DIY 6DOF SpaceMouse Pro Firmware & Printable Chassis | Standalone OLED Hardware Debugger & Driverless Web Studio
- Overview
- Key Features
- Quick Start
- Hardware Requirements
- Pinout Configuration
- Project Background
- Credits & Lineage
- License
O.R.B.7 is an ultra-optimized, high-performance firmware and hardware ecosystem for DIY 6-DOF (Six Degrees of Freedom) 3D navigation controllers based on the ATmega32U4 (Arduino Pro Micro).
Emulating a native 3Dconnexion SpaceMouse Pro USB HID device, O.R.B.7 combines a custom 4-button 3D-printed chassis, a standalone OLED hardware assembly debugger, an integer-only Q7/Q8 fixed-point math engine, decoupled real-time drift compensation, and a driverless WebHID 3D Studio (v1.6.5) to deliver a smooth, high-precision CAD navigation experience.
Tip
Universal Compatibility:
Don't have an OLED screen or using a legacy 8-channel Hall-effect build (e.g., TeachingTech or ArdunHH designs)? Simply set #define ENABLE_OLED 0 in config.h. The OLED driver is stripped at compile-time to save Flash memory while granting your hardware all performance engine upgrades.
- Official O.R.B.7 4-Button Chassis: Purpose-built 3D-printable housing optimized for FDM 3D printing tolerances, featuring an integrated OLED bezel and 4 tactile push-buttons (STL files under final refinement—coming soon).
- Universal Backward Compatibility: Native support for legacy DIY SpaceMouse designs (0, 2, or 4 physical buttons).
Turn your microcontroller into a standalone electronics diagnostic tool using zero RAM buffer displays (SSD1306AsciiWire).
Important
PC-Free Mechanical Alignment (Align Sensors Screen):
Assemble and balance your physical 3D-printed housing directly at your workbench without a computer connected! The built-in screen displays real-time differential deltas (OK / ADJUST visual feedback as you adjust structural tension.
-
On-Device Zeroing (
Re-ZeroScreen): Perform rest-coordinate zeroing directly from the physical hardware via a 1-second button hold. -
Dynamic Limits Tester (
Cal. LimitsScreen): Run a standalone 20-second dynamic range sampling cycle on-device and persist bounds to EEPROM. -
Real-Time 6DOF Visualizer: Zero-flicker mini bar graphs displaying live Translation (
$TX, TY, TZ$ ) and Rotation ($RX, RY, RZ$ ) velocity outputs. -
Complete On-Device Configuration Menu: Tweak Global Sensitivity, Deadzones, Math Curves (LIN, SQR, Tangent), Axis Inversions (
INV TX..RZ), OLED Auto-Sleep Timers, and CAD Shortcuts directly on the device.
Manage all internal EEPROM parameters directly from Google Chrome, Edge, or Brave without installing background drivers or executable services.
| Dashboard & 3D Motion Studio | Sensitivities & Modifier Curves |
|---|---|
 Live 3D puck visualization, 6DOF bars, telemetry health & 4-button studio. |
 Q7 per-axis tuning, axis inversions & real-time Q8 curve plotter. |
| Gates & Drift | Debug Studio & Calibration Wizard |
 MicroGate control, noise thresholds, thermal anti-drift & exclusive mode. |
 Sensor pair deltas, 20s dynamic limits wizard & manual fine-tuning. |
-
System Telemetry: Live monitoring of dynamic Firmware Version, EEPROM XOR Checksum Integrity (
VALID), ADC Reference Voltage (2.56V Internal), Magnetic Balance (BALANCED), USB Connection State, and Sampling Frequency (Hz). - Interactive Hardware Button Studio: Map all 4 physical push buttons dynamically across 32 native 3DConnexion HID shortcuts (FIT, TOP, FRONT, ISO1, ESC, SHIFT, CTRL, ALT, etc.) with 1-click presets for SolidWorks, Blender 3D, and camera views.
-
Remote Hardware Reboot (
Restart Mouse): Trigger remote MCU restarts via the AVR Watchdog Timer (wdt_enable(WDTO_60MS)) with automatic USB re-enumeration. -
Hardened 20-Second Calibration Wizard: Proactive auto Re-Zero, ADC Noise Spike Filtering (
$> 900$ /$<-900$ ), tab-focus monitoring, and validation guards to prevent corrupted saving. - Interactive 3D Viewport (Three.js): Real-time 3D SpaceMouse knob rendering mirroring 6DOF physical hand movements.
- Curve Visualizer (Chart.js): Real-time plotting of Q8 math modifiers (Slope A / Slope B) for CAD panning and zooming response curves.
-
JSON Profile Management: Save and restore complete configuration profiles (
.json) with a single click. -
Standalone Deployment: Monolithic deployment hosted via a single local HTML file (
O.R.B.7 Web Studio v1.6.5.html).
- Fixed-Point Arithmetic (Q7/Q8): The 6DOF motion path is 100% floating-point free at runtime. Sensitivities are scaled via fast bit-shifts to minimize cycle latency on 8-bit AVR microcontrollers.
- Direct Root MicroGate (
gate_trans): Low-level noise gate (0 to 50) applied directly to Translation X and Y prior to sensitivity scaling. Eliminates raw matrix parasitic spring bleed at the root level. - Full Physical Travel Matrix Restoration: Restored optimal matrix divisors (
/2and/4) to prevent physical travel deadband clipping and maximize stroke resolution. - Symmetrical Noise Gates & Exclusive Mode: Multi-axis isolation prevents parasitic axis crosstalk with smooth neutral unlocking on relaxation (
EXCL_RELAX_THRESHOLD).
- 250 kHz ADC Clock: Prescaler optimization (
0x06) lowers analog conversion latency to ~26 µs per sample while preserving 10-bit resolution. - 2x Oversampling & Integer EMA Filtering: Non-blocking Exponential Moving Average filter with non-stuck rounding logic for smooth, jitter-free motion.
- Decoupled Per-Axis Drift Tracking: Independent hardware channels neutralize thermal zero-point drift (caused by ambient temperature swings or mechanical fatigue) without locking active movement.
- EEPROM Memory Firewall: Struct packed parameter storage (
ParamStorage, 37 parameters) protected by an 8-bit XOR checksum and rigid bounds. - Watchdog Loop Protection: Explicit flag clearance (
MCUSR = 0; wdt_disable();) at boot prevents infinite reboot loops. - I2C Bus Recovery Guard: 3 ms hardware timeout automatic recovery against ESD/noise I2C bus stalls.
- CAD Viewport Isolation: Kinematic output and HID reports automatically pause while browsing OLED menus or saving web settings to prevent accidental CAD viewport spins.
Warning
Mandatory Hardware Step:
Before flashing the firmware, you must configure a custom board entry in Arduino IDE with 3Dconnexion's Vendor ID (VID) and Product ID (PID). This allows operating systems and official CAD drivers to natively recognize the device as a genuine 3Dconnexion SpaceMouse Pro.
Download the latest pre-packaged source and firmware zip from the O.R.B.7 Releases page.
Follow the official guide on Creating a Custom Board for Arduino IDE:
- Locate your Arduino IDE installation directory and find
boards.txt(typically located inC:\Users\YourName\AppData\Local\Arduino15\packages\arduino\hardware). - Add a new custom board definition or modify an existing Arduino Leonardo entry with the official USB identifiers:
# 3Dconnexion SpaceMouse Pro Emulation Settings leonardo.build.vid=0x256F leonardo.build.pid=0xC62B leonardo.build.usb_product="SpaceMouse Pro"
- Save
boards.txtand restart Arduino IDE.
- Open the downloaded O.R.B.7 firmware in Arduino IDE.
- Install the required library via Library Manager:
SSD1306Ascii(by Bill Greiman)
- Select your custom board entry (or configured Arduino Leonardo) and correct COM port.
- Configure hardware options in
config.h:#define ENABLE_OLED 1 // Set to 0 if omitting the OLED screen or using other versions of spacemouse
- Click Upload.
- Download or open O.R.B.7 Web Studio v1.6.5.html directly from this repository.
- Double-click
O.R.B.7 Web Studio v1.6.5.htmlto run locally. - Click Connect Device and select your SpaceMouse from the browser popup.
- Microcontroller: ATmega32U4 (Arduino Pro Micro 5V / 16 MHz).
- Sensors: 8x Ratiometric Linear Hall-Effect Sensors (AH49E or equivalent).
- 3D Printed Chassis: Official O.R.B.7 4-Button Enclosure (STL coming soon) OR legacy DIY SpaceMouse housings (TeachingTech, ArdunHH).
- Display (Optional): 0.96" OLED SSD1306 (128x64 pixels, I2C address
0x3C). - Buttons (Optional): Up to 4 Tactile Push Buttons (ORB7 layout) or up to 32 buttons using internal
INPUT_PULLUP.
| Component / Function | Sensor / Button | Pro Micro Pin | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| OLED SDA | Hardware I2C | Pin 2 | I2C Data (400 kHz) |
| OLED SCL | Hardware I2C | Pin 3 | I2C Clock (400 kHz) |
| Hall Sensor HES0 | South Pair (A) | A0 | Analog Input |
| Hall Sensor HES1 | South Pair (B) | A1 | Analog Input |
| Hall Sensor HES2 | East Pair (A) | A2 | Analog Input |
| Hall Sensor HES3 | East Pair (B) | A3 | Analog Input |
| Hall Sensor HES6 | North Pair (A) | Pin 4 (A6) | Analog Input |
| Hall Sensor HES7 | North Pair (B) | Pin 6 (A7) | Analog Input |
| Hall Sensor HES8 | West Pair (A) | Pin 8 (A8) | Analog Input |
| Hall Sensor HES9 | West Pair (B) | Pin 9 (A9) | Analog Input |
| Button Front Right [R] | keys[0] |
Pin 0 | Dynamic HID Shortcut |
| Button Front Left [L] | keys[1] |
Pin 1 | Dynamic HID Shortcut |
| Button Back Left [2] | keys[2] |
Pin 5 | Dynamic HID Shortcut |
| Button Back Right [1] | keys[3] |
Pin 7 | Dynamic HID Shortcut |
(Note: Pins can be freely reassigned in config.h to suit custom hardware configurations.)
What started as a simple hobby project to enhance AndunHH's DIY SpaceMouse quickly turned into an engineering deep dive.
My initial goal was modest: add an OLED display for a modern aesthetic and easier debugging. However, during hardware assembly, I realized the OLED could serve a far more vital role: turning the controller into a standalone hardware diagnostic station.
- O.R.B. (Orbital Rotation Base): Reflects the core mechanics of the controller—allowing smooth, 3D spatial pivoting and rotation around an orbital axis.
- 7: Represents the 7th major architecture revision, marking the unified release of the standalone OLED debugger, WebHID Studio, and real-time telemetry engine.
O.R.B.7 stands on the shoulders of the open-source DIY SpaceMouse community. Gratitude to the pioneer creators who shared their foundational code, math models, and mechanical concepts:
- Shiura: Original Space Mushroom mechanism concept.
- jfedor & BennyBWalker: Native 3Dconnexion SpaceMouse USB HID protocol emulation.
- fdmakara: 4-joystick/sensor matrix kinematics.
- TeachingTech: Consolidated joystick mixing, USB HID integration, and video guides.
- Daniel_1284580: Dynamic calibration range logic and original Modifier Function curve algorithm.
- LivingTheDream: Firmware optimizations and curve mathematical refinements.
- JoseLuisGZA: Kill-keys implementation and encoder integration logic.
- AndunHH: Hall-effect matrix adaptation, ADC dead-zones, thermal drift tracking, and author of the baseline project that directly inspired O.R.B.7.
Distributed under the MIT License. Open-source software—free to use, modify, and distribute for personal and commercial applications.