Hey, I know you read your comments so I thought I'd share a little story with you. Back when I was like 10-13 not sure exactly (20 now so a while ago) I found your channel and was so excited because it was right up my alley with the tech/diy content. I watched a whole bunch of your videos (remember one on backtrack, and I remembered your green intro and the nut), but tragically forgot the name of your channel. I remember looking for it trying to track it down, I thought it was called wingnut, but all that got me was LOTR studio... I couldn't find your channel for the life of me. I tried every few years or so when it popped into my head, and finally a year or so ago I found it again on final crusade. So thanks for the videos, I couldn't believe you were still making them when I found you, and just wanted to share this. You were my youtube great white whale.
@@Tinkernut Thanks uwu you put a lot of work into your videos and it shows! Thanks for the years of service and good luck with your newest family member!
YES. IMO, "Stuff to salvage/repurpose from broken/defunct PCs and laptop" is a fantastic idea for a video series, because here in the US, it's ridiculously easy to come across computers being thrown out than any other tech. I've googled ideas for what to do with the laptop I'm about to junk, but can never find anything but "mine crypto" -- if it was capable of doing that well, I wouldn't be throwing it away!
Recently I got my hands on the same model of laptop, and today I was taking out the touchpad to use it as my PC mouse (I really love me touchpads). But sadly, I have no tools or experience working with electronics, and every guide I saw said "take your oscilloscope to check the contact points", but I don't have one! That's when I found your video, with the exact answers I was looking for! Thank you!!!! Now, I just need some hot glue and attach the cables.
use the touchpad as a LED light controller, every x/y coordinates is linked to a color, black is down, white is up, and everyhting in between is a color
@Probably merlin We’re not sure yet After searching around I found that it is possible to use a Meshbee device with Phillips hue which could be used to achieve this.
Thanks for vid. I have a Synaptics TM1202SPD-167-5 and I can't find any information on this anywhere on the Web (for pinouts) - any ideas of what I can do before this trackpad goes in the bin? Cheers.
12v application for a cars center console. Fiberglassed in the palmrest AROUND the so as to have a factory mounting for it. Also backed it with sheet metal for strength. Connected to raspberry pi as a control accessory, with hopes of eventually having dual controls. The other being the cursor joystick from an Audi. The touchscreen is a dashdash mounted 10” tablet display Also connected is a USB hub containing a DSLR dongle for AM/FM radio reception, USB wiFi adapter, and jump drives for storage
You could use that for drawing,just use a capacitive pen and draw there as you would do in a paper and then connect the trackpad to an application that translate X and Y coordinates into a line,i know that it exists but it's much less expensive than the commercial one. You could even set an alternative options to make a rubber so that in that specific X and Y coordinate it just erase or paint white...
question: Im trying to replace the touchpad of my laptop but I cant find my model since its very old, do all the touchpads have the same connector? so I can just buy a newer one?
@tinkernut You could use the touchpad as a virtual dial combination lock. Say our combination was L3, R6, L10. To activate you would put your finger on the touchpad near the top (12 o'clock on a clock face) and drag your finger around an imaginary clock face, to the left in an anti-clockwise direction to 3 o'clock. Then around the clock to the right, clockwise to 6 o'clock. Finally left, anti-clockwise to 10 o'clock. To read the numbers from the touch pad, the Arduino would store the start position and then read in the numbers from the touchpad data. As the finger moves around the imaginary clock face the X and Y values will change. So for our first number we're travelling anticlockwise to 3 o'clock. The X and Y will decrease, as we round the 9, the X will start to increase and the Y will continue to decrease. As we round the 6, both the X and Y will increase. We know when we are at the three when the finger stops after reading in a number of data samples where X and Y were increasing but Y was increasing exponentially faster than the X. We hold the finger still for a half second and an LED lights so we know it's recorded the first number in our combination. Repeat this for each number. It will take a little trial and error to figure out the relation of the numbers leading to the numbers between the quarters, but I'm sure it's possible. I don't have a touchpad to experiment with. once the right number of digits for the combination have been entered, the Arduino can compare it to the stored combination and then trigger a solenoid or servo to open a lock if the combination is correct.
Hi nice video again 👌👌😀. I will be happy to make a rgb pallet controller out of it. Just stick a rgb pallet photo on mouse pad and somehow figure out how to map those values to.rgb pallet and thus controlling rgb lighting. I know it can be done using smartphone more easily but it can be fun with this touchpad 😺
What would I use an old laptop track pad for? Well, you see, even though the track pad is only capable of keeping track of X and Y axes, I would use it to control an Indian Airforce Drone that is actually moving in 3 dimensions (or axes X, Y and Z) because Hollywood says it's possible. If this sarcastic reference eludes you, please see 2014's 'Interstellar'. I love Christopher Nolen's writing, but dang, dude! At very least, hire a friggin radio control hobbyist!
i just bought a lot of synaptics touchpads modules and I'm thinking in how to make a bigger touchpad device! Maybe putting 4 ou 6 side by side to make a mega touchpad your video is awesome
I would control a midi device with it, x being one parameter and y being another(using control change). Arduino Uno usually uses a MIDI connector on the serial Port for command send but you could use USB on It, to replace the midi connector
I just preordered your book (paperback version) It’s like Christmas for late March :) I was just wondering. There is a kindle version of the book. So I was wondering if the book would contain a lot of pictures? Or will it be mostly text? I only ask because kindles can’t display color. (At least mine cannot) And if the book used pictures as instructions, I could be hard to read on the kindle. I opted for the paperback version. But I may buy the kindle version as a gift for my brother witch is why I wrote this comment :) I’m exited for the book and for what you will do next. Cheers from Denmark
if i sell a broken laptop and they find a way to fix it does this mean they can hack into the laptop and have access to all my info? is it safe to sell my broken laptop
For example, you can control an Arduino servo motor, Or make it an extension for another laptop or phone, or to a Raspberry Pi. That will be a good project I think.
Ordered. Glad you provided a kindle format due to living in a RV Class A Motor Home, no room for physical books. Plus Bits do not weigh much...9.10938356(11)×10−31 kg hehe
TBH I would use it for another way to control a Car Media Center... like how people use the Raspi as a Car Mediacenter... just have it somewhere that is very convenient for the driver (such as a swipe right to change song, swipe left to go back to previous song, up and down for volume and so on)
First thanks for your continuous great tutorials and ideas Secondly i hope that from you , make tutorials more slowly to help people like me (beginners) to understand clearly.. And i want you for this touchpad to make controlling by gestures...sorry for my pad English
Build a wooden case for a Pi & integrate the touchpad into the top. Other side, hack the keyboard out of one of those silly cell phones that has a slide-out keyboard. =)
Maybe it could be an input device like digital pen, for writing or signing smth on computer. Also you could make personal gestures, for example swiping right could be next song or swipe up could be volume up. Also it could be a keyboard, actually a numpad or pad with shortcuts. When I started watching this video I haven't thought that it can be any usefull, but now I maybe use my own old laptop trackpad.
Use ULTRA fine point sharpie to write numbers and program it to when you press the numbers in a certain order (Also known as a PIN code) it unlocks a door
Hey, I know you read your comments so I thought I'd share a little story with you.
Back when I was like 10-13 not sure exactly (20 now so a while ago) I found your channel and was so excited because it was right up my alley with the tech/diy content. I watched a whole bunch of your videos (remember one on backtrack, and I remembered your green intro and the nut), but tragically forgot the name of your channel.
I remember looking for it trying to track it down, I thought it was called wingnut, but all that got me was LOTR studio... I couldn't find your channel for the life of me. I tried every few years or so when it popped into my head, and finally a year or so ago I found it again on final crusade. So thanks for the videos, I couldn't believe you were still making them when I found you, and just wanted to share this. You were my youtube great white whale.
That's really sweet aww
Lukas, you are my new hero ;-) Thanks for sharing. People like you are why I continue to make videos!
@@Tinkernut Thanks uwu you put a lot of work into your videos and it shows! Thanks for the years of service and good luck with your newest family member!
@random stuff why not?
im going to use a touchpad as a hidden number pad for a door entry circuit.
That's cool
That would be awesome.
good ideas. tinkernut subscribers are smart
I totally need to do this for a security system for my old Nissan motorhome.
not so hidden anymore huh ;)
YES. IMO, "Stuff to salvage/repurpose from broken/defunct PCs and laptop" is a fantastic idea for a video series, because here in the US, it's ridiculously easy to come across computers being thrown out than any other tech. I've googled ideas for what to do with the laptop I'm about to junk, but can never find anything but "mine crypto" -- if it was capable of doing that well, I wouldn't be throwing it away!
Thanks for the feedback!
I salvaged a screen from my old laptop for a smart mirror. The laptop is still stored away and just waiting to be gutted for future projects
Make a fancy light switch
Turn the touchpad into a color picker for an RGB LED strip or lamp! And most touchpads I tried still work fine with a piece of paper on top of it.
Dimmer switch on the y axis and LED color on the x axis.
You Should use the Laptop case for a Raspberry Pi/singleboardcomputer project :)
that's a great idea for a compact computer project
Some of the best and smoothest scrolling trackpads can be found in the oldest laptops. Thanks Tinkernut
You should show how you connect it to a Raspberry Pi. Cool stuff!
Use it for a swipe based lock, Like on you phone where you unlock it with a pattern.
Awesome
I am very happy to run across this video. It looks like a great start to a really fun project!
GOOD TO SEE YOU BACK!
Your explanation on how the trackpad was A freaking plus! Loved this video!
Recently I got my hands on the same model of laptop, and today I was taking out the touchpad to use it as my PC mouse (I really love me touchpads).
But sadly, I have no tools or experience working with electronics, and every guide I saw said "take your oscilloscope to check the contact points", but I don't have one!
That's when I found your video, with the exact answers I was looking for! Thank you!!!!
Now, I just need some hot glue and attach the cables.
use the touchpad as a LED light controller, every x/y coordinates is linked to a color, black is down, white is up, and everyhting in between is a color
Would control my life with it.....
Oh wait, dont have that.
You could use this to create a thereminvox - type sound synthesizer, where x corresponds to pitch, and y to resonance
I have an old ThinkPad that i want to turn into a wireless keyboard and touchpad. Lets now hack the keyboard!
You can buy a kit for arduino nano and make y
Your laptop keyboard to usb
now for a series on reusing old screens
nice man good luck with the books sales :)
Congrats on the book btw! Will it be available as a ebook?
This channel should have more viewers
THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT I NEEDED
Been following tinkernut since the start, still going strong and amazing. Keep up the amazing work! Waiting for part 2
Control my smart bulb’s brightness. Or use it for pattern lock instead of numbers for my door.
Philips hue brightness and color control
@Probably merlin We’re not sure yet After searching around I found that it is possible to use a Meshbee device with Phillips hue which could be used to achieve this.
Hi. Isn't more cheap ps/2 to usb adapter ?
Super cool! It could be used as a numpad replacement? You could draw your pin on the surface instead of typing it.
Excellent video!
Great explanation of how trackpads work but what about multi touch ones ?
How hard would it be to make a touchpad to USB adapter ? to use it as an external touchpad.
nice, I like this, I was looking for a video like this some time ago,
thanks :D
A book!? That is awesome!
Thanks for vid. I have a Synaptics TM1202SPD-167-5 and I can't find any information on this anywhere on the Web (for pinouts) - any ideas of what I can do before this trackpad goes in the bin? Cheers.
Very informative video, thank you very much!
I like this new graphics :). Also, interesting video.
12v application for a cars center console. Fiberglassed in the palmrest AROUND the so as to have a factory mounting for it. Also backed it with sheet metal for strength. Connected to raspberry pi as a control accessory, with hopes of eventually having dual controls. The other being the cursor joystick from an Audi. The touchscreen is a dashdash mounted 10” tablet display
Also connected is a USB hub containing a DSLR dongle for AM/FM radio reception, USB wiFi adapter, and jump drives for storage
I would use it as gesture controle for my DIY Bluetooth speaker
You could use that for drawing,just use a capacitive pen and draw there as you would do in a paper and then connect the trackpad to an application that translate X and Y coordinates into a line,i know that it exists but it's much less expensive than the commercial one. You could even set an alternative options to make a rubber so that in that specific X and Y coordinate it just erase or paint white...
I'm thinking of using it as a USB mouse or Bluetooth trackpad, but that's really simple.
question: Im trying to replace the touchpad of my laptop but I cant find my model since its very old, do all the touchpads have the same connector? so I can just buy a newer one?
A touchpad-controlled CNC router would be cool! Start with an etch a sketch for proof of concept.
Could you have used a ps/2 to USB adaptor and then an otg adaptor for the tablet?
I'm curious how you solved the ps2 problem, meaning what connection options do you have if you cant use usb right?...
Use to remote control. What about your ssh tunneling? It’s finish?
you are the best bro ❤️❤️❤️
Great channel!
Make control pitch and volume of an oscillator. Or the cutoff and resonance of a low pass filter.
add the Touchpad to a controller like the steam controller or ps4. Maybe for better aiming or something like that.
Your version of streamdeck ?? sounds possible
@tinkernut You could use the touchpad as a virtual dial combination lock. Say our combination was L3, R6, L10. To activate you would put your finger on the touchpad near the top (12 o'clock on a clock face) and drag your finger around an imaginary clock face, to the left in an anti-clockwise direction to 3 o'clock. Then around the clock to the right, clockwise to 6 o'clock. Finally left, anti-clockwise to 10 o'clock.
To read the numbers from the touch pad, the Arduino would store the start position and then read in the numbers from the touchpad data. As the finger moves around the imaginary clock face the X and Y values will change. So for our first number we're travelling anticlockwise to 3 o'clock. The X and Y will decrease, as we round the 9, the X will start to increase and the Y will continue to decrease. As we round the 6, both the X and Y will increase. We know when we are at the three when the finger stops after reading in a number of data samples where X and Y were increasing but Y was increasing exponentially faster than the X. We hold the finger still for a half second and an LED lights so we know it's recorded the first number in our combination.
Repeat this for each number. It will take a little trial and error to figure out the relation of the numbers leading to the numbers between the quarters, but I'm sure it's possible. I don't have a touchpad to experiment with.
once the right number of digits for the combination have been entered, the Arduino can compare it to the stored combination and then trigger a solenoid or servo to open a lock if the combination is correct.
You could use it with a drawing machine to move a pen on a sheet of paper
If I buy the book will you sign it in hexadecimal?
If the track pad was smaller, it would be a neat interface for a TV remote control, or a gamepad.
You could use it as a pressure pad to set off a detonator for an IED
Could be cool to use it as some philips hue gesture control button, since its so flat it could sit nice on a wall :)
i love my old lenovo keyboard and trackpad. Can I repurpose the other half of the laptop as a Bluetooth keyboard for my new devices?
A gesture control system for a wheel chair would be nice
Hi nice video again 👌👌😀. I will be happy to make a rgb pallet controller out of it. Just stick a rgb pallet photo on mouse pad and somehow figure out how to map those values to.rgb pallet and thus controlling rgb lighting. I know it can be done using smartphone more easily but it can be fun with this touchpad 😺
What about controlling a remote controlled car? The finger strokes could be used to control its speed and direction.
How about control colors on a led strip?
I would control my girlfriends' sex drive with it!! Of course I said that out loud and she immediately laughed!!! LOL!!
What would I use an old laptop track pad for? Well, you see, even though the track pad is only capable of keeping track of X and Y axes, I would use it to control an Indian Airforce Drone that is actually moving in 3 dimensions (or axes X, Y and Z) because Hollywood says it's possible.
If this sarcastic reference eludes you, please see 2014's 'Interstellar'. I love Christopher Nolen's writing, but dang, dude! At very least, hire a friggin radio control hobbyist!
if its multi touch, why not think of the pinch/zoom as a Z function.
Add hold, tap, multifinger, "special locations"/function keys.. shouldn't be too impossible!
@@AndreasA.S.
I would absolutely love to see you attempt that with a physical aircraft in the air (and not crash).
3D position can be controlled with just pitch and yaw or roll, so a 2D input device works.
I know it's not possible, but it's necessary.
I'm thinking to connect it with a mobile phone.. do you think this will work ?
Couldn't you just wire a PS/2 (well, mini-DIN) connector onto the ribbon cable?
Yes, you could!
i just bought a lot of synaptics touchpads modules and I'm thinking in how to make a bigger touchpad device! Maybe putting 4 ou 6 side by side to make a mega touchpad your video is awesome
Very nice ! You maybe can try to make a lock pattern for computer (like in Android)
Doing this with a laptop keyboard would be super cool, as many laptops have very good keyboards.
I would control a midi device with it, x being one parameter and y being another(using control change). Arduino Uno usually uses a MIDI connector on the serial Port for command send but you could use USB on It, to replace the midi connector
@Edward Elric I would love to do make a DIY touchpad midi controller. Did you by any chance attempt this ?
how about to crate a graphic pad for use in photoshop or lightroom.. i do like you videos.
I just preordered your book (paperback version) It’s like Christmas for late March :)
I was just wondering.
There is a kindle version of the book.
So I was wondering if the book would contain a lot of pictures?
Or will it be mostly text?
I only ask because kindles can’t display color. (At least mine cannot)
And if the book used pictures as instructions, I could be hard to read on the kindle.
I opted for the paperback version.
But I may buy the kindle version as a gift for my brother witch is why I wrote this comment :)
I’m exited for the book and for what you will do next.
Cheers from Denmark
What kind of arduino would be good for this kind of project?
adafruit has some low cost arduino boards with serial out, try there. proto on an uno, then move to smaller board if desired
if i sell a broken laptop and they find a way to fix it does this mean they can hack into the laptop and have access to all my info? is it safe to sell my broken laptop
why did you solder to it, why didn't you use ribboncable?
Nooooo! This is a good video, why did it end too soon!?!?
Gotta wait for that part two😉
For example, you can control an Arduino servo motor, Or make it an extension for another laptop or phone, or to a Raspberry Pi. That will be a good project I think.
I like the Lorem Ipsum book :)
I don't know, I just hit subscribe when the wormhole into capacitive touch opened. I think the fact that I just used that metaphor explains why.
not really a metaphor but yea we get it
A drone with a giant printout of a cusor on it, and then you use the touchpad to move it up/down/left/right
Like swipe to open a door?
Ordered. Glad you provided a kindle format due to living in a RV Class A Motor Home, no room for physical books. Plus Bits do not weigh much...9.10938356(11)×10−31 kg hehe
TBH I would use it for another way to control a Car Media Center... like how people use the Raspi as a Car Mediacenter... just have it somewhere that is very convenient for the driver (such as a swipe right to change song, swipe left to go back to previous song, up and down for volume and so on)
Mood lighting? Pretty awesome straight forward effort anyways.
I saw a guy make some laptop cameras into a security system . That was pretty sweet .
Forget the silly goggles, why are you wearing a hat indoors?
Very nice video
Lots of use cases for track pads. Unfortunatly almost all old track pads have pretty bad tracking.
Another fun use for an old laptop is as a wifi detonator for IEDs.
Standupmaths released a book and now Tinkernut,I sense a story here .
Surely if it's based on PS/2 you could just add the cable and use it as a mouse replacement for a desktop
Bell for home;
Light switch; or rather powering up something and powering down unless the finger is released.
Definitely going to make one effects midi controller.
A switch for obs. Would be cool to see.
Make a bug walk on it. Then make a laser that points at the X and Y coordinates of that bug. Basically a fancy bug zapper.
A video on how to make a bluetooth speakers from a speaker taken out from broken or old laptop....
Nice video
The internet is full of shity diy projects, but hacking a trackpad, that's awesome and we'll detailed I was able to track all those tined pads....
Hook it to a motor then on top of it put a camera so you can pan around
i'd use it as a touch-pad to zoom in and out of construction blueprints/markups
First thanks for your continuous great tutorials and ideas
Secondly i hope that from you , make tutorials more slowly to help people like me (beginners) to understand clearly..
And i want you for this touchpad to make controlling by gestures...sorry for my pad English
Build a wooden case for a Pi & integrate the touchpad into the top. Other side, hack the keyboard out of one of those silly cell phones that has a slide-out keyboard. =)
Maybe it could be an input device like digital pen, for writing or signing smth on computer. Also you could make personal gestures, for example swiping right could be next song or swipe up could be volume up. Also it could be a keyboard, actually a numpad or pad with shortcuts. When I started watching this video I haven't thought that it can be any usefull, but now I maybe use my own old laptop trackpad.
Use ULTRA fine point sharpie to write numbers and program it to when you press the numbers in a certain order (Also known as a PIN code) it unlocks a door