The industrial joystick is a human-machine interaction device applied to various electromechanical devices. It utilizes potentiometers or Hall sensors to perceive hand movements on the joystick, generating corresponding electrical signals to control the device’s direction, speed, and distance. Before the advent of industrial joysticks, there were two other types of control levers in history. In 1835, American Otis designed and manufactured a steam-powered single-bucket excavator. The operator manipulated a control lever, using gears, levers, belts, and traction ropes to control the excavator. This manual control lever is still used in some simple mechanical devices due to its low cost and easy maintenance. However, as machinery progressed and became more complex, this purely mechanical manual lever structure gradually became inadequate to meet the increasing functionalities.
In the 1940s, there emerged a suspended hydraulic excavator with a backhoe on a tractor. Driven by hydraulic levers, it controlled the opening and closing of the backhoe by directly connecting to hydraulic valves, converting hydraulic energy into mechanical energy to manipulate machinery. This technology found applications in many engineering vehicles.
Hydraulic control levers have developed for over 80 years, with mature products and standardized, serialized components. Compared to the complex and bulky structure of manual levers, hydraulic levers have a smaller size, lighter weight, can achieve a wide range of stepless speed adjustments, provide smooth transmission, strong anti-interference capabilities, and excellent low-speed performance. However, in contrast, they have lower efficiency, generate more heat, cannot achieve constant ratio transmission, carry the risk of leaks, and the hydraulic oil inside is flammable and explosive, conflicting with the increasingly stringent safety and environmental protection requirements. Therefore, with technological advancements, hydraulic levers have gradually been replaced by another type of control lever, namely, the industrial joystick.
Industrial joysticks were initially used to control large equipment such as airplanes and ships. In the 1960s, high-altitude work platforms appeared in the United States. Due to the large distance (approximately 50-60m) between the control platform and the operator of the high-altitude work platform, hydraulic control levers could not smoothly output controls. Therefore, high-altitude work platforms adopted mechatronics technology and applied industrial joysticks in the control system. By 1985, to save energy, many excavator manufacturers began using mechatronic hydraulic integrated control systems in large-scale excavator production. With the popularity of digitization and increasing environmental protection requirements, more and more engineering machinery began using industrial joysticks. Compared to hydraulic control levers, industrial joysticks can set safety ranges, achieve long-distance remote control and continuous control. Moreover, electronic control joysticks have low requirements for operators, high control precision, fast response speed, and linear input-output characteristics. Additionally, electronic control joysticks can output voltage, current, or digital signals according to customer requirements, making them more suitable for intelligent operations. Simultaneously, with the development of chip technology and electronic control joystick design, industrial joysticks can overcome temperature and electromagnetic interference on output signals, ensuring that electronic control joysticks will shine brightly in more fields.