Use a USB Joystick - "FORCE FEEDBACK 2"

[or yaniv]

We think to use the "FORCE FEEDBACK 2" joistick to control our robot this year. But this joistick have a usb port.
Does anyone tried to convert the usb port to game port?
Does anyone tried to use this jostick?


thank you all,
yours: Or

[jgannon]

Converting USB to gameport is not a simple task, and would require a lot of custom circuitry. You'd be better off opening up the joystick and seeing if there are potentiometers, which you can connect to the correct pins of a DB15 cable.

[Alan Anderson]

Originally Posted by or yaniv

Does anyone tried to convert the usb port to game port?

There's no simple "conversion" possible.

The only two options are to rewire the joystick (assuming the potentiometer values are compatible) or to put a computer in the middle to talk to the USB device and simulate a gameport joystick. Competition rules have consistently forbidden connecting a computer to the joystick input.

[Not2B]

I have to think it's something similar to this.

But then again, I'm just the mechanical guy. Yes... I am STILL trying to get our geek team to post the white paper.

[Cuog]

I am 99% sure that is a digital joystick unlike the analog ones we use for FIRST it is not possible to use any digital joystick to analog converter as ar as i am aware without breaking FIRST rules, it doesnt use the pinout of a normal joystick but uses a serialization technique like pwm but ot quite to comunicate with the computer.

[Jeff Rodriguez]

The joystick you have pictured also requires a separate power supply (the connector on the bottom left of that picture). The topic of a force feedback joystick is covered extensively in this thread:
http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/sh...ad.php?t=40486

[[527]phil]

I know it's possible to convert USB to serial. But maybe theres a way to convert from serial to the game port. I'm not sure but it's just an idea.

edit:

http://www.aggsoft.com/rs232-pinout-...b9-to-db15.htm

I don't know if this pinout will work, but i'm gunna take a nice little trip to radio shaq. and when i get back we'll find out.

[Rickertsen2]

To create a converter would take an intimate knowlegdge of USB HID standard, microconrollers and a way to decipher the proprietary protocol used for the force feedback. Then, you are still faced with the problem of how to power it. I have the gameport version of this joystick and it uses 1.5 amps!! This is NOT the way to go. You would also have to ahve digital to analog conversion circuirty. Even if you surmount all the above obstacles you still have to figure out a way to get data to the thing to control the force feedback. Trust me. Its a bigger task than you think.

[Alan Anderson]

Originally Posted by [527]phil

I know it's possible to convert USB to serial. But maybe theres a way to convert from serial to the game port. I'm not sure but it's just an idea.

No, I don't think that'll help. You'll run into the same problem as trying to use USB in the first place, and you'll find that USB-to-serial converters work in the wrong direction for what you want.

http://www.aggsoft.com/rs232-pinout-...b9-to-db15.htm

I don't know if this pinout will work, but i'm gunna take a nice little trip to radio shaq. and when i get back we'll find out.

The 15-pin connection in that document is a 15-pin high-density connector like a VGA video connector, and it's still RS-232 serial. It isn't compatible in any way with a 15-pin game port connector.