Another thread prompted me to post this to anyone in the community who might be interested. I created a controller to sit UNDER my trackball, so I could push it forward to get a W, pull back to get a S, move left/right to get A/D and twist counterclockwise to get Q or clockwise to get E. It uses a small computer-on-a-board called Teensy-LC, all programmable via the microUSB.
Basically, the thing is a 7-inch square about an inch tall and does your WASD (plus QE) keys for you while sitting under a trackball. Your trackball doesn't MOVE (like a mouse), and this device adds the ability to apply pressure (not continuous movement!) forward, backward, left, right, clockwise or counterclockwise and it sends W, S, A, D, Q or E in response as if it were another keyboard attached to the PC.
Assembly:
- Program the TeensyLC (using Arduino IDE with the TeensyLC plugin). I can supply the keyboard emulator code.
- Solder the wires onto the TeensyLC using a "third-hand". You'll need 1-inch lengths for the W [pin 8] and Q [pin 9] switches, about a 1-inch length for the ground (which daisy-chains from W on around to the others), about 5 inches for the A (pin 6), E (pin 7) and D (pin 20) switches, and about 9 inches for the S (pin 18) switch.
- Put the switches into place and screw them in tight. Don't go super-strength or you may break the plastic.
- Strip the wires and climp them all into place. You can test the buttons by plugging the thing into your PC, going into notepad, and holding the buttons. You should see repeating q,w,e,a,s or d characters. If that doesn't happen you might have a bad switch and need to swap it out.
- Try the traveler on the center post. file out the box of the traveler to make sure it's easy to move on the post from side to side. you want smooth motion without any gaps.
- Hot glue the TeensyLC into place.
- Solder all the wires onto the switches (they should be crimped into place by now).
- Hot-glue all the loose wires so they are not in the way of the traveler (check ALL MOTION) or springs (which will be stretched to the center of those holes in the plate). You don't want wires rubbing on the top or any of the moving parts.
- Insert screws into the cones on the base, and put a spring on each one. Tighten it down (snug but not ridiculous) with the spring pointed toward the holes.
(progress to this point is shown in the picture)
- Clean out the holes in the traveler and the top plate using a turkey-lacer. I use one with the point still on and another with the point cut off with heavy wire cutter, to make sure the hole is smooth and free of debris. cut about 3 mm past the bend of the loop of 2 of the turkey lacers, and bend it to 90 degrees. Push these into the top plate holes, through the traveler, and out the other side, pushing it all the way through to the bend, then check that the traveler smoothly moves back and forth on the pins. if it looks good, snip off the excess, leaving about 3 mm, then bend them so they stay in place.
- Put the screws into the top plate cones, about half-way in.
- Mate the top and bottom plates (pay careful attention to where the traveler goes - which is why I used a sharpie to indicate this on the bottom plate) -- the top and bottom plates should line up directly above and below each other.
- Use long and thin needle-nose pliers to get the springs onto the top plate screws, then tighten them down. getting the springs on is tricky -- i found it easier when the springs were set up so that the open part of the end loop was oriented toward the middle of the plate (as in the photo; needle-nose can then grab the "neck" of the loop to put it on).
- Stick on some shelf-liner, jar opener, or other grippy surface onto the bottom and/or top of the plates. The bare plastic is definitely too slippery to work right.
Put your trackball on top of this thing and try it out in paragon chat or icon. Personally I program the right mouse button for jump (instead of "forward")
If anyone is interested in this, I would be more than willing to print the plastic parts for you (takes about 8 hours total -- yes really -- 3D printing is SLOW). Of course I will also look up where I got all the specific parts (screws, springs, switches). Off the top of my head the screws are M1.2 x 10 (1.2mm diameter thread and 10mm long, not counting the head). The springs are about 1cm long not counting the loops.
Here is the FreeCad file if anyone wants to take a look:
dash_plate
