homepage

Joystick as a force input device?

Posted By: Dozer

Joystick as a force input device? - 12/08/13 02:47 AM

...instead of being a displacement input device.

I'm about to implement this in X-Plane and was wondering if anyone knows of other sims which have tried this?

In most sims, the user has a joystick which is spring-loaded to a fixed centre position. So joystick deflection is met with roughly proportional force from the spring. In addition there is a trim input (axis or increase/decrease commands, doesn't matter which).

The trim controls move the neutral position of the flight model's flight controls. The user's joystick's neutral position always matches the sim's flight control neutral position, and joystick deflection from its neutral position is interpreted as control deflection from the trimmed neutral position. (Proportionally or with a user-defined curve.)

These are all based on deflection. An alternative approach is to regard everything as a force.

With this approach - the user is applying a force against the joystick's centering spring. This is interpreted as the simulated pilot applying a force against the flight controls in the sim. This force is combined with the force from the airflow against the control deflection, the force from the trim system, the force from the autopilot servos, the force from the stick pusher, the force from the co-pilot's actions, and the resultant force is divided by an arbitrary mass to apply motion to the control surfaces.

Possibly the two approaches can be combined (is this what Il-2 1946 does? Joystick deflection maps to control deflection, but only if the pilot's strength is not exceeded?)

I was wondering if anyone knows any sims which have used this approach?
© 2024 SimHQ Forums