Feedback On Thumbstick Design

[abigsmurf]

ok, I've been messing around a bit in AutoCAD and have got something of a base design. I haven't figured out how to show a view with the measurements yet (first time using the program) but the thumb pad has a diameter of 12mm and is 3mm deep. Ignore the colours and the ring, they're just things to help me when editing at the moment.

I've been considering using rings to increase the grip on the thumbstick, something of a standard practice on controllers when a non-rubberised surface is used. However the GP2x thumbstick is fairly unique in the fact it needs to be as short as possible to limit the amount of travel, needs a very strong grip and also the shaft and thumb pad must be prevented from hitting the casing. What does everyone else think?

 

[rainmaker2k]

ok, I've been messing around a bit in AutoCAD and have got something of a base design. I haven't figured out how to show a view with the measurements yet (first time using the program) but the thumb pad has a diameter of 12mm and is 3mm deep. Ignore the colours and the ring, they're just things to help me when editing at the moment.

I've been considering using rings to increase the grip on the thumbstick, something of a standard practice on controllers when a non-rubberised surface is used. However the GP2x thumbstick is fairly unique in the fact it needs to be as short as possible to limit the amount of travel, needs a very strong grip and also the shaft and thumb pad must be prevented from hitting the casing. What does everyone else think?

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This looks somewhat like the thumbstick of an XBox control. The current thumbstick of the GP2X ain't bad, but I do think the one you draw would have been better.

 

[WrongEyedJesus]

ok, I've been messing around a bit in AutoCAD and have got something of a base design. I haven't figured out how to show a view with the measurements yet (first time using the program) but the thumb pad has a diameter of 12mm and is 3mm deep. Ignore the colours and the ring, they're just things to help me when editing at the moment.

I've been considering using rings to increase the grip on the thumbstick, something of a standard practice on controllers when a non-rubberised surface is used. However the GP2x thumbstick is fairly unique in the fact it needs to be as short as possible to limit the amount of travel, needs a very strong grip and also the shaft and thumb pad must be prevented from hitting the casing. What does everyone else think?

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This looks somewhat like the thumbstick of an XBox control. The current thumbstick of the GP2X ain't bad, but I do think the one you draw would have been better.

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Contructive.......

 

[Empyre]

The sharp 90' edges will make for a lot of people with sore thumbs, probably best to round them off. Likewise the conical shape would be better if it were more curved and organic.

 

[danny404]

ok, I've been messing around a bit in AutoCAD and have got something of a base design. I haven't figured out how to show a view with the measurements yet (first time using the program) but the thumb pad has a diameter of 12mm and is 3mm deep. Ignore the colours and the ring, they're just things to help me when editing at the moment.

I've been considering using rings to increase the grip on the thumbstick, something of a standard practice on controllers when a non-rubberised surface is used. However the GP2x thumbstick is fairly unique in the fact it needs to be as short as possible to limit the amount of travel, needs a very strong grip and also the shaft and thumb pad must be prevented from hitting the casing. What does everyone else think?

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Lol looks like an uber-super mario pipe to me

 

[Paradox]

mace the concave more rounded and less deep, it looks far too deep, your thumb needs to rest slightly in it but from the looks of that there will be a big space under your thumb

 

[Mr. Anderson]

didn't someone modded his original stick exactly this way?

 

[abigsmurf]

The sharp 90' edges will make for a lot of people with sore thumbs, probably best to round them off. Likewise the conical shape would be better if it were more curved and organic.

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The sharpness is something that I'll fix when I finalise the design, it's not a good idea to round it off if more work needs to be done.

mace the concave more rounded and less deep, it looks far too deep, your thumb needs to rest slightly in it but from the looks of that there will be a big space under your thumb

The angle and scale makes the indentation look more severe than it is. It's roughly 2mm deep (approximately) and either the tip of the thumb or the flesh on the palm side of the thumb (depending on your preference of control) *should* both sit comfortably in it

 

[Quiest]

didn't someone modded his original stick exactly this way?

DaveC

 

[k1d]

didn't someone modded his original stick exactly this way?

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it does look like DaveC's mod. feedback-wise it seems that it works pretty well.

http://www.gp32x.de/board/index.php?showtopic=23146

i for myself would just add a rubber coating to the original design and keep it this way.

edit: ah, yes, Quiest was a tad faster.

 

[abigsmurf]

indeed he modded his stick that way but not everyone has access to a lathe. Or the ability to use one without burning the plastic, melting it or cutting through all the way to the hole. a stick done this way also has the added bonus of a shaft that can be made to a very thin thickness which doesn't need cutting (I've messed up my stick doing that, it now wobbles and sometimes falls off mid game)

 

[Julius]

Maybe a very small convex bump inside the concave one could make the stick even lower (as it makes room for the metal stick), thus making the deadzone smaller, while the same time the added stucture would increase grip.
At least that is what I could imagine.

 

[abigsmurf]

I've been looking at putting a 'nipple' in the dip as that does seem to add a suprising amount of grip. However a bump for the metal stick would have to be 2mm wide at least and I'm not sure that would be comfortable. There's also the risk of the side of the analogue stick hitting the casing if it's too low

 

[Jacxz]

indeed he modded his stick that way but not everyone has access to a lathe. Or the ability to use one without burning the plastic, melting it or cutting through all the way to the hole. a stick done this way also has the added bonus of a shaft that can be made to a very thin thickness which doesn't need cutting (I've messed up my stick doing that, it now wobbles and sometimes falls off mid game)

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could you post any photo to show us how our stick looks like now, after you messed with it a bit would be fun :rolleyes:

 

[DaveC]

Maybe something like this would be good. It has rounded edges, is concaved, plus has raised ribs in the center for grip.

 

[WrongEyedJesus]

I think the key thing is not to make the concave bit too deep, you don't want to be bending your thumb too much all the time. The rib grip bits look good though...

 

[Alex.]

The GP32's stick is perfect to me, although it looks a little fragile. I wish it had those grip marks like DaveC's design though

 

[WrongEyedJesus]

The GP32's stick is perfect to me, although it looks a little fragile. I wish it had those grip marks like DaveC's design though

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So not quite perfect then.

 

[oneandoneis2]

Maybe just gluing a rubber O-ring to the top of the current joystick would be the easiest solution?

 

[abigsmurf]

Maybe something like this would be good. It has rounded edges, is concaved, plus has raised ribs in the center for grip.

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yeah thats what I had in mind for the rings. I'm currently wrestling with autocad to make it do what I want....

Who designed this program anyway? it's the only modeler I know where there's no universal resize command for 3d objects. Just a scale command which is crap if you only need to adjust 1 dimension ¬¬