Question about joysticks

#1

Hi!
I'm making a patch with a two 10k potentiometer joystick just like this one:

It works fine, but it only uses half of its capacity movement wise. When i leave it untouched I get both signals at half capacity, that works as intended. But when I move whichever axis I only get to move it halfway before I reach the full signal (or zero, depending on which way I move it).
I hope you are understanding what I'm trying to say, english is not my first language and I lack vocabulary in this area.

So my question is, those of you that have used joysticks (like this one or similar), have you had the same problem?
Did you solve it somehow, or you just left it like that?
Edit:
I just made a drawing of what I'm trying to explain. The yellow circle is the joystick's full movement, while the green circle is the zone that gives useful values. Over the blue lines, the values I get.

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#2

Are you connecting the pin marked 5V to 5v?
If you are doing so, that's the problem... I think that joystick is pasive (only have the potentiometers) so you have to conect the pin marked 5V to the 3.3V of the Axoloti...

#3

Thanks for your reply!
Yes, I am using the VDDA pin so that is not the problem. I'm thinking it's just that the joystick is a bit crappy and you don't get that much travel on the pots.

#4

Have you measured the x and y pin voltages (with a voltmeter or oscilloscope). I expect you'd see a swing between 0 and 3.3 volts on each axis, but you could verify if it occurs at the extreme of travel or is constrained as per your diagram. That should tell you if it's an issue with the joystick or somewhere in the axo.

#5

i used the same type of joystick with an arduino project and i found the same "limitations" the outer range is simply not covered...

#6

Hey BrianA, I hadn't had the chance to measure the pots with my voltimeter, I just did and it is as lokki says, the range on this joystick is what it is.
I visited my mother yesterday and asked her for one of her sewing needles and made this little lever with which I get more control over the movement of the joystick, so I think it's going to be fine after all :blush:
Thanks everyone for your replies!

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#7

Granny saves the day! :rofl: Glad you sorted out the cause.