This thing is an Adapter to use your old school Sega® Megadrive Controller on any Computer/Device capable of USB Gamepads.

A special shoutout to Matthew Heironimus @ https://github.com/MHeironimus... who wrote an awesome Arduino Library to use any ATmega32u4 Arduino (and clones) as a Joystick/Gamepad device.

Bill of Materials:

• obviously a 3D printer for the case
• 16Mhz Pro Micro
  • you may use the one from SparkFun: https://www.sparkfun.com/produ...
  • i used a cheap chinese clone, they should fit the same space and feature the same pinout
• 2ea RS232 connectors
  • may be gathered from very old desktop computers
  • shown in pictures
• soldering equipment
• USB cable to fit the Pro Micro

Depending on the source you may get every electronical part for ~3,-€ at all.

Features:

• Connect 2 Megadrive Gamepads at one Computer/Android device/Set-top-box capable of using USB Gamepads
• Uses default HID drivers, no additional drivers for Windows/Mac/Linux/Android needed
• No external power supply needed
• 20ms poll rate (which is about three times as quick as Megadrive console was)

ToDo:

• Update HID Report Descriptor to show just the used buttons (36 from Adruino Joystick Library currently present)
• Add 6 Button Gamepad compatibility
  • i don't own a 6 Button Sega pad myself so i can't test
• Possibly port to other processors/boards
• apply some better connections between lower and upper case parts
• smoothen and shrinken the case a bid to make it look more professional (propably engravings)
• Write better documentation
• remap Arduino pins to make soldering/assembly more easy

Tutorial:

Download and install either Arduino IDE or Platform.IO .

Unfortunately i can't upload the sources to the Designfiles, so they will be included as PDF.

• Copy the sources into textfiles, named the way written in the PDF. 
• Open the .ino file in the IDE of your choice.
  • In case of Arduino IDE select a board from the menu which fits your board (in my case "Arduino/Genuino Micro").
• Click compile and upload.
• Your Pro Micro board should flash its LED/s as long it is being programmed.
• As soon this is done, assemble the case as shown in the pictures.
• Connect (solder) the RS232 cables to the Pro Micro as shown in the pictures.
• Setup your emulator of choice and enjoy
• You are done!

Made with Designspark Mechanical and OpenSCAD

Happy old school gaming.