Raspberry Pi, the most popular single board computer for hobbyists and students, is an affordable and widely used platform for retrogaming. Over the years the community has created numerous cool cases, add-on boards and peripherals for optimized gaming.
In this presentation you will learn how to use cutting edge free and open source technologies such as KiCAD and OpenSCAD to create a gamepad as a Raspberry Pi HAT (Hardware Attached on Top) with device-tree fragment for mapping the keys saved in an EEPROM connected via I2C. Exact steps for setting it up and playing retro games in emulators on RetroPie and Raspbian will be provided. Furthermore we will discuss the benefits of the open source hardware and the certification program of Open Source Hardware Association (OSHWA).
The presentation is appropriate for anyone interested in low-cost retrogaming and modern free and open source software technologies. No previous experience or hardware knowledge is required. Apart from retrogaming enthusiasts, the talk is appropriate for wide range of developers, makers, and students. Hopefully, the presentation will encourage the attendees to grab the soldering iron and start prototyping retrogaming compatible hardware for fun and profit.
Raspberry Pi, the most popular single board computer for hobbyists and students, is very affordable platform and it is a popular solution for retrogaming. Nowadays modern free and open source tools allows us to develop Raspberry Pi add-on boards to improve the gaming experience. Over the years the community has already created numerous awesome hardware projects for cases, add-on bards and peripheral optimized for retrogaming. The focus will be on providing guidelines and recommendations how to use the open source EDA software KiCAD to design open source hardware gamepad as a HAT (Hardware Attached-on Top) according to requirements of the Raspberry Pi foundation as well as a simple cases for laser cutting or 3D printing with another popular open source software tool OpenSCAD. Using practical examples related to retrogaming you will understand how to create device tree binary overlay for mapping keys and how to flash it in EEPROM attached to pin 27 of 28 of the Raspberry Pi header. Exact steps for setting up and using our do-it-yourself gamepad with popular GNU/Linux distributions RetroPie and Raspbian will be provided. Last but not least we will discuss the benefits of using open source hardware and the certification of the Open Source Hardware Association (OSHWA). The presentation is appropriate for anyone interested in low-cost retrogaming and modern free and open source software technologies. No previous experience or hardware knowledge is required. Apart from retrogaming enthusiasts, the talk is appropriate for wide range fo developers, makers, and students.
Speakers: Leon Anavi