Hello all.

I am building a shifter using a non-force feed back joystick. The joystick of choice was the cheapest I could find, the logictech attack 3. I have dismantled it, removed the center spring, handle, and rerouted the handle buttons to outside the joystick.

With the handle buttons outside the housing, I have used 2 of the 5 buttons available for my DIY clutch pedal and reverse button. I am think if I should use the third axis for my handbrake or use as the clutch instead of a button. With either clutch or handbrake, I will need to find a gear combo that will work with the available axis.

To my amazement, the rubber boot is strong enough to center the joystick still. I am currently brainstorming how to get the stick to stay in position when shifting. Any ideas or successful designs?

Quote from hairyspheers :

Hello all.

I am building a shifter using a non-force feed back joystick. The joystick of choice was the cheapest I could find, the logictech attack 3. I have dismantled it, removed the center spring, handle, and rerouted the handle buttons to outside the joystick.

With the handle buttons outside the housing, I have used 2 of the 5 buttons available for my DIY clutch pedal and reverse button. I am think if I should use the third axis for my handbrake or use as the clutch instead of a button. With either clutch or handbrake, I will need to find a gear combo that will work with the available axis.

To my amazement, the rubber boot is strong enough to center the joystick still. I am currently brainstorming how to get the stick to stay in position when shifting. Any ideas or successful designs?

There was a program that allowed the joystick to act as a H-Shift, it used force feedback to lock into the 'virtual gears'

I think it was this one,

http://www.lfsforum.net/showthread.php?t=72135

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8VbPd3C_UQ

his joystick has no FFB

you may take a look in my sig, I build something similar

Thanks for letting me know about the software required. I am currently using xpadder. But my issue is not the software part, its the mechanical end.

I removed the boot from the joystick and now i can stay in gear expect for 3rd and 4th. Any ideas to hold the stick. And please use the K.I.S.S. method when giving suggestions. Thanks.

http://forums.hackaday.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=327
Design is pretty simple and if you have left centring spring it would have been even better.
While he is using dismantled gamepad in your case everything is easier as you dont have to solder, wire anything, just build this thing around your joystick.

There are several methods to hold the stick.
You can use magnets (i.e cabinet door magnets), broom holders (those come in several sizes, look at your local hardware store)
or the sort of selfmade clamp method I used for my shifter.

With my method you need a bit more work forging the clamps yourself, but they will fit, and most surprisingly not wear out (I use my shifter for almost two years now, at least two times a week, no major repairs needed up until now)

the method used in the build thread posted by Chupacabras84 is interesting, but uses a lot of moving parts which are prone to breaking

And for the shift pattern, that guy used a dremel to cut it all out, but its a hell lot easier with one of these:

Good info. I am going to try the broom holder method. Sound like it will feel closer to the real thing. Once its all done, I'll post some pics.

Most real gearboxes use ball and spring detent, could be tricky for diy though as the tolerences are close. ACCAkut's U shaped spring retainer is the most elegant method without using engineered components I have seen so far. Another option maybe worth considering for some is to use the selector mechanism of a rwd gearbox, it can usually be removed in one piece with H pattern, detent and reverse blocking linkage all contained, not much good for 6 speeds + reverse though and useless for 7.

For the electronics, gutting a joypad is the simplest. If you want something tailored to your needs I would recommend some of the arduino human interface device projects with plenty of room to add a handbrake, balance valve etc later. There are a lot of other microcontroller based systems of varying complexity but the arduino imho seems to offer the best options in terms of cost, expandability and plug in and go functionality.

EDIT Just had a look what the DIY stores are selling that could be used as detentes, some nice options here.