Doing an end-run around hardware design limitations.

[Omega-TI]

Looking at the problem from a strictly theoretical angle, how would you hardware guys implement force feedback in games?  This is of course assuming an industry standard feedback joystick was used.

 

Naturally from the start there would have to be a joystick adapter, but even then I don't believe all the lines are present to activate the force feedback motor.  So additional hardware and power supply would probably need to be required as well.  

 

Then the problem arises how would you "trip the feedback"?  Would it require additional hardware, possibly even a modification to the motherboard, or could one get by trying something new and totally out-of-the-box like a joystick assembly/interface that uses the cartridge port with the unit also being a pass-thru device?

[+jedimatt42]

I would use TIPI, and make it a software problem. 

 

Like mouse. Any usb device should be extendable to the TI by adding the correct 'RawExtension' to the TIPI messaging system.

 

Or, using traditional hardware, you could wire the motor control on the cassette port to a vibration motor mounted to the traditional TI joystick. A 4A rumble pack.

[+OLD CS1]

Not so much an "end run around hardware design limitations" as it is using what is already present.  Apply the case of the MBX interface to this problem and you can use the existing joystick port to accept input from and send necessary commands to an external interface for the augmented joystick.

 

You do not need all the control signals for servos, motors, blinkenlights, &c., within the console, just the ability to tell another device to do all the heavy lifting.

 

Or as @jedimatt42 stated, a basic motor control attached to the cassette port remote "switches," there are two available, and you can have a simple rumble pack or whatever else you might need.  I am not sure what the response and recovery times are for the opt-isolators and the transistors in those circuits, but you might be able to switch them quickly enough to send data.  Perhaps use CS1 for data and CS2 for clock.

 

(For that matter, IIRC there is another thread around here about using the audio circuitry to control other devices.)

[Omega-TI]

8 hours ago, jedimatt42 said:

I would use TIPI, and make it a software problem. 

 

That makes way more sense than the angle I was thinking about.  There are a lot of TIPI's out there already, so many people would not need to purchase any additional hardware, other than a USB type joystick to plug into their existing TIPI.