Thumbstick mouse (stand alone or as a ergodox addon)

[nodus]

What do folks think of wiring a psp 1000 thumbstick as a vaguely trackpoint like mouse pointer? Either slaved into a ergodox's teensy OR stand alone running off of something like a digispark?

I have some stand alone code written to run off a digispark,  I am just waiting for the psp thumbstick to arrive so I can mock up a case. I am thinking stand alone would be intended to be used below the spacebar on a standard keyboard. 4 buttons on the left thumb, thumbstick on the right. One of the buttons could be a mode switch so it would send scroll information when you move the stick.

As a ergodox add on, it looks like their is two unused analog read pins that could be used, though I am still waiting for mine to arrive, and I havent looked at the software or considered if the teensy has the power to do both jobs well.

It could be a fun cheap project for people to dip their toe into making their own input devices.

[nodus]

Thank you mod!
< previously this said >
     I realize this is in the wrong forum. I will post a new thread in the making stuff together!  forum

[jacobolus]

Note, both threads are now in the Making Stuff Together section. (Maybe a mod moved one?) The duplicate should probably be deleted.

Anyway, I don’t have any experience w/ a PSP thumbstick. How do they compare to IBM trackpoints? How do they compare to the thumbsticks from other video game controllers? (e.g. how much space do they take up, how much force do they need, how easy are they to control, what kind of resolution do they usefully have?) Is it a couple of potentiometers in there, or some other kind of mechanism?

[nodus]

Yeah, looks like they moved this one and deleted the dupe. Works for me.

Anyhow, the psp thumbstick isnt a strain detector like the ibms of yore, its a couple potentiometers like most video game controllers. On the upside the distance they travel is fairly small. I am not sure what kind of resolution I am going to be able to get them, so that is going to take some digging. I think there is some software tricks i can do to make it work even if the resolution isnt that great. They are cheap enough that i am willing to roll the dice a bit, at ~ 3 bucks per thumbstick.