Making a cheap, open source 3D space mouse with Arduino and 3D printing *V2 out*

[@TeachingTech]

V1 has been dubbed 'Bigfoot' on Printables. V2 is now out, which I have called 'Mini-ish''. It's much, much smaller and has some code tweaks to require a smaller range of input motion. Same link as before: www.printables.com/model/864950-open-source-spacemouse-space-mushroom-remix

[@kaydenasay1853]

Dang V2, came out right as I finished V1 almost on the dot. :) already printing them out 😎

[@johncrombie2771]

Love it. ❤️ I'll wait a couple of weeks before making this in case a V3 comes out. 😃

[@DeagleBingo]

@@johncrombie2771 dude... build the v2 and then use it in cad to iterate the v3! then take a pic of you working on the model of v2 while using the actual physical v2... meta. lmfao. but seriously... thats what makes open source stuff like this awesome i had actually spent some time trying to 3d scan a big chunk of play dough i made into an ergonomic wrist/palm rest for my space mouse. those files are around somewhere too... rests for the smaller 3dconnexion one as well.

[@fss1704]

There is a project VjoySerialFeeder that can take anything you can possibly connect to an arduino into a joystick in windows and linux, i already implemented a lot more stuff and i'll upstream until the end of the week. For instance, support for playstation 2 controllers and key matrices, i wanaa play racing games with my gameshark pedal and the ps2 controller, the software seems good but my arduino forgot it's bootloader and i need another one. I will probably be implementing support for other controllers as well.

[@hdmungeryt]

I see you turned the joystick PCB's sideways (which is what my design is using so I can reduce the height of the unit)...did you have to do any reversal of variable directions or just switch the X and Y connections? I haven't gotten to debugging yet so I don't know if more than connector swapping will be necessary...

[@D4RKFiB3R]

Dude, you should call it the Space Capybara, because that is the largest computer rodent I've ever seen 🤣 Great project though, looking forward to making (hopefully a much smaller) one 😁 Thanks for all the work you, and everyone else have put into it so far.

[@ericlotze7724]

THIS. What a good name lol.

[@MumrikDK]

'Stellar Capybara' for extra knockoff vibes.

[@D4RKFiB3R]

@@MumrikDK Nice :D

[@grnbrg]

@@MumrikDK This is the correct name. :D

[@vschouten]

What about the "Capynaut"?

[@Kimchi_TV_98]

Super neat, would like to see a smaller version.

[@bennetb01]

Right, that thing is huge.

[@jamesnorona1345]

Yes me too!

[@atnfn]

I think it's cause the internal components in that version are rather big. You would have to go with one of the different more complex models he showed at the start. Or buying one of the 3d connexion ones, they are quite small. I've had one for around 10 years, still works.

[@zorabixun]

That size is good for more precise movement, in small joystick 🕹 even a little fingers shake of 1 mm can make a huge difference

[@EddoWagt]

@@atnfn It's such a shame the 3dconnexxion wireless versions still use Micro-USB

[@temmietopegold]

...using Hall effect sensors instead of the joysticks and some springs to hold the dome will greatly reduce the size.

[@vadimsham8047]

There is already such a project for at least half a year, I even have replicated it myself. They both just frustrating rubbish compared to commercial product, unfortunately.

[@missassembly]

IMHO hall effect Should be where the open source community should concentrate their efforts.

[@missassembly]

Printed compliant mechanism too. I own one already......😄

[@taj1994]

@@missassembly It's also where the big companies should concentrate as well. Hell, Microsoft already uses Hall effect sensors in their Xbox One (and newer) controllers. They just don't use them in their joysticks. Their triggers use them

[@ColinJWiens]

​@@vadimsham8047What's the name of the project, and what were the issues?

[@andrewjennings5002]

I bit the bullet and bought a space mouse. I love it. I use a lot of CAD sometimes 8 hours a day and see it as a worth while expense. I'm so glad 3D printing can make it more accessible to the hobby market.

[@sirrodneyffing1]

Yeh.. they are SOO brilliant once you get the hang of it and the right driver set up. It's like getting another arm or something.

[@louisbrill891]

I'm hoping this will lead to better software integration for space mice. Kinda sucks that they can only be used for a couple programs right now.

[@Andyjpro]

Space mouse let's me do things so much fricken faster it's not funny. If you're doing CAD full time there's no reason not to plop down that money. It's your tools of the trade, don't skimp! I find people don't put enough thought in their normal mouse selection either. I'm a trackball guy though I wish I could find on with even more programmable buttons. 8 isn't enough, lol.

[@louisbrill891]

@@sirrodneyffing1 really its like getting 2 extra arms with another mouse for each. Mice only have 2 DOF, space mice have 6.

[@sirrodneyffing1]

@@louisbrill891 The rare stacks of CAD applictions with a spaceouse driver mate. Even Freecad (still needs work), Unreal Engine and Blender's is really good now from wobbly start.

[@bluegizmo1983]

I bought a used SpaceMouse Pro on ebay for $120. It was WELL worth the price!! I absolutely love this thing for 3d modeling.

[@TheExileFox]

without a deadzone option, the device, whenever i take my hand off one of these devices, the viewport/camera in any cad software is sent miles away which is really frustrating. For 15 years people have been asking for this option but it only exists as a driver hack and it's pretty janky - i cannot see how it's not a scam after testing multiple devices on multiple computers and always getting the same result.

[@xTreme.Power.]

@@TheExileFox I had an old Space Pilot Pro, and he started to move alone, I fixed it my editing the settings file to make a deadzone, so no more self drift or self rotation of the object. Since work like a charm I just switched to the SpaceMouse Enterprise, just because i wanted to spend some money :p

[@bluegizmo1983]

Weird, mine has never moved when my hand is off of it. Maybe I just got lucky and got a good one

[@michaelgleason4791]

He's in Australia, so it's many more dollars in their currency.

[@arbitrary_username]

Bought my regular spacemouse used for 60USD, absolutely worth it, but nice to finally see some alternatives.

[@tomhofmann5277]

Fantastic! I own an actual spacemouse but will build this just for fun and as a tribute to your skill and generosity! I very much enjoy all your vids. Definitely one of the top channels. All the best from Buenos Aires, Argentina

[@yayinternets]

Great video and project! I've long thought about building a custom mouse that fits my hand perfectly, but this is even more useful. For those of you with weird complaints about this video; this isn't a competitor to Space Mouse at all. More like a hobby project. It's not worth the time to build one yourself, more like a fun project to challenge yourself to learn and build new things. That said, this project is exactly what this channel is about. Teaching Tech.

[@johncrombie2771]

The reason the mushroom/control knob is so large is that it holds the 4 joysticks. The simplest way I think to reduce its size is to move them to the outside with their control sticks pointing inward. Yes, it would require a redesign of the 3d printed parts but should be lest bulky looking.

[@xomm]

Could also use joycon-style joysticks, e.g. the hall-effect ones from gulikit to get them smaller while still using off-the-shelf hardware.

[@protowalker]

Had the same thought. There's likely a way to use hall effect sensors to do this but I'm not super well versed in electronics and part of the appeal here is off the shelf parts. One of my first thoughts was PSP /3DS style thumb-slide joysticks. They're very small and only a few dollars each

[@conorstewart2214]

Better would be to redesign it to not use potentiometer based joysticks and instead to use some form of hall effect sensor. You get some that can apparently work as 3D joysticks.

[@EpixZhang]

When building my "space mouse", the biggest issue is that it can only send mouse actions, rather than communicate directly with the CAD software. The idea that mimic a SpaceMouse to use the driver is very interesting.

[@Gorilla_Jones]

It's folly, it'll never be as good. This video is filler.

[@robinpopkema]

​@@Gorilla_Jones nobody says it would be better then the original. But 20-30 bucks is a lot more justifiable then 300 for most hobby makers. So, not filler but maybe not for you

[@HuntersOA]

@@robinpopkema I will make this for sure. I use 3 different slicers for FDM (Prusa, Qidi, Orca), Lychee and Voxeldance tango for resin, fusion 360 and rhino for modelling and blender for sculpting. A colleague of mine had lent me a spacemouse which works with all of these and all use the same settings. But without a space mouse, I have to know which software uses which dumb shortcuts. Is shift needed for zoom? Was it control? Control + right click? It drives me nuts. Especially as I tend to jump from machine to machine as my work machine is windows, my home machine is Mac and I also have a linux desktop for some tasks. (KVM switch rules) So if this achieves the simple point that I can have the same exact navigation in ALL my software without tinkering endlessly with settings, it is an extreme win in my book. If I install the 3dconnexions software and I do not have to individually set up my softwares on all the platforms and machines, I'd be so so so sooo happy. The OG spacemouse is extremely overpriced for what it is. I know it took time to develop - check the cut up video how it works. Most other already existing solutions were simply too complicated. So I am all for this! Gigantic KUDO from me. I am already collecting the parts from local distributors to be able to make it.

[@ge2719]

@@Gorilla_Jones so the $20 device wont be quite as good as the $300 device? Oh noooooo what exactly cant it do?

[@linyongzheng]

@@ge2719 This DIY version is missing 2 programmable side buttons. Looking at the wiring diagram, it seems like there might be capability to wire in 2-9 buttons to Arduino pins (I haven't used Arduino in a while so unsure of the difficulty of using the I2C, serial, and SPI pins for GPIO).

[@3Drcnc]

I have built the v2 over the last few days and it was a really fun project! It actually seems to work quite well for how cheap it is. Thanks for sharing!

[@leogray1091]

WOW! Ultra Hats Off for your hard work to pull everything together! Specially the space mouse section. That is the game changer!

[@JimmieZ89]

This is a great project I would definitely take on myself for home use. I have a dedicated Space Mouse for my mechanical engineering job I use daily for 10 years now and love using it. Being able to diy one myself for home is a great option. Thanks for posting this!

[@ColinJWiens]

95% of joysticks on Amaz/Aliex are stiff + have worthless "potentiometers", including the ones in the vid. That ends up making them digital devices, as shown with his CAD movement at 5:50. Even ones that claim to be OEM are nearly all fakes. The only good option is to salvage from old controllers or buy from a seller I finally found called "SOSS Gaming", but you'll need to solder them to PCB's yourself. No point making a 6DoF device if it's not analog.

[@brandonhicks7549]

That’s a crazy amount of work for a video. Kudos

[@johnwoodruff3487]

Company got me a Space Mouse Pro about 15 years ago and once you start modelling with it you will never go back to mouse only.The experience is so good I got myself one for home use.

[@joetkeshub]

Wish you hit 300K with this complete tutorial. Thank you so much. You don't steal your channel name at all, it's actually about "teaching tech" the best way I came across on youtube. But overall your great job is an hymn to collective intelligence. You deserve a way greater audience. As helpful as instructive with a lot of useful details. Aussies are really tech savvy. Congrats! I'm going to make that spacemouse. Have a great weekend my friend.

[@TheBillzilla]

I just realised you could make the knob quite a lot smaller simply by mirroring the four joysticks, so they sit on the outside of the knob instead of inside. The base would still be much the same size of course, but the knob would be more like the genuine Spacemouse type.

[@MrMaxStalsky]

This is how he made the mini v2)

[@remcoder6]

Nice project! I absolutely love my Space Mouse but it was quite expensive (even the cheapest version). Now it is accessible to many more people. I hope the community will keep improving this.

[@topgundk]

I bought a SpaceMouse Pro, used many years ago. It is really a great tool, and I only design practical stuff for home projects. I think it is a lot of value, and the extra buttons on the pro version, I do use a lot.

[@SarahKchannel]

Yay, I was on a 2 year journey too to make pretty much the same. I tried joysticks, I tried IMU's, I settled on halleffect sensors and some magnet. Mine is a bit more 'delux' with a 2.8" touch screen, round display in the center of the dial, encoder in the dial for scrolling. The software was the far most time consuming! I ended up designing a web wizard to configure all the touch buttons and other functions.

[@SarahKchannel]

I based mine on an ESP32, since it needs to house a webserver, beside Bluetooth, MQTT and drive the 2 displays. Oh and then I made the giant version with 3 touch screens....

[@danielbrown6600]

Worked running Autodesk Inventor everyday.. I cannot understate just how useful these are. With enough use, they pay for themselves by the amount of time saved when navigating around a model/assembly. Cool to see w good diy version..but there is a reason why the 3dconnection ones are so popular

[@Marorrai]

Thank you Michael, i tried the original project in the past but abandoned it cause i encountered the same weird problems and didn't want to bang my head against the math involved in the transformation matrix. I'm very happy to see the project has been carried over and perfetioned. I'll give it another shot thanks to you. Thank you again!

[@starletzzang]

There is no need to drill a hole in the joystick plunger to secure the joystick and ball. If you look at the top of the joystick plunger, a 1mm hole has already been drilled, and it is easy to assemble using M1.5 screws. You can also make some modifications to the ball.

[@IanJS100]

What a cool project! I’ve been interested in a space mouse too but this is the way I’m going to go. Thank you for sharing and to all who contributed!

[@burltrap]

holy s#!t he did it boys! thank you so much for solving the software end of this. clearly the community had come up with clever solutions for the hardware end of things but the software solutions were always lack luster or difficult to implement with 100% success. your contributions to the community are invaluable

[@jamesevans1601]

Bless you, Michael! I tried and failed with the Orbion. The keyboard and mouse simulation did not play well with my setup either and was a show-stopper. The 3DConnexion firmware emulation alone has renewed my interest in making one of these.

[@mbrad2669]

Awesome instructions, it helps GREATLY when problems are left in the videos... I ALWAYS seem to get frustrated by little bugs I come across while following instructions- troubleshooting tips are always valuable!!!

[@jjmelo]

Love how hours (days?) of troubleshooting get compressed into a sentence 😅. Thanks for the great work.

[@minimoose1441]

This is great! My new job has a 3Dconnexion and I really like using it but didn't want to spend the cash for my own. I looked into the 3D printed solutions but none seemed that great to me, especially since I didn't want it just using mouse / keyboard inputs, so knowing there's a way to emulate the 3dconnexion driver is really useful! Edit: I also have 4 leftover tiny joysticks from repairing my Valve Index controller that I think I could shrink the design down by using, I feel a project coming on!

[@--3D]

As usual excellent content!!! Thanks Michael!!! I'll keep an eye for the smaller version, but this is an amazing tool!! Thank you and the rest of the community for sharing!!

[@joetkeshub]

This is a kind of pretty dense tutorial you'd better watch more than once. At least what I'm doing ;) A GREAT GREAT JOB indeed. Combining several technical sources (and debugging or improving some of them) is all but easy. Michael made it happen in a brilliant and MASSIVE WORK😉Thanks a lot Michael!

[@WestonWill]

I love the comically large size! I also have been down this road. I suspect there is a pretty comprehensive patent on this since there aren't even Chinese knock-offs on Aliexpress.

[@sygad1]

that is a very interesting point, which now has me searching......today's new rabbit hole

[@gcolombelli]

There are a few versions out there, at least one of them is bound to be based off old patents from some earlier model. Not sure if the eddy current one or another one not mentioned in this video, that uses semi transparent ramps and LED / phototransistor pairs. There's also another really cool one that looks a bit difficult to make and uses load cells and a rig that looks like a motion platform. This one in the video looks by far the easier one to make, every other one will require a custom PCB, some precision parts that will likely only work if printed on resin and some electronics that, if you're unlucky to live in a country like mine with ridiculously high import taxes, where most stores only send stuff through an expensive courier service, will cost you about the same as an entry level space mouse, if not more than that.

[@Grivooga]

Big props for making it work. After seeing how much you had to put into getting it to work I don't regret buying a used SpaceExplorer on eBay. Only issue I've had is I'm stuck on an old version of the software since 3DConnexion no longer supports the older models. It's a really cool input device but I keep forgetting it's there and just manipulating things the way I'm used to with my mouse.

[@danielgroenewald3006]

Just buy the spacemouse, omw its so worth the money for the compatability with multiple software, it lasts a very long time, my enterprise model is 6+years old and still works perfectly. One of the best purchases i made for my hobby, before it now became my career. I cannot stress enough, if you enjoy 3d modelling it will bring joy to your life.

[@QuakeDragon]

Heroic Effort! Thanks for sharing your work with us!

[@5FSF]

As someone in the market for a space mouse, this video is great. I'm going to be ordering parts and doing the build in the next week or so. While watching the video though, it strikes me that the solution to the overall size could be as simple as reducing the size of the big joystick's actually manipulated surface area. Instead of mimicking the shape of the 3dconnexion joystick, you could make it look a lot more like the smaller joystick nubs. Bring the whole shape to a more rounded dome, then give it a stem and a wide head. That way, instead of pressing down on the front of the joystick, you can lift up on the back to get the same angle. Could probably even do it with your thumb. The shroud the whole joystick sits in can also be raised to cover all but the moveable range so your fingers can rest on it and then move the stick with about twice as many controllable angles. I'll be testing this once I've got the base build assembled, but if anyone is further along with it and wants to give it a go, I could mock up a model to reference.

[@overbese]

Love the diy version. I bought a 3D mouse after using one at work. I highly recommend it for anyone doing CAD / Blender even works in most slicers. I'm surprised they are not more popular with cheper alternatives.

[@ReinaldoGonzalezreix2x]

i love it! once you go 3D Mouse, you never go back

[@xTreme.Power.]

exactly, last month I wanted to demonstrate a project on my F360 on my laptop , but 100% of time I desin on my home computer, The customer think I was a beginner because on the laptop I don't even know now how to turn an object without my SPaceMouse Enterprise :p (and before Space Pilot Pro, but after 5 years he began to move alone)

[@ReinaldoGonzalezreix2x]

@@xTreme.Power. that's a tricky situation, that had happened to me also. I try to not use it from time to time so i don't forget how to orbit or make camera movements on different 3D software

[@miltonb4522]

Definitely enjoyed this video. I started watching this channel due to the 3d printing focus, but I do enjoy the expansion into the use of arduino and merging it with 3d printing as well. Looking forward to future electronics videos as well as the smaller version of the space mouse.

[@simonmambrose]

Great project! I looked into making a DIY space mouse before but with all the existing projets there was always something that seemed "too hard" or "too difficult" for me to emulate. Your project absolutely nailed it though, and now it seems so much more achievable. Massive thanks for documenting all your progress and putting a guide together, I'll definitely be making one of these! :D

[@kakashie950]

the difference in size between what the thumbnail looked like and what the actual thing looks like is so massive It almost feels like click bait..... still really cool though.

[@angelusmaker]

Excellent, I've been trying several of these versions on and off over the last year or so, with little luck. The most promising was a system based on a "reverse" Stewart platform that worked - but only in Linux, which I don't use. Definitely going to give your setup a try! And then play with adding buttons ;) Thank you very much!

[@silentmodetv]

Even at that size, I would be tempted to give it a try. I switched to using a trackball a few years ago, and I've seen pictures of space mice but never have tried using one.

[@m1ck5k1]

Awesome project & tutorial. I’ve been looking for this type of mouse, gonna give your a go. Thanks for sharing.

[@leocomerford]

Very impressive and very helpful! Another option for a cheaper 3D mouse is to look for some of the old, pre-USB units which are quite cheap on eBay. I'm not sure what hardware and software you need to adapt one for modern PCs, though. Another similar device which is even harder to get nowadays is an eight-dial dial box of the kind which used to be available for SGI and Sun workstations. Building one of those would be a relatively straightforward project but it might be just as useful to have. For the sim hardcore, one big challenge would be a faithful-looking, working replica of the Apollo Translation Control, a 3D controller designed to be used with the 3D-joystick Apollo Rotation Control.

[@Asdosie]

Bought mine for 60 usd, really happy with it. Awesome job on the DIY version!

[@larry527az3]

If I hadn't bought my space mouse I'd be ordering the parts right now. Still might build one if I get caught up on my current projects. Also, did the survey, hope it helps Michael. Thanks for the great video!

[@feynthefallen]

The 3dconexxion space mice are amazing if you do a lot of cad. Unfortunately the driver situation leaves a lot to be desired, for example it cannot be made to act as a regular mouse, even though extensive driver settings are possible. Another weak point is the soft touch coating, which, while better than most, will still wear out after about three years, and, since it is good quality and well bonded, takes a lot of effort and ethanol to remove.

[@TithePool]

If you use a wobble-plate under the controller arm and rolling contact joints between the joystick rods and the wobble plate, you can stack all four flat on the bottom right next to each other, with a sliding shaft ball-swivel in the center as the wobble plate pivot point. That way you'd have motion control on all 6 axes, but in a space about 30% smaller horizontally and 50% smaller vertically.

[@Putzl52]

I use solidworks professionally and use a space mouse. I will never go back without one. I may make this for at home. Thanks for the video.

[@tinkererslab0]

Thank you for the work you put into providing this for the community my guy. I don't even need one of these things and now I want to make one. Thank you again for the project.

[@3dmazter]

I just bought a space mouse compact as the only thing I do on my pc is designing things with sketchup or fusion 360. It was pricey at 149 euro but it works amazing.

[@Muz994]

I'm in the process of doing something similar, using a 9 axis imu to track motion, and a rp2040 with tinyusb to emulate a spacemouse. I already assembled the controller and wired it, now i just need to find the time and will to program everything XD It's another one of those projects that I get bored of before I finish it.

[@SaverioPieri]

that does not gonna work...I tried. First of all you'll need 2 IMUs, otherwise you'll have trouble just moving the entire mouse; and this is a mechanical pain. Then you cannot really use the magnetometer without recalibrate the soft and hard iron magnetic field each time you move your mouse just few centimeters. At the end it's not a good solution

[@Muz994]

@@SaverioPieri i was going to use a magnet stuck on the base as a reference. I know it's not easy, but I guess that something could be done is this is the kind of tracking that could be obtaioned: watch?v=yqFfmwVufMo The issue i'm envisioning is with tracking pan movement, because that can only be done with the magnetometer, but rotation and pan are not easy to tell apart when the only thing you have is some vectors from the imu.

[@D4RKFiB3R]

Can I follow your progress anywhere? Sounds really interesting. Thanks.

[@SaverioPieri]

@@Muz994 well, there are a lot of libraries implementing sonsors fusion (kalmann etc..). My biggest problem was the fact that earth mag field is very very small compared to other sources in my desk: speakers, psu, even BT devices. As far I can freeze the status, the hard iron calibration works (sort of), but simply rising the speakers volume create a mess..... At the end I gave up with this idea. I hope you'll find a working solution

[@SaverioPieri]

@@Muz994 ah...you dont need to catch the pan: the pitch and roll vectors give you the pan vector, while you maintain the position. The problem is the elevation (push and pull)

[@kdawg7695]

I saw the one you started your work off of on hackaday, and with the semester ending, I was actually about to start working on making one. So this video is perfectly timed for me!

[@Creative_Electronics]

Very nice made! I like how you positioned all the electronics! :) I do have the spacemouse pro and it's easy to move multiple axis at once instead of using every axis individually like all the open source designs.. but at 1 point, I believe the open source versions will be better than the originals ;)

[@TheExileFox]

anything will be better than my experience with 3dconnexion - without a deadzone option, the device, whenever i take my hand off one of these devices, the viewport/camera in any cad software is sent miles away which is really frustrating. For 15 years people have been asking for this option but it only exists as a driver hack and it's pretty janky

[@kimmelmd1]

Well, damn....there went my weekend, lol! Thanks Mike! Great collaboration and development!

[@rallylout]

Heck yeah … finally a way to find out if it’s going to be. Useful addition, fantastic work.

[@olestampevestergaard4746]

What a night, great videos from Michael and Marius hornberger within a couple of hours

[@gsmadmax100]

ive bin using a 'Space Pilot Pro' for over 10 years. its amazing, reduced my 'clicking' in 3ds Max by half & i can move an obj in one hand and still have my mouse free to do stuff. 3d mouse is essential IMO for serous modeling .

[@ValorArc_Designs]

I have a Space Mouse with a Stream Deck placed in a 3d printed base. It works great and the Space Mouse is a game changer for Shapr3D.

[@waynedollery9946]

I'm part way though the build if the mini(ish) version. So far pretty good, I'm really impressed with the models. The M3 screws fit perfect cutting their own threads. I expected I'd need to drill the holes first as all printers are tuned different and so the holes would be a different diameter. Somehow you nailed the holes just right! I would point out however, that if you start from a fresh install of Arduino IDE, things look quite a bit different and you need to figure out some issues with the configurations.

[@jeremysargent5037]

I have a 3DConnexion device (bought second hand) and it takes a lot of getting used to. Don't be disappointed by how difficult yours is to operate the Z axis as it takes some time to get used to both the original and any other.

[@gorin3512]

Something like joysticks from joycons should be smaller. Also, some custom PCSs or just trimming width of existing ones may help. 3 instead of 4 joysticks can reduce it a bit (it seemed troublesome, but doable)

[@v1046rVDO]

I’m definitely giving this a try. I’ve been looking around for DIY solution for some time and almost settle with Orbico but due to its complexity I decided not to.

[@martinwazhere]

Me thinking this is a small thing...bro thats huuuugee! I appreciate all the work you have done!

[@geoffcowie8843]

Wow. What an ambitious project. Easy way to make smaller means placing game controller module on the outside. Would leave a large base.

[@redskyreconn744]

Dope. Lots of love from the PNW

[@UmairA5]

Not sure if this will work but why not have the joysticks face inwards and the actual part that you hold to do the movements be a smaller shaft that extrude over the joysticks making so you have a smaller part that does all the movements.

[@ScramblerUSA]

Absolutely amazing! Thanks a lot, Michael! - Gone printing.

[@MegaDman42]

I would love to do this. I think maybe making the parts that go on the joysticks just the ball part without a shaft could reduce the finished size. And maybe make a shroud for the LED section that has a thin area that can be for translucent flexible materials to let the light through and then a couple areas on the edges to slot into the body and handle? This gives me a bunch of ideas, that's for sure.

[@janno1177]

15:50 can't you make the dome smaller by moving the joysticks to the outside, so they are pointing inward and the dome is help in place in the center?

[@techbutterflymaps9873]

Great project and well documented as always! Thanks, Michael! I just finished building v2. Everything worked first try, with one exception - when I rotate the knob left and right, like a volume knob, the onscreen model should rotate in the same way, correct? For me, the model pans to the left or right instead of rotating. All other movement works fine. I'm guessing I need to adjust one or more axes, but don't know where to start. Any ideas?

[@Fantaman900]

I bought mine used in nearly new shape for like 150 euro's. Awesome piece of kit.

[@nilz__]

Amazing project. I didn't know the Space Mouse worked in Onshape as well, I always believed it didn't.

[@viko207]

Cool idea, i think there is enough interest for V2! I would suggest smaller hall effect sensors for the joystick and maybe integrated butons in the base for shortcuts.

[@75keg75]

The space mouse wireless is pretty good. Very handy in fusion. Although I still at time use the mouse to control What I found amazing is the weight of the thing - it is hefty!

[@orephen]

I looked at making one but after trialing the real thing at tafe I ordered it then and there love the space mouse (basic Bluetooth one) its well designed and top notch.

[@xapu8775]

amazing! I would recommend also a github repo with the code, BOM and possibly licenses! would be awesome community project

[@MakeKasprzak]

Well done! I'm shocked that official Spacemouse prices have skyrocketed so much. I think I paid $99 CAD for my original, and even less for a used one. More importantly I'm glad I'm not SOL if the company ever goes under, thanks to everyone's efforts.

[@CoPoint]

Just as a heads-up: the prices in the video are Australian dollars, so the numbers you see are a good bit bigger than you may be used to, but still, the prices for those things ARE steadily going up, with mostly the same unfixed **ahem** quirks as in the first models...

[@sq3rjick]

And it is the Australian importer / official reseller at that, not a straight USD/AUD conversion. The least expensive one can be had in the US for $99 and I got a wired pro (I hate replacing batteries) for less than $200 on sale.

[@TheRealWulfderay]

Really cool! Perhaps you could find a way to use replacement joycon joysticks. They are much slimmer and might allow you to shrink the design.

[@dwilliam16]

I plan to make one of these, but Adafruit has something that might be an option for smaller joysticks. Adafruit mini 2-axis analog thumbstick. Id 2765 17.5 x 17.4 x 12.0mm Worth exploring at least.

[@abzurdo]

I think those move in one plane, like the ones in the PSP so you wouldn't get 6 degrees of movement. but there are slimmer ones available for other handhelds, like the switch or the GPD WIN, the issue would be making them work with arduino

[@SmokeandLights]

Amazing! I am printing the parts to build one now. I really wish this would get ported to a pi pico w so it could be bluetooth instead of wired. I'm not sure how to implement the bluetooth communication, but it seems like an easy transfer on the surface for someone who knows how to do that.

[@cliftonchurch6039]

Would there be value in mounting the joysticks mounted to the base, holding up the control stalk instead of being mounted to the stalk directly so that the stalk didn't have to be as big as the dome ended up being? It would require a few axis's to be inverted, but that appears to be a minimal adjustment in software.

[@joshkilo430]

Amazing!! I was looking at buying but couldn’t justify spending the cash. I will be making one shortly, thank you!!

[@sharkbite1686]

I must have this! Seems like you cold very easily invert all of the physical joysticks to the base section instead of inside the dial. Would make the dial much smaller and more custom. I could be mission something though. I can hopefully take a look at that this weekend.

[@ernieoporto1111]

This is amazing! I know what my next project is going to be!!

[@ggaub]

To make the knob smaller, why not have all the joysticks point inward? The base might not be any smaller, but the knob certainly could be.

[@final_catalyst]

Would it work to just take the guts of a joycon put it in a cube box, with a base that can be used to reset/calibrate its IRL position? Then you actually pick it up fully move it and place it down, every so often as the joycon can some times get slightly off.

[@sail4life]

I built Shiura's mushroom design but don't like how the 3 axes of the joysticks give the device an uneven feel, like its fighting you. I also tried to miniaturize it by inverting the direction of the joysticks to point inwards. This did help some, but any imperfections in the print were magnified, making that even worse in practice. The Orbion looks great but its not 6 DOF because the Z axis is only on / off. I designed my own based on a coiled spring compliant 3d printed "mechanism" which allows 6DOF and a MEMS gyro / compass board but haven't gotten around to doing the software. I think its still too clunky but I might give it a go in the future. I think the design with the coils on the PCB looks most promising at this time. Who knows, maybe I will build that in the end.

[@GLHerzberg]

Great content! Added to my build list!

[@AndrewHelgeCox]

Is it supported in FreeCAD and Blender under Linux?

[@rogerthesarus]

Awesome! I'm going to try and make this for sure!

[@zakspop]

I finally got around to finishing the V2 version. Not too pleased with it. Seems as if the dead zone is too big on some directions. I am running the 3Dconnexion Trainer running and I have the serial monitor going with the debug version is set to 4. I see my inputs in the serial monitor just fine but the teapot in the Trainer doesn't move unless I pull up or push down all the way then it just takes off too fast. Zoom in and out works OK, move left and right works OK, rotate left and right as well as forward and backward works too, but move up and down and spin are all or nothing, zip off the screen or spin like mad.

[@orphax1925]

an idea would be to place the josticks around the mushroom and not inside, it would enable a smaller design

[@Pudding_Pie]

Got excited seeing the thumbnail and then list my shit when you showed this comically large brick

[@ryan0io]

Reminds me of the SpaceOrb360 I used in the 90's to play video games. Mostly Descent, because you needed 6 degrees of freedom in the game.

[@007teal]

Even though i have two space mouses this looks fun just to tinker. I ordered old versions of space mouses for under $100. One used at work in solidworks and bambu slicer. Same at home. I do see the wired new space mouse knob is only $150 but still spendy to try if your not familiar with the device.

[@mematitr]

Hello, are you releasing another video of the V2 space mouse?

[@andrewlongfellow8745]

I’m definitely thinking about trying this. I’ve been looking at the space mouse for awhile.

[@GetTheFOutOfMyWay]

I've never knew a "space mouse" existed. Really cool.