3D Printed Control Stick

[Ted]

Hey I printed some control sticks of my own creation. The first one I designed was not so ergonomic, and it also was not easy to 3D print as it required support material. This would take a print time of about 15 hours to make the object. However, by changing the curves and angles a little I made the control stick easly printable without support material. This reduced print time to 6-7 hours.



The original design. It was uncomfortable to grasp, and it was difficult to access the top surface if buttons are desired. Also it was not easy to print




Failed printing of the original design.





The very curvy final design.








The parts are printed in ABS plastic. This plastic is the same plastic used in the making of LEGO so it's pretty strong stuff.














Just to see the fit in the hand.

The control stick is also very ergonomic to palm from the top if there are no buttons.

Let me know what you guys think, and if there should be buttons or not?

Also the shaft diameter is 3/4"


Cheers,

-Ted

[John Nicol]

Hey Ted that looks fantastic! I just ordered a cheap 3D printer from Makibox http://makibox.com/. Not due to ship until July so might miss AirVenture, but fingers crossed. The build volume is 110mm x 150mm x 90mm so would probably be too small to do this in one piece.

It does look quite beefy and thick.... how does it compare to other handles?

Here is my thought on your question re buttons. It would be good to have a radio transmit push-to-talk somewhere (not trigger finger... that should be for our missiles and guns ) and room for an electric trim rocker switch (trim up/down). Anyone else want to jump in to validate or say no?

John

[Ted]

The makibox looks like a great little printer. Hopefully it can make it to AirVenture, that would be sweet.

The control stick is a little on the beefy side, I read in Dreyfuss' the "Measure of Man and Woman" that beefy objects are easier to grab and hold onto for long periods of time. However, it is still a bit on the thick side. I like the shape of this stick, but the final unit will be quite different, it works great for my hand but the design needs to be changed so it will work better for people with smaller hands.

We can also have different variations on the controls stick so people can just select from one of the control sticks of their choice.