Joystick (Direct Input)

ARC can read multiple joystick parts:

• Analog sticks (left and right)
• D‑Pad (digital up/down/left/right)
• Triggers (often treated like an additional “joystick” axis)
• Buttons (A/B/X/Y, bumpers, start/back, etc.)

1. In ARC, add the skill: Project → Add Skill → Misc → Joystick (Direct Input).
2. Connect your controller to your PC (USB wireless dongle, USB cable, or Bluetooth pairing).
3. Open the skill and select your controller from the Device drop-down.
4. If you don’t see it, click Refresh, then select it again.
5. Confirm the Status shows connected, then click Settings to choose what the sticks/buttons should do.

Trigger Servo Control

Many controllers expose the left and right triggers as analog inputs. This tab can map triggers to servos.

• If you do not want triggers to move servos, simply don’t configure servo control here.
• You can then use triggers for other logic (for example: scripts, variables, rumble control).

1) “Set EZ-Script Variables”

Enable this if you want ARC to continuously store joystick positions into variables that your scripts can read.

• Analog sticks (#1 and #2): values from -32768 to 32767
• Triggers: values from 0 to 255

2) Variable Names

You can customize the variable names (example: $JoystickX1, $JoystickY1, etc.) so your scripts are easier to read.

When joystick movement control is enabled, the controller will drive the current Movement Panel in your ARC project. If your Movement Panel supports variable speed, pushing the stick slightly can move slowly, and pushing further moves faster.

The stick can also be used to turn. Depending on the Movement Panel, moving left/right may rotate the robot or “spin in place”.

Deadband (Movement Sensitivity) Visual

Deadband means “ignore small stick movement near the center”. This prevents drift and helps you control when turning/spinning starts.

Some controllers support vibration motors (left and right “rumble”). This skill exposes vibration using: controlCommand(). The example below maps trigger values (0–255) to rumble strength (0–100).

map = function (value, in_min, in_max, out_min, out_max) {
  return (value - in_min) * (out_max - out_min) / (in_max - in_min) + out_min;
}

while (true) {

  var y1 = map(getVar("$JoystickX3"), 0, 255, 0, 100);
  var y2 = map(getVar("$JoystickY3"), 0, 255, 0, 100);

  controlCommand("Joystick (Direct Input)", "VibrateLeftAndRight", y1, y2);

  sleep(100);
}

Recommended controller: Logitech F710 Wireless Joystick.

• On the Logitech F710, set the physical switch to D (DirectInput), not X (XInput).
• This ARC skill uses the Windows DirectInput driver system. Different controllers may behave differently depending on their driver and mode.

Xbox Controller Mapping (DirectInput vs XInput)

Microsoft documents how Xbox controllers appear in DirectInput: DirectInput and XUSB devices.

• The D‑Pad may not function in DirectInput mode on some Xbox controllers.
• On some devices, the two triggers may be combined into a single axis in DirectInput.