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Combination Analog and 360
Xiaou2:
I wonder if such a pot really exist - that both turns 360 - and is correct in value to be used with a pc joystick hack.
And if so... would it be durrable enuff.
I used to work on games in the arcade I worked for... and pots didnt seem to be invincibly durrable. Replaced pots on a regular basis... and these were the expensive ones direct from manufacturers.
Im guessing that most pots arnt made for you to spin them at 300rpms ! : ) lol Im not sure thats the speed that I spun supersprint wheels at... but it surely was fast and furrious. 1million cycles at what speed.. and surely that wasnt stop/start motions at super high speeds?
Would be nice if it works tho. Lot less complicated design.
The shaft would have to be pretty thick I think... to be able to use it a as a stopper. As with a wheel, you have so much force via leverage... that you could break it easily with a simple hard turn.
However, an attachment that fits over the shaft thats thicker, and is attacked via setscrews, might be a viable option.
Hah - just remembered something I saw in a sega wheel. It used an ovular shaped disc attached to the shaft... and on either side of it - there were these spring-loaded walls.
When you turned the wheel, the oval shape pushed the walls appart... and that made the wheel resistence, and snap back to the center.
By making a simular device... but makeing the wall section move back when not in use... would allow for freespin or resistence. A limiter might also be fashioned into the design as well.
Ben:
The best pot I've found so far is the Spectrol 357. It's electrically rated for 2 million shaft revolutions. It doesn't state a speed in any spec I could find. It's available at Arcadeelctronics.com. I don't know any thing about that website, but I figured the name bode well ;) They're not exactly cheap however. I'll keep digging to see if there is a rotational limit.
It only goes up to 50kOhms though, not 100. this website talks about modding the pot with some capacitors to get around the 50k issue. I'm pretty foggy on my circuit stuff, so I'd have to sit down with the site to try and digest what's they're doing.
Spring loaded bumpers is an interesting idea. You could combine both the bumpers and return spring into the same mechanism and have them both move out of the way when you're playing a 360 game...
Ben
Ben:
Actually, this pot goes up to 100kOhms. Rated for 5 million turns, with only 0.3 oz-in of torque.
Ben
brandon:
I have an idea that might be more complicated to build but very easy to use once it was done.. What you could do is have a solid shaft within a hollow shaft. The hollow shaft would have the encoder wheel and optics attached and the solid shaft could have all the analog stuff (pot, springs, bumpers...) then you would attach the two by drilling a hole through both and inserting a pin. So when you want to play a 360 game just pull out the pin and spin away...when you put the pin back the wheel would center and do its normal thing... I've had this idea for a long time but I've never gotten around to building it.. I think someone like Oscar could go to Home Depot and have this thing built in a day. But if he uses my idea I want a discount on a spinner... ;D
Xiaou2:
Well, maybe not 100% perfect... as who knows about the materials and stress...ect... but I think Ive done it... : )
The entire rear part of the assembly is riding on a board that slides back / forth. The link is made by a standard d-pot based system (two half parts fitting together)
Not shown are springs that can be mounted to the centering/ Restrictor arm.
Also not shown... as hadnt fully designed it... was a lever arm that pushed/pulled and locked the rear section in place.
I think the hardest part would be to get the right optowheel (oscar's?) ... and to center it perfectly on the shaft.
The only thing that is missing would be an awesome force feedback motor... and outrun shaker motor : (
Sorry for the poor quality pic... was in a rush. Whats everyone think? : )