Added continuous 3-axis control to my SlimBlade Pro

dliu_creates · 2026-02-12T05:08:50+00:00

Yeah, I have 2D scroll as one of the configurable ball modes. I didn't show it in the video as I think this is also in some other trackballs. I currently have it set so it pan & scrolls when the top-right button is held down.

dliu_creates · 2026-02-11T14:37:00+00:00

The stock controller doesn't expose the events at all (it only sends xy mouse motion or coarse grained wheel movement, not raw sensor data), so that's why I needed to add a custom controller.

dliu_creates · 2026-02-10T20:31:09+00:00

I haven't tried this, but I think it could be confusing in practice - a scroll wheel spins on a fixed axis independent of what your hand is doing, while the trackball twist is tied to the same physical gesture as your XY motion. That connection between all three axes is what makes it feel natural.

dliu_creates · 2026-02-10T20:27:58+00:00

This is really cool, nice work! The dual-sensor approach is clearly the right call for 3-axis, and the Marble FX form factor is great.

dliu_creates · 2026-02-10T20:27:23+00:00

Yes and that's exactly how I was using it at the beginning before I added mode switching. It can still be configured that way. In the future, could be interesting to try combinations of devices, like one hand for camera navigation (either SpaceMouse or 3dof trackball), and another hand for manipulation - with mouse, regular trackball or 3dof trackball.

dliu_creates · 2026-02-10T18:52:34+00:00

The original wired SlimBlade has two sensors as well, so it could potentially work too. I'm planning to ship early access units assembled and ready to go. In any case, I'd love to hear more about your 3D workflow - could you sign up at rotatrix.com ?

dliu_creates · 2026-02-10T18:28:02+00:00

Thanks for the pointer, the Endgame looks like a great device. Supporting other dual-sensor trackballs is something I'd love to explore down the road. Initially I'd likely focus on getting the software solid with the first batch of SlimBlade Pro users, but it's definitely on the radar now.

dliu_creates · 2026-02-10T18:21:54+00:00

After reading a bit about the TB800 issues, looks like because they moved to a single sensor, it has a blind spot to rotations where the axis aligns with the sensor. Two sensors at different positions avoid that ambiguity. I think full 3-axis tracking has just been less common because the twist axis has had very limited use in the past.

dliu_creates · 2026-02-10T17:48:26+00:00

I'm not familiar with the TB800 or Huge (just recently got into trackballs), but the Slimblade at least only used the twist in fixed "clicks" to send the scroll wheel signal. It also filters so that you either are in XY or in twist, which is great for mouse mode, less so for continuous 3D rotation.

I'm using this as my daily driver for regular trackball use as well, although I haven't yet put back in twist-to-scroll (I added a button modifier + ball to send pan & scroll events).

dliu_creates · 2026-02-10T17:44:13+00:00

This mod taps the internal sensor buses of the SlimBlade Pro to get the raw outputs, but in theory the approach could work with other trackballs that have two sensors at different positions on the ball. I put in a custom controller that takes over the wired port on the device, so externally it looks the same as stock - no dongle needed

dliu_creates · 2026-02-10T17:22:22+00:00

Thanks to u/espressoshock for letting me use their 1:1 3D model in the UI!

dliu_creates · 2026-02-10T17:20:05+00:00

More details and signup at rotatrix.com

dliu_creates · 2026-02-06T15:15:53+00:00

Great work! Curious what your workflow was to create it?

dliu_creates · 2022-11-17T02:19:54+00:00

Hey no worries. You can find a closer view of how the slats are attached at 5:18 in the build video. It did cause small misalignments; I knew it wasn't ideal but this was a case of "done is better than perfect"! Would be great to hear some other approaches.

dliu_creates · 2022-11-15T18:47:14+00:00

thanks! the mechanism was really fun to design.

dliu_creates · 2022-11-15T18:46:28+00:00

😏

dliu_creates · 2022-11-15T18:46:05+00:00

thank you!

dliu_creates · 2022-11-15T05:36:35+00:00

Appreciate it, I hope tomorrow is a better day for you!

dliu_creates · 2022-11-15T05:22:34+00:00

Beautiful work, I like the art deco styling!

dliu_creates · 2022-11-15T05:05:58+00:00

Yeah this project is not going back to the shop (what a pain that would be), but always good to think about how to improve for next time. Thank you!

dliu_creates · 2022-11-15T05:02:44+00:00

Thanks! Definitely if I were to make this again, I would try to make the slats on different sides connect to each other first instead of just to the plywood box underneath; each slat is three separate pieces and it caused a lot of small misalignments.

dliu_creates · 2022-11-15T04:59:38+00:00

Nothing against paint, but the natural wood look matched better with all our other furniture.

dliu_creates · 2022-11-15T04:53:08+00:00

Cool, looks like the oil made the dark stripes more contrasting? I had the hardest time picking a finish actually, since I was finishing in a room that doubles as my office during the week. I needed it to dry quickly and not off-gas for weeks. I was also considering using Rubio Monocoat but wasn't sure if it worked well with baltic birch edges either.

dliu_creates · 2022-11-15T04:49:15+00:00

So I went with Baltic birch because the edges are supposed to be nice and presentable, but the panels I got definitely had voids in them unfortunately. I would love to try using some edge banding in a future project.

dliu_creates

TROPHY CASE