Joystick Setup

Joystick setup is used to configure and calibrate the joysticks and joystick buttons on an integrated controller or an attached computer joystick/gamepad.

Joystick setup is only visible when a Joystick connected.

Pilots typically only use these settings to:

Change the RC controller mode (General tab). The default layout is Mode 2.
Assign functions to buttons (Button Assignment tab).

General tab

The general tab is used to enable and verify joystick input, and to set the controller mode.

The settings are explained below.

Setting	Description
Enable joystick input	Select to start sending joystick commands from the active joystick to the connected vehicle.
Active joystick	If multiple joysticks are connected, this allows the desired joystick to be enabled.
RC Mode	Set mode that defines the function of the left and right sticks. This is normally set to mode 2.
Test Sticks	Move the sticks and verify that the motion is as expected on the screen.
Test Buttons	Press joystick buttons to highlight them. This allows you to determine the number associated with each physical button (and then use that for button assignment).

Setting

Description

Enable joystick input

Select to start sending joystick commands from the active joystick to the connected vehicle.

Active joystick

If multiple joysticks are connected, this allows the desired joystick to be enabled.

RC Mode

Set mode that defines the function of the left and right sticks. This is normally set to mode 2.

Test Sticks

Move the sticks and verify that the motion is as expected on the screen.

Test Buttons

Press joystick buttons to highlight them. This allows you to determine the number associated with each physical button (and then use that for button assignment).

RC Modes

RC Modes define how the movement of the left and right joysticks are mapped to vehicle movement. There are 4 different modes. Auterion Mission Control uses the most popular mode (mode 2) by default.

The table below shows the behavior for a fixed-wing vehicle, where sticks map to: roll, pitch, yaw and throttle.

Position Mode provides a more detailed example of the default (mode 2) mappings for both Fixed Wing and Multicopter.

Mode	Left Stick (Forward/Back, Left/Right)	Right Stick (FB/LR)
1	Pitch (FB), Yaw (LR)	Throttle (FB), Roll (LR)
2	Throttle (FB), Yaw (LR)	Pitch (FB), Roll (LR)
3	Pitch (FB), Roll (LR)	Throttle (FB), Yaw (LR)
4	Throttle (FB), Roll(LR)	Pitch (FB), Yaw (LR)

Mode

Left Stick (Forward/Back, Left/Right)

Right Stick (FB/LR)

Pitch (FB), Yaw (LR)

Throttle (FB), Roll (LR)

Throttle (FB), Yaw (LR)

Pitch (FB), Roll (LR)

Throttle (FB), Yaw (LR)

Throttle (FB), Roll(LR)

Pitch (FB), Yaw (LR)

Button Assignment tab

The Button Assignment tab is used to assign functions to joystick buttons (single-, hold-down-, long- and double-press) and to combinations of button presses.

There is a grey box up the top for every button. Press a button on the joystick to find out its button number (7 is shown pressed below).

To assign a single click or repeat (hold-down) button:

Select the button on the joystick to find out the button.
Use the selection list to assign the single press action (e.g. set flight mode, trigger camera, etc.).
Some action can be repeated, meaning that the command should be sent multiple times if the button is held down (e.g. incrementing the camera zoom in steps). Select the Repeat checkbox if the button is to be used in this way (the checkbox is disabled if repeated is not allowed for the current action).

The Add Custom Action button allows you to define that an action occurs on a button long press, double press, or combination of two other buttons being pressed together. A button can be assigned a single-press and at most one other operation (e.g. a long press or a double press). Some operations are invalid (e.g. long press and repeat).

To create a custom action:

Press the Add Custom Action button. This will create a custom action item immediately above the button. Note at the button label is red, indicating that the assignment is incomplete or invalid. This will always be the case when a button is created.
Choose the associated action/function using the selector.
Choose the custom action type: COMBO, DOUBLE, LONG, NONE (for multiple button press, double-press, long-press, and nothing respectively).
Use the drop down to select the button for which the operation applies.
For COMBO actions then select the second button.
Custom actions can be removed by selecting the red X marker at the end of the item.
A valid and complete action is highlighted by a green label.

It is possible to define a custom action that makes another button action invalid. Check that all button colors are green to confirm they are valid (red indicates an invalid assignment).

The main button settings are listed below:

Setting	Description
Action Selector	Select the box then choose an action from the popup. Possible actions are listed below.
Repeat checkbox	Check for actions that should be repeated if the button is held down (e.g. incrementing the camera zoom in steps). This can only be selected for actions where repeating is appropriate.
Button-Press Type	COMBO, DOUBLE, LONG, NONE

Setting

Description

Action Selector

Select the box then choose an action from the popup. Possible actions are listed below.

Repeat checkbox

Check for actions that should be repeated if the button is held down (e.g. incrementing the camera zoom in steps). This can only be selected for actions where repeating is appropriate.

Button-Press Type

COMBO, DOUBLE, LONG, NONE

Button actions

The actions that can be assigned to buttons are described below.

Action	Vehicle	Notes
No Action	All	Unassigned
Acro	All	Acro mode
Altitude	All	Altitude hold mode
Arm	All
Continuous Zoom In	All
Continuous Zoom Out	All
Disarm	All
Follow Me	MC, VTOL	Follow Me mode
Gimbal Center	All
Gimbal Down	All
Gimbal Left	All
Gimbal Pitching Down	All
Gimbal Pitching Up	All
Gimbal Right	All
Gimbal Up	All
Gripper Open	All
Gripper Close	All
Hold	All	Hold mode
Land	All	Land mode
Manual	All	Manual mode
Mission	All	Mission mode
Next Camera	All
Next Video Stream	All
Offboard	VTOL, MC	Offboard mode
Orbit	VTOL	Orbit task
Position	All	Position mode
Precision Land	VTOL, MC
Previous Camera	All
Previous Video Stream	All
Rattitude	All	Rattitude mode
Ready	All
Return	All
Return to Groundstation	All
Simple	FW
Stabilized	VTOL, MC	Stabilized mode
Start Recording Video	All
Step Zoom in	All
Step Zoom out	All
Stop Recording Video	All
Takeoff	All	Takeoff mode
Thermal Next Palette	All
Thermal OFF	All
Thermal ON	All
Thermal ON/OFF	All
Toggle Arm	All
Toggle Recording Video	All
Trigger Camera	All
VTOL: Fixed Wing	All	Transition to Fixed Wing
VTOL: Multi-Rotor	All	Transition to Multirotor

Action

Vehicle

Notes

No Action

All

Unassigned

Acro

All

Acro mode

Altitude

All

Altitude hold mode

Arm

All

Continuous Zoom In

All

Continuous Zoom Out

All

Disarm

All

Follow Me

MC, VTOL

Follow Me mode

Gimbal Center

All

Gimbal Down

All

Gimbal Left

All

Gimbal Pitching Down

All

Gimbal Pitching Up

All

Gimbal Right

All

Gimbal Up

All

Gripper Open

All

Gripper Close

All

Hold

All

Hold mode

Land

All

Land mode

Manual

All

Manual mode

Mission

All

Mission mode

Next Camera

All

Next Video Stream

All

Offboard

VTOL, MC

Offboard mode

Orbit

VTOL

Orbit task

Position

All

Position mode

Precision Land

VTOL, MC

Previous Camera

All

Previous Video Stream

All

Rattitude

All

Rattitude mode

Ready

All

Return

All

Return to Groundstation

All

Simple

Stabilized

VTOL, MC

Stabilized mode

Start Recording Video

All

Step Zoom in

All

Step Zoom out

All

Stop Recording Video

All

Takeoff

All

Takeoff mode

Thermal Next Palette

All

Thermal OFF

All

Thermal ON

All

Thermal ON/OFF

All

Toggle Arm

All

Toggle Recording Video

All

Trigger Camera

All

VTOL: Fixed Wing

All

Transition to Fixed Wing

VTOL: Multi-Rotor

All

Transition to Multirotor

Calibration tab

The Calibration tab is used to calibrate the joystick sticks.

The process is guided: just click the Start button and follow the on-screen instructions.

Advanced tab

The Advanced tab sets the advanced behavior of the joystick controls.

The controls are:

Setting	Description
Radio button	Full down stick is zero throttle \| Center stick is zero throttle.
Exponential	By default the response to stick movement is linear (exponential=0). The exponential value makes the joystick less responsive in the middle of the range and more responsive on the edges - which can make it easier to fly.
Enable further advanced settings (careful):	Check to open up even more options (see below).

Setting

Description

Radio button

Full down stick is zero throttle | Center stick is zero throttle.

Exponential

By default the response to stick movement is linear (exponential=0). The exponential value makes the joystick less responsive in the middle of the range and more responsive on the edges - which can make it easier to fly.

Enable further advanced settings (careful):

Check to open up even more options (see below).

Further advanced settings

These settings should generally not be changed.

The further advanced settings are enabled by selecting the checkbox shown.

Setting	Description
Enable Gimbal Control	Enable two additional channels on a 6-axis joystick for controlling a gimbal. Note: You must reboot Auterion Mission Control before gimbal channels are accessible. This requires true 6-axis joystick input (gamepads cannot be used for gimbal control).
Joystick Mode	This should not be changed from: Normal.
Axis Frequency	When the joystick is idle (inputs are not changing), the joystick commands are sent to the vehicle at 5 Hz. When the joystick is in use (input values are changing), the joystick commands are sent to the vehicle at the (higher) frequency configured by this setting. The default is 25 Hz.
Button Frequency	Controls the frequency at which repeated button actions are sent (see Button Assignment tab)
Enable Circle Correction	RC controllers sticks describe a square, while joysticks usually describe a circle. When this option is enabled a square is inscribed inside the joystick movement area to make it more like an RC controller (so it is possible to reach all four corners). The cost is decreased resolution, as the effective stick travel is reduced. Disabled: When this is disabled the joystick position is sent to the vehicle unchanged (the way that it is read from the joystick device). On some joysticks, the (roll, pitch) values are confined to the space of a circle inscribed inside of a square. In this figure, point B would command full pitch forward and full roll right, but the joystick is not able to reach point B because the retainer is circular. This means that you will not be able to achieve full roll and pitch deflection simultaneously. Enabled: The joystick values are adjusted in software to ensure full range of commands. The usable area of travel and resolution is decreased, however, because the area highlighted grey in the figure is no longer used. Circle correction enabled
Deadbands	Deadbands allow input changes to be ignored when the sticks are near their neutral positions. This helps to avoid noise or small oscillations on sensitive sticks which may be interpreted as commands, or small offsets when sticks do not re-center well. They can be adjusted during the first step of the calibration, or by dragging vertically on the corresponding axis monitor.

Setting

Description

Enable Gimbal Control

Enable two additional channels on a 6-axis joystick for controlling a gimbal. Note:

You must reboot Auterion Mission Control before gimbal channels are accessible.
This requires true 6-axis joystick input (gamepads cannot be used for gimbal control).

Joystick Mode

This should not be changed from: Normal.

Axis Frequency

When the joystick is idle (inputs are not changing), the joystick commands are sent to the vehicle at 5 Hz. When the joystick is in use (input values are changing), the joystick commands are sent to the vehicle at the (higher) frequency configured by this setting. The default is 25 Hz.

Button Frequency

Controls the frequency at which repeated button actions are sent (see Button Assignment tab)

Enable Circle Correction

RC controllers sticks describe a square, while joysticks usually describe a circle. When this option is enabled a square is inscribed inside the joystick movement area to make it more like an RC controller (so it is possible to reach all four corners). The cost is decreased resolution, as the effective stick travel is reduced.

Disabled: When this is disabled the joystick position is sent to the vehicle unchanged (the way that it is read from the joystick device). On some joysticks, the (roll, pitch) values are confined to the space of a circle inscribed inside of a square. In this figure, point B would command full pitch forward and full roll right, but the joystick is not able to reach point B because the retainer is circular. This means that you will not be able to achieve full roll and pitch deflection simultaneously.
Enabled: The joystick values are adjusted in software to ensure full range of commands. The usable area of travel and resolution is decreased, however, because the area highlighted grey in the figure is no longer used.
Circle correction enabled

Deadbands

Deadbands allow input changes to be ignored when the sticks are near their neutral positions. This helps to avoid noise or small oscillations on sensitive sticks which may be interpreted as commands, or small offsets when sticks do not re-center well. They can be adjusted during the first step of the calibration, or by dragging vertically on the corresponding axis monitor.

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Last updated 8 days ago