Re: [ANNOUNCE] Open Gamepad for N900, 3D Printable
 

I envy you so much right now!

Re: [ANNOUNCE] Open Gamepad for N900, 3D Printable
 

OK, printing is done, the buttons and Dpad are a too big(jammed in with brute force for the pic) so I will have to reprint those, good news is button hole allignment is nearly perfect but might tweak some by 0.2mm-0.3mm, if you look carefuly you can see the B and T keys through the peg holes. The buttons and Dpad look weird because I used my fingers to tear the print brim(helps printed stuff stay stuck to heated print bed) rather than bending and scraping/sanding it off. I will go with .1mm layers(first print was .4mm) and raise the print temp to 235 degrees C form 220 C in order to make the narrow push pegs more durable. I may also bevel or round off edges before printing if I feel like it.
The other issue is the USB and stereo ports are not placed correctly, I might even skip the USB port, otherwise the design is ready to use or hack.
I should also take a photography class.

Re: [ANNOUNCE] Open Gamepad for N900, 3D Printable
 

Nice job biketool! ;)
I want so badly a 3d printer! I could make everything I need on my own :p.
The printer also paints the parts that it prints or you have to do it on your own?
Does the metal thing on the screen can get attached with a magnet?
I could be awesome if we could get rid of the useless plastic, and have the gamepad attached to n900 with the help of a small magnet ;)

Re: [ANNOUNCE] Open Gamepad for N900, 3D Printable
 

Bill_KPD,
I use an http://airwolf3d.com/ printer. I printed the buttons in grey/silver then switched the 3mm ABS filament feed to black and purged the extruder.

Re: [ANNOUNCE] Open Gamepad for N900, 3D Printable
 

biketool have you ever thought/tried of making full housing for n900 or any other phone with this 3d printer?

Re: [ANNOUNCE] Open Gamepad for N900, 3D Printable
 

Bill_klpd, I have considered a housing making the N900 crash resistant with a standard bicycle click-on mount, it would not be difficult compared to this gripper I think, the question is one that slides open or not sliding.

BTW I will get back to the gripper in a few days. Is this first try the ultimate design or is there something to make better? I would prefer to wait a bit for feedback.

Re: [ANNOUNCE] Open Gamepad for N900, 3D Printable
 

@biketool more photos please from diffrent angles and closeups:)

Re: [ANNOUNCE] Open Gamepad for N900, 3D Printable
 

I would love to help with this :D
Well I am trying to make some designs at Cinema 4D (if you know it...). As I said I don't have a 3D Printer and I don't know what files the need, but after a search I found that Cinema 4D can also print in a 3D printer. I tried OpenSCAD as well, but I found Cinema 4D more user friendly :P

I would love to see some psp-style buttons on the gripper and, as I said, I would love to find out if it is possible to "connect" the gripper with the n900 with some magnets or any other way instead of using the parts that cover the battery...

Re: [ANNOUNCE] Open Gamepad for N900, 3D Printable
 

Please be very specific when you say PSP buttons, what is the features that make them great, pics would help.
I am thinking that I can make this gripper with side grabbing horns which would simplify printing to one piece.
I am not really a gamer so I actually need all the input I can get from people who have actually played portable game systems. The closest I came to portable gaming was a old B&W gameboy with a 2 1/2 inch screen.
The whole idea is to make a superior and printable slip on gaming system, if it turns out to be really great I might adapt it to a bluetooth kb for other phones.

Re: [ANNOUNCE] Open Gamepad for N900, 3D Printable
 

Does it hold firmly to the N900 ? So that it won't fall out or on the other hand does not get bent/scratched, etc. ?

Also, I think the headphones hole alignment is quite important - like for using the gamepad in a bus, which could be quite a frequent scenario) etc.

The button placement looks good - basically the same one as game gripper, which I use and which is perfectly usable. Only issue with the Gamegriper is hands getting numb after a longer session, but I guess that can't be solved even with a changed layout on the Gamepad, due to the shape needed so that it can tap the keyboard.

Anyway, looking forward to Gamepad V2 (with the fixed button size you mentioned) - will give it a try on our local RepRap. :)