Chris Huang's Quad Stick Is a Low-Cost, 3D-Printable Accessible USB Input Device

Maker Chris Huang has released 3D print files and source code for an Arduino-powered "Quad Stick" — a multi-modal input device designed for accessibility.

"I created a 3D-printed quad-stick controller with a mouth-operated joystick, an integrated sip-and-puff, along with an indicator LED, and Velcro pads for mounting an IR [Infrared] sensor," Huang explains of the project. "I designed it as an assistive device for people who have limited hand or arm mobility, allowing them to control a computer or game using mouth movements instead of their hands."

Traditional computer input devices — keyboards, mice, trackballs, joysticks, and gamepads — are based on the assumption that the user has full fine motor control of their arms and hands. When that's not the case, you need alternatives like Huang's gadget.

In Huang's design, powered by a classic Arduino Leonardo microcontroller board, a joystick is operated by mouth to move a cursor — or to control the player character in a game. Rather than pressing a button, a hollow tube mounted in the middle of the stick links to a "sip-and-puff": push air through it for a left-click or the first fire button, pull air back through it for a right-click or the second fire button. Finally, an infrared sensor provides proximity detection that can be mapped to a third input.

"By 3D printing it," Huang says of the finished device, "I was able to make it lightweight, customizable, and much more affordable than commercial options."

Source code and 3D print files for the joystick are available on Instructables under an unspecified open-source license.