One of my background projects is a controller for either gaming and RC models.

The general idea is to make a universal controller-to-rule-them-all, but at the moment it seems that the requirements for gaming controller and RC model controller are much different. So the general outline for the controller is not finished yet.

Meanwhile I’ve been designing controls for this project. In particular, a compact steering wheel and 1D analog lever/stick.

Here is a video about them.

Compact steering wheel

The wheel is very unconventional in a sense that it’s designed to be fitted into a game controller like other controls are. So it’s small (~3cm in diameter) and can be controlled with one finger while other fingers control other things.

It uses MT6701 magnetic sensor and a radial magnet mounted on a wheel. Wheel is secured with a large steel bearing (largest that can fit into the dimensions).

Return-to-center function is performed by a custom-wound spring. This is a thing I want to improve, as performance of the wheel, especially deadzone, is very much dependant on the geometry of the spring.

There is no force feedback at the moment, though I’d like to implement something in the future.

1D analog stick

The purpose of 1D stick is to control throttle/brake, cranes and winches or any independent actuators where various levels of speed/torque are needed.

While 2D analog sticks are abundant and are present in every game controller and RC remote, 1D sticks are surprisingly rare. In fact I couldn’t find anything suitable off-the-shelf, so I decided to design one myself.

The design uses a potentiometer identical to ones in 2D sticks, a spring I had available, 2 steel bearings and a 3D-printed case.

Current design mostly works, but the spring has very low force near the center position, so if the stick is released near the center, it will not move to the center. This means that deadzone for the stick is very large.

Same functionality can be achieved if one uses a normal 2D stick and limits its movement in only 1 direction (e.g. when stick is mounted in a housing) I decided to design a dedicated one anyway.