Broken xBox 360 Controllers

Kind of robot related...

I am going to attempt to transpose the insides of one of Spektrums transmitters into a 360 controller so that I can have better access to all the buttons and triggers in a more ergonomic fashion.

I know that is probably impossible so if that fails then I want to add an external connector so that I can hold the 360 Controller but have it wired to the electronics of the transmitter.

If that proves to difficult then I will simply hang the electronics off the bottom in a custom case.

Provided the case is intact and in good condition I don't mind. I will be at the Heavyweight champs if you have any to get rid of. The more the better, may need more than one attempt.

PM me with any questions/offers.

Thanks, Alex

I think its doable, but I'm not an xbox user, do you plan to have main drive control on the 4-direction pad, or on the 2 sticks ?

On the sticks but I may wire the left hand to the two triggers and they are usually used for weapons. Its much more intuitive after years of gaming to steer with right stick and fire the weapon with the right trigger. The D pad will probably be the D/Rs and the left trigger the throttle cut.

You can actually bind an xbox 360 controller to something like an arduino with a 2.4 GHz receiver module and run code (can be found on the web) to convert it into the necessary signals for speed controllers or have it switch relays for any off/on type weaponry.


It is also something I plan on doing when I get time. :P

There have been arguments in the past over the safety of custom systems, for various reasons. The easiest way to avoid this to keep the spectrum tech but put it in a better shell.

I have plans for a machine similar to Alcoholic Stepfather from the US. using a Xbox controller should make it a dream to drive.

easiest way would likely be to interface the Xbox controller directly to the spectrum using the trainer plug on the back of it. You might get the size using an older original xbox big controller but the newer smaller ones you will struggle.

Yeah... I d di just hold my 360 controller next to my DX6i and immediately thought... that ain't going to go in there.
The issue with the interface is that once the stick inputs enter the Xbox's system it becomes non-standard. I would have to decode the output from the controller to allow the Transmitter to read it.
I could use a PS2/3 controller as they have a normal output but they are as unergonomic as a cactus.

There's a couple of ways you can do it. You can hard wire it into the standard TX and bypass the POTs thats are already on the TX with the ones in your Xbox controller. You may need to do a little bit of messing around with end points in the DX6i to get it right though.

The other way, and its the way that we do it is to plug a USB Xbox controller into a laptop and create a program that converts the controllers inputs into something useful. From there, there's 2 ways of getting that into your TX. Creating a fake buddy system or hard wiring to your TX. We've done both methods successfully.
James may have an old controller spare that doesn't work, I'll find out.

Thanks Grant. Is the software something you had to develop or is it something I could get hold of myself?

I think the key question would be though, are you guys happy using such a system at the champs? Providing the failsafes are set right I cant see an issue if anything went wrong.

You'll need to employ a mini pit crew to help carry your robot, transmitter, laptop and Xbox controller to the arena every time you have a fight :)
Definitely sounds like a fun and interesting project though.

I do have a little experience with hacking apart 360 controllers. Picture related
Attachment 4059Attachment 4060


Think you already know this but the 360 internals is just a single board and the buttons just make a contact onto the board. So you will need tactile switches replacing the buttons and that can be tricky to make feel right, especially with limited space.


Personally I would have an external box which the 360 controller plugs into and the only thing the controller has is just output wires.


If you are very tech savvy you can could cut apart the spektrum CB so that it could make it more compact or just uses the circuitry that incorporates it into a buddy tx plugged into another tx. The CB of a 360 is dual layered and very tricky to cut apart and salvage the circuitry.

What I would look into is if there is a tx 2.4 ghz output option for a computer usb. So you could have a laptop and a wireless 360 controller paired to it. As long as it tech checks and is safe then I dont see any problems using it.

Personally I think it might be a wasted cause. 360 sticks have half an inch of travel and are quite noisy when you look at the output they give. They work well with software with built in dampening and movement smoothing (aka games) and not great with direct interface devices unless they are slow.

Hope I could help in any way

I hadn't considered the quality of the POTs in the 360 controller, that might kill the idea right there.

It may be easier to go 360 - PC - Transmitter but its now a lot of effort, but the improvement in ergonomics and access to buttons might make it worth while with some machines.

Maybe look into building a new controller all together? That would be interesting to see as I have always felt there isnt really a transmitter designed for robot combat.
You could get the case 3d printed and take buttons, joysticks and internals from different transmitters and devices?

This is something I have also been considering, might get round to it eventually :D