Installation

Note: This wiki did not include the steps to install this package, this is the most up to date version I could find: https://github.com/epan-utbm/joystick_remapper

If there is an official source, please edit this page to include it.

Supported Hardware

Any joystick with a driver that publishes a joy/Joy message can be used with the joystick_remapper.

The joystick remapper is simply a node that listens to Joy messages and republishes them on a different topic. Before republishing, it can change the order of the axes or buttons. This allows two different types of joysticks to behave the same way to a teleop node. In order to make this work, the user must set up the map from one joystick to another. There's a good example of this in the tutorial Using the Joystick Remapper.

API Stability

This is a relatively new and untested package. User feedback has indicated that the way of defining a mapping is difficult to use. You can expect it to change in an incompatible way in a future release of this package.

Launch File Example

This example shows how to remap a Logitech-type joystick to a PS3 button mapping for controlling the PR2.

   1 <node pkg="joy" type="joy_node" name="logitech_joy" >
   2   <remap from="joy" to="logitech" />
   3 </node>
   4 
   5 <node pkg="joystick_remapper" type="joystick_remapper.py" name="logitech_to_ps3" >
   6   <remap from="joy_source" to="logitech" />
   7   <remap from="joy_des" to="joy" />
   8   <param name="button_mapping" type="str" value="8 -1 -1 9 -1 -1 -1 -1 6 7 4 5 3 2 1 0" />
   9   <param name="axis_mapping" type="str" value="=" />
  10 </node>

The above example leaves the axes the same, but remaps the buttons on the logitech. Let's look at the code.

   1 <node pkg="joy" type="joy_node" name="logitech_joy" >
   2   <remap from="joy" to="logitech" />
   3 </node>

This launches the logitech joystick using the joy_node. Since the joy node publishes to "joy", we remap the output to another topic to avoid mixing the two joysticks before they are properly remapped.

   6   <remap from="joy_source" to="logitech" />
   7   <remap from="joy_des" to="joy" />

The remapper must be configured with the input and output topics. The defaults are "joy_source" and "joy_dest" and these must be remapped.

   8   <param name="button_mapping" type="str" value="8 -1 -1 9 -1 -1 -1 -1 6 7 4 5 3 2 1 0" />

Here is where we configure the button mapping of the joystick. The syntax for the remap string is as follows:

8 -1 -1 9

Maps button 8 on the Logitech to position 0 on the PS3 (remember that joystick buttons are indexed from zero). The numbers in the list are the numbers for the Logitech joystick buttons, and the order is the order in which they will appear in the remapped output.

The "-1" button maps a button or axis to zero. In the above example, the button #1 and #2 on the PS3 are always zero. No button on the Logitech will command those buttons on the PS3.

This maps Logitech 9 to button 3 on the output. For a full mapping, see Using the Joystick Remapper.

   9   <param name="axis_mapping" type="str" value="=" />

Since the axes are the same as on the Logitech and the PS3, they don't need to be remapped. Use "=" as the remapping, or just leave it blank.

Detailed parameter and node descriptions are below.

Nodes

joystick_remapper.py

Subscribed Topics

• Topic on which joystick commands are arriving to be remapped.

Published Topics

• Topic on which the remapped joystick events are sent out to be remapped.

Parameters

The mapping parameters are given as strings, with each value in the string giving the new axis or button number. The k^th integer indicates which input button maps to the k^th output button. For example:

2 3 0 1

Maps button (or axis) 2 to output button 0, 3->1, 0->2 and 1->3. Any axis or buttons that are not remapped are left in original order. Note that axes and button indices start from zero.

If -1 is listed as the source button/axis then that button/axis will always output zero.

If "=" is given as the remapping parameter, or none is given, the joystick buttons or axes are not remapped.

button (string)

• Buttons mapping.

• Same as ~button_mapping for mapping the axes.

Tutorials

See Using the Joystick Remapper.