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IronicDeadBird
10-02-2015, 00:08
So I have been working on a project which would increase the control you have on a controller without any changes to a robots code. It is a 3D printed thumb stick extension. The basic thought process came after a friend showed me what I initially thought was dumb. Its a thumb stick extension for controllers made by Kontrol Freek. The basic idea is that when you have a circle and you increase the radius of the circle you increase the circumference, in non math video game terms this means the longer the joystick the greater the control. So I found a version on thingiverse that I pulled printed and tested out with a few of my gamer friends, and we liked it. Then threw a student at it to make it more refined and it only got better. The picture attached is where I currently am with the project. There is one snapped onto our controller one on its side for a profile and one that I added a lexan surface that was contoured to my thumb a la heat gun.
I'm kinda stumped on where I want to go and I want to open this up for 2 things.
1. Per usual Chief Delphi gives great feedback and was hoping this would catch someones eye and they would have a brilliant moment.
2. If you have someone on your team looking to learn CAD and how to 3D print this is a nice project to have them learn on.
Here are the pictures!
Cheers!

http://i1349.photobucket.com/albums/p743/AbstractObliteration/20150209_172958_zpsdd72d5ca.jpg


p.s 300th post wooooh!

CoreyBrown
11-02-2015, 00:52
I did something similar in an optimization class in college. To stick with the theme of not going into the math, I won't post my slides or report. Rather than using the "KontrolFreek" method, I decided to replace the entire joystick. Below are some pictures of the finished project. If you want the .stl to this one, I'm more than happy to share. I don't know where the CAD files for it are though...:yikes:

If I were to improve on this design, I would make the base of the joystick thinner and probably spray the top with plastidip. I find that my thumb travels a lot along the outside of the joystick, so the contoured thumb grippy thing would not be beneficial for me.

Before cleanup (acetone vapor bath) and installation:
http://i.imgur.com/lCMfpsQ.jpg

Right joystick is new, left is old:
https://fbcdn-sphotos-f-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn2/t31.0-8/704747_4736155997473_548001850_o.jpg