Connecting non-joystick control components

Technical Control System
#1

How do we do this? Specifically, the device I wish to connect is a USB device- a Belkin n52te gamepad.

http://www.everythingusb.com/images/list/belkin_n52te_news.jpg

Now, it’s a USB device, so connecting it physically to the computer isn’t a problem. My question- how do we alter the /program/ to take its data? In other words, how do I interface the robot with it as if it were a device like the stop button or joystick? What action do I have to take in the robot code?

If this is a question that belongs in the programming subforum, please let me know.

#2

If a device presents itself as an HID game controller, it will work with the FRC Driver Station and its status will be communicated to the robot. A mouse or keyboard won’t do anything useful for controlling the robot.

From the brief look I just took at the documentation, the Belkin N52TE actually appears as two joystick-like devices plus a keyboard and a mouse. The special driver software that comes with it lets you configure keyboard/mouse macros to correspond to its buttons, which isn’t helpful for our purposes. I think it would take quite a bit of custom Windows driver programming to make it function in a way that would work with the Driver Station in a useful fashion.

#3

Oh, bleep.
Well, is there any way to hook up a non-joystick control component? Could we simply build our own arrangement of buttons and attach it?

#4

You can connect your own buttons and potentiometers to the cypress module included in your kit last year, or to an eStop Robotics CCI.

Like Alan said, if it identifies itself as a HID game controller, it will work. We’ve used joysticks, gamepads, and steering wheels in the past.

#5

As I am /completely/ inexperienced, if it DOES show up as an HID Game Controller, how do we use it? Do we just call it with the Joystick stuff?

#6

Yes.

#7