Add usage examples for VirtualInput class

[fasteddy516]

The VirtualInput class decouples I/O pins from JoystickXL inputs and allows developers to do their own input processing before passing values along to JoystickXL. This functionality needs more documentation and examples.

[jtinbergen]

Hello there. Is there any more information about this? I have a lot of problems creating a functional joystick where I don't have any axis directly from any pins.

Below example is redacted but its something like this:

import math
import time
import board
import busio
import adafruit_vl53l0x
from joystick_xl.inputs import Axis, Button, Hat
from joystick_xl.joystick import Joystick
from adafruit_simplemath import map_range

# Axis configuration constants
AXIS_DB = 0  # Deadband to apply to axis center points.
AXIS_MIN = 0  # Minimum raw axis value.
AXIS_MAX = 255  # Maximum raw axis value.

# Initialize joystick library
joystick = Joystick()
joystick.add_input(
    Axis(deadband=AXIS_DB, min=AXIS_MIN, max=AXIS_MAX),
    Axis(deadband=AXIS_DB, min=AXIS_MIN, max=AXIS_MAX)
)

<...>

while True:

    <...>
    axisvalue = <computed from I2C sensor>

    # Update joystick
    joystick.update_axis((0, 128))
    joystick.update_axis((1, axisvalue))
    joystick.update()

[fasteddy516]

There are a couple of things you'll need to modify to get that code to work as expected.

First, verify that the AXIS_DB, AXIS_MIN and AXIS_MAX configuration constants are set appropriately. These apply to the 16-bit raw input range, not the 8-bit scaled USB-HID axis report range. (CircuitPython scales all analog input pins to 16-bit values regardless of the actual bit-precision of the ADC hardware, so JoystickXL uses 16-bit raw axis input values, even for a VirtualInput). I suspect you want to set AXIS_MAX to 65535 rather than 255.

Next, you should avoid calling joystick.update_axis directly - it is called automatically for any axis objects in the joystick.axis collection which you've placed you're axes in using the joystick.add_input method. To set your axis values, use the source_value property like so:

joystick.axis[<axis name/number>].source_value = <some value between 0 to 65535>

When you're finished just call joystick.update(). It will use the source_value you set and process all of the inputs.

I've modified the example you posted above with these suggestions, you can give it a shot and see if it works better for you.

import math
import time
import board
import busio
import adafruit_vl53l0x
from joystick_xl.inputs import Axis, Button, Hat
from joystick_xl.joystick import Joystick
from adafruit_simplemath import map_range

# Axis configuration constants - remember that these are applied in the 16-bit raw input range,
# not the 8-bit scaled axis range.  
AXIS_DB = 0  # Deadband to apply to axis center points.
AXIS_MIN = 0  # Minimum raw axis value.
AXIS_MAX = 65535  # Maximum raw axis value.

# Initialize joystick library
joystick = Joystick()

# Add axis inputs as VirtualInputs with no direct connection to analog pins
joystick.add_input(
    Axis(deadband=AXIS_DB, min=AXIS_MIN, max=AXIS_MAX),  # x-axis
    Axis(deadband=AXIS_DB, min=AXIS_MIN, max=AXIS_MAX),  # y-axis
)

# ...

while True:
    # ...

    # Update the axis VirtualInput source values 
    joystick.axis[Axis.X].source_value = int_value_computed_from_I2C_sensor
    joystick.axis[Axis.Y].source_value = int_value_computed_elsewhere

    # Process all inputs and send a USB-HID report to the host
    joystick.update()

[jtinbergen]

Excellent. Glad to see you're so active! Maybe its an idea to add this use case to the examples? most seem focused on actual pins.

[TheChemistAstronaut]

This is still a big issue, as there are many,many things that inputs can be gotten from that still need further processing outside of JoystickXL. I've been trying for 2 days now to figure out how to pass an input to JoystickXL to no avail and zero progress, and have admittedly exhausted my programming knowledge.

[ndgipper]

@TheChemistAstronaut maybe this discussion topic example code will help you.