Self Centering Joystick Idea

[Andromeda Stardust]

I had toyed with the idea of replacing the joystick mechanism with a small industrial analog stick when I had my 5200. They seem to be readily available online. Imagine replacing the stock stick with a self-centering analog stick that looks like this...

 

Where did you find these?

[ToddUGA]

That's a CH Products miniature resistive joystick. Here's a catalog...

 

http://www.farnell.com/datasheets/322537.pdf

 

I was looking for something small enough to fit inside the stock 5200 joystick that would replace the entire joystick assembly. Never got past the planning stage as I sold my 5200. There's tons of miniature industrial joysticks out there. I'm sure somewhere out there is one that could fit inside a modified stock 5200 controller. Wiring it would be a challenge though.

[bohoki]

i have an idea ive been toying with but it is slightly destructive so i am hesitant to ruin one of my controllers for an experiment

 

the idea is to dremmel away the socket then place a hard block of rubber on the bottom approx 10mm thick with a thin hole in the middle for the shaft countersunk screws from the bottom would hold the rubber in place

[AtariBrian]

i have an idea ive been toying with but it is slightly destructive so i am hesitant to ruin one of my controllers for an experiment

 

the idea is to dremmel away the socket then place a hard block of rubber on the bottom approx 10mm thick with a thin hole in the middle for the shaft countersunk screws from the bottom would hold the rubber in place

What are you waiting for ... try it !

[Andromeda Stardust]

That's a CH Products miniature resistive joystick. Here's a catalog...

 

http://www.farnell.com/datasheets/322537.pdf

 

I was looking for something small enough to fit inside the stock 5200 joystick that would replace the entire joystick assembly. Never got past the planning stage as I sold my 5200. There's tons of miniature industrial joysticks out there. I'm sure somewhere out there is one that could fit inside a modified stock 5200 controller. Wiring it would be a challenge though.

So is there a website where we can buy the items? How many thousands of units do we need to buy if we order direct from the manufacturer? Just because someone can manufacture it for you does the small project hobbiest little good when most would only buy one or two parts.

 

Show me a website or an order form for these products with cheap shipping and a minimum quantity of one. I would love to build a custom N64 joystick.

 

So far all I've found is one solution from Happ that cost like $170, and HAL effect or optics joysticks with a USB yolk that's only good for MAME/PC and not homebrew console controller projects.

Edited May 20, 2015 by stardust4ever

[mickcris]

So is there a website where we can buy the items? How many thousands of units do we need to buy if we order direct from the manufacturer? Just because someone can manufacture it for you does the small project hobbiest little good when most would only buy one or two parts.

 

Show me a website or an order form for these products with cheap shipping and a minimum quantity of one. I would love to build a custom N64 joystick.

 

So far all I've found is one solution from Happ that cost like $170, and HAL effect or optics joysticks with a USB yolk that's only good for MAME/PC and not homebrew console controller projects.

 

They arent cheap but here:

http://www.digikey.com/product-search/en?FV=fff40004%2Cfff8033a%2Cfffc02a7&mnonly=0&newproducts=0&ColumnSort=1000011&page=1&stock=0&pbfree=0&rohs=0&quantity=&ptm=0&fid=0&pageSize=25

 

http://www.mouser.com/Apem/Electromechanical/Industrial-Automation/Input-Devices/_/N-5g20?P=1z0zlgk

 

They have them listed as APEM and not CH Products, but its the same company

[Andromeda Stardust]

http://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/M11L0C1M/1040-1121-ND/4291718

This one looks cool but I wonder how stiff the rubber grommet is. A joystick that works well for slow and steady operations like moving a forklift or power wheelchair might be junk for twitch games such as Mario Kart 64. If anyone wants to be the guinea pig and order one of these and give detailed feedback on it's use as a game input device, please enlighten me.

 

Or if someone could figure out a way to translate the digital wiring harness that connects to something more accessible like a HAL effect joystick and translates the signal to an output the range of analog voltages necessary for an N64 pad hack (most 3rd party controllers use pots instead of rotary encoders), that would be great too. The 3.3V VCC on N64 controllers would complicate things a bit as the HAL effect joysticks need a 5V supply which would have to be powered by an internal battery or DC power adapter. Building such an apparatus would be beyond the scope of my abilities without very detailed knowledge of the device. I'm good with discrete components but programing a micro-controller interface is not my forte.

 

One idea that crossed my mind a while back was to wire a "49-way" joystick to a resistor ladder yielding +/- 0%, 33%, 67%, and 100% signal levels in each axis. Basically as the 49-way joystick actuates each of three switches in one direction, parallel resistances are added to one of the directions. This would reduce the total resistance as the joystick is tilted in a direction, so the trim pots would have to be calibrated to proper voltage levels with the joystick at full tilt each way. This would necessitate creating an independent connection for every switch (ie no unified ground plane) which is an unlikely design choice. I looked up the available 49-way joysticks and they all used optical sensors which would complicate things a bit. In the unlikely event of the harness sending out raw data from each sensor, maybe a resistor ladder could be devised to convert these inputs into a stepped analog range as a crude DAC, but that would be a PITA. This would also require signal inverters because for instance you can lower the output by adding high logic to the resistor DAC network and visa-versa. Plus, using a 49-way joystick in place of true analog input would result in clunky movement in game. Regardless, I scrapped the idea.

Edited May 20, 2015 by stardust4ever