Saturn 6 Button Portable Pi

[cole_eliot]

Hi, I'm Eliot

Pretty daunting that my first post will be a whole project (I've three or four in mind) but there it is.

I intend to make a Pi Zero W Saturn pad portable based on the greatest control pad gaming has ever known ... the Saturn Mark II (as it was known in the UK) 6-button pad (MK-80301):

I'll have the screen in between the buttons and pad, battery in there somewhere, potentially some kind of protection for said screen, too.

I have everything I think I need for this (many, many, pads, and pi parts), thus far, but I'm sure I'll miss something.

The one thing that I think/how that I'm doing differently to others who do mods like this is that I'm frankensteining the Mark I and Mark II controllers together. I'm doing this because I saw someone's Game Gear pi project once and the sawing of PCBs and connecting/soldering of parts seemed like waaaaaay too much work. As you can see below, the Mark I board comes ready made in three pieces ... perfect for a chop-shop job like mine with the god lord Ayrton Senna bleeding my build to see it all fits. My hope is that I can get this all relatively slimline with relatively ease (hard work) as opposed to greats of engineering and lots of 3D printing (argh).

If I can't get a decent solution, I'll mangle a Game Gear to become a Saturn Gear, but I'd rather not. I'll also build this so that I can swap the Pi Zero W out in case I need to upgrade it for CPU grunt purposes in the future. All that said, hopefully I can at least make a semi-smooth prototype that I can then find a way to do a proper 3D printed version of.

I shall edit / blog it all here (and maybe reserve a post straight afterwards, just in case. Please do let me know if I'm breaking any rules, but hopefully I'm not.

[markyh444]

@cole_eliot good luck. I tried to put a Pi Zero into a MK2 pad and ended up having to mount it on the back instead as there was nowhere near enough room for me to mount inside.

It is a really well built pad though, and well worth an attempt to turn into a handheld.

If you need any ideas, link to my project site is below.

[cole_eliot]

Hey, @markyh444 , cheers!

@markyh444 said in Saturn 6 Button Portable Pi:

@cole_eliot good luck. I tried to put a Pi Zero into a MK2 pad and ended up having to mount it on the back instead as there was nowhere near enough room for me to mount inside.
Yeah, I could see if have no chance there, I'm thinking a botched, non-standard, undercarriage that doesn't give me too much width and it'll be fine. As long as I can leverage the screws, etc, on the original pads casings, then I might be ok.
It is a really well built pad though, and well worth an attempt to turn into a handheld.

If you need any ideas, link to my project site is below.

Aye. As you can tell, I'm pretty fond of it.

I'll definitely go check out your site, I imagine I'll come across half the nasty issues that you did, too. I may also steal your ideas! Thanks!

For a really rough sketch of what I'm trying to do here (I'm no artist!):

ibb link
Obviously missing its curves 😉

I'm thinking if I make it longer (at the pad end) to keep the screen central, I could get more room inside to keep it slimmer.

Look, it's not going to be pretty, but if I can get something vaguely presentable (might have to go matt finish), which works, then I'm on to a winner, and I'll consider making another but a bit more ... well made ;-)