Author Topic: Gamepad controller instead of steering wheel/pedals ?  (Read 1877 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline MathWizardTopic starter

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 1772
  • Country: ca
Gamepad controller instead of steering wheel/pedals ?
« on: June 25, 2021, 01:28:57 am »
Has anyone modded their car, so that u could drive it with a gamepad, so I mean the steering and throttle are connected to the thumbsticks ?

I have a bad back, and sometimes it's pretty hard to move my leg/foot when driving an automatic, if it was a standard, I'd need gear shift paddles on the steering wheel, as I could not use both legs/feet in a comfortable way.

So for that matter, has any car maker, used a gamepad instead of steering wheel/pedals ? It works pretty good in video games, and I'm sure my thumbs are far quicker than my feet

 

Offline Zero999

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 20357
  • Country: gb
  • 0999
Re: Gamepad controller instead of steering wheel/pedals ?
« Reply #1 on: June 25, 2021, 10:18:28 am »
Has anyone modded their car, so that u could drive it with a gamepad, so I mean the steering and throttle are connected to the thumbsticks ?

I have a bad back, and sometimes it's pretty hard to move my leg/foot when driving an automatic, if it was a standard, I'd need gear shift paddles on the steering wheel, as I could not use both legs/feet in a comfortable way.

So for that matter, has any car maker, used a gamepad instead of steering wheel/pedals ? It works pretty good in video games, and I'm sure my thumbs are far quicker than my feet
(Attachment Link)

It sounds like an extraordinarily bad idea, to try to implement yourself.   :palm:

Don't do it. When you have an accident, you will be in a huge amout of trouble, if you kill or seriously injure someone, that is if you don't die first.

If you have a genuine disability, there are systems which have been tested and certified to be safe and road legal. They're expensive, but it's possible to get a grant, in many countries and I suspect Canada is one of them.

https://www.steeringdevelopments.co.uk/products/joysteer-electronic-driving-system
« Last Edit: June 25, 2021, 10:20:26 am by Zero999 »
 

Online JPortici

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 3573
  • Country: it
Re: Gamepad controller instead of steering wheel/pedals ?
« Reply #2 on: June 25, 2021, 10:55:12 am »
I know there are aftermarket systems that are street legal, to be installed in cars for people in a wheelchair, that follow a simillar principle.
But don't do it, get in touch with a professional.
 

Offline Raj

  • Frequent Contributor
  • **
  • Posts: 701
  • Country: in
  • Self taught, experimenter, noob(ish)
Re: Gamepad controller instead of steering wheel/pedals ?
« Reply #3 on: June 25, 2021, 05:45:29 pm »
Saab did try to sell cars with joysticks, when their gripen aircrafts came out. It didn't end well.
 

Offline MathWizardTopic starter

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 1772
  • Country: ca
Re: Gamepad controller instead of steering wheel/pedals ?
« Reply #4 on: June 25, 2021, 09:19:14 pm »
I don't even own a car for now, so I can't say I remember the steering full rotation angle, but if GM or Toyota built said controller, it would have proper force feedback, akin to a steering wheel. You would not want to be able to flip your van/truck if u flip your thumb all the way over in miliseconds.

Also it would be mounted tho, you don't want to drop it in traffic. So akin to a a joystick in a fly-by-wire plane

They had it in Men In Black 2, driving with a gamepad.
« Last Edit: June 25, 2021, 09:21:40 pm by MathWizard »
 

Offline Benta

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 6420
  • Country: de
 

Online langwadt

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 4857
  • Country: dk
Re: Gamepad controller instead of steering wheel/pedals ?
« Reply #6 on: June 25, 2021, 10:28:59 pm »
I don't even own a car for now, so I can't say I remember the steering full rotation angle, but if GM or Toyota built said controller, it would have proper force feedback, akin to a steering wheel. You would not want to be able to flip your van/truck if u flip your thumb all the way over in miliseconds.

Also it would be mounted tho, you don't want to drop it in traffic. So akin to a a joystick in a fly-by-wire plane

They had it in Men In Black 2, driving with a gamepad.

planes very rarely have to be meter accurate, almost all the time in a car a few meters wrong will result in a serious crash

 

Offline Bud

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 7276
  • Country: ca
Re: Gamepad controller instead of steering wheel/pedals ?
« Reply #7 on: June 25, 2021, 11:35:56 pm »
@OP check with you car insurance company  >:D
Facebook-free life and Rigol-free shack.
 

Online langwadt

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 4857
  • Country: dk
Re: Gamepad controller instead of steering wheel/pedals ?
« Reply #8 on: June 25, 2021, 11:50:07 pm »
@OP check with you car insurance company  >:D

and what the penalty is for manslaughter....
 

Offline rodcastler

  • Regular Contributor
  • *
  • Posts: 99
  • Country: cl
Re: Gamepad controller instead of steering wheel/pedals ?
« Reply #9 on: June 25, 2021, 11:59:21 pm »
A good approach is to try this on a simulator.

I can tell you (from my own experience) that I have tested a high-end joystick on a car simulator, and I am pretty convinced that it just does not work, even though I can fly pretty well an F-16 with the same gear.
 

Offline mathsquid

  • Regular Contributor
  • *
  • Posts: 248
  • Country: us
  • I like math.
Re: Gamepad controller instead of steering wheel/pedals ?
« Reply #10 on: June 26, 2021, 04:46:30 pm »
Eliminating the steering wheel is a very bad idea. In a regular car if the power steering fails you have the mechanical linkages in the steering system to fall back on.
 

Offline NiHaoMike

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 9320
  • Country: us
  • "Don't turn it on - Take it apart!"
    • Facebook Page
Re: Gamepad controller instead of steering wheel/pedals ?
« Reply #11 on: June 26, 2021, 04:53:46 pm »
The manual version of the original Honda Insight had a joystick to control the gear shifting and electric boost/regen, but the steering was done by a wheel as usual.
Cryptocurrency has taught me to love math and at the same time be baffled by it.

Cryptocurrency lesson 0: Altcoins and Bitcoin are not the same thing.
 

Offline tooki

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 13156
  • Country: ch
Re: Gamepad controller instead of steering wheel/pedals ?
« Reply #12 on: June 27, 2021, 12:30:43 pm »
Has anyone modded their car, so that u could drive it with a gamepad, so I mean the steering and throttle are connected to the thumbsticks ?

I have a bad back, and sometimes it's pretty hard to move my leg/foot when driving an automatic, if it was a standard, I'd need gear shift paddles on the steering wheel, as I could not use both legs/feet in a comfortable way.

So for that matter, has any car maker, used a gamepad instead of steering wheel/pedals ? It works pretty good in video games, and I'm sure my thumbs are far quicker than my feet
(Attachment Link)
OK, so…

You've got your thumbs on the analog sticks and you're driving along, relaxed. You hit a pothole or speed bump. What happens to the analog sticks?

My guess is they go all over the place. And thus, so does your car.

If you had been gripping the controller tightly, you might be able to retain the relative position of thumbs to analog sticks. But that level of tight grip is unsustainable.

The large "throw" of standard automotive controls makes it unlikely for small movements to destabilize the car. You have to yank the wheel far and fast to do that. A game controller is not so forgiving.

Hand controls on cars are a concession made for people with no alternative, and I assume they're subject to significant regulation.



As for the reaction speed of your thumbs being "far quicker" than your feet: don't be so sure. Your feet are designed to make ongoing micro-corrections as you stand, walk, etc. As you probably know, once you are an experienced driver, your feet react without any conscious thought. (As in, you feel you need more speed and your feet just do it.) I have no doubt one reaches equivalent automatism with hand controls, I just doubt that feet are inherently slower.

(Related tangent: people think of their feet as being way less sensitive than their hands, but oh, how untrue that is! They're extraordinarily sensitive. Think about how we can feel a large grain of sand in a shoe. And that's despite the thickness of the skin, and often callouses!)
 

Offline G7PSK

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 3889
  • Country: gb
  • It is hot until proved not.
Re: Gamepad controller instead of steering wheel/pedals ?
« Reply #13 on: June 27, 2021, 02:22:47 pm »
Try these people they are specialists in such conversions.
https://taic.co.uk/locations/aylesbury/
 

Offline harerod

  • Frequent Contributor
  • **
  • Posts: 483
  • Country: de
  • ee - digital & analog
    • My services:
Re: Gamepad controller instead of steering wheel/pedals ?
« Reply #14 on: June 27, 2021, 07:36:08 pm »
...
You've got your thumbs on the analog sticks and you're driving along, relaxed. You hit a pothole or speed bump. What happens to the analog sticks?
My guess is they go all over the place. And thus, so does your car.

If you had been gripping the controller tightly, you might be able to retain the relative position of thumbs to analog sticks. But that level of tight grip is unsustainable.

...
Something in that post brought back memories of piloting aircraft. The fascinating feeling of wearing the airframe like an outer skeleton, using all appendices for the additional degrees of freedom.
Pitch and roll control are usually realized via a horn that can be held with both hands, much like a steering wheel in a car or by a stick. Especially with the latter, the pilot will find a resting place for the controlling arm and hand. In smaller aircraft that might be the pilot's leg, in commercial (see Airbus standard) or military (modern fighters) there will be a very ergonomic armrest. That is to counter the effect of high-g potholes (e.g. bad weather or high-g turns).
Any stick control without some kind of armrest is less than ideal.
 
The following users thanked this post: tooki

Online nctnico

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 28429
  • Country: nl
    • NCT Developments
Re: Gamepad controller instead of steering wheel/pedals ?
« Reply #15 on: June 27, 2021, 09:30:53 pm »
Try these people they are specialists in such conversions.
https://taic.co.uk/locations/aylesbury/
This is the best suggestion so far. Companies like this have a ton of experience adapting cars to handicapped people while adhering to safety regulations.
There are small lies, big lies and then there is what is on the screen of your oscilloscope.
 
The following users thanked this post: tooki

Offline Zero999

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 20357
  • Country: gb
  • 0999
Re: Gamepad controller instead of steering wheel/pedals ?
« Reply #16 on: June 28, 2021, 08:12:39 am »
Try these people they are specialists in such conversions.
https://taic.co.uk/locations/aylesbury/
This is the best suggestion so far. Companies like this have a ton of experience adapting cars to handicapped people while adhering to safety regulations.
I said a similar thing in my first reply. I'm personally involved with a charity which provides therapy to those with disabilities, using horses, both riding and just being around the animals. A former cllient, has muscular distrophy and had her car specially adapted. I don't know if she still drives, as her disability is progressive. I could ask her, for details of the company who did it, if the origninal poster sends me a private message, but these companies are normally fairly small, not big, so I doubt they could help someone in Canada.
 

Offline G7PSK

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 3889
  • Country: gb
  • It is hot until proved not.
Re: Gamepad controller instead of steering wheel/pedals ?
« Reply #17 on: June 28, 2021, 11:56:51 am »
Try these people they are specialists in such conversions.
https://taic.co.uk/locations/aylesbury/
This is the best suggestion so far. Companies like this have a ton of experience adapting cars to handicapped people while adhering to safety regulations.
I said a similar thing in my first reply. I'm personally involved with a charity which provides therapy to those with disabilities, using horses, both riding and just being around the animals. A former cllient, has muscular distrophy and had her car specially adapted. I don't know if she still drives, as her disability is progressive. I could ask her, for details of the company who did it, if the origninal poster sends me a private message, but these companies are normally fairly small, not big, so I doubt they could help someone in Canada.

I used to be on the local RDA committee. My wife is a wheelchair user so I have become fairly well versed with car adaptions as well. In Canada and the US it would be a company like Braunability https://www.braunability.com/us/en.html who would be able to help. The biggest problem with adaptions is liabillity which is one reason they can be expensive due to meeting the crash test requirments etc on small volume items.
« Last Edit: June 28, 2021, 11:59:37 am by G7PSK »
 


Share me

Digg  Facebook  SlashDot  Delicious  Technorati  Twitter  Google  Yahoo
Smf