Single-Axis Joystick Options

[catacon]

Hey all,

My team, 1444, tends to like using single-axis joysticks for our drivers' stations. They work great for tank drive and certain boom/lift mechanisms. Trouble is, there never seem to be any good, "hobbyist" options. We usually end up using some industrial joysticks that tend to be expensive and hard to get our hands on or we resort to using a single axis of a three-axis joystick.

Do any other teams use these? If so, which ones? Or do you just settle for the multi-axis sticks?

Thanks!

[EmileH]

You probably could CAD or machine a brace for the bottom of any joystick (I recommend the Attack 3 because it has a lot of space below the stick and above the pivot point, such that you could make a 'track' that restricts motion on the x-axis.
We used two of these and didn't even use the x-axis on a tank drive in 2014, and they worked just fine.
Additionally, you could use a slide pot hooked up to a spring which would bring it back to zero when you let go.

[catacon]

That's an interesting idea, thanks for the suggestion.

We've thought about something like a sprung slide pot, but I'm not sure if it would be accurate enough. It needs to be repeatable enough that it doesn't jitter around the zero-point.