"Drake Interplanetary" Themed 18 Function Button Box (And Guide!)

Last month I finished making a "button box" with buttons and toggle switches for SC, inspired by some other folks who have posted them.

With 8 momentary "mini" toggle switches and two big buttons, it has 18 bindable functions in total. It's powered by a Teensy 3.2 board which is Arduino compatible, and is recognized by windows as a regular USB game controller since the Teensy has USB HID support built in. I have T16000 joysticks, and the buttons on the base are a little fiddly for me to use - this box is a definite improvement since it's easier for me to find the right button without looking! I "borrowed" a bunch of warning stickers from screenshots of the Caterpillar and put them on each side - "Failure to follow these instructions will result in death" is my favorite! Props to the Drake artists (LA/Austin) who made these awesome labels and stickers.

It took a little while to research and plan since I had no idea what I was doing, and had to learn soldering/electronics/etc, but it went together pretty smoothly once I started assembling it. Since I got help from a local store and got the parts there it ran about 80 bucks in parts (not including the tools like a cheap iron, solder, etc), but you could definitely build one cheaper if you went the ebay/discount route.

I put together a build guide (https://imgur.com/a/e93Bg3P) with more pictures if you're interested in making one yourself or are just curious. It definitely ended up being easier than I was expecting to actually assemble, although the soldering for each switch did end up getting pretty tedious. If I build another one in the future I might try including analog axes or rotary encoders (the dials where when you turn them left or right they give you repeating button input - so they might be nice for increase/decrease functions). The companion tablet apps like GameGlass or devices like Stream Decks are super cool - but there's something about the physical clunk of a toggle switch that I dig, especially as a pilot of mostly Drake ships. Hope this inspired you - it was definitely a neat learning project. :)

Youtube video of the box in action: https://youtu.be/rDbTN0itksg