A few days I asked the community on gitter about using a joystick in liew of a game pad controller.
We bought one to test it, and after @QuiGon2 did some configuration in the #development version of QGC the below video is the result. We might go for a slightly smaller controller, but this one at least has plenty of buttons and stuff.
@roy, very nice, weâre using the same Logitech stick but weâre a bit further behind in development terms. We intend to use the throttle lever as an ascent/descent control.
But itâs great to see the ROV rotating like that, just what we imagined.
Looks great! Really smooth control. Let us know when the code is in QGC so I can go out and get a joystick.
Nice! I had been been wondering if that was possible. do you think it would work with the wireless version of that stick?
Hi @, I believe it was pretty much plug and play using the development version of QGC. Youâll probably have to do some key mapping, but that should be it. Maybe @QuiGon2 can shed some light on the process.
@johng as far as I can understand, as long as the wireless version is recognized by windows, it should be working, but we obviously donât know 100%.
In the last daily build of QGC, there is not need of any modification, it is just plug and play. In the last stable version, it is recongnized, but axes are not detected. Have been trying with some mapping software (antimicro) but is not working yet.
Hi Roy, a customer would like to change to a 3D Space Moue
Any ideas if that could work out?
Thanks, Andreas
The datasheet for the 6DOF module (just the knobby bit) claims that it appears to the computer as a 6 axis joystick, but doesnât provide any more details about the protocol. It might work, but then you donât have any buttons which are really necessary for operation.
As for the larger module you linked, I donât know how that works. It needs a driver so thatâs not very promising.
@jwalser - QGC used to have explicit support for the 3DConnexion products. Iâm not sure thatâs still there, but it would be pretty interesting to try for control.
Hi Andreas, Iâve got no idea if the 3D space mouse will work or not. I donât see why it shouldnât, but you never know with these things.
If they proceed with the test I would be interred in the results.
How do you control the depth with the joystick? Anybody been successful to operate all functions with one stick, not using trottle on the side? If so, what stick did you use and was it plug and play ?
Oystein,
We use the following stick configuration:
Left stick left/right: lateral motion
Left stick up/down: forward/reverse
Right stick left/right: turn
Right stick up/down: ascend/descend
These are the defaults in ArduSub.
-Rusty
Sorry, my question was a bit wage. The question was how to control the ROV with one single stick, like a flight stick. Is it possible to get all function into one single stick, including ascend/descend ? Without use of extra throttle ?
The stick will need 4 degrees of freedom in order to control throttle, yaw, forward and lateral. The stick on the logitech extreme 3d only has 3 degrees of freedom.
Hi Ăystein, we where using the âLogitech Extreme 3D Pro Joystickâ in the video above, and I believe it worked pretty much right out of the box. @QuiGon2 might confirm that.
There are a couple of drawbacks though:
The logitech joystick is rather big and clunky. Weâre working on a control case and we want the joystick to be able to live permanently inside the case.
We where using a small âthrottleâ lever on the side of the joystick as up/down, but it doesnât have a spring or an obvious center point so itâs a bit difficult to take full advantage of the âdepth holdâ function in the Ardusub software, which to me is a great benefit.
AS @jwalser points out, the logitech really only has 3 degrees of freedom, everything else is a âhackâ. Iâm sure there are better joysticks out there, but we sort of had to put the whole thing on hold a couple of weeks ago due to a spike in demand.
Roy Petter
Thank you for the answer. I am not very familiar with gaming joysticks, but hopefully there are some throttles out there with spring loaded to center function? or even a joystick with 4DOF?
Just a comment to your control case idea. Be warned, if you are planning to spend lots of hours operating the ROV, having the controls in a box will make your shoulder hurt! Years ago, the ânormalâ position for the control stick on work ROVs was on the desk in front of the operator. Now they are all on the armrest of the operator chair, for obvious reasons. having a control box with everything in it is a good idea, but I personally would recommend you to make is so that the controller can be taken out of the box on onto your lap (see Seabotix LBV for an idea) the controller unit is removable from the box. You don`t want to end up having to operate in an awkward position, sitting with raised arms or even standing 
We use the Logitech Extreme 3D all the time with our ROV simulators. Theyâre the best 'off the shelf" 4 DOF joystick weâve been able to find. The throttle not having a center detent is a bit of a pain, but it helps if you mark where the center should be with a pen. I havenât used one with the BlueROV2 yet but last I checked QGC only supports the Logitech F310 gamepad when it is in âX-Boxâ mode, which the Extreme 3D doesnât support. @roy how did you get around that issue?
@SDI is exactly right about flying a ROV for long hours from a large case. Iâve owned and flown several VideoRay ROVâs and the ergonomics were horrible. Weâve built quite a few custom hand controllers over the years, but the cost of qood quality components isnât cheap. Hereâs one of our more recent controllers.
When (whenever) a manip / cutter / grabber etc. for the blue ROV comes to the marked, it would be nice to have a controller like that. It looks professional and that is important to for professional use. Cost for these ?
Thanks for your feedback Ăystein!
Yes, your right off course. When we are in the field we normally work from small boats, hence the control case idea, but youâre right. On my last vessel the ROV pilot position was a very comfortable chair with a touch screen on left hand and the joystick in the armrest on the right. Off course that is a completely different ball game.
I had a look at the Seabotix LBV controller, interesting:
So, regarding the cutter, we recently did this:
