Sales Pitch

Me: "Do you love playing idle tap games?" You: "Nope" Me: "But do you play an idle tap game simply because you're already regrettably deep in the addiction loop and MUST tap, although you wish you could stop? 😪" You: "Absolutely!" Me: "What if I told you I have the product just FOR YOU! That will automatically tap the screen forever (FOREVER!!!)" You: "Only if it's as noisy as the dickens!" Me: "You're in luck!"

https://youtu.be/Yd69rO98PV0

Info

Regularly tap at a specific spot on a touch screen using a cam and a touchscreen stylus tip. It's meant mainly as a gag design.

Could a solenoid also do the job? Maybe, but I didn't want the action to constantly jackhammer into the screen or require additional electronics (other than wiring the motor and grounding the stylus). Could the auto-tapping just be something implemented in software? Maybe, but that's beside the point!

Printing

Print 1 of each of the *.stl files in the project. They should already be oriented so that the correct side is touching the bed.

Tested with PLA, but any filament that works well for gearing should also be usable.

Arm
- x1
Core
- x1
Foot
- x1
Driver Gear
- x1
Program-Timing Gear
- x1
Spring Cap
- x1

Parts

I'm going to list out what I used make these, but there's flexibility on how the wiring is done. I prefer Dupont connectors so the cable and motor can be used on other projects. As long as the correct wiring connections are made, that's really all that matters.

1x1 Dupont connector
- x1
2x1 Dupont connector
- x1
3x1 Dupont connector
- x1
Male Dupont connector pins
- x4
Female Dupont connector pins
- x3
A USB cable with a USB-A connector
- One that you're not using, we will be destroying it.
- x1
N20 Mini Gearbox Motor
- x1
~2mm Heat Shrink Tube
- x1
Black Electrical Wire (Stranded, 30 AWG)
Red Electrical Wire (Stranded, 30 AWG)

Extra Tools

M3 hex socket driver
M3 grub (set screw) driver
- I think an M2 driver works here?
Dupont Crimping Tool
Wire Strippers
USB Power Supply
Lighter
Scotch tape

Assembly

See the video for assembly instructions.

Assembly Caveats

About the lighter and the electricity: insert warnings here about being careful with fire and electricity here.

Usage

Attach to a touchscreen by wrapping this and the screen with a rubber band or by placing Scotch tape over the foot and onto the screen.
Power on the device.
Adjust the hinge at the foot to get the best tap touch.

Usage Caveats

The exposed gearing is a pinching hazard; keep fingers away from gears when running!

The device predictably taps one spot on the screen. The biggest gotcha is the unpredictability of predictable things when left unattended. For example, if you're sleeping and the app-UI drifts to a microtransaction button, and now you're the auto-tapper is making purchases all night long in your sleep (not that there are no safeguards on iOS/Android stores to prevent that from happening, just an extreme example).

There may also be hardware concerns that need to be addressed by leaving the device on for long periods of time. Such as wear on the motors or gears.

Leaving an app running indefinitely may leave the phone/tablet heated in a prolonged state - that's not really related to this thing; that's between you, your phone, and your app (and already a consequence of playing idle games), but just sayin'.

The tapping may not always work, especially if the distances aren't dialed in correctly. In which case, only some of the taps will register, and in some cases a small vertical scroll will happen instead. Make sure the risk of vertical drags cannot perform dangerous actions on your phone (like the microtransaction example stated earlier).

Source File

The Blender source file is included, but there are issues with it. The biggest one is that the gear placement is mirrored from the final version - which is fine because they're symmetrical, BUT the arm isn't. So, re-exported arms need to be mirrored before printing.

Involute gears were made with the Precision Gears Blender plugin.

Descrição