Good afternoon gents,
I have decided to take on a project (more for learning/personal growth than anything) to build my own joystick. I am excited about the skills I will learn along the way including using USB controllers and electronics, CAD software and simple mechanical engineering, programming, and a good excuse to add some new tools and hardware to my collection (just don't tell the wife).
Before I start my actual design, I'm in the research phase - and after a week or so of watching videos, reading forums and articles, browsing component catalogs, etc. I am stuck with a few questions. This seemed like the place where people with expertise in these areas congregate so if you have time to provide some insight I would be grateful!
1) Hall sensors. I have browsed existing joysticks to see how the pros are installing these, but I am unfortunately at a loss. For example, I cannot find where the sensors in the VKB Fat Black Mamba Mk.III gimbal are located
Additionally, if I want to have a sensor for each axis, are two Hall sensors going to interfere with eachother? I plan on building a desktop or chair mounted joystick so the base of the joystick is not going to be very large, certainly not as large as a floor mounted center stick in a replica cockpit.
2) Z-axis twist. So I don't have to insert another picture, I'll reference the VKB again - if I wanted to design a gimbal with not only X and Y axis motion, but also Z-axis twist, is a cam and spring based design for the Z-axis feasable, or is there a better technique? If I want to use a Hall sensor for the Z-axis twist, how are wires from buttons/triggers/etc. from the top of the joystick routed through the center down into the base where the controller board(s) are? It seems to me that the sensor for Z-axis rotation would be in the way.
3) Axis range of motion. I know this is an item of personal preference, but what is considered a standard range of deflection for an average joystick? I never would have thought this would be a difficult piece of data to find on the internet, but alas... Looking at the Logitec Attack 3 on my desk, it seems each axis has a total of around 40 degrees of motion (20 degrees in each direction). Is there a generally accepted "optimal" range?
Thanks in advance for your time. Fly safe.