Joystick microJ

[ronnix]

Hi there!
I want to tell you about my experience in creating a joystick for a flight simulator. About a year ago, I started a general purpose joystick project which would be well suited for different flight simulators and have the following properties.

1. Compact size so that it can be used with a laptop and any computer on any desk
2. High precision and good ergonomics
3. Light weight
   As a result of my research and experimentation, this joystick has emerged with the following key features:
   Composite springs and belt gears for sensors.
   It should be noted that until the first time I turned on my joystick, I didn’t like helicopters in flight simulators. Those joysticks that I used before did not give such quality control and I just did not get pleasure from flying.
   It should be noted that until the first time I turned on my joystick, I didn’t like helicopters in flight simulators. Those joysticks that I used before did not provide such high-quality control and I just did not get pleasure from flying.
   Currently, the joystick project is already close to completion and looks like this.
   
   
   
   
   The final look will most likely be like this
   
   
   
   
   I named the joystick “microJ” not only because of its small size, but also because the joystick handle has a small range of angular movements, only 20° per axis.But at the same time, it has a very high digital resolution as it uses the full range (180°) of the TLE5501 sensor.
   And an example of using the joystick in X-Plane 11.41
   Тестирование джойстика microJ 20.07.2020 - YouTube
   another example with landing on a steep slope
   X-Plane 11.41. Hughes 500D и немного аэробатики - YouTube
   This video shows another joystick prototype named the MicroT, this is the throttle that I am using like collective (very sensitive). Startup procedure and a little bit of hovering, trim using ang physical wing sweep axis
   Прототипы РУДа и джойстика с композитной загрузкой. 21042020 - YouTube

I hope this information will be useful for the community.

[h3l1]

Hi Ronnix!

This sounds like a fun project! The design looks neat and I’m looking forward to more updates on it.

Best of luck with the development.

[ronnix]

Added more changes to the project.

I tried a new material for making springs, fiberglass laminate. Pultruded unidirectional glass fibers. Excellent resin impregnation, clean straight fibers working in only one direction, just right. Such springs are noticeably more rigid and more homogeneous in composition.

The next important point is the transfer of mechanics to a new case. At the same time, I also decided to carry out work on the mechanics, since there was a lot of unfinished work and a lot of things needed to be changed.
With the cover removed, the mechanic looks like this:

In order to place everything on the carrier plate and fit into the case, I came up with the board mounts. The mounts are tiny, but the boards hold up very well. Everything looked good on the 3d model, but when assembled, the grip barely moved, since it did not take into account the dimensions of the wires and plugs. And since he was still going to sort out the mechanics, in order to fit into the case, and also for the sake of increasing the quality of work, he did the following operations:

• Redesigned the axes of the magnets for a 2x1 mm tablet. The axes have become shorter, the sensor boards have moved close to the body
• Added an upper clamp for the pitch spring. I also had to make service holes in the supporting frame so that the spring could be removed without disassembling the mechanism
• Reduced the mass of moving parts
• Made mounts for boards
• Made springs from laminate
  A total of about 20 milling and lathe turning works.
  Joystick current view.