Arduino: using digital pins to emulate USB device

Question

Is there any "easy" way to emulate USB keyboard or gamepad using digital pins on Arduino Mega? I looked at Uno-Joy/Mega-Joy, but I dont find firmware changes appealing.

• Delta_G: No. There is not anything like that.
• Chris Stratton: @Delta_G - that's not really true. It is possible, see V-USB. But perhaps not "easy". Reprogramming the ATmega8u2/ATmega16u2 on boards having that for their USB-serial interface is also an option.

Answer 1

There is (or was) an implementation of software-only USB for the Arduino. I think it was called V-USB, though I am having trouble finding it now.

I think it may be this library though nothing has happened with that for a number of years.

Personally, I wouldn't recommend it, though, and would suggest using a board with a real USB interface, such as the Arduino Leonardo, chipKIT Lenny, or Teensy 3.x.

• sdasda7777: How much easier would it be with different hardware, say Leonardo?
• Majenko: Much easier. You just use the Joystick library: github.com/MHeironimus/ArduinoJoystickLibrary
• sdasda7777: Nice. However, there is one more problem: I am using Mega at the moment, because I need to read voltages off 8 different sources and make it to digital output. Is there any device that would have at least 8 analog pins?
• Majenko: Teensy 3.6, and you don't want the Joystick library - it has its own USB stack that works differently: pjrc.com/teensy/td_joystick.html
• sdasda7777: Thanks, but its a bit pricy, it would be cheaper to use two arduinos.