How Does A Joystick Work? | Arduino For Beginners

You have already used the joystick while playing video games or using remote-controlled cars. It is an important input device commonly used with Arduino to make projects like Joystick-controlled car. Today we'll learn how to connect the joystick to Arduino and display its position on Arduino serial monitor. 

Pin Layout Joystick Module

Hardware Setup

Arduino GND connects to Joystick GND

Arduino 5V connects to Joystick 5V

Arduino Analog Input pins A0 and A2 to Joystick VRx and VRy respectively

Arduino Digital I/O pin 3 to Joystick Swith pin SW

Note: Arduino Analog and Digital pin connections may vary depending on your code.

Software Setup

	deint xVal; //X values from joystick
	int yVal; //Y values from joystick
	int sw_ = 3;
	void setup() {
	Serial.begin(9600); //Starts serial at 9600 baud
	pinMode(A0, INPUT); //Sets the analog ports used to an input
	pinMode(A2, INPUT);
	//pinMode(sw_, INPUT); //uncomment to use switch
	}
	void loop() {
	xVal = analogRead(A0); //sets the X value
	yVal = analogRead(A2); //sets the Y value
	//digitalRead(sw_) == 1? Serial.println("JoyStick is pressed"):Serial.println("JoyStick is not pressed");
	Serial.print(" Y is...");
	Serial.println(yVal); //prints Y values
	Serial.print("\n X is...");
	Serial.println(xVal); //prints X values
	delay(500);
	}

view raw Using JoyStick with Arduino hosted with ❤ by GitHub

Demo

To see how the project works refer to the video below.

We hope that you learned how to use Joystick with Arduino. Now it's time for you to make this project and share it with us. Feel free to ask any queries in the comments below. Happy Learning :)