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I'm working with a Wild Thumper 6 wheel chasis that is designed for use with an RC controller. However I'd like to have a mapping to a keyboard for control as well. Can you suggest a set of keys and behaviors that you've used to deal with the continuous value control normally offered by a joystick or pair of joysticks? The standard wasd keys + an accelerate/decelerate pair? I'd also take a pointer to a videogame that you think does this well.

Glorfindel
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Ian Danforth
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  • Left Shift for accelerate and left Ctrl for deccelerate might work. – Chris Laplante Oct 23 '12 at 21:04
  • There is some bug on this site, so I can't post answer... In my project I use WADS, W and S controlling linear velocity with constant acceleration up to maximum, A and D controling angular velocity with constant acceleration, again up to a maximal value. Basically I simulate slowly moving a joystick with the keyboard. You could also not use constant acceleration, but constant jerk, if you need smoother control. Also if your robot is a car, or you want it to behave more like one, you could set the A and D keys to control turn radius instead of angular velocity. – cube Jan 16 '14 at 09:25

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Assuming you don't have other functionality that would take precedence, I would use WASD for movement and Left/Right arrows or mouse buttons for accelerating. Having the controls be divided that way mimics the conventional movement/action interface seen in many video games, while letting the user control the speed in parallel to motion.

However, ultimately, the right answer is whatever is most comfortable/intuitive. The above is what I'd try first, but the real best answer is getting user feedback.

rsegal
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