Spacemouse - Inside is Not What You Thought!

[@WD-lllpe]

Great video!

[@supremecommander2398]

Thanks for the teardown, finally i know how that thing works, after using it for over 20 years :D but a little critics: - its nice to have a 4K vid on a 4K screen, but it feels like 50% of the footage is out of focus, so i don't really see more. its even more disturbing... - i feel a bit offended by the "a little more plastic could have solved that" comment. As a product-designer i can see how much effort they put in to keep the ergonomics of the device consistent over the years, that includes the exact height of the swivel point, and the mass of the base. Drilling holes into metal is also cheaper then milling a slot out. - that translucent blue disc is most likely a light conductor for the typical 3DConnexion blue lighting? at the same time, its the cap for the one component, that is probably the same for any of their devices of the same generation.

[@ToolsnTeardowns]

Thanks for your comment and feedback, I will looking into the focus. I definitely didn't intend to offend or criticise the design, simply expressed a different design approach another engineer (such as myself) may take. Ahh yes thats a good spot! That extra bit of plastic does diffuse the light from the blue glow slightly, although I don't think that's its primary purpose 🤔

[@peanutbutterjellyjam2179]

Quite a complex design. Great job with your breakdown and explanation.

[@ToolsnTeardowns]

Thank you, very much appreciate your kind words!

[@ruevs]

10:52 the translucent blue disk is a light guide. There is a LED light that illuminates all around the "cap" through it. The LED can be controlled programmatically through the USB HID interface. The wireless one does not have the blue "ring light" to reduce power consumption. Edit: just noticed it was already discussed.

[@ToolsnTeardowns]

Yes you're right! Thanks for your comment 😊

[@e9ppp]

Great video thanks! Keep it up.

[@MarqueIVv3]

Excellent tear-down vid. Only suggestion would be zoom the camera in a little more, and hold the device a little more steady when showing it up close. But minor quips to an otherwise great vid! Just subscribed and set your alarm to see what else you do.

[@ToolsnTeardowns]

Thank you very much for the comment, and great feedback! I will definitely look into how I can do that to keen improving my videos! Thanks, take care.

[@BestHakase]

What an interesting way to work! I thought they were using a hall sensor.

[@ToolsnTeardowns]

Honestly me too! I thought that was the way to go, but hall effect sensors have a non-linear response, so maybe the light method provides a more linear reposnse and are more accurate data. That would be my guess why. 🤔

[@MrMaxStalsky]

​@@ToolsnTeardowns I'm curious why there is no cheaper Chinese knockoff all around AliExpress. May be because there is not enough demand for such devices... sadly. I'd love to have one but it is too expensive in my country and I'm just a hobbyist. I even made a 3d printed one with joysticks but it's a more pain in the ass than using a mouse. Looking in to their design I understand now why it costs so much. It really does cost that money. Good materials and clever engineering cost money. Thank for your video. Maybe some one will come off with some Arduino based replicas one day no we know how it works)

[@gcolombelli]

They seem to have been using light based sensors for quite a while. There's a DIY alternative called Shamrock Sixnav that was based on expired patents of an older model, you can see how it works on the patent and CAD drawings, very simple and elegant mechanism. There's also another cool design called Haptick which uses strain gauges.

[@artur3306]

What kind of light sensors do they use in this mouse?

[@ToolsnTeardowns]

It will be either a Light To Frequency or Light To Voltage IC chip. Best I can tell it's in the IR spectrum.