Help Me Convert This BMW Wheel for Sim (Understanding the boards to connect it to an Arduino)

[Maisa]

Hi guys, I recently got a BMW X5 wheel for very cheap and I am trying to understand these boards so I can somehow connect the wires to an Arduino to make it read button inputs.

 

How can I complete this task? I am open to all suggestions. Would it be possible to somehow connect the wires from the main header straight to the Arduino?

 

Thanks

 

 

Back Sides

 

[manikyath]

is there anything on the other side of the boards?

 

if there's no IC's there, these are basicly just dumb button modules. 

[Maisa]

1 minute ago, manikyath said:

is there anything on the other side of the boards?

 

if there's no IC's there, these are basicly just dumb button modules. 

oh yeah, sorry, i just edited them in, forgot to put them 

[manikyath]

2 minutes ago, Maisa said:

oh yeah, sorry, i just edited them in, forgot to put them 

yeah, defenately just dumb boards. i presume they're wired in some kind of grid arrangement, but the easiest way to find out is to just go trough it with a multimeter and take notes on what goes where.

[Maisa]

9 minutes ago, manikyath said:

yeah, defenately just dumb boards. i presume they're wired in some kind of grid arrangement, but the easiest way to find out is to just go trough it with a multimeter and take notes on what goes where.

So what could i do after i find out? Could i just solder the cables onto these golden circles?

 

[manikyath]

2 minutes ago, Maisa said:

So what could i do after i find out? Could i just solder the cables onto these golden circles?

 

i presume ideally you just hook onto the wires already coming from the boards. there's probably some grid keypad library you can use on the software side once you know what to connect where.

[Maisa]

11 minutes ago, manikyath said:

i presume ideally you just hook onto the wires already coming from the boards. there's probably some grid keypad library you can use on the software side once you know what to connect where.

Imma be honest I dont have much understanding of these boards on theoretical level, as i see now this output plug has 4 cables going in it, what could these cables be? how do i find out which one carries what information?   

[manikyath]

1 minute ago, Maisa said:

Imma be honest I dont have much understanding of these boards on theoretical level, as i see now this output plug has 4 cables going in it, what could these cables be? how do i find out which one carries what information?   

you have a physical object in hand, it has a number of buttons, some LEDs, and some resistors from the looks of things. and then your cables that you want to know what they do.

 

grab a piece of paper, grab a pencil, grab a multimeter, measure where everything goes and take notes.

 

i'm gonna hazard a guess the buttons are one of these two arrangements: