Raspberry Pi Pico converts Paw Patrol toy into arcade controller

[Pelican Press 0]

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

Raspberry Pi Pico converts Paw Patrol toy into arcade controller

data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///ywAAAAAAQABAAACAUwAOw==

When it comes to retro gaming, there’s nothing like using an original first-party controller. But in the maker world there’s also nothing like creating a new controller out of something that wasn’t supposed to be a controller at all by throwing a Raspberry Pi Pico inside of it which is exactly what maker and developer

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

has done with his latest brilliant creation.

Nobody asked him to but that didn’t stop him from converting a Paw Patrol toy with steerable handlebars into a working controller for *****’s classic motorcycle racing game. According to Dr. Tom Tilley, the goal was to create a controller that would work with *****’s Super Hang-On. This is a racing game which makes the project ideal for this particular title. We wonder if it will work with Paperboy and Enduro Racer

We know what you’re thinking and don’t worry—no original Paw Patrol toys were destroyed to make this project. In fact, not only was it recycled from a thrift store for $5 but he also managed to design the controller so that the original functionality can be restored. This way you can go back and forth between playing Super Hang-On and handing the system back to your **** to play with when you’re through.

Using a $5 Paw Patrol toy I found at an op-shop/thrift store to play the arcade classic Super Hang-On. It uses a Raspberry Pi-Zero and you easily revert it back to the original toy (with an additional ***** where the USB cable went).

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

.com/EF8AOAbBG9

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

The main board powering the Paw Patrol Super Hang-On controller is a Raspberry Pi Pico, but the newer Raspberry Pi Pico 2 should also work. The Pico is acting as a USB controller interface to a laptop running an emulator. A ***** had to be drilled to deliver power to the Pi inside but that’s the only permanent modification to the design. Using another model of Raspberry Pi will work, but we would stick to the Zero form factor as they are cheap, small and plentiful.

Dr. Tom Tilley shared a video to X (formerly

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

) showing off the Paw Patrol controller in action. In it, we can see the handle bars on the controller move the racer on the screen in real time. So far, this is the only title he has demonstrated with the controller but it could theoretically be used for other similar games.

Previously we’ve seen kids toys turned into games controllers, and even miniature arcade cabinets. Maker Circuitbeard has

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

a Tomy Turnin’ Turbo Dashboard to run another ***** classic, Outrun. That also used a Pi, a Raspberry Pi 3B.

If you want to get a closer look at this Raspberry Pi project in action, you can check it out over at Dr. Tom Tilley’s official post shared to

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

.

Get Tom’s Hardware’s best news and in-depth reviews, straight to your inbox.