Arduino Tutorial 32: Understanding and Using Joysticks in a Project

In this lesson we will explain how to hook up a Joystick. The easiest way to think of a joystick is to think of it as two independent potentiometer. Moving the joystick left and right changes one potentiometer, and moving the joystick up and down changes the other potentiometer. Also, pressing the knob on the joystick will activate a simple on/off switch. In this video we show you how to hook the joystick up, and then show you code that will allow you to read from the potentiometers and the switch.

If you want to follow along at home, you can order the Arduino Kit we are using HERE.

Typically, the servos in electronics kits are not the best ones, but are suitable to learn with. Heads up that in Lesson 33 we will be using a joystick to control two servos. If you want to get ready for that lesson, go ahead and order your HiTEC Servos.

This is the code that we developed in the video above.

int Xpin=A0;
int Ypin=A1;
int Spin=2;
int Xval;
int Yval;
int Sval;
int dt=200;
void setup() {
  // put your setup code here, to run once:
Serial.begin(9600);
pinMode(Xpin,INPUT);
pinMode(Ypin,INPUT);
pinMode(Spin,INPUT);
digitalWrite(Spin,HIGH);
}

void loop() {
 Xval=analogRead(Xpin);
 Yval=analogRead(Ypin);
 Sval=digitalRead(Spin);
 delay(dt);
 Serial.print("X Value = ");
 Serial.print(Xval);
 Serial.print(" Y Value = ");
 Serial.print(Yval);
 Serial.print(" Switch State is ");
 Serial.println(Sval);
}

int Xpin=A0;

int Ypin=A1;

int Spin=2;

int Xval;

int Yval;

int Sval;

int dt=200;

void setup() {

// put your setup code here, to run once:

Serial.begin(9600);

pinMode(Xpin,INPUT);

pinMode(Ypin,INPUT);

pinMode(Spin,INPUT);

digitalWrite(Spin,HIGH);

}

void loop() {

Xval=analogRead(Xpin);

Yval=analogRead(Ypin);

Sval=digitalRead(Spin);

delay(dt);

Serial.print("X Value = ");

Serial.print(Xval);

Serial.print(" Y Value = ");

Serial.print(Yval);

Serial.print(" Switch State is ");

Serial.println(Sval);

}

Making The World a Better Place One High Tech Project at a Time. Enjoy!