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Video game joystick elements: #1 Stick; #2 Base; #3 Trigger; #4 Extra buttons; #5 Autofire switch; #6 Throttle; #7 Hat Switch (POV Hat); #8 Suction Cup A joystick is an input device consisting of a stick that pivots on a base and reports its angle or direction to the device it is controlling. Joysticks, also known as 'control columns', are the principal control in the cockpit of many civilian and military aircraft, either as a center stick or side-stick. They often have supplementary switches on them to control other aspects of the aircraft's flight. Joysticks are often used to control video games, and usually have one or more push-buttons whose state can also be read by the computer. A popular variation of the joystick used on modern video game consoles is the analog stick. Joysticks are also used for controlling machines such as cranes, trucks, underwater unmanned vehicles, wheelchairs, surveillance cameras and zero turning radius lawn mowers. Miniature finger-operated joysticks have been adopted as input devices for smaller electronic equipment such as mobile phones.
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2.1 History 2.2 Electronic games 2.3 Arcade sticks 2.4 Technical details
[edit] Aviation
Computer port view of the Atari standard connector: #1 up; #2 down; #3 left; #4 right; #5 (pot y); #6 fire button; #7 +5V DC; #8 ground; #9 (pot x) Joysticks originated as controls for aircraft ailerons and elevators, and is first known to have been used as such on Louis Bleriot's Bleriot VIII aircraft of 1908, in combination with a footoperated rudder bar for the yaw control surface on the tail. The name "joystick" is thought to originate with early 20th century French pilot Robert Esnault-Pelterie.[1] There are also competing claims on behalf of fellow pilots Robert Loraine, James Henry Joyce and A. E. George. Loraine is credited with entering the term "joystick" in his diary in 1909 when he went to Pau to learn to fly at Bleriot's school. George was a pioneer aviator who with his colleague Jobling built and flew a biplane at Newcastle in England in 1910. He is alleged to have invented the "George Stick" which became more popularly known as the joystick. The George and Jobling aircraft control column is in the collection of the Discovery Museum in Newcastle Upon Tyne, England. Joysticks were present in early planes, though their mechanical origins are uncertain.[2] The coining of the term "joystick" may actually be credited to Loraine, as his is the earliest known usage of the term, although he most certainly did not invent the device.
controller similar to a games joystick, but which is used to control the flight, replacing the traditional yoke. The sidestick saves weight, improves movement and visibility in the cockpit and may be safer in an accident than the traditional "control yoke".
including Sega's Sea Devil in 1972,[17] Taito's Attack in 1976[18] and Cross Fire in 1977,[19] and Nintendo's Battle Shark in 1978.[20]
1980s one-button game joystick Most joysticks are two-dimensional, having two axes of movement (similar to a mouse), but one and three-dimensional joysticks do exist. A joystick is generally configured so that moving the stick left or right signals movement along the X axis, and moving it forward (up) or back (down) signals movement along the Y axis. In joysticks that are configured for threedimensional movement, twisting the stick left (counter-clockwise) or right (clockwise) signals movement along the Z axis. These three axes - X Y and Z - are, in relation to an aircraft, roll, pitch, and yaw. An analog joystick is a joystick which has continuous states, i.e. returns an angle measure of the movement in any direction in the plane or the space (usually using potentiometers) and a digital joystick gives only on/off signals for four different directions, and mechanically possible combinations (such as up-right, down-left, etc.). (Digital joysticks were very common as game controllers for the video game consoles, arcade machines, and home computers of the 1980s.) Additionally joysticks often have one or more fire buttons, used to trigger some kind of action. These are simple on/off switches. Some joysticks have haptic feedback capability. These are thus active devices, not just input devices. The computer can return a signal to the joystick that causes it to resist the movement with a returning force or make the joystick vibrate. Most I/O interface cards for PCs have a joystick (game control) port. Modern joysticks mostly use a USB interface for connection to the PC.
Hat switch - at top, in green A hat switch is a control on some joysticks. It is also known as a POV (point of view) switch. It allows one to look around in their virtual world, browse menus etc. For example, many flight simulators use it to switch the player's views,[22] while other games sometimes use it as a substitute for the D-pad; while computer gamepads modelled after PlayStation DualShock controllers assign POV switch scancodes to the D-pad of it. The term hat switch is a sanitization of the term "Coolie Hat", named for the similar-looking headgear, which may be considered offensive. In a real aircraft, the hat switch may control things like aileron or rudder trim.
In Europe, there are several manufacturers that supply specialized market sectors, such as crane controls, aviation, etc.. One of the European global joystick suppliers is the Swiss company Genge & Thoma AG, supplying standard and tailor made industrial grade joysticks. In the UK Printed Motor Works have recently taken over the production of the Flightlink Controls/PML Flightlink ranges of industrial Some larger manufactures of joysticks are able to customize joystick handles and grips specific to the OEM needs while small regional manufacture often concentrate on selling standard products at higher prices to smaller OEM's.