Hi all,

I was hoping to see if anyone had any luck on joysticks with a more fine resistance range for a 2-axis joystick.
I'm looking to hook up several things to an Adruino Due and using a Joystick to move actuators with varying speed is the key section I'm stuck on. I've tried some off of amazon, 5k ohm joystick potentiometers, and I've noticed after implementation and testing that their range jumps quickly with the slightest movement, and then maxes out before even halfway through the joystick movement.
Does anyone have any recommendations based on experience with some joysticks that will better give me a full range of motion, so I can make an actual varying speed over a larger range?

Thanks in advance!

 

I experienced the same thing with a popular off-the-shelf joystick. I tired my best to improve its performance using software but was unsuccessful. My next attempt will be to source a better quality joystick as used in RC models or to DIY my own joystick.

 

There is the Adafruit joystick.

 

There is the Adafruit joystick.

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I was looking at this actually not too long ago. Have you had any experience using this? I couldn't find any solid reviews if it was good one way or another.

 

I was looking at this actually not too long ago. Have you had any experience using this? I couldn't find any solid reviews if it was good one way or another.

I don't but they are surprisingly cheap, and Adafruit usually makes good stuff. I'd give it a try were I in your situation.

 

You should be able to find an obsolete R/C transmitter for next to nothing and salvage the joysticks. Or find "vintage" computer analog joysticks at a thrift store, computer swap meet or ? Gravis analog sticks were supposed to be good.

Or maybe you just need to add some resistors and make the joysticks less sensitive, or read them with a higher resolution? It sounds to me like the problem is not so much the particular joystick but too much gain.

 

I t my best to improve its performance using software

This raises an important point. Your sketch MUST do some processing of the values read from the joystick. When processing analog input with an Arduino, I always use a rolling average of the last several readings.

Plus, the Arduino has a peculiar problem with analog reads. This problem is exacerbated when reading from multiple pins, like you might do when reading the X and Y axis of a joystick. You have to do a double read! The Arduino ADC needs to reinitialize for each pin. Thus, to be safe I always do a double read.

 

This raises an important point. Your sketch MUST do some processing of the values read from the joystick. When processing analog input with an Arduino, I always use a rolling average of the last several readings.

Plus, the Arduino has a peculiar problem with analog reads. This problem is exacerbated when reading from multiple pins, like you might do when reading the X and Y axis of a joystick. You have to do a double read! The Arduino ADC needs to reinitialize for each pin. Thus, to be safe I always do a double read.

Except I am not using Arduino. I am using TI MSP430.

 

Except I am not using Arduino. I am using TI MSP430.

But more importantly, the TS is using an Arduino. It is to him/her my comments were directed.

 

The potentiometers you got from Amazon performed poorly, "their range jumps quickly with the slightest movement, and then maxes out before even halfway through the joystick movement".
Is the pot poor quality and is defective or is the circuit it feeds not able to deal the upper half of its output voltage, or both?

 

It would be worth trying a known good potentiometer in place of the joystick to confirm that the Arduino and software isn't the issue.