SkateController

Live view from the front camera
Dahsboard of the mapping section, keybind different actions
Close up of the Circutry (raspery pi , mpu 6050, battery pack) etc
Full Shot of the bottom of the board

Inspiration

Skateboarding; the culture of skateboarding, video games, and 3D design in general. We’ve always had an appreciation for skateboarding, and we wanted to make this project a love letter to all of those things. We always used to watch skate videos growing up, and we felt this idea was perfect for the creative track because it was such an innovative concept. We’re happy with how it turned out.

What it does

SkateController uses a skateboard with bindings and lets you use it as an input controller on your computer , particularly for video games. It lets you practice your balance and landings on a real skateboard while doing it in a fun way through a skating video game.

How we built it

We used a Raspberry Pi, a nano 1080p live webcam, and an MPU-6050 mounted on a skateboard.

We took the X and Y angle values from the accelerometer and used that data to drive the angle calculations, with the Z axis used to detect the pop. We sampled certain movements many times so we could recognize the pattern required for each one to be translated into an input type.

On the programming side, we set up key bindings for Skate. We used a Skate 4 setup that let us run it on PC, and we wrote a script that generates a configuration file mapping the different types of motion we had recorded to discrete bindings.

Challenges we ran into

We had sensitivity issues with the accelerometer, such as it being too responsive, and it was very hard to actually categorize motion. The first time we read the values from the accelerometer, we weren’t even sure which axis was which, we had to plot graphs to visualize and do a lot of playing around with the calibration before we got it right

Accomplishments that we’re proud of

We’re proud of the entire project, honestly. We’re proud that we made something we would actually use in real life, that we were able to finish it, that it came out exactly how we wanted, and that we did it in such a short time.

What we learned

We learned a lot about hardware and how to use it. Even in the process of generating the idea, we learned that sometimes the best ideas come when they need to come. Sometimes the right answer is hidden in plain sight. We just had to follow our hearts and follow what we love. We just had to follow skateboarding.

What’s next for SkateController

Making more use of the live camera system, since seeing your POV was such a cool part of the project. Because it’s a prototype and we didn’t have much time, we’d also like to build a more secure harness for all the tech so it doesn’t break easily. We’d also like to create 3D representations of the scenes the webcam captures, so people can go back and relive their sessions. Ultimately, we would love to see this turned into an actual product that’s accessible to people.