Phantom Mouse Jiggler

Make a USB prank device using a Gemma M0 that will wiggle your victim's cursor every once and a while! Coded in MakeCode.

by John Park

published March 12, 2018, last edited March 08, 2024

posted in Arduino Compatibles/ Adafruit GEMMA MakeCode AdaBox

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Project guide

Overview

Ever had your cursor move a little bit while you weren't even touching the mouse? Freaky! This MakeCode program will turn your Gemma M0 into a Phantom Mouse Jiggler. When plugged in to a computer, it will wait patiently, and then occasionally take over the mouse cursor from the user and move it around back and forth. Maddening!

ALERT: do not use this knowledge for evil. Never use such a device on a computer that plays a critical role in safety, health, or security environments. This is best used a prank when you are nearby to prevent the user from smashing their machine to bits in frustration!

One very powerful feature of the Gemma M0 (and other ATSAMD21 ARM Cortex M0-based microcontrollers) is its ability to appear as a keyboard or mouse when plugged into a computer’s USB port.

The Gemma M0 can pretend to be a USB mouse, so we'll take a look at how to program it with MakeCode to wait dormant for long periods of time, and then jiggle the cursor for a few seconds!

You can code this project up using any 'M0 board that MakeCode supports, including the Metro M0, Trinket M0, even the Circuit Playground Express!