Joy Stick vs. Game Controller

[SciBorg Dave]

Our team has been talking about using game controllers or joy sticks.
We were wondering the number of teams that use either and why.

[BigJ]

My advice: Let your drivers choose. Both have pros and cons that end up being negligible in my opinion to driver comfort.

[CalTran]

My advice: Let your drivers choose. Both have pros and cons that end up being negligible in my opinion to driver comfort.

This. It's all varied from drive to driver. Let the driver pick something that (s)he finds intuitive, and let them get practice.
Personal opinion? I picked a gamepad (After some persuasion) and loved the change. I got our programmers to set up the controls to the robot to match that of Borderlands 2 :D Forward/Backwards/Strafe on the left stick, rotate on the right, shoot is right trigger, load is x, and a few other tweaks.

[TheMadCADer]

Definitely leave it up to the drivers, because only their opinion matters, really. Plus, there are lots of other things you can use. I know that 16's driver (not sure if still on the team, but this was just a couple years ago at most) used a steering wheel, just because that's what he liked to use with their swerve drive.

[jbsmithtx]

Agreeing on this. I personally like the joysticks for their better drivetrain control (farther pull distance) although I do know some teams who prefer game pads. Driver style/ comfortablity plays a big part.

[G Fawkes]

We switched to a PS2 style controller a couple of years ago when our last joystick died. Not many students have much joystick experience but the gamepad is second nature to them.

[Whippet]

Definitely leave it up to the drivers, because only their opinion matters, really. Plus, there are lots of other things you can use. I know that 16's driver (not sure if still on the team, but this was just a couple years ago at most) used a steering wheel, just because that's what he liked to use with their swerve drive.

Having been at Hub City, I can confirm that they do still use a steering wheel.

[z_beeblebrox]

4183 and other successful Arizona teams like 842 have modified an RC car pistol grip controller for the driver and used a gamepad or custom control box for the operator.