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This is my design for a thumbstick (joystick) for the Power Functions remote
control handset. I forgot about this until prompted, so here it is. It’s a
two-axis joystick that lets you move the stick up/down/left/right and operate
the two IR RC outputs of the selected channel. The up/down movement operates
the right (blue) channel #2, while left/right movement operates the left (red)
channel #1.
| | I’ve seen some of these before, most noticeably this one by Mark Bellis, but I was put off a bit by the density of parts and the difficulty in obtaining the ball-joint elements required.
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The first thing I looked at was moving the actual stick off the control points
so that the switch doesn’t take the full force of your input movements -
particularly the sideways forces. Fortunately the pin-holes in the side of the
controller align with the pivot point of the switch, making this very easy.
This is what the parallel frame on the right-hand side does. It moves the
forward/back pivot point of the joystick right to the front of the handset,
where there’s more room. This also lets me add a long lever onto the other
control. The next step was to de-couple the left/right movement from the
forward/back movement.
The real trick though is in completely avoiding the need for a ball joint. I do
this by putting the pin on the end of the left-hand lever exactly in line with
the axis by which the joystick rocks forward/backward. So, the only motion
transmitted to this lever is the left/right movement. Obviously it moves
slightly out of alignment when operated, but there’s easily enough flex in the
system to compensate for this small movement (in fact, the parallel frame twists
slightly in just the right direction). Having this all aligned looks so simple,
but trust me, it was the hardest part of the design to work out!
Finally, I wanted to simplify the parts list even further. This design uses
just one of each of its main parts taken from the two recent technic accessory
sets:
Obviously the design can be optimised if you have more 1x3 thin liftarms, or you
can substitute more cams, L-shapes or triangles if you’re short. The real aim
was to make it easy to build from a modest collection of scraps.
| | I’ve shown the right-handed version above. Obviously a mirror-image can be made for holding more comfortably in the left hand. And here’s the now ubiquitous shot of 3 linked together for controlling an excavator (click for gallery).
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Jason R
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In lugnet.technic, Jason J Railton wrote:
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This is my design for a thumbstick (joystick) for the Power Functions remote
control handset. I forgot about this until prompted, so here it is. It’s a
two-axis joystick that lets you move the stick up/down/left/right and operate
the two IR RC outputs of the selected channel. The up/down movement operates
the right (blue) channel #2, while left/right movement operates the left
(red) channel #1.
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Okay, thanks for the recommendations everyone. But having done this, I now have
a new challenge (besides doing a better one of these, anyway).
Can you make a mechanical tank controller thumbstick? It should take in
up/down/left/right (+diagonal) motion like this one, but translate it into tank
drive commands, i.e. forward/back operations on the left and right controls
respectively.
Frankly, it’s got me stumped. It’s the diagonals that make it really hard.
Jason R
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WHOA, what a great post! Excellent idea and very well made. I will be sure to
try this out! Thank you!
Eric Sophie
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In lugnet.technic, Jason J Railton wrote:
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<http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=301922
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Okay, thanks for the recommendations everyone. But having done this, I now
have a new challenge (besides doing a better one of these, anyway).
Can you make a mechanical tank controller thumbstick? It should take in
up/down/left/right (+diagonal) motion like this one, but translate it into
tank drive commands, i.e. forward/back operations on the left and right
controls respectively.
Frankly, it’s got me stumped. It’s the diagonals that make it really hard.
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OK, here is an attempted solution to the “new challenge”, i.e. translating
joystick movement to tank controls. It works, but it’s a little awkward to use
(pushing the joystick sideways requires quite a lot of force). I’m sure Jason
(or someone) can come up with a more elegant implementation...
http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/aeh/Controls/tank1.jpg
http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/aeh/Controls/tank2.jpg
I would really like a joystick with THREE degrees of freedom, controlling three
separate power functions switches - two controlled by moving back/forward and
left/right, and the third by ROTATING the joystick on its own axis. Any ideas
how to do this?
cheers, Alexander
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In lugnet.technic, Jason J Railton wrote:
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Can you make a mechanical tank controller thumbstick? It should take in
up/down/left/right (+diagonal) motion like this one, but translate it into
tank drive commands, i.e. forward/back operations on the left and right
controls respectively.
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Yep, here is my version: http://flathen.net/tf/lego/pfremote/
-Trygve
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In lugnet.technic, Alexander Holroyd wrote:
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I would really like a joystick with THREE degrees of freedom, controlling
three separate power functions switches - two controlled by moving
back/forward and left/right, and the third by ROTATING the joystick on its
own axis. Any ideas how to do this?
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See my concept design at http://flathen.net/tf/lego/pfremote/#3axis.
It is not complete since I don’t have enough parts, but you should get the idea.
I have also made an improved version since these photos were taken. I will try
to get it documented soon.
-Trygve
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In lugnet.technic, Trygve Flathen wrote:
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I have also made an improved version since these photos were taken. I will
try to get it documented soon.
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Whoah! These look amazing. Thanks also for the very clear pictures. I’ll be
trying these as soon as I get a moment. Also looking forward to seeing the
“improved version”...
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