"Nidhogg" Rapier Controller

 My controller is modeled after a traditional rapier and is intended to be used to play the fencing game "Nidhogg." In Nidhogg, you are locked in a fencing duel with a computer or another player. The mechanics are rather basic. They involve changing your stance by pressing the up and down buttons, moving left and right, and attacking from whichever stance you have chosen. I believe that this simplicity in the controls is what gives the game its depth. The game is rather small, so it wasn’t able to take off, but this game’s fast-paced combat allows for a fun experience.

I wanted to capture Nidhogg’s fast-paced gameplay with a controller modeled after a rapier since it’s a fencing game. I like to imagine two players dueling at an arcade cabinet with a controller similar to the one I have created. To use it, you simply tilt in the directions to move left and right, raise your sword, and thrust. At first, it feels a bit weird to use in a 2D environment, but after playing around, you kind of get the hang of the weird controls.

There are definitely some ways I wish I could have improved on the design, the main one being a fully Bluetooth/wireless setup. Currently, the circuit playground is separate from the controller, with the motion sensors being what make up the controller; however, in my original sketch, I wanted to have the circuit playground inside of the controller as well. In order to make it fully wireless, there would also need to be room for a battery as well, so I would’ve needed a larger-sized controller. This would give more room and would make it feel more natural to hold. 

One question I have is how I would go about adding this space and where to put the inner components. Would simply increasing the height of the hand guard suffice, or should the entire controller size be increased?

Code:

// Full orientation sensing using NXP/Madgwick/Mahony and a range of 9-DoF

// sensor sets.

// You *must* perform a magnetic calibration before this code will work.

//

// To view this data, use the Arduino Serial Monitor to watch the

// scrolling angles, or run the OrientationVisualiser example in Processing.

// Based on  https://github.com/ /NXPMotionSense with adjustments

// to Adafruit Sensor interface and SensorLab

#include <Adafruit_SensorLab.h>

#include <Adafruit_Sensor_Calibration.h>

#include <Adafruit_AHRS.h>

#include "Adafruit_TinyUSB.h"

#include <Adafruit_CircuitPlayground.h>

#include <Adafruit_Circuit_Playground.h>

uint8_t const desc_hid_report[] = {

  TUD_HID_REPORT_DESC_KEYBOARD()

};

Adafruit_USBD_HID usb_hid(desc_hid_report, sizeof(desc_hid_report), HID_ITF_PROTOCOL_KEYBOARD, 2, false);

// pick your filter! slower == better quality output

Adafruit_NXPSensorFusion filter;  // slowest

//Adafruit_Madgwick filter;  // faster than NXP

//Adafruit_Mahony filter;  // fastest

#define FILTER_UPDATE_RATE_HZ 100

uint32_t timestamp;

Adafruit_SensorLab lab;

Adafruit_Sensor *accelerometer, *gyroscope, *magnetometer;

#if defined(ADAFRUIT_SENSOR_CALIBRATION_USE_EEPROM)

Adafruit_Sensor_Calibration_EEPROM cal;

#else

Adafruit_Sensor_Calibration_SDFat cal;

#endif

const int debounce = 100;

const int thresh = 500;

void setup() {

  //keyboard

  CircuitPlayground.begin();

  usb_hid.begin();

  Serial.begin(115200);

  while (!Serial) yield();

  Serial.println(F("Sensor Lab - IMU AHRS!"));

  lab.begin();

  if (!cal.begin()) {

    Serial.println("Failed to initialize calibration helper");

  } else if (!cal.loadCalibration()) {

    Serial.println("No calibration loaded/found");

  }

  Serial.println("Looking for a magnetometer");

  magnetometer = lab.getMagnetometer();

  if (!magnetometer) {

    Serial.println(F("Could not find a magnetometer!"));

    while (1) yield();

  }

  Serial.println("Looking for a gyroscope");

  gyroscope = lab.getGyroscope();

  if (!gyroscope) {

    Serial.println(F("Could not find a gyroscope!"));

    while (1) yield();

  }

  Serial.println("Looking for a accelerometer");

  accelerometer = lab.getAccelerometer();

  if (!accelerometer) {

    Serial.println(F("Could not find a accelerometer!"));

    while (1) yield();

  }

  accelerometer->printSensorDetails();

  gyroscope->printSensorDetails();

  magnetometer->printSensorDetails();

  filter.begin(FILTER_UPDATE_RATE_HZ);

  timestamp = millis();

  Wire.setClock(400000);  // 400KHz

}

void loop() {

  uint8_t const report_id = 0;

  uint8_t const modifier = 0;

  uint8_t keycode[6] = { 0 };

  float roll, pitch, heading;

  float gx, gy, gz;

  if ((millis() - timestamp) < (1000 / FILTER_UPDATE_RATE_HZ)) {

    return;

  }

  timestamp = millis();

  // Read the motion sensors

  sensors_event_t accel, gyro, mag;

  accelerometer->getEvent(&accel);

  gyroscope->getEvent(&gyro);

  magnetometer->getEvent(&mag);

  //Serial.print("I2C took "); Serial.print(millis()-timestamp); Serial.println(" ms");

  cal.calibrate(mag);

  cal.calibrate(accel);

  cal.calibrate(gyro);

  // Gyroscope needs to be converted from Rad/s to Degree/s

  // the rest are not unit-important

  gx = gyro.gyro.x * SENSORS_RADS_TO_DPS;

  gy = gyro.gyro.y * SENSORS_RADS_TO_DPS;

  gz = gyro.gyro.z * SENSORS_RADS_TO_DPS;

  // Update the SensorFusion filter

  filter.update(gx, gy, gz,

                accel.acceleration.x, accel.acceleration.y, accel.acceleration.z,

                mag.magnetic.x, mag.magnetic.y, mag.magnetic.z);

  //Serial.print("Update took "); Serial.print(millis()-timestamp); Serial.println(" ms");

  /*Serial.print("Raw: ");

  Serial.print(accel.acceleration.x, 4);

  Serial.print(", ");

  Serial.print(accel.acceleration.y, 4);

  Serial.print(", ");

  Serial.print(accel.acceleration.z, 4);

  Serial.print(", ");

  Serial.print(gx, 4);

  Serial.print(", ");

  Serial.print(gy, 4);

  Serial.print(", ");

  Serial.print(gz, 4);

  Serial.print(", ");

  Serial.print(mag.magnetic.x, 4);

  Serial.print(", ");

  Serial.print(mag.magnetic.y, 4);

  Serial.print(", ");

  Serial.print(mag.magnetic.z, 4);

  Serial.println("");*/

  // print the heading, pitch and roll

  roll = filter.getRoll();

  pitch = filter.getPitch();

  heading = filter.getYaw();

 /* Serial.print("Orientation: ");

  Serial.print(heading);

  Serial.print(" ");

  Serial.print(pitch);

  Serial.print(" ");

  Serial.println(roll);

  Serial.print("Took ");

  Serial.print(millis() - timestamp);

  Serial.println(" ms");*/

  if (roll > 0 && digitalRead(CPLAY_SLIDESWITCHPIN))  //move left

  {

    keycode[0] = HID_KEY_A;

    usb_hid.keyboardReport(report_id, modifier, keycode);

    delay(debounce);

    usb_hid.keyboardRelease(0);

    Serial.print("Roll: (should be greater than 0): ");

    Serial.print(roll);

    Serial.println("");

  }

  delay(debounce);

  if (roll < 0 && digitalRead(CPLAY_SLIDESWITCHPIN))  //move right

  {

    keycode[0] = HID_KEY_D;

    usb_hid.keyboardReport(report_id, modifier, keycode);

    delay(debounce);

    usb_hid.keyboardRelease(0);

    Serial.print("Roll: (should be less than 0): ");

    Serial.print(roll);

    Serial.println("");

  }

  delay(debounce);

  if (pitch < 0 && digitalRead(CPLAY_SLIDESWITCHPIN))  //raise stance up

  {

    keycode[0] = HID_KEY_W;

    usb_hid.keyboardReport(report_id, modifier, keycode);

    delay(debounce);

    usb_hid.keyboardRelease(0);

    Serial.print("Pitch: Should be < 0): ");

    Serial.print(pitch);

    Serial.println("");

  }

  delay(debounce);

  if (pitch > 0 && pitch < 30 && digitalRead(CPLAY_SLIDESWITCHPIN))  //lower stance down

  {

    keycode[0] = HID_KEY_S;

    usb_hid.keyboardReport(report_id, modifier, keycode);

    delay(debounce);

    usb_hid.keyboardRelease(0);

    Serial.print("Pitch: Should be between 0 and 30): ");

    Serial.print(pitch);

    Serial.println("");

  }

  delay(debounce);

  if (accel.acceleration.z > 1 && digitalRead(CPLAY_SLIDESWITCHPIN))  // thrust

  {

    keycode[0] = HID_KEY_F;

    usb_hid.keyboardReport(report_id, modifier, keycode);

    delay(10);

    usb_hid.keyboardRelease(0);

    Serial.print("Accel: Should be greater than 10 ): ");

    Serial.print(accel.acceleration.z, 4);

    Serial.println("");

  }

  delay(debounce);

}

Video:

https://youtu.be/Wxp7VUb9rM0