Force Feedback Joystick Used in Industry

We build things like that. However, I am a little confused as to what you want.

Are you looking for something that has an electrical output that is proportional to the force applied to the stick or something that is displacement based?

There are two ways to do this. One system measures the force applied to the control handle and supplies an output that is proportional to the applied force. The control handle may also move as a means to provide feedback to the user. An example of that system would be the F-16 flight stick used in the aircraft.

A simpler, cheaper method is to have a controller that measures the displacement of the control stick and output a proportional voltage based on how far the stick moves. Game joysticks like you buy in Walmart work like this. There are some higher end industrial controls that work like this. Otto Engineering makes some controls based on Hall pots.

The controls we make are fairly high end controls and most use strain gauges to convert force applied to the control stick to a proportional voltage. The advantages are mostly with robustness and long life.

A third type of control uses a system that measures the force applied to the control stick and mechanical motors to drive the position of the control stick based on the force applied to it. They can also shake the stick and provide various types of user feedback. These systems typically start at $20,000 and up and are not to be confused with game joysticks with vibrators or tiny motors.

Any joystick using springs to return the handle to the neutral position automatically provide this function. The further you move the stick, the more you stretch or compress a spring, the greater the returning force. This is of course based on my assumption that when you wrote "power" (which is actually the rate of doing work), you meant "force", (mass * acceleration).

Martin

Similarly, you could use closed cell foam of varying densities in a cylinder and plunger arrangement ... that way you could use the push and pull very easily. But he is asking for a company from which to purchase.

I have heard great reviews about the Paccus Falcon joy at www.paccus.nl ... it uses hydraulic dampening. There is another model that is supposed to me suitable for industrial and medical purposes. Not sure if it is on the market yet.

Neat idea, but the back force is only a little more than a kilogram or about 2.2 pounds. That's not much more than the breakout force required to just start moving some of our joysticks off of dead center.

It doesn't has to be uncompressed at dead center. Initial state can be compressed to your liking. Or you could make it sufficiently heavy to prevent inertial forces if weight is not a factor.

I guess I had a proclivity for sensitive equipment :o) as my equipment did not ... playing Pac-Man and such ... I actually built such a joystick (with rubber balls & neoprene) in the arm of my armchair back in the Atari days. A bunch of friends thought it was neat ... but do not have a recollection of it being copied. When I pulled it out, it doubled as a cup holder. In the cup holder configuration, everyone wondered what the button was for on the other arm. I always wanted to hook it up to one of those looped answering machine cassettes with the recording of some kid screaming ... "they're touching me again!"

BTW ... when I built seat cushions for the boat, 1.2 to 9lb poly foam was readily available and my garage EVA mat is 28 lb/ft^3.

I wish you could get a keyboard to operate like this by driving a slow PC a heap faster, based upon how hard or how many times you bashed the key down....

Understanding and correct usage of terms is important. If you do not already thoroughly understand 'force' and 'power' and the way these relate, learning this would be a great place to begin.

I am not a gamer, but I do believe that modern quality PC joysticks have feedback as you want....Talk to a 16 year old gamer to find out what the best ones are.......

just get 4 springs and attach them 90 degrees apart, to the joystick, and to a ring round it..... a push in any direction will stretch at least one spring... walaa force feedback.

Chris

LOL!!

There is a very interesting Force Feedback webLink here:-

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haptic_technology

For anyone interested in Force Feedback or as its better known as "Haptic technology"!!