DIY scratch controller

posted Mar 11th 2010 12:00pm by
filed under: peripherals hacks

There’s something viscerally pleasing about simple solutions. [Kip] came up with one in the form of a scratch controller. The spindle from an optical drive is used to hold a CD in place, which acts as the LP for scratching. The sensor from an optical mouse is mounted upside down below the CD and detects the rotation of the disc. From there it’s just a matter of setting up your software to get the reading from that mouse. He’s had some trouble finding disc surfaces that the mouse sensor will read reliably.  We’d recommend trying some of those stick-on inkjet CD labels.

This is similar to a scratch controller we saw in 2008. That one was actually repurposing the IR encoding from inside of a mouse. We’re not sure which method would work better, but either controller will make a nice addition to a Flexi Knob setup.



38 Responses to DIY scratch controller

  • vonskippy says:
    March 11, 2010 at 12:08 pm

    Breaking News Folks!!!!!!!

    We have a new champion for the dumbest, dullest, stupidest video here on Hack-a-Day.

    This one rushes to the top in a category all it’s own.

    So good work “scratcher guy” you’ve made it to the top (or bottom) of the tremendously bad video pile.

    Reply Report comment
  • Chris says:
    March 11, 2010 at 12:17 pm

    beraking news folks what vonskippy ever done….

    Reply Report comment
  • Addictronics says:
    March 11, 2010 at 12:29 pm

    Anywhere chalk board spray paint would work nicely for the mouse to read from.

    Reply Report comment
  • pascal says:
    March 11, 2010 at 12:30 pm

    @chris but you can’t argue with the fact that 5mins is really not an appropriate video length for this kind of hack, as it should only take 5mins in total to disassemble the CD drive and mouse and assemble this hack…

    but it should be possible to do this without the mouse: stop the drive’s motors, and analyze the data the laser reads. it should work like an optical encoder… (I guess there are alignment patterns in CDs somewhere?)

    Reply Report comment
  • JBC says:
    March 11, 2010 at 12:31 pm

    HUh??!@!!

    Reply Report comment
  • Climatebabes says:
    March 11, 2010 at 1:12 pm

    Can we have a lame category.. that DS control thing..also lame..

    Reply Report comment
  • Josh says:
    March 11, 2010 at 1:18 pm

    Simple and effective… would it be a better “hack” if he’d spent 2 weeks messing around with a microcontroler?

    Reply Report comment
  • Ben Ryves says:
    March 11, 2010 at 1:43 pm

    Is it just me or does the video repeat itself after a couple of minutes?

    Oh well, one step closer to the Wasp T12, I guess. ;-)

    Reply Report comment
  • Giuseppe says:
    March 11, 2010 at 1:56 pm

    Simple question to Mike Szczys: Where’s the functionality of this device?

    Reply Report comment
  • mars says:
    March 11, 2010 at 1:56 pm

    The video repeats itself.. O_o

    Reply Report comment
  • p1nhead says:
    March 11, 2010 at 2:04 pm

    1:12 -> “…scratch away [SNUFF]”
    lol

    Reply Report comment
  • jamieriddles says:
    March 11, 2010 at 2:15 pm

    The functionality is probably a replacement for MIDI input into a DAW. All you need is a fader and you are set.

    Reply Report comment
  • M4CGYV3R says:
    March 11, 2010 at 2:47 pm

    1. A youtube concept video is not a hack.

    2. Until you show it working, it’s a broken-ass CD player and mouse, not a scratching device.

    3. I know of zero programs for DJing that would let you use the mouse like that to scratch, not to mention having to hold down a mouse button for the ones that do.

    Reply Report comment
  • Xeracy says:
    March 11, 2010 at 3:43 pm

    Im never gonna get recognition for my augmented kazoo mouse controller, am I?

    http://xeracy.wordpress.com/2009/11/02/augmented-kazoo/

    Reply Report comment
  • Jnix says:
    March 11, 2010 at 4:12 pm

    @ M4CGYV3R,
    For #3, TerminatorX for Linux.

    Reply Report comment
  • kburn says:
    March 11, 2010 at 4:57 pm

    whoo man, get a job!

    probably the douchest hack ever..

    Reply Report comment
  • Geert says:
    March 11, 2010 at 5:16 pm

    I don’t know, but isn’t it possible to use the motor as a generator and from there see how much movement there is? You could make the device a lot smaller then, and removing electronics (if the functionality doesn’t suffer) is never bad :)

    Reply Report comment
  • jeditalian says:
    March 11, 2010 at 6:25 pm

    so you can tape some junk together and say that it does something useful, without providing a demonstration, and hackaday will accept it?

    Reply Report comment
  • Kip says:
    March 11, 2010 at 6:43 pm

    Hey i know its kina lame and my video sux and it does repeat I am sorry. i just whipped it together in like ten seconds and I didnt watch that video carefully but if it is any consolation here is a video of me using it with terminatorX in linux:

    and this video does not repeat I promise!

    Reply Report comment
  • blizzarddemon says:
    March 11, 2010 at 7:02 pm

    The video doesn’t repeat itself….I think he does o.o

    Reply Report comment
  • vonskippy says:
    March 11, 2010 at 7:06 pm

    Persistence – that and a tough skin is what success is all about – good followup (although you’ll need a time machine or a doctors note to erase the first vid from everyone’s mind).

    Reply Report comment
  • MS3FGX says:
    March 11, 2010 at 7:12 pm

    A much more elegant way of approaching this would be to analyze the voltage pulses what would be produced by spinning the rotor of the drive motor with a disc glued to it. Of course that would involve some processing and unless you fed it into your sound card, some sort of micro-controller to convert into a usable input device.

    That said, this is a much easier way of doing it and does have the advantage of working as USB HID out of the box.

    Reply Report comment
  • Kip says:
    March 11, 2010 at 7:12 pm

    well its the stupid things you do at 3:00 am in the mourning that scar you for life…..

    Reply Report comment
  • Kip says:
    March 11, 2010 at 7:17 pm

    Yeah it was just made to be a stupid-simple controller and the A.D.D. was not gonna let me put any actual thought in to it (and apparently not my first video either) SORRY AGAIN EVERYBODY !

    Reply Report comment
  • Terramoto says:
    March 11, 2010 at 8:03 pm

    http://www.instructables.com/id/HDDJ_Turning_an_old_hard_disk_drive_into_a_rotary/

    I think theres already some people that got it working with arduino.

    Reply Report comment
  • anon says:
    March 11, 2010 at 8:08 pm

    I does repeat! Watch the video again, there is the same “…scratch away [SNUFF]” at 3:34 as p1nhead posted 1:12 -> “…scratch away [SNUFF]”

    Reply Report comment
  • Brandonman says:
    March 11, 2010 at 8:33 pm

    I actually found it somewhat interesting if he could find some software to work for it

    Reply Report comment
  • angrydroid says:
    March 12, 2010 at 6:45 am

    Yeah. I would have to say that I thought it lame that there was no demonstration of it’s actual scratching. But I am GLAD the powers-that-be behind hackaday seem to NOT be some technocrati 31337 snobbos. They seem to have a good sense of humor and I come to this site daily to lubricate the folds of my brain.

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  • Mike says:
    March 12, 2010 at 8:45 am

    Great hack Kip! For v2 you should see if you can build a good housing for the motor and board. Very creative repurposing of a mouse. Also, you could see if you can get access to the left and right buttons, and maybe the jog wheel, you could really expand on this initial hack.

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  • Josh says:
    March 12, 2010 at 6:56 pm

    Cool stuff Kip! Is there any software that could handle two mice as separate input devices?

    Reply Report comment
  • Decepticon says:
    March 13, 2010 at 5:19 am

    Soooo….is there any functionality demo’d in a video somewhere? Just looks like something a 5 year old slapped together. Next project he built was a robot made out of cardboard boxes and tinfoil.

    Seriously, where’s the functionality?

    Reply Report comment
  • darkore says:
    March 13, 2010 at 5:48 am

    Give me L!
    Give me A!
    Give me M!
    Give me E!
    Repeating video ?! Come on …

    Reply Report comment
  • Marcus says:
    March 13, 2010 at 7:08 am

    Ah, come on guys&girls! Give the guy a break! Sure, the video above is not worthy an Oscar, but is it his hack-skills or his presenting-skills that is the primary concern on a blog like this?

    Second, just because a hack is simple/easy to implement and recreate doesn’t automatically mean that is bad/not a hack/not worthy of this site. Some of the greatest inventions are also very simple. Thinking out of the box and repurposing the components of everyday things is, IMHO, an extraordinary feat not to be ridiculed with like this. You guys are complaining that he’s not even using an Arduino, I could just as well complain that you are noobs for wanting exactly that. Why not build your own uC with ICs from the 74- and 4- series?

    It’s a matter of perspectives and I believe it is a good thing that we can abstract ourselves from the very lowest stuff nowadays. Look at the impact of the stuff from Arduino, Sparkfun, Phidgets etc. Look at all the stuff that has been created with it, look at all the creativity is has enabled to be channeled into real stuff. But no, I guess it is not haXXor enough for some.

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  • Marcus says:
    March 13, 2010 at 7:17 am

    PS,
    in the comments, he posts the link to another video where he demonstrates the functionality of the thing.

    And Kip, nice work! Thanks for sharing it with us. =) Keep up the good stuff and try new things!

    And, to further elaborate on the above, SMS is a good example of where people took something meant for one thing (originally, SMS was meant to be used for technicians in the field) and with no or little change repurposed with huge impact as a result. Now, this is not one of these, but perhaps a small increment on something that already existed, but it can serve many purposes. To me, it was a fun read and inspiration. Maybe this will spark a great, novel idea in someone?

    I’m done now, arguing on the internet is like booing in the special olympics…

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  • kip says:
    March 13, 2010 at 7:39 am

    Alright guys/gals I know the vid sux..I gave it a band-aid so hopefully that will appease some of the not so savory characters leaving crappy comments. And for those of you who did post crappy comments on my crappy video:
    I hope you never make a mistake because I will be shore to not ever let you hear/read the end of it.

    Reply Report comment
  • anacron says:
    March 16, 2010 at 2:52 pm

    what the hell guys, this is not lame – it really made my day! seriously! not because of the build quality or using mouse for scratching but using the cd spindle! cheap and easy way to make perfect jog wheel.

    I already started to build my own

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  • [ap[run[h says:
    March 16, 2010 at 11:13 pm

    I agree with anacron and I would love to see where other people go with this idea as I added a few minor things that I cant live without now. also using it with traktor scratch pro lots of fun so far
    thanks mate cheers!

    Reply Report comment
  • Martin Peck says:
    March 28, 2010 at 7:20 pm

    Thanks for this great blog.

    Reply Report comment

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