Wondering if anyone has experimented with using controllers (PS/xbox/other) to do anything other than gaming ?
- Hello_there ( @Hello_there@fedia.io ) 23•6 months ago
Operating parts of multi million dollar navy ships, according to articles. Not joking
- Gamma ( @GammaGames@beehaw.org ) English13•6 months ago
Also submarines, when heading down to see the Titanic
- ILikeBoobies ( @ILikeBoobies@lemmy.ca ) 7•6 months ago
Because they’re designed for controlling and people are familiar with them/can learn easily
Also helps standardize when taking bids from multiple companies
- fogstormberry ( @fogstormberry@lemmy.blahaj.zone ) 2•6 months ago
I wonder how many spares they keep around
- ColdWater ( @ColdWater@lemmy.ca ) 22•6 months ago
They use it to control a submarine
- bionicjoey ( @bionicjoey@lemmy.ca ) 17•6 months ago
The Steam Deck and Steam controller have touchpads which make them totally usable as a mouse for normal PC usage like web browsing
- neoman4426 ( @neoman4426@fedia.io ) 2•6 months ago
Hell, not optimal by any means but I even had a serviceable for light usage setup using analog sticks and a mapping program before Steam Input came out. Much better with the trackpads
- Björn Tantau ( @bjoern_tantau@swg-empire.de ) 14•6 months ago
Disneyland uses Steam Decks to remote control droids in Star Wars land.
- Vilian ( @Vilian@lemmy.ca ) 10•6 months ago
ukraine was doing the same but to kill russians lol
- CalcProgrammer1 ( @CalcProgrammer1@lemmy.ml ) 8•6 months ago
In college I was on the robotics team. We used several different controllers to drive various robots. I made a little tank steering robot that was remote controlled from a PC with an Xbox 360 controller. I later rebuilt it to use a Raspberry Pi and added a pan/tilt mount for the camera controlled from the controller’s D-pad. We also used a Wiimote to control our competition robot, using the accelerometer for steering which was pretty cool. This was in like 2010 when motion controls were still a relatively new and cool thing.
- Interstellar_1 ( @Interstellar_1@pawb.social ) 7•6 months ago
They can be quite useful in hobbyist robotics
- intensely_human ( @intensely_human@lemm.ee ) 7•6 months ago
Actually yes.
I worked on a crew building pole barns in Colorado. For anyone unaware you basically dig a bunch of holes, set wooden columns in them and pour concrete around them, then hang the rest of the structure off those columns.
We had a dude that swore by the xbox 360 controller. We tried to get him to use a framing hammer to drive his nails but he would only use that 360 controller.
We also did a lot of acid. If you see a weird barn in Colorado, look for the microsoft logo pressed into the wood next to the siding nails.
- jsomae ( @jsomae@lemmy.ml ) 5•6 months ago
So he literally, physically hammered the xbox controller into the nail?
- intensely_human ( @intensely_human@lemm.ee ) 2•6 months ago
He hammered the nails into the boards
- Anarki_ ( @Anarki_@lemmy.blahaj.zone ) 7•6 months ago
They are the OG electric vibrators for people who can’t buy vibrators.
- blindsight ( @blindsight@beehaw.org ) 7•6 months ago
A vibrator was one of the very first patented electrical devices. 1880. It predates the first patent for the first electric iron by a decade.
- Anarki_ ( @Anarki_@lemmy.blahaj.zone ) 2•6 months ago
I didn’t know this!
- DetachablePianist ( @DetachablePianist@lemmy.ml ) 5•6 months ago
In Ghostbusters 2 they rigged up a Nintendo joystick to drive the statue of liberty through the streets of NYC. Does that count?
- Perfide ( @Perfide@reddthat.com ) 4•6 months ago
Hacksmith on youtube uses playstation controllers for remote operation of their giant mechs.
- numbermess ( @numbermess@fedia.io ) 4•6 months ago
I am working on getting my XBox controller to work with a Raspberry Pi/Astroberry setup to control my telescope.
- zout ( @zout@fedia.io ) 4•6 months ago
Some guys I used to know used them to make music, as some sort of midi controller.
- Honytawk ( @Honytawk@lemmy.zip ) 3•6 months ago
All a controller is is just some buttons on a wire in a portable form factor.
If you want to use it for Excel, you can.
I used one on a Raspberry Pi to drive a self build remote car wirelessly.
- Cwilliams ( @Cwilliams@beehaw.org ) 3•6 months ago
For FRC robotics competitions, we use Xbox controllers to control the robot
- FeelThePower ( @FeelThePower@lemmy.dbzer0.com ) 3•6 months ago
playstation and Xbox controllers make good Kodi/XBMC remotes for a laptop connected to a TV.