cross-posted from: https://piefed.world/c/tech/p/1092384/valve-releases-steam-controller-cad-files-under-creative-commons-license
Greetings! We have exciting news to share for those of you who want to hack, mod, or design accessories for the Steam Controller and Puck.
Today we’re making the CAD files for the external shell (surface topology) of Steam Controller and Puck available for download under a Creative Commons license. This includes an STP model of each, an STL model of each, and an engineering drawing with critical features/keep outs for each.
Source: Steam community.
They understand well at Valve they must foster a community around their devices in order to give them a long commercial life-time. They can’t afford/don’t want to design new controllers to release every 2~3 years. Also, many will be willing to pay more for a device that is part of an ecosystem, having a community and 3rd parties creating this ecosystem for no extra cost it a complete win for them, it’s also a win for consumers twho get to do what they want with their purchase.
Does this mean I could 3d print the casing for the steam controller?
Could I buy the parts to “repair” it from ifixit and build my own controller?
In theory, yeah
You would have to remodel the case based on the CAD files as they only contain the complete outside of the controller and the puck as combined meshes. They are useful as a reference and to model accessories such as a stand of example.
