Man has been the architect of great creations that have helped humanity to grow, develop and have fun. The wheel, computers, video game consoles and even a joystick made from a soccer ball and some deodorants.
As you read it. Imagine that you had the ball from the recent Qatar 2022 World Cup, your mother bought you some extra deodorants in the supermarket and it occurred to you to make a game controller with all of that. Of course, you have to have talent to be able to do such a work of engineering.
Tom Tilley’s talented hands did it. As a report published on the website of Digital Trendsthis man is known for making crazy inventions related to the world of video games, the last of them a joystick for Armadillo Racingthe well-remembered Japanese arcade racing game from the 1990s.
How did you build the joystick?
Tilley himself explained how he built this unique joystick in the description of a video posted on his YouTube channel, WithProfessorTom.
“I used some old roll-on deodorant balls and cardboard to turn a soccer ball into a trackball to play the obscure 1996 Japanese arcade game Armadillo Racing. Optical mouse with the roller under the soccer ball catches the movement”, wrote the youtuber.
Sure enough, Tom Tilley set out to make something that could roll to move the armadillo in the race, which he called Under – Armadillo Racing. After hollowing out, drying, and cutting the deodorant to fit the controller, Tilley made an elaborate cardboard base attached by glue, which is where the sticks go.
These initial three sticks of roll-on deodorant are used to hold the soccer ball, but the most important one, the fourth, is smack in the middle, positioned on top of an optical mouse. The soccer ball goes on top, and when it moves, the ball below also moves, which controls the mouse to move the armadillo.
