Ploopy Trackpad launches as 3D-printable, QMK-powered, open-source trackpad with free plans and $72.50 DIY kit

Ploopy has an excellent reputation for creating open-source, 3D-printable PC peripherals that generally appeal to a niche market. The latest device to join Ploopy's nearly outrageous selection of trackball mice and 3D-printed headphones is the Ploopy Trackpad, which is billed as a "large, 3D-printed, open-source trackpad for desktop and laptop use."

The Ploopy trackpad measures in at 190 × 140 × 20 mm, making it slightly larger than the Apple Magic Trackpad, and it supports up to five-finger multitouch gestures on Windows and Linux — limitations and incompatibilities between macOS and QMK mean that multitouch gesture support is limited on Apple devices. The entire enclosure of the Ploopy Trackpad, including the touch surface, is 3D-printed in PLA plastic, which Ploopy claims is comfortable to use and more durable to daily wear and tear than ABS. While Ploopy apparently started out with a glass tracking surface in mind, ABS turned out to offer more consistent tracking across different operating systems and devices. That said, given Ploopy's open-source plans for the touchpad and its active modification community, it seems like it's only a matter of time before someone manages to get a glass touch surface working on the Ploopy trackpad. 

The configurable multitouch gestures are enabled thanks to the QMK firmware onboard. According to Ploopy, QMK isn't quite as powerful out-of-the-box for trackpads as it is for keyboards, but it's a solid platform that allows Ploopy to implement custom features and keep the door open to community modification. Aside from the aforementioned gesture customisation, QMK also supports layering, which opens up a whole realm of possibilities, and Ploopy has also been experimenting with hot corner shortcuts programmed via QMK. This functionality theoretically should even enable macros for the Ploopy Trackpad. 

While exact specifications aren't published, Ploopy's comments on Reddit indicate that the Trackpad's resolution came out to around 3,000 × 2,000, which is more than enough for a device of this size. The PCB design also allows the Ploopy Trackpad to determine the size of the input method, which gives Ploopy the ability to include stylus support for the Trackpad. While the Ploopy Trackpad assembly kit and pre-built units both ship with the intended stylus, the stylus isn't active in the firmware just yet, although Ploopy says it should work just fine for those that enable it. Stylus support is currently in development, and Ploopy will likely provide a downloadable firmware update with the new stylus configuration when it is ready. 

Check out the Ploopy Trackpad as a full DIY kit for $72.50 (99.99 CAD) or a fully assembled trackpad for $94.25 (129.99 CAD) on the Ploopy store or build your own with the free instructions and open-source plans on GitHub.