Shifter Button Box

My first design was a simple box with a lid, one hole for the cable to the gear knob, one square hole for the USB cable, and one hole for possible future use. I deliberately designed this to be larger than actually needed for possible future cables inside. The lid has two struts for bolts to screw in from the bottom of the box - I always prefer screw holes on the bottom of things even if it makes slightly more complex to design.

As soon as the first version was printed I realised I had a design flaw; the square hole for the USB was unable to be used as one of the struts blocked the control board from sitting in the middle. This second version was designed with an off-center square hole so the control boared could be set to one side (and the cable hole was off-centered equally for a little symmetry).

This is version 3 of the control board housing. I had a future plan to create a seperate button box using the remaining ports on the control board and feed those cables from the control box housing to a button box. I realised that it was a waste to do it this way and instead turned the housing into a button box. I counted the slots remaining on the control board and planned how many buttons I could have.

This is the button box/control box housing 3D printed. The off-centered holes could return to being centered because it was larger and the control board would happily sit in the middle. The lid/button section has the legs for bolts to be inserted from the bottom of the box as before.

I decided to try applying carbon vinyl for a nice visual effect and covering any minor imerfections and scratches on the box. I only covered the front plate of the lid section where the buttons are. Possibly I could cover the entire lid and box with carbon vinyl.

I attached the buttons and switches I wanted: Two momentary on-off-on swtches which can be flicked up or down to activate a control. Four black push buttons. Three red push buttons. One ignition switch - I can insert a key to turn which will activate electrics and then turn on the engine in driving sim games. As this button box is designed to attach to the gear knob for driving games I liked the idea having a key ignition switch for this.

On the inside I have soldered connectors to all of the various switches and buttons.

All of the connectors have been inserted into the control board. The three empty slots on the top right are for the three switches on the gear knob. The bottom four empty slots are sadly unable to be assigned as functions so I could not use them.

I have inserted the gear knob wires into the box and connected them to the control board ready to seal it.

I used hot glue to keep the control board in place with the USB slot held in position in the square hole. I also inserted the four bolts through the bottom of the box and screwed them into place into the lid struts. They are also countersunk so the bottom of the box is level; I love to countersink bolts/screws whenever possible.

Despite countersinking the bolts the box is quite slidey on the desk so I used some non-slip silicone rubber in the corners to stop it moving when I press buttons.

This is the setup fully complete. Gear Knob upgrade to my shifter and button box together. I'm very happy with this prototype! There are a few design issues which I will fix for a future version and also apply to my next project of a larger button box with more features to be general use for all games.