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What sort of joystick/controller to use to remotely control/pilot walking robot?

Hi - I am trying to decide what sort of controller I want to use to remotely pilot my 6 legged robot.

Right now I'm using an XBox 360 controller. I like some things about it - but the centering on it is absolutely awful. So I'm thinking about switching over to something like a 3 axis joystick, probably the Saitek Cyborg wireless.

Also - I can't decide about which control should do what. I figure the primary control (X/Y) on the joystick should control X/Y on the robot's movement. But what about rotating in place? That's what I'm thinking I'll use the third axis on the Saitek for. But - what if I want to walk, say, in a circle? How would I do that? I thought about trying to mix the third axis of the joystick with the X and Y axes, so that the harder you twist the joystick the tighter of a circle it would walk in, until at the max twist the robot would be turning in place. The X and Y would control the direction of the circle it was walking in, and once the joystick was turned all the way (so that the robot was rotating in place) - the magnitude of the combination of X and Y would control the speed of rotation.

But that seems a little, well, weird. Have any of you all found a good way to control your walking robots?

Thanks,

-Mike

Reply to
Mike
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Sounds like a fun project. In first-person shooters, a common standard is for the WASD keys to control translation, while the mouse controls where the player is facing.

A similar scheme would apply to your robot. It should walk in the direction the joystick is pointing (step forward, backward, left, or right), and it should turn at a rate proportional to the joystick twist.

To turn a circle, press the stick in any direction and apply the desired twist. Figuring out how to make the legs do all this might be the hard part.

- Daniel Who's stuck in simulation land.

Reply to
D Herring

Use two sticks, like Battlezone! - even DPDT Center Off toggles would work.

Both forward = forward Left forward / Right back = rotate right (on axis) Left forward / Right Center = turn right (arc) Both back = reverse

There's more combo's but I have Adult ADHD.

-Will

Reply to
will.lynelle

I thought about using two joysticks - but that would just be too much for me. I really like to have at least one hand free. It would certainly simplify the control scheme, though.

Reply to
Mike

You might try a multi button joy stick. I made a simple program to control two servo based pan/tilt web cams. When one button on the stick was pressed, it controlled cam A pan/tilt. When the other button was pressed, cam B was controlled. With no button pushed, the stick was deactivated allowing the stick to return to neutral with out the cam following it.

Reply to
Si Ballenger

Ever consideredthe PS2 Controler. There's a way to control your robot directly with a wireless "PS2 Controler" unit.

Click below for details on entire kit:

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Good Luck Mike...

Reply to
Robert Davidson

You can also try these:

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Good Luck Mike...

Reply to
Robert Davidson

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