Modder creates working arcade controller using $5 kids toy

Modder Dr. Thomas Tilley has taken a second-hand toy from a thrift store and transformed it into a fully working arcade controller.

At a glance, the controller still looks like any other kids’ toy you’d stumble across at your local store.

However, underneath the Paw Patrol-branded stickers of the plastic steering wheel is a fully working controller, able to play the arcade classic Super Hang-On.

The impressive feat of engineering was developed by Dr Thomas Tilley, who transformed the plastic toy by integrating it with a Raspberry Pi mini computer.

The “Super Paw Patrol Hang-On” controller even features a working brake, throttle, and start buttons, including fully functional steering, just like the real-life Super Hang-On arcade machine.

Thomas Tilley

Speaking to Dexerto, Dr. Tilley explained that he originally spotted the toy in an op-shop (second-hand store) for $5 and was inspired to mod it to play the iconic racing game.

However, once he got home, Dr. Tilley realized the toy was still in working order.

“The buttons I needed for accelerate and brake were attached via a ribbon cable so I added a socket and connector to it so that I could easily unplug them to play the game and re-plug it to reconnect for the toy’s original functionality,” he said.

While Dr. Tilley found a way to retain the steering wheels’ toy functions, setting up the steering was a more difficult endeavor.

He found space underneath the steering wheel to add a small 3D-printed part. This part then moved an analog joystick, as found in an old game controller, as you turned the toy’s motorbike-style grips left and right.

To finish off the custom controller project, Dr. Tilley wired the buttons and joystick to be plugged into a single-board computer.

This was programmed by the modder to make it “appear as a simple joystick” when you plugged it in via USB.

In a last spark of genius, the controller can be switched from an arcade stick to its simple toy origins by re-connecting the buttons and removing the Raspberry Pi Pico.

Controller modder extraordinaire

Dr. Tilley isn’t new to creating weird and wonderful controllers.

The impressive modder has created a custom-built Super Monkey Ball controller, with a fully articulate AiAi from the iconic game series.

The modder and computer scientist has even made a name for himself by appearing in the Guinness Book of Records, after creating the largest playable Game & Watch handheld in October 2017.

Thomas Tilley

If you want the ‘Super Paw Patrol Hang-On’ controller for yourself, Dr. Tilley sadly doesn’t have it for sale.

However, he informed us that the controller has since “returned to a different op-shop” so some lucky Paw Patrol fan is likely in for a big arcade-controller-sized surprise.