Gamer turns Honda CR-V into a controller for Need for Speed Underground

Enthusiasts do game controllers from anything, but a whole car — but this one seems to be a record. The YouTuber made a Honda CR-V 2012 controller for Need for Speed Underground.ё

The author of the YouTube channel mryeester used on-board devices a real car Honda for an unusual purpose. He involved the on-board system in game control and used a Python library and some scripts to register the car’s gas pedal and other controls as an input device.

Every car in the United States after 1996 has an OBD2 connector, which is usually located under the dashboard. It is a universal diagnostic interface designed to help identify and fix problems. It is usually used to receive data from sensors ranging from engine speed to fuel level. Using an OBD2-USB adapter, the YouTuber connected to the car’s ECU (electronic control unit), which transmits data to the laptop.

The pySerial Python library allows you to read the data. The next step is to determine the specific PID (parameter identifier) for each sensor. This allows you to create a script for each specific sensor that converts the analog signal into a digital signal that is understandable for a PC — unfortunately, the enthusiast does not disclose details. The data is read in real time into a JSON file, from where another script takes the data and simulates pressing a physical key whenever the values in the file change.

The last step is to open any emulator of your choice and configure the control scheme. You can use this in almost any modern game that supports key reassignment. Thus, the car’s gas pedal or steering wheel starts to control the car in Need for Speed. The biggest drawback of the experiment is the lack of more detailed instructions and files. Still, this is probably the most expensive and largest game controller ever made.

Source: Tom’s Hardware