I'm looking in vain for a 2-axis (analog pots) joystick without centre dead-zone for a helicopter cyclic.
The cheap thumb sticks all have a huge dead-zone...
I'd make my own but have neither the place nor the budget for a 3-d printer.
Look for spare gimbals for an RC transmitter
Does it have to be a thunb type?
spare gimbals for an RC transmitter are certainly a good idea to follow, I've started hacking something together but it will not last very long I think.
The project is for a full size cylic for flying with Flightgear so the gimbals will just be the base.
But probably where you might want to spend some money.
If you are talking about a real r/c not just a toy, the joystick is as important as the propellers, and everything you do at both ends and all the way from one end to the other will end up being critical. To ending up with something that flies and is fun to fly.
Toy transmitters have junky joypots, and often they have a dead zone. I have r/c toys (cheap actual toys) that are nearly impossible to fly with the included control, but do very well with my multi-protocol TXs. Not the deadzone so much as the poor mechanical arrangement and ergonomics.
I feel bad for people I gave a copy of a very nice toy, not having flown it with the included controller…
The relatively large expenditure which was my first "real" transmitter was money well spent.
Don't cheap out in this. If you are determined to build a transmitter, please spend 15 - 20 USD on each gimbal. Enough. You will not regret it.
Or.
You could divide this project, and just get a real transmitter and a receiver to go with it. Use that and let yourself concentrate on building the vehicle and coding the flight control system.
It would be worth flipping burgers or mowing lawns or whatever to afford doing.
You'll have enough fun getting the parts you do design and build working.
a7
My hobby here is the Flightgear flight simulator but the end result must be the same. Pitch and roll on one joystick with no dead zone, I 'll then fine tune with Arduino IDE before values are sent via serial to the sim.
I've hacked together this proof of concept (2-axis no dead zone) with scrap bits and 2 pots, probably will not last very long so the next version is already on the drawing board
This is on the floor next to the rudder pedals, the long cyclic handle/tube slots in going up between the knees to the grip.
So it doesn't?
Sorry, it does not have to be a thumb joystick no.
How long is the joystick handle going to be, bearing in mind
As a result, the joysticks will only move over a small proportion of their possible travel which will mean that the precision will be greatly reduced
I don't see how a potentiometer has a dead zone. Resistance either increases or decreases. The dead zone seems intentionally programmed.
I do understand how "mechanical precision" can cause a dead zone.
Maybe encoders would be the preferred option.
I have discovered that I'm not the only one annoyed by this type of problem. I think the null zone 'gap' may well be because of the downward pressure switch incorporated in this thing.
Anyway I'm junking this mini joystick from this project and going with ordinary linear pots on 2 axes.
My temporary solution (see post #7) allows a small angular variation +/- ~30° (total ~60°) in both axis but videos of real life helicos also show very small movements of the cyclic so I'm hoping this is enough. I'll be turning to other Flightgear pilots for more precise information, thanks for interest and comments
I am willing to bet that real hellicopter cyclic controls do not move a carbon pot over a small portion of its possible travel
IPB with suitable sub and next higher assembly fields, as God intended, down to the washers.
This is the difference between computer simulators and real life. Someone dear to us used to work in the homologation of such official manuals for airline companies, yes I know that every single nut, bolt, rivet and washer is concerned. A pity that sometimes the maintenance is not as strict as required.
FAA is not strict. It is exact.
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Every procedure is enumerated, down to the washer. Everyone gets to spend a month "A-paging" (inserting supplemental data into) the documents, and soon it feels natural. Policy dictates contracts go to the lowest bidder (to avoid nepotism or single-sourcing). Mechanics are hindered by corporate costs (sub-standard tools, increased workload, reduced workforce, cost-cutting compensation) for the sake of contract profit going to stockholders. "Maintenance" is not the problem... it is the scapegoat. The real problem is the clowns moving their pawns without regard for what is right.
In the world of hiring workers... 97% of ALL job applicants LIE (not "embellish" - but blatantly lie) on their CV/resume... which creates another problem, 80% of all employees do not like their job. This makes "everyone" hate the job they lied to obtain, pushing out the three-percent due to their unfailing dedication to truth. I can only imagine these numbers are worse with online copy/paste and "A.I." as common as water... this stuff from "What color is your parachute?" It tells you to do right, and ignore how the crowd works.
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