Long time ago I had same idea pressing up row buttons with the knuckles, but it didn't work, coz they must be very low, and often i pressed them accidentally while pressing other buttons and was hard to put and take out hand from the pad.
What are you using for the thumbstick?Something like that: (https://www.dhresource.com/260x260s/f2-albu-g4-M00-0E-C9-rBVaEVeX3fGABgAgAAIgS6Qgdew072.jpg/wholesale-1pcs-joystick-game-controller-dual.jpg)
Great looking wood iterations. I can see the hours that went into making these wooden ones, it's impressive. ...
What 3d printer?
What plastic?
What CAD software?
Oh and POST MOAR VIDS! :D
Hello! Long time lurker here.Looks impressive.Hope the function so cool as well
Decided to show my project, which started long time ago - back in 2012 with GuildWars2 release.
Already on the GW2 beta testing i understood, that playing this game with a keyboard is not for me, so i did start looking for something in the market, but could'n find anything that suits me. So I started my own project.
1) There is my first try to solve a problem, it was already was better than keyboard:Show Image(https://preview.ibb.co/i4EtFR/IMG_0417_copy1.jpg)Show Image(https://preview.ibb.co/kMOW26/IMG_0418.jpg)
As electronic i did use pcb from an old xbox joystick.
WASD movement went to thumb-stick and buttons for skills could be easily reached with fingers.
But the buttons was too hard to press and it required to look at it from time to time so i could position fingers correctly. So I had to figure out something better.
2) So I made next version of it:Show Image(https://preview.ibb.co/jjQ0vR/MG_5348.jpg)
Now some buttons are horizontal, but some of them vertical. And now I could play without looking at the keys - fingers all the time stay in the same spots...
So this result was already great for playing with ease ;D
3) I gave to my friends to try it out. Their feedback was very positive just had a problem with a different hand sizes so here was my try to solve that.Show Image(https://preview.ibb.co/nbMqvR/MG_5696_resize.jpg)
So I made a version which could be resized - up down, angle, and closer further away from palm-rest.
And this keypad had a custom made pcb.
4) After some years of hardcore playing games with comfort :cool: I noticed that for some games it was necessary to have more buttons, so here comes the upgrade ;DShow Image(https://preview.ibb.co/ks19N6/IMG_0422_copy1.jpg)
As you can see its now used quiet a bit - all dirty of heavy use and some buttons falling off.
So there is 2 more rows of buttons, which took some time to get used to, but now I can't live without them :D
This keypad used already 2 pcb's of old joysticks to support all the keys.
5)There was lot of trial and error, designs and models, which never made out of 3d modeling software. I spent a big amount of time till found a good design, where fits all what i wanted to see in it.Show Image(https://preview.ibb.co/ceD6Km/002.jpg)Show Image(https://preview.ibb.co/j02BkR/004.jpg)Show Image(https://preview.ibb.co/ddFE5R/001.jpg)
6) Then we bought 3D printer, from that point things started to develop a lot faster. We could try out all ideas, see mistakes, make fast changes and try again. And did not have to wait a long time for the result:Show Image(https://preview.ibb.co/cfq8FR/Whats_App_Image_2017_10_19_at_00_19_50.jpg)
Got rid of 2 huge joystick pcb's and started to use Teensy.
Used old perforated steel plate to play with the tower placements.
7) Now we are here, 3D printed with sanding, polishing and painting:Show Image(https://preview.ibb.co/du9w26/MG_8278.jpg)Show Image(https://preview.ibb.co/dqiH9m/MG_8301.jpg)Show Image(https://preview.ibb.co/nej2aR/Whats_App_Image_2017_12_15_at_15_17_55.jpg)
Added some upgrades in the firmware.
Pc can recognize it as joystick (which requires JoytoKey software to configure buttons). Some of the games don't allow joystick or JoytoKey (khem... black desert ...khem :rolleyes:), so I made it possible to switch to keyboard setup (but this one still needs an interface software to configure buttons).
Its also possible to adjust each tower for finger length and angle, same on a thumb-stick. Also add diodes too see which mode is on and possibility to dim them if they feel too bright. But there still are some work to do to make it perfect :)
Finishing those 3d prints by hand... Hardcore. I have to respect that. Sandpaper, then filler base and paint/lacquer? Or did you manage to automate it?
I hope you'll be able to scale up to injection molding, the way those parts are designed literally begs for it.
If you intend to sell them, I'd suggest using ABS or one of the other material mixes available. PLA alone has a low melting point, it might permanently distort if the keypad gets warm from sun during summer days. I'd suggest to test it at least, and make a note of expected storage/use properties. ABS tends to distort during printing, but you should be fine with a few modifications to your printer if you intend to go that route.
What electronics/software does it run on?
Thanks for the suggestion about ABS, but I think PLA is a bit more durable and easier to work with. And PLA melting point is around 180°C, I think it should be fine, but we will test it.
Thanks for the use vid.
I'm wondering what strain is involved in using the upper levels. It didn't look all that comfortable since you have to get over the standing lower row.
Yes, we thought about crowdfunding. But after consulting some people that have used it, they suggest to use it only when you are ready to manufacture, because the gathered money will not be enough for making molds. Crowdfunding is good for games and stuff that needs only work, not manufacturing.
We currently offer two custom made versions: 1) 3d printed and assembled - 100eur, or 2) 3d printed, smoothed, painted - 185eur
Also we offer 60 day try out period.
[...] got crowdfunded, and is now being delivered to backers [...]
[...] got crowdfunded, and is now being delivered to backers [...]
Right now it's more of an exception than a rule for most hardware crowdfunded projects.
We are now gathering some feedback from our keypad users, and doing some small improvements constantly. One of biggest update: there soon will be keypad for left handed peoples. And our keypad can be ordered in Etsy (https://etsy.me/2M8JAls) or message me: azeron.keypad@gmail.comWait, you're selling them custom now for only $120?!
Yep, That's right.We are now gathering some feedback from our keypad users, and doing some small improvements constantly. One of biggest update: there soon will be keypad for left handed peoples. And our keypad can be ordered in Etsy (https://etsy.me/2M8JAls) or message me: azeron.keypad@gmail.comWait, you're selling them custom now for only $120?!
I really, really love this thing. But before I purchase one, I'd like to ask a few questions:
- Is it running custom firmware? If so, is there a way to upload my own? I see it uses a Teensy, which suggests I should be able to flash my own, which gets me to the second question:
- Is the firmware open source? Or at least, is there any info on wiring, how the matrix is setup, etc?
- I plan to buy it through $work, are you able to send an invoice along with the device?
The reason I'm asking is because I developed a (perhaps bad) habit of porting open source firmware (Kaleidoscope) to various devices (ErgoDox & Atreus so far), and one of the goals of my purchase would be to port one to this device. I need to know if I'll be able to do that O:)
Am not involved with this project but have two questions - can you share link to you Kaleidoscope firmware (googling is showing too much results) and also - how can you get gaming keypads paid for by work (that's so cool)?
Am not involved with this project but have two questions - can you share link to you Kaleidoscope firmware (googling is showing too much results) and also - how can you get gaming keypads paid for by work (that's so cool)?
https://github.com/keyboardio/Kaleidoscope
And work paying for keyboards is easy: I own the company. >:) (And this way, I can write it up as an expense, and save a bit on tax stuff. Since part of my work involves working on keyboard firmware, this all adds up nicely.)
I really, really love this thing. But before I purchase one, I'd like to ask a few questions:
- Is it running custom firmware? If so, is there a way to upload my own? I see it uses a Teensy, which suggests I should be able to flash my own, which gets me to the second question:
- Is the firmware open source? Or at least, is there any info on wiring, how the matrix is setup, etc?
- I plan to buy it through $work, are you able to send an invoice along with the device?
The reason I'm asking is because I developed a (perhaps bad) habit of porting open source firmware (Kaleidoscope) to various devices (ErgoDox & Atreus so far), and one of the goals of my purchase would be to port one to this device. I need to know if I'll be able to do that O:)
This is one of the most hardcore builds I have seen. This is the true Orbweaver if Razer has to say anything about it.
Really interested in the first prototype though. I wouldn't need too many buttons for the games I play.
I'm wondering if the 3D files are uploaded. I would like to adapt it to a simpler version with 2-8 buttons for something like osu.
You can upload any firmware whats working on Teensy (reset button are easy accessible), never test Kaleidoscope so cant say how its works.
Our button pinout is not a problem, I can send You, or even put in our web page.
I can send some basic invoice from Etsy, but better one I can send if buying via PayPal.
I can see from the videos that it works well for MMOs, and I found a video showing it being used in Warframe, but how about FPS titles? While I primarily play Overwatch these days, I'm also curious how easy it will be to switch between an Overwatch setup and something else... the alpha software page mentions "Can work as joystick, as keyboard or as hybrid (direct input)" - that is very promising, but what about X-Input? Will I need something like TocaEdit Xbox 360 Controller Emulator to do the mapping for those games? It says, "2 setup profiles can be saved on the onboard memory", what is it like to switch between more than 2 profiles? Also, what makes the software Alpha right now? Are there known outstanding issues I should be concerned with? What's the development timeline look for the software?