ChemE, not to discourage you, but you're going to have a lot of difficulty doing this. I appreciate you're determination. I've spent a LOT of time hacking game console controllers, especially for use with arcade fighting sticks.
The xbox360 controller doesn't work like almost every other console controller does; the controller doesn't use a common ground for it's inputs. This makes hacking it much more difficult than other systems.
The single best source for help hacking it would be
**broken link removed**
He used the 74HC4066N analog switch chips to connects the buttons on the 360 controller and get around the lack of common ground. It would show that the buttons are pushed in all the way hard since there is practically no resistance, but you could probably find some sort of digital potentiometer to use if you needed adjustable analog pressure on the buttons.
The potentiometers on the analog sticks, and triggers, may be something totally different. I havent hacked a 360 pad, but Ive done my share of xbox1 pads, and the xbox1 triggers and analog sticks used potentiometers to see how far in what direction the analog was at. If they used the standard method of +5 on one end, GND on the other, and detecting the voltage on the center pin, then I think you can use any digital to analog converter in its place. Sorry Im not certain, but since my work as been arcade fighting games, everything I've needed has just been digital
Frankly, you're not at the stage where you need to decide on which PIC. First you need to figure out how to hook up the 360 controller in a simple way for any device to use, then figure out what will drive it.
Peter_wadley said:
Maybe it's just me.. but I fail to understand the point of connecting input devices to... other input devices..
The Xbox360 controllers have a special security chip in them that hasn't been cracked yet. In order to get your prefered input device working on that console, you have to hack them in a manner similar to this. If it were possible to just use some USB HID descriptor in a PIC and have it work, I'd totally agree with you.