Rapid fire with the ATmega328-based ABXY

The ABXY – designed by Kevin Houck – is an open source ATmega328-based rapid fire and macro platform for the Xbox 360.

“With ABXY you can create programs that ‘trick’ your controller into thinking buttons have been pressed,” Houck explained in a recent Kickstarter post. “It is a hardware board that can be installed inside a controller, [accompanied by] software needed to program the board.”

Indeed, ABXY uses the Arduino bootloader to upload programs on the controller via a Microsoft Charge ‘n Play Cable, with Houck providing a library to interface with the controller.

“Even if you have absolutely no programming experience, the ABXY is still for you,” said Houck. “We have created a number of programs already that can be used as is for your controller. Just download the .ino file, plug in your controller and open the file and click upload.”

An Arduino Pro Mini and FT232RL breakout board was used to prototype the ABXY, with the final version consisting of an ATmega328, FT232RL and supporting hardware.

“Even with the removal of one of the rumble motors, the controller feels the same. It doesn’t make a bit of difference which is great because that is a very convenient spot for the ABXY board. If a board was placed anywhere else in the controller it would affect the operation of the buttons,” Houck added.

Although the ABXY was initially designed to work with Microsoft’s last-gen Xbox 360, Houck says he has plans to modify the platform so that it ultimately can be linked to both the 360 and One.

Interested in learning about the ATmega328-powered ABXY? You can check out the project’s official Kickstarter page here.