I have read somewhere (can’t remember) in the forums that you need a 3-axis joystick, or 2 of the Logitech Attack 2-axis joysticks. If you have any suggestions on a nice joystick or any other solutions please discuss with me.
I have found a joystick, which looks really nifty!
http://www.provantage.com/logitech-963290-0403~7LGTC967.htm
It has everything the Logitech Attack 2-axis joystick has, but it also has a twist handle (which I would guess is 3rd axis).
A mecanum vehicle has 3 independent degrees of freedom:
fore/aft (forward/reverse)
left/right (strafe)
and
rotate (turn, yaw)
It can perform all these motions simultaneously, resulting in motions that sometimes look like an ice skater rather than a wheeled vehicle.
To get the full capability of a mecanum, you would need to give the driver control of each of these 3 degrees of freedom. Thus, a 3-axis joystick or 2 2-axis joysticks.
Typical driver interfaces are
(3-axis joystick)
Y-axis fore/aft
X-axis strafe
Z axis rotate
(2 2-axis joysticks)
“Halo”
Y1-axis fore/aft
X1-axis strafe
X2-axis rotate
There are of course many other interfaces.
You can use the 2-axis joystick in the kit of parts, and buy another exactly like it. I believe Logitech makes a suitable 3-axis joystick.
Or you can use a single 2-axis joystick:
with trigger not pulled:
Y-axis fore/aft
X-axis strafe
with trigger pulled:
Y-axis fore/aft
X-axis rotate
The above, of course, allows only 2 degrees of freedom at a time, but may be sufficient for your purposes, depending on the game.
**
My team uses a Microsoft Sidewinder Precision 2 joystick.
I highly recommend it, because: