Favorite Joystick Setup? We're new

[Kit Gerhart]

Originally Posted by eatthafoodtina

Thanks guys for all the input. It will really help our team decide. I'm all most sure we will go with the two stick drive.

What is the rule for this year about number of drivers you can have at one time?

You can have two people, who must be pre-college students, to drive, operate arms, or whatever, and one coach who may be either an adult or student. You can have control functions split in any way you chose between the two student driver/operators.

[Gusman1188]

Personally, I prefer tank drive with two other joysticks for an arm/elevation mechanism like we used last year. As far as one joystick, I can't stand it as it doesn’t offer as much precision as a dual-joystick system. I guess it's all up to user preference but I recommend tank drive. Another idea might be (depending on many things you need to control) is too have p1_y = left drive, p2_y = right drive, p3_y use the splitter for arm controls on both of the Y axis's of the other two joysticks, and p4_y a controller box w/ switches. Of course if you still needed more you could always combine p1_y and p2_y using another splitter.

We used the old CH Flightsticks, does anyone know a place to get these or something similar. We are going crazy trying to find something new, since the joysticks FIRST gave are both lefty and seem kind of flimsy. Last year we used the joysticks from 02/03 and 03/04 year but they are starting to get shot. If anybody has extra black flightsticks and would like to donate/trade to a fellow FIRST team please contact me. Thanks.

[Kit Gerhart]

Originally Posted by Gusman1188

We used the old CH Flightsticks, does anyone know a place to get these or something similar. We are going crazy trying to find something new, since the joysticks FIRST gave are both lefty and seem kind of flimsy. Last year we used the joysticks from 02/03 and 03/04 year but they are starting to get shot. If anybody has extra black flightsticks and would like to donate/trade to a fellow FIRST team please contact me. Thanks.

Last year we used some newer type CH Flightsticks. They have a bigger "lump" at the top with more buttons which we don't use, but the gimbal at the bottom is the same as the old ones. They are much better than the sticks that now come with the kit IMHO and in the opinion of our drivers. I'm not sure where we bought them, but I can try to find out if anyone wants to know.

[Josh Hambright]

a quick google search found these:
http://www.chproducts.com/retail/j_f...c_feature.html


i'm sure if you look around some computer store out on the net still carries them.

Side Note: I always said we should have stocked up on those joysticks, incase they suddenly got hard to find...

[Pi Is Exactly 3]

I'm in a huge argument with our team faculty advisor. He's being very stubborn and saying (literally) "We WILL use one joystick to drive the robot this year! I'm not going to let you use two. It's not as elegant." So I'm fighting with him over the fact that elegance is secondary to efficiency. If I have anything to say for it, we will be using two joysticks for the robot and one for the arm.

[Conor Ryan]

Originally Posted by Pi Is Exactly 3

I'm in a huge argument with our team faculty advisor. He's being very stubborn and saying (literally) "We WILL use one joystick to drive the robot this year! I'm not going to let you use two. It's not as elegant." So I'm fighting with him over the fact that elegance is secondary to efficiency. If I have anything to say for it, we will be using two joysticks for the robot and one for the arm.

i know the feeling, make the point that you won't have the precsion of movement with 1 joystick that you get easily with 2

[ultramrw21]

My team has been 1 joystick drive for a while now, and in my experience it comes down to the programming. If you can write good code that can use 1 joystick its best, but it does require a lot more programming.

[NeedMoreEngines]

The choice is completely up to you. See how your driver feels about it, but there are some things that you might want to stay away from. For mobility, you can't beat two joysticks. For ease of use, one stick is pretty good, but your programming team might have a little trouble. Do not use the buttons on the joysticks for controlling major devices. Your driver will have enough trouble controlling the robot under pressure that the last thing he wants to do is accidentally hit a wrong button.
As for an arm, the choice is also yours. I don't know about using a joystick though. You can use buttons, switches, wheels, anything. Or...if you have the money and engineering brilliance, you can rig up a potentiometer. Ask someone about that.
For a controller board setup, the choice is again your. I think it has to be a specific dimension, but you can do whatever you want. Paint it, sticker it, etch it. If you use two joysticks, be sure to make them at a distance apart that the driver is comfortable with.

Always glad to help.
Mike F, team 1279