Information AboutJoystick |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT JOYSTICK | |
| game controllers | |
| aircraft controls | |
| computing input devices | |
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A joystick is a personal Computer Peripheral or general control device consisting of a handheld stick that pivots about one end and transmits its angle in two or three dimensions to a Computer . Joysticks are often used to control Video Game s, and usually have one or more push- Button s whose state can also be read by the computer. The term joystick has become a synonym for game controllers that can be connected to the computer since the computer defines the input as a "joystick input". Apart from controlling games, joysticks are also used for controlling machines such as Elevator s, Crane s, Truck s, powered Wheelchair s and some zero turning radius Lawn Mower s. More recently miniature joysticks have been adopted as navigational devices for smaller electronic equipment such as mobile phones. There has a been a recent and very significant drop in joystick popularity in the gaming industry. This is primarily due to the shrinkage of the flight simulator genre, and the almost complete disappearance of space-based simulators. Joysticks can be used within first-person shooter games, but are significantly less accurate than a mouse-keyboard. This is one of the fundamental reasons why multiplayer console games are not compatible with PC versions of the same game. A handful of recent games, including Halo 2 and Shadowrun, have allowed console-PC matchings, but have significantly handicapped PC users by requiring them to use the auto-aim feature. TECHNICAL DETAILS Most joysticks are two-dimensional, having two axes of movement (similar to a Mouse ), but 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 three-dimensional 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 utilizing Potentiometer s) and a ''digital joystick'' gives only on/off signals for four different directions, and mechanically possible combinations (such as up-right, down-left, &c.). (Digital joysticks were very common as Game Controller s for the Video Game Console s, Arcade Machine s, and Home Computer s 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 Force Feedback capability. These are thus active devices, not just simple 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 ( As Of 2003 ) mostly use a USB interface for connection to the PC. HISTORY |
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