Shopping on line can be easy, simple and save you lots of money. It can also take a lot of your time, frustrate you, and result in unwanted purchases. Now the same can be said for regular high street shopping, but with the vast opportunity presented by the Internet it will pay you to spend a few minutes reading this and understanding how to better optimize your Joystick shopping experience:
1. Compare - without doubt the biggest advantage that the Joystick offers shoppers today is the ability to compare thousands of Joystick at a time. This is a great thing, but not necessarily all the time! Too much can be daunting at times so take advantage of the great comparison sites and where possible let them do the hard work for you.
2. Research - if it has been said it will be on the internet. Ignorance is no longer a justifiable reason for buying the wrong thing. Take the time to research in detail everything that you could possible want to know about
3. Testimonials - don't know anybody that has bought a Joystick? Wrong! If the Joystick is good the internet will let you know. Use the Internet as a friend and get testimonials before you buy.
4. Questions - Got a question about Joystick then search the Forums, FAQ's, Blogs etc. Don't be afraid to ask .....
5. Reputation - Never heard of the company selling Joystick? Don't worry, no reason why you should know every company in the world, but you know someone that does! Use the internet to find out what people are saying about Joystick and build up a picture of their reputation for sales, returns, customer service, delivery etc.
6. Returns - still worried that even after all of the above your Joystick wont be what you want? Check out the returns policy. There is so much competition now that someone, somewhere is bound to offer the terms that you are comfortable with.
7. Feedback - happy with your Joystick then let people know, after all you are depending on others people input in your buying decision, so why not give a little back.
8. Security - check for the yellow padlock on the Joystick site before you buy, and the s after http:/ /i.e. https:// = a secure site
9. Contact - got a question about Joystick, or want to leave a comment then check out the sites contact page. Reputable companies have them and respond.
10. Payment - ready to pay for your Joystick, then use your credit card or PayPal! Be aware of companies that don't accept them, there may be genuine reasons but given the huge amount of choice you have when buying online there is no reason at all not to buy via credit card or PayPal.
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 games, and usually have one or more push-Button (control)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 aircraft, crane (machine)s, trucks, powered wheelchairs and some zero turning radius lawn mowers. 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 (2007 video game), 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 computer 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
potentiometers) 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 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
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 personal computer have a
game port. Modern joysticks (
as of 2003) mostly use a
Universal Serial Bus interface for connection to the PC.
History
]
Joysticks were originally controls for an aircraft's ailerons and
elevator (aircraft)s.
The name "joystick" is thought to originate with early 20th century
France pilot Robert Esnault-Pelterie. There are also competing claims on behalf of fellow pilots
Robert Loraine,
James Henry Joyce and Mr A.E. George. The latter was a pioneer aviator who with his colleague Mr. Jobling built and flew a biplane at Newcastle, 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.The joystick itself was present in early planes, though the mechanical origins themselves are uncertain.
The first electrical 2-axis joystick was probably invented around 1944 in
Germany. The device was developed for targeting the glide bomb
Henschel Hs 293 against ship targets. Here, the joystick was used by an operator to steer the missile towards its target. This joystick had on-off switches rather than analogue sensors, i.e. a
digital joystick. The signal was transmitted from the joystick to the missile by a thin wire.
This invention was picked up by someone in the team of scientists assembled at the
Heeresversuchsanstalt in Peenemuende. Here a part of the team on the German rocket program was developing the Wasserfall missile, a variant of the
V-2 rocket, the first ground-to-air missile. The Wasserfall steering equipment converted the electrical signal to radio signals and transmitted these to the missile.
The Atari standard joystick, developed for the Atari 2600 was a
digital joystick, with a single 'fire' button, and connected via a DE-9 connector, the electrical specifications for which was for many years the 'standard' digital joystick specification. Joysticks were commonly used as controllers in first and second generation game consoles, but then gave way to the familiar
game pad with the
Nintendo Entertainment System and Sega Master System in 1985 and 86, though joysticks - especially arcade-style ones - were and are popular after-market add-ons for any console.
More recently,
analog sticks have become standard on video game consoles and have the ability to indicate the stick's displacement from its neutral position. This means that the software does not have to keep track of the position or estimate the speed at which the controls are moved. These devices are usually a rotary potentiometer (variable resistance) turned by the stick movement.
Industrial Applications
In recent times, the employment of joysticks has become common place in many industrial and manufacturing applications, such as; cranes, assembly lines, forestry equipment, mining trucks, and excavators. In fact, the use of such joysticks is in such high demand, that it has virtually replaced the traditional mechanical control lever in nearly all modern hydraulic control systems.
Due to the abusive nature of such applications, the industrial joystick tends to be more robust than the typical video-game controller, and able to function over a high cycle life. This led to the development and employment of Hall Effect sensing to such applications in the 1980s as a means of contactless sensing.
Assistive Technology
Specialist joysticks, classed as an assistive technology
pointing device, are used to replace the
computer mouse for people with fairly severe physical disabilities. Rather than controlling games these joysticks plug into the USB port and control the
Cursor (computers). They are often useful to people with
athetoid conditions, such as
cerebral palsy, who find them easier to grasp than a standard mouse. Miniature joysticks are also available for people with conditions involving muscular weakness such as muscular dystrophy or motor neurone disease. They are also used on
wheelchair#Powerchairs for control since they are simple and effective to use as a control method.
References
See also
External links
- AtomicWarrior - Joysticks on Windows
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 games, and usually have one or more push-
Button (control)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
aircraft, crane (machine)s,
trucks, powered wheelchairs and some zero turning radius
lawn mowers. 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 (2007 video game), 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 computer 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 potentiometers) 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 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
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 personal computer have a
game port. Modern joysticks (
as of 2003) mostly use a Universal Serial Bus interface for connection to the PC.
History
]
Joysticks were originally controls for an aircraft's ailerons and elevator (aircraft)s.
The name "joystick" is thought to originate with early 20th century
France pilot
Robert Esnault-Pelterie. There are also competing claims on behalf of fellow pilots
Robert Loraine,
James Henry Joyce and Mr A.E. George. The latter was a pioneer aviator who with his colleague Mr. Jobling built and flew a biplane at Newcastle, 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.The joystick itself was present in early planes, though the mechanical origins themselves are uncertain.
The first electrical 2-axis joystick was probably invented around 1944 in
Germany. The device was developed for targeting the glide bomb
Henschel Hs 293 against ship targets. Here, the joystick was used by an operator to steer the missile towards its target. This joystick had on-off switches rather than analogue sensors, i.e. a
digital joystick. The signal was transmitted from the joystick to the missile by a thin wire.
This invention was picked up by someone in the team of scientists assembled at the
Heeresversuchsanstalt in
Peenemuende. Here a part of the team on the German
rocket program was developing the Wasserfall missile, a variant of the
V-2 rocket, the first ground-to-air
missile. The Wasserfall steering equipment converted the electrical signal to radio signals and transmitted these to the missile.
The Atari standard joystick, developed for the
Atari 2600 was a
digital joystick, with a single 'fire' button, and connected via a DE-9 connector, the electrical specifications for which was for many years the 'standard' digital joystick specification. Joysticks were commonly used as controllers in first and second generation game consoles, but then gave way to the familiar
game pad with the Nintendo Entertainment System and
Sega Master System in 1985 and 86, though joysticks - especially arcade-style ones - were and are popular after-market add-ons for any console.
More recently,
analog sticks have become standard on video game consoles and have the ability to indicate the stick's displacement from its neutral position. This means that the software does not have to keep track of the position or estimate the speed at which the controls are moved. These devices are usually a rotary potentiometer (variable resistance) turned by the stick movement.
Industrial Applications
In recent times, the employment of joysticks has become common place in many industrial and manufacturing applications, such as; cranes, assembly lines, forestry equipment, mining trucks, and excavators. In fact, the use of such joysticks is in such high demand, that it has virtually replaced the traditional mechanical control lever in nearly all modern hydraulic control systems.
Due to the abusive nature of such applications, the industrial joystick tends to be more robust than the typical video-game controller, and able to function over a high cycle life. This led to the development and employment of Hall Effect sensing to such applications in the 1980s as a means of contactless sensing.
Assistive Technology
Specialist joysticks, classed as an assistive technology
pointing device, are used to replace the computer mouse for people with fairly severe physical disabilities. Rather than controlling games these joysticks plug into the USB port and control the Cursor (computers). They are often useful to people with
athetoid conditions, such as
cerebral palsy, who find them easier to grasp than a standard mouse. Miniature joysticks are also available for people with conditions involving muscular weakness such as
muscular dystrophy or
motor neurone disease. They are also used on
wheelchair#Powerchairs for control since they are simple and effective to use as a control method.
References
See also
External links
- AtomicWarrior - Joysticks on Windows
joystick from FOLDOC
joystick < hardware, games > A device consisting of a hand held stick that pivots about one end and transmits its angle in two dimensions to a computer.
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