USB Joystick to DB15

Technical Control System
1

I have a nice set of USB joysticks that I would like to use. The problem i’m having is finding a converter that is USB to DB15. I found plans online that should let me do the conversion it it was usb to DB9 but that doesnt help too much. :frowning: http://www.lennard.net.nz/electronics/usbtors232.html

I’m not sure It would work because of the voltage problem. I also would like to know if drivers would be an issue. This mod requires drivers, but i’m not sure if that would matter during integration with the robot controller. Has anyone tried this before? Did it work?

Remember, I’m trying to convert a USB Joystick to a DB15 joystick.

Thanks a lot and see you at the comp.

2

Please see the discussion in the following thread, more so please see posts 9 and 11 in the thread as you will see some issues with trying to use a usb device with the O/I and RC.

3

That goes the other way - lets you use a USB “host” port as a serial port. Also, you dont want serial output (there are some Joysticks taht do serallel (a sorta serial/parallel combo) over the gameport, they do not work with the OI), you want analog and digital outputs in “flightsick compatable” form. The only way to do this would be to use your own microprocessor that had a usb interface (there are some microchip PIC chips that can use USB) and write some custom code to convert it and then output it using the internal DAC and digital outs. It would be quite a project, probally better for the offseason.\

What you want is something that lets you use a usb “guest/client” port and outputs “flightsick compatabile gameport” form. I doubt one exists, but let us know if you find one.

4

This might be a stupid question but wouldnt it work if we found some way to convert db9 to db15? I know that 6 pins would have to be unused… Is it a data collision problem?

5

There is no data to collide. The OI just uses the raw measurement from the joystick pots so it needs a 0-100K “signal”. Most of the newer joysticks/pads uses an interpreter between these raw signals and the computer to convert them into RS232 or USB protocol.

Other than taking your joystick apart, disconnecting the joystick potsfrom the circuit board, meauring them to make sure they are 0-100K linear pots, and then rewiring them, you won’t be able to use them.

6

Most joysticks these days use some optical sensing technology instead of pots. Note if it has trim’s or not, chances are if it doenst have trim’s, it doenst use pots, it just checks for change, it could care less about absolute posistion.

7

One option to keep in mind, is to scrap the USB connector, and rewire the whole thing. Its quiet an undertaking but i have done it. We rewired a really nice flight sim joystick and throttle set to control a crab drive robot once. Just memorize those OI datasheets and get some db15 connectors and start splicing wires!

8

The problem is that the OI measures voltage from 0 to 5 volts, and turns it into a number from 0-255. You get a variable voltage using a potentiometer, which is what you’ll find in the kit-provided joysticks. The problem with modern joysticks is that they give a digital output, sending pulses on a wire. The OI cannot process this sort of signal. Even if you converted the connector to DB9, you’d still be getting the same sort of signal. Your joystick probably uses analog values to generate the digital signals, so if you’re feeling courageous, you could open up the joystick, bypass much of the internal circuitry, and wire the potentiometers directly to the proper pins on a DB15 connector. If your joystick uses some fancier sort of sensor (optical, perhaps), it might be a little different. The point is, it’s likely that you can get your joystick to work with the OI, but the rewiring you’d have to do would be internal.