What’s Not to Like About Astroid?

By Mark Clarkson

John Hilton invented the Spaceball 3D controller back in the 1980s; ifyou’ve been around CAD for a while, you’ve probably seen one. Hiltonsays he’s taken the Spaceball a step or two further with his new 3Dcontroller, the Astroid from Spatial Freedom. An astroid is amathematical curve created by rolling a smaller circle inside a largerone.  Astroid is also an acronym for “A Spatial Translate/RotateOrb Input Device,” but that seems a bit of a stretch.

I tested the Astroid with Solid Edge 19. Solid Edge is the first application fully supported by the Astroid.What’s the Astroid?

The Astroid consists of a 2 5/16-inch diameter gray ball perched atopan organic, vaguely Y-shaped base, roughly the size of youroutstretched hand. It plugs into a USB 2.0 port and sits by yourkeyboard, on the side opposite your mouse. Your mouse hand does all theclicking and picking, and your Astroid hand does all the moving androtating. The Astroid is perfectly symmetrical, so it will work equallywell for you lefties.

Using the Astroid is simple and intuitive: push the ball forward andyour model moves away; lift the ball up and your model slides up thescreen; twist the ball this way and that and your model rotates tofollow suit.

> > The Astroid 3D Controller from Spatial Freedom.

The harder you push, pull, or twist on the ball, the faster your modelmoves on the screen. And, here’s a nice touch, that motion scalesautomatically as you zoom in and out. A given twist generates the sameapparent pixel motion, regardless of your distance to the model. Thatis, the controls do not become increasingly sensitive as you zoom way,way in, nor do they become sluggish as you move far away.

A small joystick-like nub beneath the ball allows you to pan in 2D.There are eight buttons, four on either side of the ball, which emulatekeyboard function key presses (e.g., Shift+Alt+Ctrl+F8). Each can beprogrammed, via Solid Edge’s customize keyboard dialog, to fire any ofthe Astroid’s or, indeed, any of Solid Edge’s, built-in functions:toggle perspective view, snap to the closet common view, or even createa weldment cutout. Similarly, you can place icons for any of theAstroid’s functions (e.g., reset motion handle) in any Solid Edgetoolbar.

The Astroid rotates your model around a “motion handle” represented onthe screen by a small green cursor. You can place the motion handle onany point on, or in, your model or assembly.

To avoid inadvertently twirling the model completely out of sight, turnon the Astroid’s Fence Mode, which prevents the motion handle fromleaving the screen.

To make control even easier, there’s a Dominant Axis to restrictmovement to a single axis at a time, and a Pan and Zoom mode thatlimits the Astroid to zooming and 2D panning. In 2D modes, such asSketch, the Astroid switches automatically to pure pan and zoom. Thesensitivity of each axis is adjustable as well.

By default, the Astroid’s ball represents your model, but the Astroidalso has a “camera mode,” where the ball represents your head or, ifyou prefer, your camera. In camera mode, lift up on the ball to raisethe camera, and the object slides down the screen. Twist the ball tothe left, and your object slides to the right. Switching between modescan be a bit disorienting at first, like driving in a mirror, butcamera mode provides a natural way of moving around your objects, oreven into them, to inspect parts from the inside, something that’s hardto accomplish with Solid Edge’s standard interface.

I found the Astroid extremely easy to use and to love but, in fairness,I was probably the first kid on the block with a Spaceball back inmid-90s. To put it to the test I called in my lab assistant, Joe. Joeis seven years old. I gave him a five-second description of the deviceand let him go. In about two minutes he was twirling and zooming withease. Joe pronounced the Astroid “easy to use and easy to learn.”

The Astroid’s buttons are laid out symmetrically, but without muchconcession to my actual finger positions. I’d like to see a moreergonomic arrangement of buttons. I can reach all the buttons, but someare a bit awkward, and I always have to look before pressing to makesure I’ve got the right one, something I never have to do with my mouse.

I’d like to see even more programmability in the buttons, perhapsincorporating the idea of a “shift” button to create more virtualbuttons.

My biggest disappointment with the Astroid, though, is that it’s notsupported by more of the applications I use. I can’t use it withLightwave 3D, or Rhino, or Adobe After Effects, which makes me a sadpanda.

It’s not Spatial Freedom’s fault, though. Developers can’t just write aset of operating system drivers; there’s no standard operating systeminterface for 3D motion. Windows, for example, “understands” 2D miceand provides a standard interface for mouse developers to talk to. Butno operating system I’m aware of understands a 3D motion controller.

So Spatial Freedom, like 3D Connexion, which sells the Spaceball, mustprovide separate drivers for each and every application that theysupport. And that means active cooperation from within the companies(e.g., PTC and Autodesk) that make those applications.

Drivers for SolidWorks are in beta. Spatial Freedom says drivers forPro/E, Inventor, and NX are “in process,” meaning, hopefully, you’llsee them by the end of the year.

At $150, the Astroid is about a third the price of a Spaceball and, asfar as I can see, in no way inferior. If you’re using Solid Edge,there’s no reason not to buy one right now.

Mark Clarkson has been writing about all manner of computer stuff foryears. An expert in computer animation and graphics, his newest book isPhotoshop Elements by Example. Visit him on the Web at markclarkson.comor your comments about this article through e-mail by clicking here.Please reference “Astroid Review, October 2006” in your message.

Astroid
Spatial Freedom, Inc.
Needham Heights, MA