Build Your Own Arcade Controls Forum

Main => Main Forum => Topic started by: pninja005 on November 22, 2005, 02:56:24 pm

Title: Potentiometer on steering wheel
Post by: pninja005 on November 22, 2005, 02:56:24 pm

What is a potentiometer on a arcade steering wheel ?  :o

Title: Re: Potentiometer on steering wheel
Post by: Distortion on November 22, 2005, 04:16:26 pm

Potentiometers ('pot' for short) vary the resistance across a circuit.  Arcade controls can tell how far you've turned the pot and translate that into game information.  Such as translating how far you've turned the wheel into how much the car in the game should turn.

Title: Re: Potentiometer on steering wheel
Post by: pninja005 on November 22, 2005, 04:51:38 pm

How do you recognize a potentiometer ?
I need to calibrate the steering wheel of my racing game. (Namco Ridge Racer) but don't know how these things look like.

Thank you

Title: Re: Potentiometer on steering wheel
Post by: RayB on November 22, 2005, 04:56:26 pm

It looks exactly like a volume knob.

http://www.musikkeller.de/stagg/effekte/wahman_potentiometer.jpg

(Google Images is your friend)

Title: Re: Potentiometer on steering wheel
Post by: pmc on November 23, 2005, 09:04:08 am

Here's a good intro (http://sound.westhost.com/pots.htm). It helped me understand a steering wheel pot and measure how it was working. Maybe it will help you.

-pmc

Title: Re: Potentiometer on steering wheel
Post by: pninja005 on November 24, 2005, 09:43:04 am

Thanks for all the info..

I opened the steering wheel and found the pot.  :)
Is it normal it shouldn't be calibrated to 0 but +300 in order to make the game steering work correctly ?

THanks,

-Peter