Joystick - Revision history

Jnc: +cat

2018-12-13T15:10:50Z

+cat

Jnc: Clarify

2018-11-04T17:45:35Z

Clarify

Jnc: An OK start

2018-11-04T17:42:51Z

An OK start

New page

'''Joysticks''' were the earliest pointing input devices, before [[light pen]]s and [[mouse|mice]]. It is based on the similar control device used in airplanes.

The [[Whirlwind]] computer tried joysticks early on, but testing showed that it was slow and difficult to zero in on a selected item, so they invented the light pen. Some other early computers also had joysticks, often for games. Joysticks became popular with the advent of [[personal computer]] games.

The simplest implemention provided only 4 bits of output (for the 4 directions), but better ones included two potentiometers (variable [[resistor]]s). The output was fed into an [[analog-to-digital converter]]; often, a very simple one was used, which used a [[voltage]] source and a [[capacitor]], and a counter to measure how long it took the voltage to reach a fixed level.

{{semi-stub}}

← Older revision		Revision as of 15:10, 13 December 2018
Line 8:		Line 8:

	{{semi-stub}}		{{semi-stub}}
		+
		+	[[Category: Device Basics‎‎]]

@@ Line 3: / Line 3: @@
 The [[Whirlwind]] computer tried joysticks early on, but testing showed that it was slow and difficult to zero in on a selected item, so they invented the light pen. Some other early computers also had joysticks, often for games. Joysticks became popular with the advent of [[personal computer]] games.
-The simplest implemention provided only 4 bits of output (for the 4 directions), but better ones included two potentiometers (variable [[resistor]]s). The output was fed into an [[analog-to-digital converter]]; often, a very simple one was used, which used a [[voltage]] source and a [[capacitor]], and a counter to measure how long it took the voltage to reach a fixed level.
+The simplest implemention provided only 4 bits of output (for the 4 directions), but better ones included two potentiometers (variable [[resistor]]s), to give the X-Y coordintes of the current stick location.
 {{semi-stub}}