controller, courtesy of the XInput library and boards priorly installed to Arduino IDE...refer...

https://github.com/dmadison/ArduinoXInput

...This library was originally meant to be used with physical joysticks and buttons connected to the Arduino to build a DIY controller, but here, instead of mapping the values from physical components, we map it from the keyboard inputs of laptop2 and send it to the emulating Arduino. Note that this step requires a standalone-USB capable Arduino (Leonardo used here).

While uploading, the correct board w/XInput must be selected, Verbose Output must be enabled in preferences. Uploading can be a little tricky, the reset button on the Arduino must be pressed twice when the console shows 'uploading...'

the Program

/*

MIT License

Copyright (c) 2024 Prashaanth

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights
to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell
copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is
furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all
copies or substantial portions of the Software.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM,
OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE
SOFTWARE.

##################################################

Writer - LucifrBrkr @ Prashaanth
last Modified - 08 Jun 2024
**Part of CompConX**

https://github.com/LucifrBrkr/CompConX

Description - this code is uploaded to the arduino emulator
             standalone-USB capable board must be used for this code...
             upload can be tricky...MUST PRESS RESET BUTTON ON ARDUINO TWICE WHILE THE CONSOLE DIAPLYS 'UPLOADING...'
             enable verbose output in preferences
             note that the XInput library for respective board is installed and selected in the boards manager

refer for XInput setup - https://github.com/dmadison/ArduinoXInput
*/

#include <XInput.h>
#include <Wire.h>

char instr[] = "0000111100000000000";
int ii = 0;

void setup() 
{
 //initializing Wire as Master
 Wire.begin();

 //range set for Joystick....actions on processing side is advised...
   XInput.setJoystickRange(1, 9); // Set joystick range to the ADC
   XInput.setAutoSend(false); // Wait for all controls before sending
   XInput.begin();

 delay(3000);
}

void loop()
{
 // requesting the data from the slave arduino through I2C
 Wire.requestFrom(9,19);// slave address and number of bytes to be requested respectively

 while(Wire.available()) 
 {
     char b = Wire.read();
     if(ii<19)
     {
       instr[ii] = b;
       ii++;
     }
 }
 ii=0;

 // the string outstr corresponds
 // [ 0A, 1B, 2X, 3Y, 4LX, 5LY, 6RX, 7RY, 8LT, 9RT, 10RB, 
 // 11LB, 12LoB, 13StB, 14BaB, 15UP, 16DOWN, 17LEFT, 18RIGHT ]

 //converting recieved char values into boolean and int respectively
 boolean aa = instr[0] - '0';
 boolean bb = instr[1] - '0';
 boolean xx = instr[2] - '0';
 boolean yy = instr[3] - '0';

 int lx = instr[4] - '0';
   int ly = instr[5] - '0';

 int rx = instr[6] - '0';
   int ry = instr[7] - '0';

 boolean lt = instr[8] - '0';
   boolean rt = instr[9] - '0';

 boolean rb = instr[10] - '0';
 boolean lb = instr[11] - '0';

 boolean lo = instr[12] - '0';
 boolean st = instr[13] - '0';
 boolean ba = instr[14] - '0';

 boolean up = instr[15] - '0';
 boolean down = instr[16] - '0';
 boolean left = instr[17] - '0';
 boolean right = instr[18] - '0';

   // Set XInput buttons
   XInput.setButton(BUTTON_A, aa);
   XInput.setButton(BUTTON_B, bb);
   XInput.setButton(BUTTON_X, xx);
   XInput.setButton(BUTTON_Y, yy);

   XInput.setButton(BUTTON_LB, lb);
   XInput.setButton(BUTTON_RB, rb);

   XInput.setButton(BUTTON_L3, 0);
   XInput.setButton(BUTTON_R3, 0);

   // Set XInput DPAD values
   XInput.setDpad(up, down, left, right);

 XInput.setButton(TRIGGER_LEFT, lt);
   XInput.setButton(TRIGGER_RIGHT, rt);

 XInput.setButton(BUTTON_LOGO, lo);
 XInput.setButton(BUTTON_START, st);
 XInput.setButton(BUTTON_BACK, ba);

   XInput.setJoystick(JOY_LEFT, lx, ly);
 XInput.setJoystick(JOY_RIGHT, rx, ry);

   // Send control data to the computer
   XInput.send();

}

joyXmaster.ino
Download

Step 5: Important Links

D.Madison's original GitHub page.

https://github.com/dmadison/ArduinoXInput

My GitHub page.

https://github.com/LucifrBrkr/CompConX

DroneBotWorkshop's article on I2C.

https://dronebotworkshop.com/i2c-arduino-arduino/

the Game-Pad tester i used, it's good... :]

https://hardwaretester.com/gamepad

the basics of XInput library by Dave from PartsNotIncluded , a complete starter.

https://www.partsnotincluded.com/how-to-emulate-an-xbox-controller-with-arduino-xinput/

Introduction: Emulate an XBOX Controller With Your Laptop!