See project Github page for files and details!

USB4VC is now available on Tindie!

Highlights

  • USB Keyboard/Mouse/Gamepads on Vintage Computers!

  • Modular & Swappable Protocol Cards

  • Wireless / Bluetooth

  • Ultra Low Latency (0.5ms)

  • OLED Display

  • USB-C Powered

  • Fully Open-source

  • Make-your-own Protocol Card Instruction Provided

Why?

Before the homogeneity of USB peripherals today, computer input devices were a wild west of proprietary peripherals, as different platforms used their own connectors and protocols for keyboards, mice, and gamepads.

With the popularity of retro computing today, it poses several issues:

  • Many of those peripherals are simply hard to find, commanding a premium on online marketplaces. They are only getting rarer, and without them, the computer itself is useless.

  • After decades of service, many can be degraded and unreliable (e.g. foam & foil keyboards), requiring extensive restoration.

  • Let's be honest here, most early peripherals simply does not feel that great. Mushy membrane keyboards, sticky ball mice, plasticky gamepads, etc. And of course, the good ones gets very expensive.

  • On the other hand, high quality USB peripherals can be had for a very reasonable price today with vastly superior tactility, precision, and ergonomics.

  • Thus, this project aims to make retro computers simply more enjoyable to use.

  • I also hope it can lower the barrier of entry for certain machines, put more computers back in action, help preserving existing rare peripherals, and generally help more people get into this hobby!

How it Works

USB4VC consists of two halves: Baseboard and swappable Protocol Cards.


Baseboard contains user buttons, OLED screen, and a Raspberry Pi. It processes USB input events, which are sent to Protocol Card.

Each Protocol Card has a dedicated microcontroller and the appropriate circuitry and connectors for a specific platform.

By splitting duties, RPi can focus on input parsing, and Protocol Card handles timing critical signal generation, resulting in a flexible architecture and reliable performance.

Getting Started

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Technical Details / Make Your Own Protocol Cards

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Video