I don’t know how many people know what a space mouse is, but it’s a little controller that makes it easier to navigate in 3D space in CAD and modeling software. I am really into 3D printing and want to make more models but as a user of Figma, navigating Autodesk Fusion can be a huge pain with just my mouse. Hence, this project!

There’s an open source model and all of the instructions on Printables, so that’s what I’m following for this project: https://www.printables.com/model/864950-open-source-spacemouse-space-mushroom-remix

First day was assembling materials. I actually planned to do this project several weeks ago but never got to it, so I had already bought the joysticks and arduinos and whatnot. Since it was so long ago though, I couldn’t find the Arduinos for way longer than I’d liked. Turns out they shipped in a box, not electrostatic bags!

I also 3D printed the actual chassis for the mouse already. The plate has some visual defects that I’m thinking about whether I want to reprint or not. It’s on the inside, so realistically it probably doesn’t matter.

This is my first electronics project outside of fixing things that already exist, and my first time working with an Arduino. I’m actually kind of excited???