Joystick
A joystick is an input device consisting of a stick that pivots on a base
and reports its angle or direction to the device it is controlling. A
joystick, also known as the control column, is the principal control
device in the cockpit of many civilian and military aircraft, either as a
center stick or side-stick. It often has supplementary switches to
control various aspects of the aircraft's flight.
Joysticks are often used to control video games, and usually have one
or more push-buttons whose state can also be read by the computer. A
popular variation of the joystick used on modern video game consoles
is the analog stick. Joysticks are also used for controlling machines
such as cranes, trucks, underwater unmanned vehicles, wheelchairs,
surveillance cameras, and zero turning radius lawn mowers. Miniature
finger-operated joysticks have been adopted as input devices for
smaller electronic equipment such as mobile phones.
Video game joystick elements: 1.
stick, 2. base, 3. trigger, 4. extra
Contents buttons, 5. autofire switch, 6.
Aviation throttle, 7. hat switch (POV hat), 8.
suction cup.
Origins
Electronic joysticks
History
Electronic games
Arcade sticks
Hat switch
Cameras
Industrial applications
Assistive technology
See also
References
External links
Aviation
Joysticks originated as controls for aircraft ailerons and elevators, and are first known to have been used as
such on Louis Bleriot's Bleriot VIII aircraft of 1908, in combination with a foot-operated rudder bar for the
yaw control surface on the tail.[1]
Origins
The name "joystick" is thought to originate with early 20th century
French pilot Robert Esnault-Pelterie.[2] There are also competing
claims on behalf of fellow pilots Robert Loraine, James Henry Joyce,
and A. E. George. Loraine is cited by the Oxford English Dictionary
for using the term "joystick" in his diary in 1909 when he went to Pau
to learn to fly at Bleriot's school. George was a pioneer aviator who
with his colleague Jobling built and flew a biplane at Newcastle in
England in 1910. He is alleged to have invented the "George Stick"
which became more popularly known as the joystick. The George
and Jobling aircraft control column is in the collection of the
Discovery Museum in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. Joysticks
were present in early planes, though their mechanical origins are
uncertain.[3] The coining of the term "joystick" may actually be
credited to Loraine, as his is the earliest known usage of the term, Cockpit of a glider with its joystick
although he most certainly did not invent the device. visible
Electronic joysticks
History
The electrical two-axis joystick was invented by C. B. Mirick at the United States Naval Research Laboratory
(NRL) and patented in 1926 (U.S. Patent no. 1,597,416)".[4] NRL was actively developing remote controlled
aircraft at the time and the joystick was possibly used to support this effort. In the awarded patent, Mirick
writes: "My control system is particularly applicable in maneuvering aircraft without a pilot."[5]
The Germans developed an electrical two-axis joystick around 1944. The device was used as part of the
Germans' Funkgerät FuG 203 Kehl radio control transmitter system used in certain German bomber aircraft,
used to guide both the rocket-boosted anti-ship missile Henschel Hs 293, and the unpowered pioneering
precision-guided munition Fritz-X,[6] against maritime and other targets. Here, the joystick of the Kehl
transmitter was used by an operator to steer the missile towards its target. This joystick had on-off switches
rather than analogue sensors. Both the Hs 293 and Fritz-X used FuG 230 Straßburg radio receivers in them to
send the Kehl's control signals to the ordnance's control surfaces. A comparable joystick unit was used for the
contemporary American Azon steerable munition, strictly to laterally steer the munition in the yaw axis only.[7]
This German invention was picked up by someone in the team of scientists assembled at the
Heeresversuchsanstalt in Peenemünde. Here a part of the team on the German rocket program was developing
the Wasserfall missile, a variant of the V-2 rocket, the first ground-to-air missile. The Wasserfall steering
equipment converted the electrical signal to radio signals and transmitted these to the missile.
In the 1960s the use of joysticks became widespread in radio-controlled model aircraft systems such as the
Kwik Fly produced by Phill Kraft (1964). The now-defunct Kraft Systems firm eventually became an
important OEM supplier of joysticks to the computer industry and other users. The first use of joysticks outside
the radio-controlled aircraft industry may have been in the control of powered wheelchairs, such as the
Permobil (1963). During this time period NASA used joysticks as control devices as part of the Apollo
missions. For example, the lunar lander test models were controlled with a joystick.
In many modern airliners aircraft, for example all Airbus aircraft developed from the 1980s, the joystick has
received a new lease on life for flight control in the form of a "side-stick", a controller similar to a gaming
joystick but which is used to control the flight, replacing the traditional yoke. The sidestick saves weight,
improves movement and visibility in the cockpit, and may be safer in an accident than the traditional "control
yoke".
Electronic games
Ralph H. Baer, inventor of the Magnavox Odyssey console, released in 1972,
created the first video game joysticks in 1967. They were able to control the
horizontal and vertical position of a spot displayed on a screen.[8] The earliest
known electronic game joystick with a fire button was released by Sega as
part of their 1969 arcade game Missile, a shooter simulation game that used it
as part of an early dual-control scheme, where two directional buttons are
used to move a motorized tank and a two-way joystick is used to shoot and
steer the missile onto oncoming planes displayed on the screen; when a plane
is hit, an explosion is animated on screen along with an explosion sound.[9] In
1970,[10] the game was released in North America as S.A.M.I. by Midway A prototype Project Gemini
Games.[9] joystick-type hand controller,
1962
Taito released a four-way joystick as part of their arcade racing video game
Astro Race in 1973,[11] while their 1975 run and gun multi-directional
shooter game Western Gun introduced dual-stick controls with one
eight-way joystick for movement and the other for changing the
shooting direction. In North America, it was released by Midway
under the title Gun Fight.[12] In 1976, Taito released Interceptor, an
early first-person combat flight simulator that involved piloting a jet
fighter, using an eight-way joystick to aim with a crosshair and shoot
at enemy aircraft.[13]
The Atari standard joystick, developed for the Atari 2600, released in
1977,[15] was a digital controller, with a single fire button. The Atari
joystick port was for many years the de facto standard digital joystick
specification. Joysticks were commonly used as controllers in first and
second generation game consoles, but they gave way to the familiar CH Products Mach 2 analog joystick
game pad with the Nintendo Entertainment System and Sega Master as used with many early home
System during the mid-1980s, though joysticks—especially arcade- computer systems. The small knobs
style one—were and are popular after-market add-ons for any are for (mechanical) calibration, and
console.[16] the sliders engage the self-centering
springs.
In 1985, Sega's third-person arcade rail shooter game Space Harrier
introduced a true analog flight stick, used for movement. The joystick
could register movement in any direction as well as measure the
degree of push, which could move the player character at different
speeds depending on how far the joystick was pushed in a certain
direction.[17]
A distinct variation of an analog joystick is a positional gun, which
works differently from a light gun. Instead of using light sensors, a Computer port view of the Atari
positional gun is essentially an analog joystick mounted in a fixed standard connector: 1. up, 2. down,
location that records the position of the gun to determine where the 3. left, 4. right, 5. (pot y), 6. fire
player is aiming on the screen.[18][19] It is often used for arcade gun button, 7. +5 V DC, 8. ground, 9. (pot
games, with early examples including Sega's Sea Devil in 1972;[20] x).[14]
Taito's Attack in 1976;[21] Cross Fire in 1977;[22] and Nintendo's
Battle Shark in 1978.[23]
During the 1990s, joysticks such as the CH Products Flightstick, Gravis
Phoenix, Microsoft SideWinder, Logitech WingMan, and Thrustmaster FCS
were in demand with PC gamers. They were considered a prerequisite for
flight simulators such as F-16 Fighting Falcon and LHX Attack Chopper.
Joysticks became especially popular with the mainstream success of space
flight simulator games like X-Wing and Wing Commander, as well as the "Six
degrees of freedom" 3D shooter Descent.[24][25][26][27][28] VirPil Controls'
MongoosT-50 joystick was designed to mimic the style of Russian aircraft
(including the Sukhoi Su-35 and Sukhoi Su-57), unlike most flight
joysticks.[29]
However, since the beginning of the 21st century, these types of games have
waned in popularity and are now considered a "dead" genre, and with that,
gaming joysticks have been reduced to niche products.[24][25][26][27][28] In
NowGamer's interview with Jim Boone, a producer at Volition Inc., he stated Saitek's Cyborg 3D Gold
that FreeSpace 2's poor sales could have been due to joysticks' being sold around the 2000s. Note its
throttle, its extra buttons,
poorly because they were "going out of fashion" because more modern first-
and its hat switch.
person shooters, such as Quake, were "very much about the mouse and [the]
keyboard". He went further on to state "Before that, when we did Descent for
example, it was perfectly common for people to have joysticks – we sold a lot
of copies of Descent. It was around that time [when] the more modern FPS with mouse and keyboard came
out, as opposed to just keyboard like Wolfenstein [3D] or something.".[30]
Since the late 1990s, analog sticks (or thumbsticks, due to their being controlled by one's thumbs) have
become standard on controllers for video game consoles, popularized by Nintendo's Nintendo 64
controller,[31] and have the ability to indicate the stick's displacement from its neutral position. This means that
the software does not have to keep track of the position or estimate the speed at which the controls are moved.
These devices usually use potentiometers to determine the position of the stick, though some newer models
instead use a Hall effect sensor for greater reliability and reduced size.
In 1997, ThrustMaster, Inc. introduced a 3D programmable controller, which was integrated into computer
games to experience flight simulations. This line adapted several aspects of NASA's RHC (Rotational Hand
Controller), which is used for landing and navigation methods.[32]
Arcade sticks
An arcade stick is a large-format controller for use with home consoles or computers. They use the stick-and-
button configuration of some arcade cabinets, such as those with particular multi-button arrangements. For
example, the six button layout of the arcade games Street Fighter II or Mortal Kombat cannot be comfortably
emulated on a console joypad, so licensed home arcade sticks for these games have been manufactured for
home consoles and PCs.[33]
Hat switch
A hat switch is a control on some joysticks. It is also known as a POV (point of view) switch. It allows one to
look around in one's virtual world, browse menus, etc. For example, many flight simulators use it to switch the
player's views,[34] while other games sometimes use it as a substitute for the D-pad. Computer gamepads with
both an analogue stick and a D-pad usually assign POV switch scancodes to the latter.
The term hat switch is a shortening of the term "Coolie hat switch", named for the similar-looking
headgear.[35]
In a real aircraft, the hat switch may control things like aileron or elevator
trim.
Cameras
Apart from buttons, wheels and dials as well as touchscreens also minature
joysticks have been established for the efficient manual operation of
cameras.[36][37][38]
Minature joystick at a mirrorless interchangeable-lens camera
Hat switch - at top, in green
Next to an electronic viewfinder to be operated by the
right thumb
Detailed view
Industrial applications
In recent times, the employment of joysticks has become commonplace in many industrial and manufacturing
applications, such as; cranes, assembly lines, forestry equipment, mining trucks, and excavators. In fact, the
use of such joysticks is in such high demand, that it has virtually replaced the traditional mechanical control
lever in nearly all modern hydraulic control systems. Additionally, most unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and
submersible remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) require at least one joystick to control either the vehicle, the
on-board cameras, sensors and/or manipulators.
Due to the highly hands-on, rough nature of such applications, the industrial joystick tends to be more robust
than the typical video-game controller, and able to function over a high cycle life. This led to the development
and employment of Hall effect sensing to such applications in the 1980s as a means of contactless sensing.
Several companies produce joysticks for industrial applications using Hall effect technology. Another
technology used in joystick design is the use of strain gauges to build force transducers from which the output
is proportional to the force applied rather than physical deflection. Miniature force transducers are used as
additional controls on joysticks for menu selection functions.
Some larger manufacturers of joysticks are able to customize joystick handles and grips specific to the OEM
needs while small regional manufacturers often concentrate on selling standard products at higher prices to
smaller OEMs.
Assistive technology
Specialist joysticks, classed as an assistive technology pointing device, are used to replace the computer mouse
for people with fairly severe physical disabilities. Rather than controlling games, these joysticks control the
pointer. They are often useful to people with athetoid conditions, such as cerebral palsy, who find them easier
to grasp than a standard mouse.[39] Miniature joysticks are available for people with conditions involving
muscular weakness such as muscular dystrophy or motor neurone disease as well. They are also used on
electric powered wheelchairs for control since they are simple and effective to use as a control method.[40]
See also
List of computer hardware
Aircraft flight control system
The Arcade (joystick)
Flight simulator
Game controller
Gamepad
Gravis PC GamePad
Kempston joystick
TAC-2
Yoke (aircraft)
References
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This article is based on material taken from the Free On-line Dictionary of Computing prior to 1
November 2008 and incorporated under the "relicensing" terms of the GFDL, version 1.3 or
later.
External links
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