PS4 Controller Modified for a Disabled User

REMAP was approached to help a physically disabled child, his disability makes it hard for him to participate in many activities and gaming means a lot to him. He found it easier to place the controller on a surface and operate it from the top, but this made it hard to use the buttons on the front.

The solution was some 3D printed levers that mean the front trigger/bumper buttons can be used from above.

This work was done for the charity REMAP. REMAP is a UK charity that consists of lots of small local panels that are always looking for volunteers and support. Please see the website www.remap.org.uk if you want to find out more.

This particular job and instructable was done by a REMAP Kent West engineer.

Get the lever parts 3D printed.

I used PLA and a layer thickness of 0.2mm

STL's should be attached.

The lever is symmetrical but you will need a left handed and a right handed bumper cover.

So print 2 Lever2.stl and 1 of LandRCover2.stl

Use a short length of single core wire as a hinge.

I used the thickest enamelled copper wire I could find that fit without too much friction, then bent the ends over to hold everything in place.

I used Sugru to cover over the ends of the wire.

To stick the levers to the PS4 controller I used more Sugru. To ensure it would stick well I roughed up the surface of the trigger buttons.

It is good to pick a glue with a bit of flex as this will help reduce the shock if gaming gets a bit intense.

As well as the lever mod I added extra push buttons that do the same job as pushing down the analogue sticks. If you are interested in doing this mod then there are a few teardown videos on youtube that will be helpful. It is a bit fiddly and requires soldering and some electronics skills so I am not going to go into the details here.

My first instinct on this project was to solder in new buttons to do the job of the triggers, but this was beyond my ability. The circuits that would have needed to be modified were a mixture of too small to modify or made from a flexible PCB material that I could not solder too and it was very fiddly to glue.

The stand I used to lift the PS4 controller up during use was the Breffo Spiderpodium.