wokwi-analog-joystick Reference

Analog Joystick with two axes (horizontal/vertical) and an integrated push button.

Pin names

Name	Description
VCC	Positive power supply
VERT	Vertical axis output (analog)
HORZ	Horizontal axis output (analog)
SEL	Push button
GND	Ground

The idle position voltage is VCC/2. Moving the joystick along the vertical axis changes the voltage of the VERT pin from 0 volts (bottom) to VCC (top). Moving the joystick along the horizontal axis changes the voltages of the HORZ pin from 0 volts (right) to VCC (left).

The SEL pin is normally open (floating). Clicking on the center of the joystick shorts the SEL pin to ground. The joystick's button simulates bouncing by default. You can disable bouncing by setting the "bounce" attribute to "0".

Attributes

Name	Description	Default value
bounce	Set to "0" to disable bouncing	""

Operating the Joystick

You can operate the joystick with your mouse by moving cursor over the joystick. You'll see four arrows, corresponding to the four movement directions, and a circle in the middle. Click on one of the arrows to move the joystick shaft in that direction, and on the circle in the middle to press the joystick's push button (connected to the SEL pin).

To operate the joystick with the keyboard, first focus on it (using the tab key or by clicking on it with the mouse), then use the arrow keys to move the shaft of the joystick, and the space key to press the joystick's push button (connected to the SEL pin). It's possible to combine multiple keys at once, e.g. left arrow and top arrow, to move the shaft in a diagonal direction. You can also press on the space key while holding down the arrows to press the joystick while moving the shaft.

Partial movement and touch control are not currently supported. We'd love to see them supported though - so if you are up to the task, there's an open issue waiting for your love.

Using the Joystick in Arduino

Joystick Pin	Arduino Pins	Example code pin
VCC	5V
VERT	any analog pin (A0...A5)	A0
HORZ	any analog pin (A0...A5)	A1
SEL	any digital pin	2
GND	GND

To use the Joystick in Arduino, connect the VERT and the HORZ pins to analog pins (A0...A6), and configure these pins as input. Read the joystick position using analogRead().

#define VERT_PIN A0
#define HORZ_PIN A1
#define SEL_PIN  2

void setup() {
  pinMode(VERT_PIN, INPUT);
  pinMode(HORZ_PIN, INPUT);
  pinMode(SEL_PIN, INPUT_PULLUP);
}

void loop() {
  int vert = analogRead(VERT_PIN);
  int horz = analogRead(HORZ_PIN);
  bool selPressed = digitalRead(SEL_PIN) == LOW;
  // horz goes from 0 (right) to 1023 (left)
  // vert goes from 0 (bottom) to 1023 (top)
  // selPressed is true is the joystick is pressed
}

Joystick Position Table

The following table shows the different joystick position and the corresponding HORZ / VERT values, as returned by analogRead():

Position	HORZ	VERT
Top-Left	1023	1023
Top	512	1023
Top-Right	0	1023
Left	1023	512
Center	512	512
Right	0	512
Bottom-Left	1023	0
Bottom	512	0
Bottom-Right	0	0

Using map()

You can use the map() function to re-map the values to a different range. For instance, map(analogRead(HORZ_PIN), 0, 1023, -100, 100) will return -100 when the joystick is all the way to the right, 0 when the joystick in centered, and 100 when the joystick is all the way to the left.

Simulator examples

Etch-a-sketch - A simple drawing game using a MAX7219 LED Dot Matrix

Pin names​

Attributes​

Operating the Joystick​

Using the Joystick in Arduino​

Joystick Position Table​

Using map()​

Simulator examples​