Does it seem like everyone you game against can do everything faster than you? Chances are good that they have some kind of dedicated game pad or macro pad with a bunch of custom shortcuts. If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em, but why buy one when you can build your own? [lordofthedum] did the smart thing when they built their own version of the Azeron game pad, which is an outrageously expensive but ergonomic and cool-looking macro pad that reminds us of the DataHand ergonomic keyboard.
Each finger hovers over a C-shaped group of three switches — one actuates by moving the finger forward, another by moving backward, and the third by pushing down like a regular button. The thumb gets a 4-way joystick. All of these inputs are wired up to an Arduino Pro Micro, which has sort of become the standard for DIY macro pads and keyboards. We think this looks fantastic, and really raises the bar for DIY macro pads.
Need a few more keys, but still want a thumb joystick? Check out the smooth and sweet Sherbet game pad.
Seriously? It’s paid and not open source? That’s so disappointing…
I was thinking about doing my own Azeron-inspired thing based on a similar open-source datahand that’s up on GitHub, but the form factor was a little bit unwieldy compared to this one.
It would have been smoother to build on this one…
Oh. That’s really disappointing. guess I have to model it myself
Any project where ergonomics are a concern is an order of magnitude more difficult to ‘get right’ than they look. There is nothing at all wrong with the $13 this person is charging for the likely 100+ of hours of work they put into this design.
I’m not really concerned about giving them money; I’d happily donate.
It’s the lack of modification sharing that irks me- especially on a device like this that can really help people with severe issues that make typing painful and difficult.
I want to modify this. I could modify it just for myself, but that feels like a waste of time; I want to contribute. It’d be more worth my while to redesign from scratch so I don’t have concerns with copyright and whatnot.
yea well said. Few people are familiar with the ability of open source things to make money on their own without these kinda of walled garden tactics. Ironic given all the tools used to make it like 3d printers. The only reason we have those are because the gorporate IP holders finally let loose of the patents and we can all put them together.. and groups like Reprap made their work free and open.
And to think that my first reaction to seeing this project was “Take my money!” I guess it takes all kinds of people. Just the design work on the ‘C’ bracket looks to be worth the price of admission.
Eh, for the amount of work that has been put into this, the price of a few beers is worth it.
Wow, that’s amazing. I saw the Azeron a while ago and wanted one, and this is certainly more affordable. My library just opened from renovations, and one of the additions was makerspace with 3d printer, so I could actually make this!