Joystick
A joystick is a computer peripheral or general control device consisting of a hand held stick that pivots about one end and transmits its angle in two or three dimensions to a computer. Most joysticks are two-dimensional, having two axes of movement, just like a mouse, but three-dimensional joysticks do exist.
Joysticks are often used to control games, and usually have one or more push-buttons whose state can also be read by the computer.
Most I/O interface cards for PCs have a joystick (game control) port. Modern joysticks (as of 2003) mostly use a USB interface for connection to the PC.
Apart for controlling games, joysticks are also used for controlling machines such as elevators, cranes and trucks.
Technical details
An analog joystick is a joystick which has continuous states, i.e. returns an angle measure of the movement in any direction in the plane or the space (usually utilizing potentiometers) and a digital joystick gives only on/off signals for four different directions, and mechanically possible combinations (such as up-right, down-left, &c.). (Digital joysticks were very common as game controllers for the video game consoles, arcade machines, and home computers of the 1980s.)
Additionally joysticks often have one or more fire buttons, used to trigger some kind of action. These are digital.
History
Joysticks were originally controls for an aircraft's ailerons and elevators. They were fixed to the floor ot the aircraft and stuck up between the pilot's legs.
See also
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