Teensy version for HID?

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Charkel

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Hello!

I am pretty new to sim racing and feel that my wheel does not have enough buttons to bind. I started thinking there must be a way to make custom ones, how hard could it be? It's just a simple input signal.
So I found this awesome guide: http://www.instructables.com/id/Lets-make-a-game-controller/
But he does not list which Teensy board he used. I have tried to look at the picture and compare with the ones showed on the Teensy main page but meh, cannot see which one it is.

I want the cheapest available Teensy that would work for HID project only. Which one shall I get?
 
Short answer: use Teensy 3.2.

The Teensy in that tutorial's photos is 3.1, which has been replaced by 3.2. Don't worry, 3.2 is the same as 3.1 but with a better voltage regulator. You can get a Teensy 3.2 and be confident it will work exactly the same as that tutorial expects.

Teensy LC also has a very good chance of working. I only looked at the code briefly, but it certainly looks like it should work on LC or 3.2. But if you want to make sure you're using the same as in the tutorial, go with 3.2.
 
Short answer: use Teensy 3.2.

The Teensy in that tutorial's photos is 3.1, which has been replaced by 3.2. Don't worry, 3.2 is the same as 3.1 but with a better voltage regulator. You can get a Teensy 3.2 and be confident it will work exactly the same as that tutorial expects.

Teensy LC also has a very good chance of working. I only looked at the code briefly, but it certainly looks like it should work on LC or 3.2. But if you want to make sure you're using the same as in the tutorial, go with 3.2.

Thank you kindly for your help Paul. Much appreciated! I will go with the 3.2 then.

But where could one read about the differences between the versions if interested? It's very advanced to be able to tell if its compatible by looking at a code piece.
 
In terms of looking at versions the key thing is what libraries are being included at the top with #include - All boards will understand the basic instructions like 'turn pin on' or 'read analog input' and doing math/logic. Many have special hardware with special instructions, such as the Teeny 3.2 having hardware that allows audio generation and effects. These don't work/give strange results if executed on boards that do not have them.

So the first check is to look at the top of the code for anything extra that has been included and see what it does.
If it's listed as generic here
https://www.arduino.cc/en/Reference/Libraries
it will work for everything
If it's listed here
https://www.pjrc.com/teensy/td_libs.html
as yes for LC then you are also good.

The 3.2 also has more physical inputs for attaching buttons etc to, however they are very much non trivial to get connected to for a beginner so would suggest not deciding on that basis.

Edit: looking at the code it is not doing anything special, so the note in the instructable about being usable with any HID capable board is correct - do note that the LEDs are just connected to the switches and change when they do, they do not get any information out of the game to show that the switch actually did something.
 
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But where could one read about the differences between the versions if interested?

This page has a comparison of the features & differences between all the currently selling Teensy boards.

https://www.pjrc.com/teensy/techspecs.html

The many links in that table bring up an explanation of what each feature does and why you might want it.

It's very advanced to be able to tell if its compatible by looking at a code piece.

The things done in that code should work on any 32 bit Teensy board (LC, 3.2, 3.5 or 3.6). None of the advanced features of the more power boards appear to be used. Agreed, being able to know this does require a pretty advanced knowledge of the whole platform. That's why we have this forum, for exactly these sorts of questions!

The older 8 bit boards could probably also work, but I'd suggest going with LC or 3.2 so you have the same pins as documented in the tutorial.
 
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