Flutterby™! : Joysticks

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Joysticks

2005-10-30 17:39:55.443195+00 by Dan Lyke 4 comments

In the Flying Plywood entry, Eric mentioned ordering an 8 position joystick from HAPP controls. If fidelity to the original console isn't an issue, Euchner-USA has some beefy industrial joysticks which look like they'd be useful if you were building the arcade/gaming console from hell. (Props to HGR1219[Wiki] for the find!)

[ related topics: Hardware Hackery Games HGR1219 ]

comments in ascending chronological order (reverse):

#Comment Re: made: 2005-10-30 20:51:31.748437+00 by: baylink

The problem is motion response, as I understand it.

To expand: real jet side-sticks have a *much* higher resistance to deflection than other types. Not quite second-order (which, if I understand the terminology correctly, means response to *pressure* rather than *position*), but much stronger springs.

Of course, you might need finer position sensitivity than those industrial sticks could provide as well.

Has anyone looked into using Google Earth to provide look-down art?

#Comment Re: made: 2005-10-31 03:26:49.783488+00 by: Dan Lyke

Those sticks are 8 position output, I think, so not suitable for flight sims. I need to learn a little more about smaller helicopters, but some of my discussion on one mailing list of larger helicopters might have me making a stepper motor based system to adjust the spring centering to duplicate the control feel with trim settings that you might find on a Huey or a UH-60 BlackHawk.

#Comment Re: made: 2005-10-31 05:52:02.292006+00 by: ebradway

I was actually looking at the 4-way. Pac-Man just isn't the same on an 8-way.

I've got an RC helicopter at work now - but I doubt the controls are at all similar.

#Comment Re: made: 2005-10-31 16:48:43.985922+00 by: Dan Lyke

If it's got a main rotor and a tail rotor, I'll bet they're very similar. Might have the tail rotor and collective mapped onto one stick, and may have much better stabilization electronics than most full-sized helicopters, but it's still largely two axes of cyclic for pitch and roll, an up-down on the collective (and/or a throttle) for lift, and a yaw control.