Logitech or Xbox 360 Controllers?

[JohnFogarty]

Ok so currently i'm using the Logitech Action 3's that came in last years FRC KOP, but since it's been proven we can use Logitech Dual Action Gamepads or Xbox 360 controllers i'm looking into using one of those. I know you must have the drivers installed and such. But in LabVIEW how do you configure them to work in your code?

[Alan Anderson]

The program will treat them just like joysticks. You might have to experiment to determine which stick/pad/switch on the controller is associated with each analog axis or digital button in the code. That's easy to do with LabVIEW -- just wire an indicator to the output of the Joystick Get vi and watch the front panel when you run the code.

[Luke Pike]

We have tested the Xbox 360 Controller with LabVIEW, and it works. Just need the drivers like you said. When you unbundle the axis from the "Joystick Get" vi, x and y are the left joystick and the 4th and 5th axis are the right (no 3rd throttle).

However, my team is not going to use it. The little joysticks do not self-center, so when you let go there is still some movement and you have to fiddle with it to stop. This is unacceptable for our purposes, so out it goes. Still, it was pretty cool play with.

[Michael DiRamio]

I would recommend the logitech gamepads over the xbox 360 controllers. They self-centre on a much smaller range than the 360 controllers. It's also a lot cheaper!

[Chris is me]

Logitech for sure. Xbox 360 controller joysticks don't consistently return to center. Plug one in and play with it for a few seconds and you'll see what I mean. Unless you want to program in a deadband, it's a lot easier to just use Logitech.

[daltore]

Not to mention, it's less fun doing tank drive with a 360 controller due to the offset joysticks (same with Gamecube D-pads...)

[TD912]

Just wondering, did anyone else have any problems installing/configuring the 360 controller drivers? The Game Controller control panel doesn't seem to detect it...?

I used the ones from here:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/906347

[Chris is me]

I now realize the OP was discussing KoP Joystics versus Xbox gamepads, which is different than what I thought (Logitech gamepads versus Xbox gamepads).

The reasons many teams use gamepads over joysticks is that they allow the driver to physically move without impacting the robot. For some games (Overdrive in particular, but really most games with tall things you can't see past), this could be an issue for your drivers. The downside of gamepads is that joysticks on them give you less precision and range of motion. In Lunacy without traction control, this was pretty vital for some teams.

If you do explore the gamepad route, I would recommend many Logitech PS2-clone USB controllers due to the Xbox pad's inconsistent recentering as I initially said. The KOP sticks are not utter crap like in 2008 and before, though; they will serve you very well in competition.

[TD912]

Somehow some evil person found our joysticks sitting in the back room and broke them in half, and nobody else has any USB controllers except for some wired Xbox ones, so we were thinking of using them temporarily until the new ones arrive.

[LiquidMagik]

YO DAWGS. I GOT THIS.

Just look up the proper driver for the XBOX 360 controller and then once installed, go to the game controllers/ devices and click properties. there, it will give you button numbers. hopefully this will work out. have yet to try it

[apalrd]

* One other thing to remember in the 360 vs Logitech controller debate is that the Logitech controller has symetrical joysticks, which are important for a skid steer, while the 360 does not, which makes it harder to do skid-steer with.
* If it really bugs you that the 360 joysticks aren't straight, you can always correct it in software.
* If you were doing something like crab-drive that required a translational angle stick and a rotational distance/speed stick, then the 360 controller would work well (except the centering issues, of course).
* We are using a Logitech controller because we have a skid-steer, but I have personally used an Xbox (original) controller with many of my demos because they require two distinct sticks, angle and speed. Everyone always says that we are using a PS2 controller and most still don't know its actually a Logitech one. It works well. It's actually the same one we used in Overdrive.
* We used the Kit joysticks in 2009 and they worked well. We never used the 08 and previous kit joysticks, except the older CH Flightsticks which we used in every robot until Overdrive.
* the Logitech gamepad dosen't need drivers, I don't know about the 360 one.

[Ziaholic]

I've been using a Logitech gamepad for my home programming/testing (i.e. the 'bot or the cRIO aren't around). But it's a wireless one and I don't think they'd let us use a wireless joystick for competition, right? I admit I haven't read that section of the rules for this year, but from previous years' experience, unauthorized wireless stuff is verboten.

... so I donated an Xbox "clone" controller (GameStop branded) for the team to play with ...

I setup a simple VI to read the joystick axis and plot it out using the joystick opens/gets from a different pallet for when the joystick is on a local USB port (see attached pics)

I've not only found that the centering is sloppy and off center, but also the upper and lower right-hand-side don't go out to a full (1,1) or (1,-1) position.

... and while I do see the POV on my local/PC test VI ... we don't see the POV when the 360 controller is hooked up to the DS and we open it from the cRIO.

I'll probably go look into a wired Logitech gamepad. Thanks for the tips.