Pandora as an icontrolPad ?

[optional106]

Is it possible for the Pandora to be used like the icontrolPad ?


Will we have the same software available to us ? or is there some other hardware that is available only inside the icontrolpad ?


For example - my friend is playing on his phone with his icontrolpad - could I also play it using a pandora ? ( obvious pairing / 2player game issues aside )


I do not yet have my Pandora, so not tested the possibilities of using it as a controller yet.


Can the pandora have the same funtionality as the Icontrolpad ?

 

[thatgui]

Unfortunatly the firmware used on the iControlPad can't be used. There may be some code that could be reused, but due to the completly different hardware (and the underlying operating system on the pandora) a "port" is not possible.


In theory it is indeed possible that the pandora could be used like an iCP, and there are already threads about it in this and the gp32x forum, but nobody has yet annoucend to implement something like that.

 

[T.T.]

Could It be used as a wireless gaming controller on a computer?

 

[AquaAnalogue]

I would like to see it go even further. I would like to see it double as a Wii controller.


I am serious. They use bluetooth so why not? I would kick ass at New Super Mario Bros. with the Pandora providing my controls.


We just need a simple app to emulate the thing on Bluetooth, grab the controls and output the speaker sounds. Motion could be implemented somehow i guess... probably with the nubs though I dont see the IR thing happening too easily..

 

[darfgarf]

Using the pandora as a bluetooth keyboard has been looked into, can't remember who by, but it's pretty broken, so don't expect this for a while

 

[slaeshjag]

At first look, making an app that turns the pandora into ha standard HID device doesn't look too difficult.

 

[-Tj-]

I would love to see something like that done with the Pandora's controller. There's something the PSP (cfw) has that lets it be used as a PC controller, and it works quite well. I'm sure the Pandora could be put into some sort of state that emulates generic game controllers for plug 'n' play control, just the software needs to be written.

 

[thatgui]

Could It be used as a wireless gaming controller on a computer?

Implementing standard "hid over bluetooth" profiles will enable a lot of possibilities like using the pandora as gaming controller, keyboard, mouse, etc.

I would like to see it go even further. I would like to see it double as a Wii controller.


I am serious. They use bluetooth so why not? I would kick ass at New Super Mario Bros. with the Pandora providing my controls.


We just need a simple app to emulate the thing on Bluetooth, grab the controls and output the speaker sounds. Motion could be implemented somehow i guess... probably with the nubs though I dont see the IR thing happening too easily..

It is possible, afaik there are already librarys available that handle the nintendos protocoll, but I don't see the need for IR, because if you need the direction information you usually need also the accelerator. Seems more like a nice to have feature, rather than a usefull one (except for games that rely on the classic controller). Maybe a wii board emulation would be cool

At first look, making an app that turns the pandora into ha standard HID device doesn't look too difficult.

One drawback could be that currently bluez (which is very common in the linux world) isn't used for bluetooth communication.

 

[slaeshjag]

Hmm... I'm pretty sure I use bluez in btrecv...

 

[ibisum]

Its something that could be quite useful, and a fun project too .. for sure you could build a GUI interface that allows the whole device to be configured and used as a universal-remote control over the Bluetooth HID profile. Its just a matter of building the client software to do it - linux itself doesn't have anything "built in" like this, although there might be something that can be taken from the USB Gadget arena that will make this project pretty much "pick up the pieces and cobble a working platform together"-style ..

 

[slaeshjag]

There is already a virtual bluetooth software keyboard that shouldn't be more than a compile away. That shouldn't be too hard to modify.

 

[darfgarf]

exactly, shouldn't, but unless someone has done some magic on it the bluetooth software keyboard doesn't work too well


i managed to get to teh point of listing and connecting to it, and even pairing as a keyboard, but it just doesn't transmit any keypresses in the end

 

[thatgui]

Hmm... I'm pretty sure I use bluez in btrecv...

Oh, sorry I had this post from ED in mind, when writing about bluez not being used on the Pandora:

No. The main issue currently is that we're not yet using Bluez, as this supports BT headsets, etc. This is planned for the next big OS release though.

 

[optional106]

hmmm, I was looking forward to maybe using the pandora as extra controller, or atleast similar funtctionality as an icontrolpad.


Hopefully there will be some software crossover possible.


Hope Craigix can make it happen, as it would be super added function to the pandora ^^

 

[T.T.]

I would like to see it go even further. I would like to see it double as a Wii controller.


I am serious. They use bluetooth so why not? I would kick ass at New Super Mario Bros. with the Pandora providing my controls.


We just need a simple app to emulate the thing on Bluetooth, grab the controls and output the speaker sounds. Motion could be implemented somehow i guess... probably with the nubs though I dont see the IR thing happening too easily..

It might be possible to use the EXT port for the IR and accelerometer