Jan Derogee one day discovered that resistive touch panels (meant to be used in combination with LCD screens of the same size) were relatively easy to buy and fairly cheap. He then started to imagine how it would be like to use such a touch panel for controlling his PC and (most importantly! ) C64, instead of a regular mouse. The idea to play with the resistive touch panels to build something like the KoalaPad using modern components was too interesting for him to let it pass, so one day he did it and put all his work out there for anyone to try.
The Commo Pad is a device that is intended to be used on a Commodore 64 computer. Connected to the joystick port, it can act like a KoalaPad, joystick or 1351 mouse. To extend its usefulness, Jan also made it so that could be connected to the USB port of a PC and act like a regular 2-button and scroll wheel mouse.
The Commo Pad is equipped with 3 buttons. When connected to a C64, these buttons can be used to configure the device to one of the 3 modes. Holds the button for the desired mode while turning your C64 on.
- By pressing the top button while switching the C64 on, the koala mode is selected (mode 1).
- By pressing the middle button while switching the C64 on, the joystick mode is selected (mode 2).
- By pressing the bottom button while switching the C64 on, the 1351 mouse mode is selected (mode-3).
You can easily configure which button does what. These settings are stored in EEPROM so you only need to do this once.
One interesting part of the project is the case. Although 3D printers give us almost unlimited resources to build our own cases the way we want (considering you know how to design them), Jan decided to go with wood, in the best ’70s early-computer-hobbyists style! The result, as you can see in the picture above, is pretty good.
It took about a weekend of tinkering to get to this shape, then a day of sanding and priming and then another day of painting it to the desired color. Now did I save time compared to 3D printing, who knows. But what I do know is that it was nice to get away from the computer for a few days.
Where I can buy one?
Jan told me that you can’t, at least from him. When he started the project, he decided it would be a DIY project and he would put available all design, schematics, and software for free on Github. That means that although you cannot buy one, you can easily build yourself a similar device and maybe share with him your own version look.
Derogee has on his website the whole process in detail alongside complete instructions on how to build your own. There is also a video where you can see it in all its glory!
Link: Commo Pad Project Page