Main > Main Forum

Poll: How do you 4 way?

Pages: << < (7/9) > >>

armi0024:

I hear you, and the choices are tough.  This is very much an opinion thing, like so many other things here, and it's tough to design something that fit the diversity of opinions.  And trust me, the variety of opinions on the forums is high, the variety of opinions in my inbox is astronomical.  Designs I thought were solid from other vendors, I get people upset with them and looking for alternatives.  I'm not saying that like we are special, I'm sure other vendors get some of the same spillage from us.

I've got a few projects on going right now, one product arrival announcement that will hopefully be posted int he next 3-4 days and one brand new product announcement that will be posted in the next week(just waiting for beta testing and some final measurements).  This solution is not one of those, but it is in the queue, and not the 2-3 year queue :)

RandyT:


--- Quote from: DNA Dan on May 05, 2011, 10:20:26 pm ---When are you guys going to have a servo or motor solution for an automatic switching joystick?

--- End quote ---

I've had a working servo switching  prototype for months.  The issue that keeps me from moving forward with it is primarily customer expectations.  Such a setup is not inexpensive, and the parts can range from reasonable to crazy in price.  Customers in this hobby tend to expect "reasonable".  Servo parts in that price range tend not to be very forgiving, durable or long lasting.  When an individual does something like the setup in the video, that's great, but they don't have the same expectations from the end result as those who pay for a finished item.  If it stops working, they don't say "it was cool while it lasted" and go about fixing it up, they just want it to work because they paid for a solution, and someone had better have an explanation as to why it quit in the first place. :)  So while I won't say that it's off the table, it makes me nervous basing a product like this on the quality of parts people would consider to be affordable.  Just to give a little background on why I feel this way, I tried several servos, and in light stress testing, one managed to melt down, and another twisted the gears off the motor shaft.


--- Quote ---Even with an octagon, the 4way guys aren't happy AND the 8way guys are disgruntled. The best solution is a true 4 and 8 switching joystick.

--- End quote ---

All of them have their place, but I do agree with you that anything but a true 4-way and a true 8-way will involve a compromise of some nature.  Switchable sticks require a square gate, which truncates the throw of the stick in 8-way mode and isn't great for anything but Q-bert.  Rotating it creates the diamond shape needed for the 4-way, but the throw becomes longer by geometrical necessity.  As some crossover between cardinal direction isn't the end of the world, you see this being done intentionally in order to make the 8-way movement less truncated.  But doing so, exacerbates the "long throw" complaint registered by players about 4-way sticks.  So in essence, a rotatable restrictor ends up being a mediocre 4-way and a mediocre 8-way, but it at least does both.  The octagonal restrictor is also a compromise, but it is a bird of a different color.  It gives you a limited ability to guide the stick somewhat in the desired direction, so long as you aren't too far off, because it will just as happily guide you to a diagonal as a cardinal direction.  But I think it's something that can be learned, and if you are trying to do both, it should work ok.  Being that the throw is the same, whether used for 4 or 8-way, you don't get the reverse-ideal of the rotated restrictor, but you do have to make sure that the stick you are limiting in this fashion actually has a throw you feel good about in both types of use.  The sticks which commonly use these types of restrictors may not stack up to the player's expectations in both 4 and 8-way use, so that needs to be considered.  And even though I like the 8-way restriction on some 8-way games, on a game like Robotron or Time Pilot, where smooth, round sweeping motions are expected, the "rat-tat-tat" of the 8-way octagonal restrictor might be maddening to some.

So regardless of what others might say is the best approach to the problem of not being able to have both, it is a very personal choice which dictates the approach taken.  The absolute best is your favorite 8-way next to your favorite 4-way.  Everything else requires a fair bit of experimentation and soul-searching.

RandyT

severdhed:

Dedicated vertical 4 way cabinet with sanwa jlw for me..tried  many other options, u360s, dedicated 4 way stick on a frankenpanel, but the dedicated cabinet is by far the best way for me.

DirtyDachshunds:

My  perfered 4-way would be with 3 other women  :dunno

TopJimmyCooks:


--- Quote from: RandyT on May 05, 2011, 11:58:31 pm ---
. . .  I tried several servos, and in light stress testing, one managed to melt down, and another twisted the gears off the motor shaft.

RandyT

--- End quote ---

I have a (very) little background in the RC/robotics scene, mostly what rubbed off my rc expert brother when we were kids.  Those RC'ish servos are highly evolved to do what they do, which is not to brake against the force of a long lever (joystick). 

This is a good application for a worm gear axial to the motor shaft.  you can still use a small hobby motor, put both joys on the same shaft if you want, etc.  Even a plastic worm gear and rack train would provide high resistance to unwanted restrictor spin, without any strain on the motor.  I will look around tonight for a suitable gear train.  The ring gear for the restrictor itself would probably need to be laminated to the restrictor somehow. 

Pages: << < (7/9) > >>

Go to full version